Summary: EU Presidency Statement - Strengthening the Role of the UN (14 October 2005: New York)
STATEMENT BY THE UNITED KINGDOM ON BEHALF OF THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, REPORT OF THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON THE CHARTER OF THE UN AND ON THE STRENGTHENING OF THE ROLE OF THE ORGANISATION, New York
Mr Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The following countries align themselves with this statement: the acceding countries Bulgaria and Romania; the candidate countries Turkey and Croatia*; the countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro; the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area; and other aligning country
Moldova.
Mr Chairman,
First I would like to congratulate Ambassador Mavroyiannis of Cyprus for his effective Chairmanship of this year's Committee and thank him for his introduction this morning. And we thank Mr Mikulka for his information on the Repertory and this useful chart.
Mr Chairman,
General Assembly resolution 59/44 has given the Special Committee the mandate to continue consideration of all proposals before it. These proposals are laid down in document 59/33 and concern the maintenance of international peace and security, the peaceful settlement of disputes, proposals concerning the Trusteeship Council, the Repertory of Practice of UN Organs and the Repertoire of the Practice of the Security Council, as well as the working methods of the Special Committee.
I would like first to refer to the deliberations on the maintenance of international peace and security, in particular the implementation of the Charter provisions relating to assistance to third States affected by sanctions. The European Union believes that sanctions can be and have been effectively employed against States, entities and groups of individuals that threaten international peace and security. However, we realise that sanctions can entail unintended negative effects on civilian
populations and on third states. Therefore, we welcome the continuing recourse of the Security Council to target its sanctions, which preserve their effectiveness while minimising their unintended negative impact. We support the continuation of debate on how to further reduce unintended negative effects.
In this context, we welcome the fact that important work on this issue and related subjects is continuing in other fora within the United Nations. Member States of the European Union and the EU Commission have dedicated conferences and workshops to specific questions related to sanctions.
The Secretary General has presented his report on the Implementation of the Charter provisions related to Assistance to Third States affected by the Application of Sanctions (A/60/320), and the Security Council has established the Informal Working Group of the Security Council on general issues of sanctions, and the Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team established under Security Council resolution 1526 (2004). We welcome the constructive exchange of views taking place within the
Informal Working Group.
The European Union welcomes the recognition in the Summit Outcome Document that sanctions remain an important tool under the Charter for maintaining international peace and security, and the commitment to ensure that sanctions are carefully targeted in support of clear objectives, and to ensure that they are implemented in ways that balance effectiveness against the possible adverse consequences, including socio-economic and humanitarian consequences, for populations and for third States. The
European Union agrees that sanctions should be implemented and monitored effectively, reviewed periodically, and remain in place for as limited a period as necessary to achieve their objectives. We look forward to consideration by the Security Council of ways in which monitoring of implementation may be improved, and how special economic problems arising from the application of sanctions may be addressed. The European Union supports the call upon the Security Council, with the support of the
Secretary General, to ensure that fair and clear procedures exist for the listing and delisting of individuals and entities on sanctions lists, and for the granting of humanitarian exemptions. We also support efforts through the United Nations to strengthen State capacity to implement sanctions.
We are aware of the revised working paper presented by the Russian Federation (document A/59/33) which aims at declaring baseline conditions and standard criteria for the introduction and implementation of sanctions. The paper provides food for thought on sanctions issues. The European Union reiterates, however, its position that the Special Committee should avoid dealing with issues that have been assigned and are examined elsewhere.
As regards peaceful settlement of disputes, the European Union reiterates its support for emphasising the existing means of peaceful settlement, the need to have recourse to them at an early stage, and the principle of free choice of means, based on Article 33 of the UN Charter. We support the Summit Outcome Document's emphasis on the obligation of States to settle their disputes by peaceful means under Chapter VI of the Charter, including by use of the International Court of Justice. The EU
strongly supports the promotion of a culture of prevention of armed conflict and the need effectively to address the inter-connected security and development challenges, and the need to strengthen the capacity of the UN in conflict prevention. The Secretary General plays a very important role in this regard, in particular through the mediation of disputes. We support the Secretary General's efforts to strengthen his capacity in this area.
Mr Chairman,
As regards the Repertory of practice of UN organs and Repertoire of the practice of the Security Council, the European Union welcomes the conclusions of the Secretary General in his report on these publications. The EU takes note of the current status of them, and especially welcomes the progress being made toward making the Repertory available on the internet without cost for the United Nations.
Mr Chairman,
The European Union supports the suggestions made regarding the working methods of the Special Committee, contained in the revised working paper introduced by Japan, and co-sponsored by the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Uganda and Australia. We regret that only minimal reforms in the working methods of the Committee have been achieved to date. The EU reiterates that it stands ready to support such initiatives.
* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
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