EU Presidency Statement - Sustainable development

Mr. Chairman,

Allow me to address you on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European Countries associated with the European Union - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and the associated countries - Cyprus, Malta and Turkey align themselves with this statement.

Then allow me to thank the Secretary-General for the excellent, analytically focused SG-report on the integration of countries with economies in transition into the world economy. The report shows that most countries with economies in transition have made great progress during the last ten years towards achieving financial stability and economic growth and that especially the applicants to the European Union have advanced far. However, the European Union recognises that countries with economies in transition are at different stages of integration and is concerned about countries that do not fully benefit from the opening up of the increasingly globalised world economy, especially when it comes to trade liberalisations.

Mr. Chairman,

At the coming Summit of the European Union in Copenhagen in December, a decision on the enlargement of the European Union will be made. The ambition of the EU is to conclude accession negotiations with all the candidate countries that are ready by the end of 2002, with the objective of the countries becoming full members of the EU in 2004. We look forward to receiving the new members and we see the enlargement of our Union as a historic step that will finally reunite the European continent and bring an end to the transition for these countries. The enlargement will contribute markedly to further economic development of the new member states. It will also provide significant new opportunities for economic development and integration of the countries that will become neighbours of the EU on enlargement and the EU is currently discussing possible options for ensuring this. Beyond the new neighbours, there are countries with economies in transition at a less advanced stage of integration with high levels of poverty and the attention of the international community should also be directed to working with them.

The European Union is strongly determined to further assist countries with economies in transition integrate into the world economy. The integration is primarily a national responsibility but also calls for international support. In order to increase and attract trade, investment and capital flows and advances in technology, including information technology, countries with economies in transition must continue to develop sound macroeconomic policies; rule of law and good corporate governance. Furthermore it is important to establish coherent domestic policies to mitigate the social impact of transition and promote stability and security at a national level. In this respect it is essential to strengthen the reliable building of institutional and legal frameworks and to develop transparent, stable and predictable investment climates with proper contract enforcement and respect for property rights alongside adequate systems of social protection.

The EU is engaged in the urgent task of continuing the full integration of all economies in transition. In order to complement national efforts, international institutions must support the joint work of integrating these countries into the world economy and as emphasized in the Monterrey Consensus this has to be done through strengthened, adequately resourced technical assistance and productive capacity-building programmes. The EU urges United Nations agencies and regional economic commissions to further intensify their efforts to integrate the countries in transition into the world economy.

Mr. Chairman,

Turning now to the issue of the high level dialogue on strengthening international economic cooperation for development through partnership, I wish to underline that it is of particular importance to the European Union. It is, however, not our intention to make a long intervention today. We note with interest that there is an emerging informal debate on the usefulness of this dialogue.

This informal discussion is obviously focused on the role attributed to the dialogue in the Monterrey Consensus; but it is also linked to the issue of the role of the General Assembly in the integrated and coordinated follow up to major United Nations conferences and Summits in the economic and social fields.

We look forward to addressing these issues formally in this committee at a later stage in the debates on integrated follow up under agenda item 92 and financing for development under agenda item 93.

Mr. Chairman,

Now that we have the floor, I also would like to take the opportunity to thank Ambassador Mezzalama for his statement and for his presentation of the report (A/57/118) from the Joint Inspection Unit on the involvement of civil society organizations (CSOs) in technical cooperation activities.

The EU finds it important to give greater opportunities to those various non-state actors to the realization of the United Nations goals and programmes as stated in the Millennium Declaration. The report highlights the importance of building on the differences and complementarities of CSOs that do not consider themselves NGOs in order to strengthen their impact in the tripartite cooperation of governments, United Nations system organizations and the CSOs themselves.

As shown in the report CSOs play an important role not only as contributors of technical assistance, but also as partners in design and implementation of policies and programmes through dialogue facilitation and capacity building. The EU therefore reiterates the importance of the full participation of CSOs in the consultative process, the decision process and other policy processes as well.

Thank you for your attention.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - Environment and Sustainable Development (16/10/2003)
• EU Presidency Statement - Environment and sustainable development (21/10/2002)
• EU Presidency Statement - Social Development (3/10/2002)
• Commissioner Wallström's Speech on WSSD outcome (25/9/2002)
• President Prodi's Statement on sustainable development (12/9/2002)