EU Presidency Statement - ECOSOC Reform

Sommaire: EU Presidency Statement - ECOSOC Reform (20 December 2005: New York)

EU Presidency Statement by the Representative of the United Kingdom Mission to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union, at the UN General Assembly Consultations on ECOSOC Reform, New York

Co-Chairs, I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania; the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*; the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro; and the EFTA country Iceland, member of the European Economic Area; as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

Thank you for convening this further debate on ECOSOC reform. As we have said before, the EU attaches great importance to revitalisation of ECOSOC, to fulfil its role under the Charter and the functions set out in the Summit Outcome.

We are also grateful for your letter of 16 December setting out possible approaches for a General Assembly resolution on ECOSOC reform. We believe your proposals offer a good basis for such a resolution. We hope such a resolution can be finalised in January, allowing ECOSOC thereafter to decide on detailed organisational arrangements. We hope such arrangements could be implemented in time for the next ECOSOC substantive session in 2006.

Before turning to the specifics of your letter, I would underline that one important general aim should be to make ECOSOC meetings more attractive to Ministers of all member states. This will not come just by adding more high-level meetings, or re-naming existing sessions. It means that the issues to be discussed should be relevant for Ministers, and that discussion should allow for genuine dialogue, exchanges of view and personal contact. This is one reason why we should not judge the value of meetings only or mainly by whether we have a negotiated text.

On global policy dialogue, we would be open to a political-level Policy Dialogue replacing the High Level Segment of the substantive session in alternate years. But we can accept your proposal to develop such dialogue more broadly through:

the existing annual ECOSOC Spring Meeting with the BWIs, WTO and UNCTAD, which could conclude with a President's summary; and
a high level debate in alternate years within a revitalised High Level Segment, which could result in a Ministerial Declaration.

In the alternate years, we suggest that global policy dialogue could be sufficiently ensured through the Spring Meeting and the Development Co-operation Forum.

We agree we should invite ECOSOC to review the form and preparation of these events to facilitate high level participation and more interactive discussions. We must be realistic over the number of events each year that Ministers may attend.

On the Development Co-operation Forum, we agree the DCF could form part of a revitalised High Level Segment, with an outcome in the form of a President's summary. To limit the number of Ministerial meetings, we suggest the DCF should not take place in the same year as the GA High Level Dialogue on FfD.

We should also consider the implications of policy dialogue and the Development Co-operation Forum for the Co-ordination Segment. We consider that, together, the policy dialogue or DCF in alternate years, and the annual Ministerial Review, could subsume the current High-Level Segment and the Co-ordination Segment.

On annual Ministerial Reviews, we have suggested the reviews take place immediately after a revitalised High Level Segment, including the policy dialogue or Development Co-operation Forum, so as to facilitate Ministerial attendance. We would also be open to your proposal that the reviews should form part of the High Level Segment. We agree that ECOSOC's subsidiary bodies should organise their work so as to contribute to the preparations; and that the outcome of the Reviews could be a President's summary or a political declaration.

We believe the reviews should focus each year on a particular region, and/or a sub-set of the MDGs or other goals, or a specific conference. We consider that review of individual countries, on a voluntary basis, requires further consideration to determine the practical feasibility of this potentially interesting concept.

We suggest that, in the preparation of a concise and analytical policy note by the SG, maximum use should be made of existing reporting and processes by UN entities and other stakeholders, in order to minimise duplication.

On humanitarian emergencies, we agree that ECOSOC should focus on mobilising international awareness and engagement in responding to specific emergencies. ECOSOC should also address in broader terms co-ordination arrangements, broad policy implications and capacities to respond to such emergencies. We attach great importance to maintaining OCHA's current role in operational co-ordination, and avoiding duplication with the GA or its committees.

On Coherence and Co-ordination, we should find ways to enhance ECOSOC's role as a forum to promote guidance and coordination to UN Funds, Programmes and Specialised Agencies, to build system-wide coherence in policy terms and for operational activities, eg in further work in 2006 on system coherence.

More specifically, we believe that we can and should all do more to implement the provisions of GA resolution 57/270B. We share the view that ECOSOC's operational and humanitarian segments should continue essentially in their current format. For the general segment, we suggest the GA might invite ECOSOC to find ways to improve the preparation and organisation of its work.

Finally, we would again underline the importance of avoiding duplication with existing processes, and our belief that a revitalised ECOSOC should be able to carry out its work effectively within the existing allocation of resources.

Thank you Co-Chairs.

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

Ref: PRES05-376EN
Source UE: Présidence UE
UN forum: Conseil de Securité
Date: 20/12/2005

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