EU Presidency Statement - Security Council: Open meeting on Terrorism

Statement by Ambassador Jones Parry, Permanent Representative, UK Mission to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union, to the Security Council at an open meeting on terrorism, New York

Mr President,

I have the honour to speak also 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, EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

I would like to thank the three Committee Chairmen for their comprehensive briefings.

Mr President,

Once again recent events have shown us that the threat of terrorist attack is ever present. It seems that every time we gather for a meeting of this type, we must face the harsh reality of recent terrorist action. The European Union extends its deepest condolences to the people and Government of Bali and Indonesia. The terrible events they and others around the world have suffered serve but to renew our determination to fight this battle and to maximise our efforts to counter this global menace.

The European Union welcomes the steps the UN is taking in this direction, in particular we strongly support the measures outlined in the Summit outcome document and in UNSCR 1624. We fully expect and look forward to the conclusion of a Comprehensive Convention on international terrorism during this session of the General Assembly. We welcome the Secretary-General's readiness to assist the General Assembly in its deliberations on a counter-terrorism strategy, by making available to the Assembly, an updated version of his previous strategy, if so requested, when the Assembly decides to discuss this issue. We look forward to his proposals to strengthen the capacity of the United Nations system to assist States in combating terrorism and to enhance the co-ordination of United Nations activities in this regard. We are also highly appreciative of the appointment of the new UNHCR Special Rapporteur on

Counter-Terrorism and Human Rights - the European Union firmly believes that any strategy to counter terrorism must of necessity be coupled with a care for the rights and freedoms of individuals.

Mr President,

The European Union welcomes the adoption of the new Al-Qaida and Taliban Sanctions resolution 1617, in particular the clarification it provides on the definition of "association with Al-Qaida" and its encouragement for Member States to endorse the internationally recognised Financial Action Task Force standards. We hope that following this endorsement, the Counter-Terrorism Committee now intends to adopt the standards as an example of best practice for States. We are also pleased to note that resolution 1617 tasks the Committee with furthering work on its Guidelines, including on procedures for delisting and humanitarian exemptions. The European Union strongly favours the creation of clearer, more detailed guidance on these issues and we urge the Committee to begin its work on these issues as soon as possible. In addition, we note, with interest, the detailed recommendations contained in the 1267 Monitoring Team's third report and look forward to the Committee approving a number of these recommendations in due course.

Mr President,

The European Union welcomes the adoption of UNSCR 1624 and looks forward to the Counter-Terrorism Committee working to ensure that States are doing all that they can to implement the resolution. We are pleased that the Counter-Terrorism Executive Directorate is now at full strength and are glad to note that the resulting increase in CTC and CTED capacity has led to the production of a full and forward looking programme of work. In particular, the EU places great emphasis on the importance of the co-ordination and facilitation of technical assistance and we keenly anticipate the expansion of CTED's role in these areas and look forward to their increased engagement with international, regional and subregional organisations and donors producing tangible results. The EU has participated in CTED visits to countries with which it has a close relationship, and looks forward to doing so again. The EU also warmly welcomes the appointment of a Human Rights expert to CTED. We look forward to this expert working closely with the Commission on Human Rights and the recently appointed Special Rapporteur on Terrorism and Human Rights to ensure that States' counter-terrorism efforts take into account international human rights law.

Mr President,

The European Union welcomes the ongoing work of the 1540 Committee. We are pleased to learn that the Committee has now completed its examination of first reports submitted by States. We welcome the beginning of more work on technical assistance for States to implement the resolution, and the EU stands ready to play its part. The European Union continues to implement its WMD strategy, including ongoing support and implementation for 1540, which we believe represents an essential element of the global counter-proliferation and counter-terrorism regime. EU Member States are working hard to identify key areas of implementation to address from both national and international perspectives. We continue to urge those States who have not yet submitted reports to the Committee to do so at the earliest opportunity and would be glad to consider any request for assistance or advice to such States as might be required.

Mr President,

The EU supports increased co-ordination and co-operation between the three Committees and their experts. Issues such as information sharing, visits and technical assistance are relevant to the Council's work overall, and the work of the Committees should reinforce each other as much as possible in these areas. As a regional organisation, the EU welcomes the adoption of SCR 1631 and stands ready to work with the Security Council to take forward close co-operation in the area of counter terrorism, as in other areas, and in particular to help our Member States in their efforts to tackle terrorism. Furthermore, we encourage the Security Council to consider ways to strengthen its monitoring and enforcement role in counter-terrorism, including by consolidating State reporting requirements, taking into account and respecting the different mandates of its counter-terrorism subsidiary bodies.

Mr President,

On our part, implementing our regional counter-terrorist financing strategy remains a priority for the EU. Notable achievements include progress towards adopting and implementing new regulatory measures to tackle terrorist financing and regulate wire transfers, alternative remittance systems and cash couriers. We continue to work towards an EU Code of Conduct for regulating the charitable sector, on improving financial information exchange and investigation, and on improving asset-freezing measures at both the EU and national levels.

We are also working on a programme of assistance to priority third countries and are actively considering to which other countries the EU can usefully contribute. We are in the process of drafting an EU wide strategy on recruitment and radicalisation and recently held a productive Euromed meeting on this issue. And finally, we continue to lobby for all states to ratify and implement all UN counter-terrorism conventions, including the Convention for the Suppression of Acts of Nuclear Terrorism which all EU States recently signed, and as always, stand ready to play our part in the global response to terrorism.


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

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• EU Presidency Statement - Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism (6/10/2005)
• EU Commission presents comprehensive Counter-terrorism package  (21/9/2005)
• EU Presidency Statement - Security Council: Counter-Terrorism (20/7/2005)