EU Presidency Statement - Draft outcome document of High-level Plenary Meeting of General Assembly

Mr President, I have the honour to make this statement on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this statement.

Mr President, the European Union applauds the leadership you have shown in bringing us to this point. Thanks to your efforts we have made substantial progress towards our common goal of an ambitious, balanced and successful Summit outcome. You and your facilitators are to be congratulated on producing a second draft of the outcome document. The EU believes this is a very good basis for the final Summit outcome and we hope that much of the text is now effectively in its final form. The extensive consultation process you have conducted shows consensus in a large number of areas. Inevitably, there are some areas where this remains to be achieved and indeed there are a number of areas where we see that there is more work to do. So I will try to highlight the key points where we should aim to make further progress and to explain why this matters.

Getting a genuinely ambitious outcome will make the difference between a Summit that will be remembered for a few weeks, by diplomats who work these UN halls, and a Summit that will be remembered by people across the world as a turning point on development, security and human rights - a re-launching of the United Nations to face the challenges of the 21st century.

Development

Mr President, in an increasingly globalised world, never before has the partnership for development been so important. The EU believes that development is a priority in its own right. The achievement of the MDGs, and other agreed development goals, is a real and binding commitment on all member states - both developing countries, and their donor partners. We bear an urgent and collective responsibility to help people in developing countries tackle disease, poverty, a lack of access to education and basic services, unemployment and a degraded environment. We have to implement the partnership reached at Monterrey, and the other summits and conferences, in the social and economic fields. But development is also important because it is interconnected to promotion of security and protection of human rights at the deepest level.

More and better aid

The basis for partnership is that developing countries need to produce ambitious national poverty reduction strategies; improve governance and tackle corruption; protect human rights and promote gender equality; and create the conditions for growth, private sector development and mobilising domestic resources, including through micro-finance. And donors should provide more and better aid - through increases in ODA to speed progress towards of the goal of 0.7% of GNI and further action to simplify and harmonise donor behaviour. As part of this effort, we should develop innovative financing mechanisms and agree deeper and broader debt relief to help lift the burden of unsustainable debt.

This new money should be provided in a sustainable and predictable way that supports country-owned poverty reduction strategies, rather than bypass or undermine them. This should include funding to build stronger health systems, to support a comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS and other diseases, and to promote sexual and reproductive health. In addition, we welcome the improvements to the text on gender and think the Summit should send a strong signal on the human rights of women.

We must also do all we can in September to maximise the probability that Hong Kong produces a fairer and more just trade regime by delivering on the promise of the Doha Development Agenda. An ambitious outcome of the WTO Round can create new trade opportunities and further stimulate economic growth and development. This, coupled with increased aid for trade will ensure that no country is denied the benefits provided by a growing world economy.

These points are all well reflected in the outcome document. In addition, I would like to raise the following points.

We have recently seen important commitments by developing and developed countries: the African Union at Sirte on governance and the EU and G8 on aid, debt and trade. These should be reflected more clearly in the outcome document. We should also maintain the ambition currently in the text on increasing ODA. Furthermore, we should welcome the Paris declaration on aid effectiveness and the decisions by groups of countries to go ahead with IFF, IFFIm and solidarity levies to provide the scale of resources needed.

Sustainable development

Mr President, we must ensure that our approach to development and the use of our environment is sustainable; to provide all people with access to water and sanitation and to ensure that the world's natural resources and biodiversity are managed in a way that maximises poverty reduction and the livelihoods of future generations. Environmental sustainability must be fully integrated into national development strategies.

We should undertake urgent global action to mitigate climate change - a serious, long-term challenge for every part of the world - through initiating negotiations to develop a more inclusive and equitable international framework for climate change beyond 2012; to help vulnerable developing countries adapt to its adverse affects; and to develop new technologies for renewable energy and increased energy efficiency.

We fully endorse efforts to establish a world-wide early warning system for all natural hazards and promote disaster risk reduction strategies such as the Hyogo Declaration and Framework of Action. In this area and others, the outcome document needs to convey the widely held concern that we cannot revert to business as usual.

