Head of Delegation: Ambassador Yves GAZZO
The Delegation of the European Union to the FAO and other UN Organisations in Rome dates back to 1993. It finds its origin in the European Community's (EC) accession to the FAO as a full Member on the 26th November 1991. This accession represented an institutional breakthrough as it was the first time that the EC became a Member as such of a UN Body.
The year 2006 marked an important addition to the Delegation's mandate with the accreditation of the first Ambassador to the Holy See on 24 June 2006 (Mr Luis Ritto). To pave the way to this accreditation, President Barroso came for a visit to the Holy Father in May 2006. In November 2006, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner organised the first official visit after the full reciprocity of diplomatic relations had been finally ensured. Finally, in 2007, the Delegation was also accredited to the Order
of Malta.
On 1st September 2009, Mr Yves Gazzo was appointed as the new Head of Delegation to the Holy See, to the Order of Malta and to the UN Organisations in Rome.
The Rome Delegation has a small structure of 5 officials, 4 local contractual agents and one seconded national expert. It essentially works in the multilateral framework ensuring the liaison between the Headquarters in Brussels, the 27 EU Member States and the three UN Organisations (FAO, WFP, IFAD) based in Rome.
The Delegation also follows closely the bilateral relations with the Holy See and the Order of Malta.
Rome is considered as the UN capital for activities in the fields of food and agriculture and hosts since 1948, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), since 1963 the World Food Programme (WFP) and since 1976 the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
The highest priority for the EC falls within the scope of the FAO. Indeed the mandate of this Organisation covers many important areas of EC competence (such as agriculture, fisheries and different trade-related issues), where the EC carries out an important normative mission (i.e. establishment of codes of conducts and conventions, setting of standards; statistic databases; international agreements). In addition, the FAO performs field operations such as emergency and rehabilitation operations
as well as technical assistance, to which the EU contributes greatly.
The three UN Organisations are complementary and share a common goal to which Member Nations pledged at the first FAO World Food Summit of 1996: the eradication of hunger in the world. This goal was reiterated with the Millennium Declaration in 2000. This Declaration puts specific emphasis on fighting global hunger and poverty, which is also one of the cornerstones of the EU development policy. The fight against global hunger and poverty was reiterated with the second FAO World Food Summit in
2002 and again in the next FAO World Food Summit in November 2009.
In this context, the WFP is also seen as an important partner. For several years now, the EU is the second largest donor to WFP after the US and enjoys a privileged position of permanent observer in WFP Executive Board.
As far as IFAD's work is concerned, since it is linked to project lending (loans) in developing countries, the EC's interest is determined on a case by case basis. The EC has a history of collaboration with IFAD, although no Strategic Partnership Agreement has been signed yet. A closer collaboration for the future is under examination.
Besides its representational functions and diplomatic role, the Delegation aims to maintain the coherence and consistency of the European Community's positions in Rome, in order to reinforce the EU presence and visibility. Besides the regular meetings of the governing bodies, the Delegation has to cover an increasing number of formal or informal donors' consultations, expert meetings, presentations in both the FAO and WFP, and to give appropriate feed-back to the HQs.
The European Commission coordinates at least once a month with the EU Member States, through the regular coordination meetings scheduled in Rome. It also coordinates with the 27 EU Member States in Brussels, within the so-called AGRI-FAO Council Working Group. Coordination also takes place within the Council Working Groups on Food Aid, Humanitarian Aid (HAC), CONUN and External Fisheries Policy.
For further information, please visit the website of the Rome delegation.
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