EU Presidency Statement - Ad Hoc Committee on Terrorism

Ad Hoc Committee established by General Assembly Resolution 51/210 of 17 December 1996, Question of convening a high-level conference under the auspices of the United Nations; Statement by Minister Michael Postl, Austrian Federal Ministry for Foreign Affairs, on behalf of the European Union.


Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the 25 Member States of the European Union. The acceding countries Bulgaria and Romania align themselves with this statement.

Regarding the Egyptian proposal of convening a High Level UN Conference on Counterterrorism or Special Session of the General Assembly, the EU reiterates its view that this issue should be considered only after agreement has been reached on the text of the Comprehensive Convention and on the understanding that such a conference could contribute to strengthening international cooperation in combating terrorism.

In this context, we would like to draw attention to the text of the Euro-Mediterranean Code of Conduct on Countering Terrorism, which was adopted at the Euro-Med Summit in Barcelona on 28 November last year. In this document all participants, including the 25 EU Member States, Egypt and several other OIC countries, agreed to "consider convening a high level conference under the auspices of the UN to formulate an international response to terrorism in all its aspects and manifestations, following agreement on a comprehensive convention on international terrorism."

Mr. Chairman,

Let me also reassure you of the continuing commitment of the European Union to work towards reaching consensus on the comprehensive convention.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - Measures to eliminate international terrorism (11/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Security Council: Al-Qaida/Taliban Sanctions Committee, Counter-Terrorism Committee and the Committee established pursuant to SC Resolution 1540 (2004) (28/9/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Informals on a Counter-Terrorism Strategy  (11/5/2006)
• Declaration by the EU Presidency on the application of specific measures to combat terrorism (31/3/2006)
• Open letter to European Citizens by Commission Vice President Frattini on 11 March 2006- The Second European Day for the Victims of Terrorism  (11/3/2006)
• Austrian EU-Presidency Priorities 2006 (1/1/2006)
• Directory of the Austrian Mission to the United Nations (1/1/2006)