Message of Welcome from the Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the UN

Welcome to the website for the Dutch Presidency of the European Union at the United Nations in New York.

2004 is a historic year for European integration. On the first of May, ten countries joined the European Union, thereby ending the previous partition of our continent. And under the determined Irish Presidency, the leaders of this enlarged European Union agreed on a new constitutional treaty that will make the Union more effective, more democratic and more transparent.

The overall agenda of the European Union for 2004 focusses on the following five key policy areas: (1) further enlargement of the European Union, (2) promoting freedom, security and justice, (3) strengthening an effective external policy (4) promoting sustainable growth, and (5) agreeing on the future budgetary system of the Union.

The European Union is deeply committed to the United Nations, and to effective multilateralism as a central element of its external action. The Union aims for a more effective, efficient and transparent UN. It looks forward to discuss, in due time, with its UN partners the outcome of the work of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change and the recommendations of the Secretary General thereupon.

The European Union is committed to making substantial progress during the coming General Assembly in the preparations for the high-level plenary meeting of the General Assembly in September 2005, where advancements in all areas of the Millennium Declaration will be considered : peace and security, achievement of the millennium development goals, and institutional reform.

The European Union will fully engage in further preparing the UN conference to review the Barbados Programme of Action on Small Island Developing States, the World Conference on Disaster Reduction and the second phase of the World Summit of the Information Society.

The European Union will strongly support implementation of a Capital Master Plan for the Headquarters of the United Nations, to be based on a financial agreement that is fair to member states.

The Union is currently in the process of finalizing a short priorities paper for the 59th session of the General Assembly, which will be posted on this website.

Our aims are ambitious, our mindset is realistic. We hope that during our Presidency concrete, visible progress can be made on development, peace and security, and institutional reform. All our citizens want us to shape a United Nations that makes a difference in the streets, more than in the conference rooms.

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• Who's Who at the Netherlands Mission to the UN (1/7/2004)
• Calendar of Dutch Presidency 2004 (1/7/2004)