EU Presidency Statement - Operational Activities

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The acceding countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, as well as the associated countries Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey, and the EFTA country Liechtenstein have aligned themselves with this statement.

The EU attaches utmost importance to the co-operation with the UN system in the area of development. In the European Union's view, closer co-operation between the EU and the UN will contribute to the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly poverty eradication not least through substantial improvements in the effectiveness of development assistance. Support to south-south co-operation ranks high in this regard.

The outcomes of recent Major UN Meetings and Conferences, such as the Millennium Declaration as well as the Brussels Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries, the Monterrey Consensus, and the Johannesburg Plan of Implementation have all emphasised the importance of South-South Cooperation as a crucial factor for development.

The European Union believes that reinforced cooperation among developing countries can provide an essential support to development in areas such as institutional infrastructure, human resource development, public finance, public administration, social and gender budget policies, trade, regional integration, debt management, early warning and crisis prevention.

The Secretary General's report gives us a comprehensive picture of the on-going initiatives. It shows that a number of developing countries are already applying strong programmes in support of South-South cooperation. The use and the sharing of the existing expertise and experiences with the more advanced developing countries are one major example.

We also wish to underline the critical role of regional integration among developing countries: it offers substantial support for the national development agenda by creating a wider platform for change. It is a special form of South-South cooperation, which can enhance efficiency, increase FDI attractiveness, reduce trade barriers, and enable small-scale economies to secure greater bargaining power. In short, it can help overcome the limitations of small economic size and contribute significantly to accelerated development and progressive participation in the global economy.

Mr. Chairman,

The European Union has demonstrated its support to South-South cooperation through substantial and increased support for operational activities including in the UN system's activities in this area. We would like to emphasize however that the main responsibility for enhanced and more effective cooperation among developing countries belongs to the developing countries themselves. But the international community can play an important supporting and complementary role. The EU will continue to be a reliable partner in this respect.

Mr. Chairman,

The European Union welcomes the High-Level Conference on South-South Cooperation that will be held in Marrakech, Morocco, on 16 to 19 December 2003, and will pay close attention to its outcome.

Finally, Mr. Chairman,

The European Union takes this opportunity to reiterate its basic position concerning the Pledging Conference within the General Assembly. Since the Funds and Programmes have introduced a MYFF approach, the decision to terminate this practice should be taken. As happened last year, the European Union will accordingly not take part in this Conference.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Operational activities of the UN - ECOSOC (7/7/2003)
• EU Presidency Statement - Operational activities for development (28/10/2002)