Africa

Mr President, the EU believes that Africa should be a priority for action.

On current projections, Africa will not meet the MDGs. The EU considers the development of Africa a priority and will step up its efforts to assist African countries to reach the Millennium Development Goals as a matter of urgency. The EU and other donors have new aid commitments that should increase annual aid to Africa by $25 billion a year in 2010, compared to 2004. We welcome the strong and comprehensive commitments by the African Union to promote peace and security and to create a conducive environment by ensuring good governance; addressing conflict and political stability; deepening transparency and effective participatory forms of governance; and strengthening democratic institutions and processes. As already noted, this should be given greater prominence in the outcome document.

Africa must be enabled to enter the mainstream of the world economy: the international community should support this, including through co-operation with NePAD; by ensuring that, collectively, 50% of additional ODA goes to Africa; through finding durable solutions to the external debt problems of African countries and through support to the African commitment to free and compulsory primary education and basic health care.

Mr President, the new text expresses better a balanced partnership for development. We hope further refinement can bring out, more clearly, the urgency of a step-change to our efforts, and that international assistance should be in support of national priorities and nationally owned strategies.

Peace and Collective Security

Mr President, as I have already mentioned, freedom from want and freedom from fear are undeniably linked. The EU wants and is working for substantial outcomes at the Summit. We want tight binding decisions by Heads, whose responsibility this is, and whose expectation this is.

Terrorism

The EU strongly endorses the statement made by the Secretary-General in Madrid in March this year that terrorism is unacceptable under any circumstances and in any culture. The Summit must send a forceful message on terrorism and initiate more concerted action to combat it. It has been five months since the Secretary-General launched a UN counter-terrorism strategy: how can our leaders say only that they are ready to "consider" it? We must explicitly endorse the strategy and its five basic pillars and agree that we will implement it. And we must agree to conclude a comprehensive convention on international terrorism, at the latest during the sixtieth session of the General Assembly, including a legal definition of terrorist acts.

Our efforts to combat terrorism must be carried out in full conformity with international law and should always adhere to the fundamental principle of respect for human rights. In addition, more emphasis should be given to protection for victims and the need to strengthen the verification, monitoring and enforcement capacities of the Security Council in its role on Counter-Terrorism.

Peacebuilding Commission

The EU believes the Peacebuilding Commission offers us the chance to break the cycle of conflict: to develop more coherent, consistent and better-funded strategies and to sustain political attention on a country as it makes the transition from conflict to long-term development. By drawing on the range of experience represented in the UN system, the Bretton Woods institutions, regional organisations and relevant member states - including major donors and troop contributors, we can help ensure that strategies for peacebuilding are at the heart of national recovery efforts.

Mr President, you have provided us with a detailed and convincing proposal for the Peacebuilding Commission, which we welcome. We congratulate the missions of Denmark and Tanzania for their lead and extensive preparatory work and intensive consultation on this issue. We will support a Summit outcome that is as detailed as possible, which thus effectively establishes the Commission in September and sets a deadline for it to begin work by the end of the year.

EU and Africa Group debated the Peacebuilding Commission recently. Strong African view that this was one of the most necessary outcomes of the Summit.

But Mr President we can't have it both ways. Can't have decisions of other colleagues argue for delays or avoidance of agreement to detail. Let's face it, noone will be fully satisfied but we all need to be sufficiently satisfied.

If we want an effective Peacebuilding Commission we must decide this at the Summit on the basis of a clear detailed workable proposal. Your text, based on the excellent Danish, Tanzanian text is that basis. It rightly provides a structure to offer expert advice to help countries post-conflict, in most cases when they are unable to help themselves or have the capacity to determine what they want. So if the text is to change it should be to strengthen and clarify it, not to weaken it or make it vague. Frankly to leave the detail for subsequent agreement in the General Assembly is to encourage prevarication and delay and to reduce the chances of an effective powerful tool being in place by 1 January.

