EU paper on Model UN Conferences

The European Union in the World

The European Union (EU) started in the 1950s as a project to bind Europe into an economic union. In the 1990s, the EU started developing a common foreign and security policy, which has evolved to action in defence matters. The EU has now grown into a significant world player, the biggest trade entity in the world alongside the United States, with a single internal market as well as a single currency - the Euro - for 13 member countries.

The EU currently has 27 Member States - Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Another two candidate countries - Croatia and Turkey - have applied to join as well.

Because of the EU's active involvement in external relations, the UN's priorities - such as promoting international peace and security, respect for human rights, protecting the environment, fighting disease, fostering development, giving humanitarian assistance and reducing poverty - are also priorities for the European Union. The EU and its Member States are the largest financial contributors to the UN regular budget, funding more than two-fifths of UN peace-keeping operations and around half of all UN Member States' contributions to UN funds and programmes. The EU is also the world's largest provider of Official Development Assistance (ODA), giving 57% of total aid. In 2006 European aid rose to 0.42% of GNI. In real terms European aid (Member States plus Commission) in 2006 ran to some €48 billion, nearly €100 per citizen per year.

Who are the main EU actors at the UN?

The EU's principal decision-making body is the Council of the European Union, made up of one governmental representative from each of the EU Member States. Every six months, one of the 25 EU Member States takes over the Presidency of the Council[1]. The Presidency expresses the EU's position on common foreign and security policy matters, including at international organizations and conferences. The Presidency is assisted in its tasks by the High Representative for the EU's Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), Mr. Javier Solana.

The European Commission is the EU executive and civil service. It is active in all EU's areas and has also exclusive responsibilities in matters concerning trade, fisheries and agriculture. The European Commission helps to ensure continuity of the EU's actions (because the Presidency changes every six months) and has the duty to ensure the interest of the EU as a whole is represented. It is very active in diplomacy and gives substantial financial support for UN and other programmes. Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner is responsible for the European Commission's activity in the foreign policy field.

The European Union at the United Nations

All EU countries are UN members in their own right - and many have been so since the foundation of the organization in 1945. Through the establishment of the EU's common foreign and security policy in 1992, EU Member States have enhanced the coordination of their actions in international organizations and have undertaken to uphold common positions in such forums in order to give greater impact to their collective weight in the world. In this task, they are assisted by the European Commission, which has an observer mission at the UN, along with the Liaison Office of the Council Secretariat, where coordination meetings are held[2]. Since the EC is an observer, it cannot vote (except at the FAO, where the EC can vote on behalf of the EU Member States, particularly in the fields of trade, agriculture and fisheries).

EU Member States, together with the European Commission, regularly coordinate their actions at the UN. This coordination has gradually increased and now covers all six main committees of the General Assembly and its subordinate bodies, including ECOSOC and the subordinate functional commissions. More than a thousand internal EU coordination meetings occur each year.

The country holding the EU Presidency represents the Union in most areas of UN activity, and is the main interlocutor for the UN on these issues. It chairs all EU coordination meetings. The Presidency, acting as part of the so-called Troika[3], also represents the EU in discussions with other UN Member States, regional groups or organizations.

EU Members work together to prepare and finalize draft EU statements, make comments on draft resolutions and share information on the positions of other groups or decisions taken by the UN Secretariat. The country that holds the Presidency then presents the EU position[4] to the General Assembly, except in cases involving trade, agriculture or fisheries, when the Commission makes the statement. No EU position can exist without consensus from all EU Member States. EU candidate countries that want to join the EU, together with Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, very often sign up to these declarations too.

During the 58th session of the General Assembly (up to 20 July 2004), EU Member States cast identical votes on 289 out of 322 resolutions ( 89.75%). EU Member States could not reach consensus on 33 resolutions, twelve of which were on the issue of nuclear weapons and disarmament as well as sixteen on the issue of decolonisation and human rights. The EU failed to reach consensus on only three resolutions concerning the Middle East during this session.

As the EU's CFSP becomes a daily reality, the activities of its Members who sit on the UN Security Council increasingly take account of the EU's political positions. To quote the EU Treaty: "Member States which are also members of the UN Security Council will concert and keep other Member States fully informed. Member States which are permanent members of the Security Council will, in execution of their functions, ensure the defense of the positions and interests of the Union, without prejudice of their responsibilities under provisions of the UN Charter." EU statements at the Security Council are made by the country holding the EU Presidency.

Footnotes

[1]Countries scheduled to hold the EU Presidency are: Portugal (second half of 2007); Slovenia (first half of 2008); France (second half of 2008); Czech Republic (first half of 2009); and Sweden (second half of 2009).

[2]EU institutions have been represented at the UN since the mid-1970s. The Commission has representations to UN bodies in New York, Geneva, Vienna, Nairobi, Paris and Rome. The Council Secretariat has liaison offices in New York and Geneva.

[3]The Troika is comprised of the present and incoming countries holding the Presidency, as well as the representative of the Commission and of the High Representative for the EU's common foreign and security policy.

[4]Other EU Member States rarely take the floor, but when they do so, they support the agreed EU positions.

ANNEX I: EU Coordination at the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council

ANNEX II: European Union Coordination at the UN: From Draft to Final Text

	Depending on the subject of the draft, either the EU Member State holding the Presidency or the European Commission (for trade, agriculture and fisheries) will draft a text;
	The draft text will be presented at an EU Coordination Meeting for discussion amongst the Member States and Commission;
	Based on these discussions, the Presidency, Member States and/or the Commission may propose amendments to the text;
	Eventual consensus on the text amongst the Member States and Commission.

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• Overview: the European Union at the United Nations (1/1/2007)