EU Presidency Statement - Human rights - ECOSOC

Mrs. Vice-President,

I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union on the draft Decision 'Effects of Structural Adjustment Policies and Foreign Debt on the Full Enjoyment of All Human Rights, particularly Economic, Social and Cultural Rights'.

This explanation of vote has been agreed by the European Union as a whole, by the Acceding Countries to the European Union Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic and Slovenia and the Associated Countries - Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey - have aligned themselves to this statement.

Structural adjustment policies and foreign debt are not as such Human Rights issues. The EU has always made this clear and reiterated its position again during the 59th CHR earlier this year. These issues go beyond the competence and expertise of the Commission and are dealt with in other fora.

As on previous occasions, the European Union would like to underline that it remains opposed to the mandate of the Independent Expert on Structural Adjustment.

The European Union will continue to engage in discussions with interested parties on the issues of structural adjustment and foreign debt in the appropriate fora.

For these reasons, the European Union is calling for a vote and will vote against this draft decision.

Thank you, Mrs. Vice-President.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Human Rights Questions  (6/11/2003)
• EU Presidency Statement - The Commission on Human Rights - ECOSOC (23/7/2003)