Non-proliferation and disarmament

Mr President, non-proliferation and disarmament is another area where the EU believes we need to resolve to make more progress. In September, we must agree further action to strengthen international security in this area - we must not let the world think that the lack of outcome at the NPT Review Conference means the international community is divided on these issues. We must reaffirm that proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their means of delivery is a threat to international peace and security. We must reaffirm our support to the Treaty and its centrality to our policy, drawing attention to the potential implications for international peace and security of withdrawal from the NPT and we should urge the adoption of measures to discourage withdrawal from the Treaty. Given the importance of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons for international peace and security, a withdrawal notification under article X, paragraph 1, should be qualified as being of immediate relevance to the Security Council

In addition, we should adopt the IAEA Model Additional Protocol as the standard for verification; negotiations on a Fissile Material Cut-Off Treaty should begin in the Conference on Disarmament; and we must commit to real and early implementation of Security Council Resolution 1540. We further believe that those States that forgo the nuclear fuel cycle, and meet all nuclear non-proliferation obligations, should enjoy assured access to the market for nuclear fuel and related services. In the conventional field we must commit to strong steps against the spread of Small Arms and strengthen verification and implementation, including for the BTWC.

Use of force

Finally, the EU would like to maintain clear and strong language on the issue of use of force.

Human Rights and the Rule of Law

Mr President, in this cluster discussion, I will also comment on the Human Rights Council proposal before us.

Human Rights Council

The EU believes that the Human Rights Council is a core reform proposal of the September Summit. If we fail to deliver on improving the UN's approach to human rights, the progress we make in the areas of development and security will be severely limited.

In September, we should establish the Human Rights Council as a main free-standing Charter body, linked to the General Assembly - meeting throughout the year, reflecting, at the institutional level, the centrality and universality of human rights, as well as the concern to place them on the same footing as development, peace and security. The Council must be able to address urgent human rights situations swiftly and effectively. Pending a decision the General Assembly might take on the establishment of such a body, the Human Rights Council should be established now as a subsidiary body of the General Assembly, thus creating a link with a universal body. We welcome the proposal to finalise these arrangements by the end of this year and that the GA should then review these arrangements.

Human rights mainstreaming

The EU also believes that human rights issues are relevant to all aspects of the UN's work. We strongly support the call for human rights mainstreaming throughout the system. To play a leading role in this process, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and its field offices should be strengthened, and the EU strongly endorses the proposal to double funding for OHCHR over the next five to six years, including through an increased share of the regular budget. The High Commissioner will then be better able to further develop mainstreaming efforts through strengthened engagement with all relevant UN bodies, including the Security Council. The present mandate arrangements are adequate, and the High Commissioner should be encouraged to further them. We believe there is a link between the Council and human rights mechanisms. Conflict is invariably preceeded by a period of increasing violations of human rights.

Mr President, this cluster includes issues of key import to individuals, to greater practical respect for human rights, and to the reputation of the United Nations. The Summit should take the necessary decisions and previous debates justify including decisions on issues which have been adequately discussed but which I have not mentioned today.

Responsibility to protect

Mr President, the EU believes that international agreement on the concept of the responsibility to protect is long overdue. We cannot stand by as genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing or other gross violations of international humanitarian law and human rights are committed. The primary responsibility for the protection of civilian populations lies first and foremost with each individual state. That flows from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. However, where the state in question is unable or unwilling to do so, the principle of non-interference cannot be an absolute block on action, the international community should help, and if necessary, should be able to take action where such help is refused. So let us send a clear message that the international community has the responsibility to decide and to act through a comprehensive range of measures, including collective action through the Security Council, and in extreme cases, and out of necessity, by use of force, authorised by the Security Council. We should agree and endorse this concept in September.

Strengthening the United Nations

Mr President, the Summit should endorse proposals for far-reaching reform of the UN system itself: the Secretariat, funds, programmes and agencies and the existing UN inter-governmental bodies. On this latter point, we welcome your proposals for reform of the General Assembly and ECOSOC. But we note too that Charter amendment of the responsibilities of the Organs of the UN is not envisaged.

Management reform

We welcome the reforms already initiated by the Secretary-General to strengthen oversight and accountability of his Secretariat. We recognise the role of the Secretary-General as the Chief Executive Officer of the United Nations and we commit to ensure that the Secretary-General has the authority and flexibility to carry out fully his managerial and leadership responsibilities. The EU welcomes the good proposals for Secretariat reform already presented in your draft outcome.

The Secretary-General is the natural interlocutor of our Heads of Government. It is not reasonable that he should have virtually no flexibility to redeploy Secretariat staff and resources. Giving him flexibility is to do what our own governments do. Better management practice cannot be left as the preserve only of the private sector.

Of course the Secretary-General and the Secretariat are there to implement decisions of the General Assembly. But they will be better decisions if we also prescribe a measure of flexibility. Accountability is best then met by holding the Secretary-General more to account for the way in which that flexibility is used. That arrangement preserves full proportionate intergovernmental direction of the United Nations. In contrast the status quo exemplifies inefficiency and permits small groups of states to hold up decisions and paralyse progress.

The EU therefore welcomes the good proposals for Secretariat reform already presented in your draft outcome.

In particular, the EU supports: granting the Secretary-General broad authority to redeploy posts and resources from lower to higher priority areas; a review of all mandates older than five years; strengthening and focusing the capacity of OIOS to carry out audit and investigations; a review of the budgetary and human resource rules under which the Organisation operates; and proposals to improve the quality of personnel. In addition and as a basic principle, UN personnel and personnel deployed to UN peacekeeping operations must abide by the highest standards of behaviour. We urge full and vigorous implementation of the Secretary-General's zero tolerance policy on sexual exploitation and abuse, and recall that all states have a responsibility to take appropriate measures, not limited to disciplinary action, but including criminal investigation and prosecution against offenders.

Reform of the UN's operational arms

Mr President, the operational arms of the United Nations must be fit to deliver against all the commitments in our Summit Outcome, particularly the MDGs. The EU believes we must signal our intention to reform radically the way the development, humanitarian environmental bodies operate. We welcome the proposal to invite the Secretary General to launch further work on this.

As the largest humanitarian donor, the EU believes we should use the Summit as a platform to improve the effectiveness and predictability of humanitarian response. We should use the Summit as a platform to improve the effectiveness and predictability of humanitarian response. We should:

commit to upholding and respecting humanitarian principles of humanity, independence, neutrality and impartiality;

improve the timeliness of humanitarian funding, inter alia, through reform of the Central Emergency Revolving Fund;

strengthen the Humanitarian Co-ordinator functions;

develop stand-by mechanisms and capabilities and benchmarks to set goals and measure performance.

We welcome recognition of the need for a more coherent institutional framework of international environmental governance with better co-ordination and monitoring, and would support the call to consider the possibility of a more integrated structure as proposed by the Secretary-General. The EU favours the establishment of a UN agency for the environment, based on UNEP, with a revised and strengthened mandate.

Conclusion

As I conclude, Mr President, I should stress that the key concern of the EU is that the UN should be a vehicle, indeed the primary international vehicle, for effective multilateralism. That means action to implement the commitments we make in September is as important as the commitments themselves. We hope that you, Mr President, in consultation, with your successor, and with the Secretary-General, can be ready with proposals for a comprehensive implementation programme; a plan of action to translate September's agreements into real activity and change. It should be clear who is going to do what, and by when. We are arguing for maximum decisions by the Summit and clear implementation plan for each.

Finally, Mr President, I want to thank you and your team of facilitators for your hard work. On many of the issues, we are almost there. On half-a-dozen or so, we still have more work to do. But the challenge is one to which we should all rise in our common interest and for the further effectiveness and strengthening of the United Nations.

The EU pledges its support and commitment over these final weeks to help ensure that the Summit outcome is worthy of our Heads of State and Government, and of this historic moment.


* Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

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• EU Presidency Statement - Summit Outcome Document: Revised Budget Estimates (14/12/2005)
• GAERC Conclusions on UN Summit (18/7/2005)
• Déclaration de la Présidence de l'Union européenne - le Sommet de Septembre (21/6/2005)
• Commission Adopts Strategy for Successful 2005 UN Summit (15/6/2005)