Madam President, on behalf
of the European Union, I have the honour to address
the General Assembly at its sixty-first session. The
acceding countries Bulgaria and Romania; the
candidate countries Turkey, Croatia and the former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; the countries of the
Stabilization and Association Process and potential
candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Montenegro, Serbia; and also Ukraine and the Republic
of Moldova, align themselves with this statement.
Let me start by congratulating you, Madam
President, upon your assumption of the office of
President of the General Assembly. I also wish to
express our appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Jan
Eliasson, whose input has been crucial to the United
Nations reform process. We are confident that under
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your wise leadership, Madam President, this session
will turn out to be successful.
The European Union is deeply committed to the
United Nations and to its comprehensive agenda
promoting peace and security, sustainable
development, human rights and fundamental freedoms.
We want to create a more peaceful, prosperous and
democratic world. The European Union continues its
close and loyal cooperation with the world
Organization. Recent events in different parts of the
world have proved once again that, 61 years after its
establishment, an effective United Nations is needed
more than ever.
Contrary to our shared ideals, the realities of war
and violence have not passed away into history.
Conflicts and terrorism continue to destroy the social
and economic progress for which we are all striving.
The recent tragic events that occurred in Lebanon,
Israel and the Palestinian territories have again
demonstrated the need to achieve a just and lasting
peace in the Middle East. Sustainable peace in the
Middle East and security for the people living there can
be achieved only through a commitment to a peace
process that leads to a viable independent Palestinian
State living in peace with a secure Israel. That remains
our goal. The European Union is determined to
participate actively in the implementation of Security
Council resolution 1701 (2006) in order to help
consolidate the ceasefire and reach a long-term
solution based on the terms contained in the resolution.
The European Union is strongly committed to
respect of international humanitarian law, including the
protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel
during conflict. We therefore condemn the deaths of
hundreds of civilians in Lebanon and Israel in the
recent conflict. We welcome the outcome of the
Stockholm International Donor Conferences on the
Humanitarian Situation in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories and on Lebanon. The European Union has
responded swiftly and generously to both humanitarian
appeals.
In the Middle East, we have demonstrated our
continued, strong commitment to the United Nations.
Peacekeepers from European Union countries are
already deployed in the area and will form the
backbone of the new United Nations Interim Force in
Lebanon (UNIFIL) operation.
On this occasion, I want to pay tribute to the
memory of the United Nations military observers and
other personnel who recently fell victim to the war in
southern Lebanon.
The European Union will continue active
engagement in United Nations peacekeeping operations
in the future. We see wide scope for further
complementary and combined efforts with the United
Nations as well as with other regional entities.
In sub-Saharan Africa, many peace agreements
have been brokered with the help of the United
Nations, the African Union and the European Union. In
the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the European
Union remains greatly involved in assisting in the
completion of the electoral process through a major
financial contribution and the decisive support of the
European Union military operation.
Unfortunately, in Darfur, the humanitarian and
security situation is deteriorating. The European Union
welcomes the recent Security Council resolution on the
United Nations-led peacekeeping operation in the
Sudan, and we strongly urge the Sudanese Government
to give its consent to the deployment of the United
Nations operation.
Peacebuilding is an integral part of the broad
security concept. The newly established Peacebuilding
Commission brings its own and much-needed
contribution to United Nations work for peace and
security. The European Union will work actively to
ensure that this new body will have a strong and
dynamic role in the United Nations system. Gender
aspect is important in this context. We also welcome
the establishment of the Central Emergency Response
Fund to enhance the capability of the international
community to respond to urgent humanitarian needs.
The events of the past year show that terrorism
continues to threaten international peace and security.
This threat can be effectively addressed through broad-
based cooperation within the framework of the United
Nations. The European Union welcomes the agreement
on a global counter-terrorism strategy as an important
instrument and expression of international solidarity in
the fight against terrorism. The European Union urges
United Nations Member States to build on this
achievement and to intensify their efforts to reach a
speedy consensus on a United Nations comprehensive
counter-terrorism convention. We underline the
importance of prevention and of conducting the fight
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against terrorism in accordance with human rights,
refugee law and international humanitarian law.
We consider it important that this session of the
General Assembly should mark progress in the areas of
disarmament and non-proliferation. Concrete action is
needed on small arms and light weapons at the
national, regional and global levels. The European
Union will continue to push for a legally binding treaty
on trade in all conventional weapons.
Effective multilateralism is crucial in facing the
growing threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction. The Security Council has a central role in
addressing those threats. In this regard, the European
Union welcomes the unanimous adoption of resolution
1695 (2006) on the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea. We look forward to its effective
implementation, and we strongly urge the Democratic
People’s Republic of Korea to implement fully the
requirements of this resolution.
The European Union also welcomes the adoption
of Security Council resolution 1696 (2006) and calls
on Iran to respond positively and swiftly to the
demands of the international community in
implementing this resolution, in particular by
suspending its enrichment activities in accordance with
that resolution. This would pave the way for
negotiations on a comprehensive agreement aimed at
restoring confidence that the Iranian nuclear
programme serves exclusively peaceful purposes. We
welcome the current exploratory talks aimed to
facilitate the opening of the negotiations. An
increasingly important element in the promotion of
global peace and security is the need to foster
tolerance, mutual understanding and respect. In this
regard, the European Union has already expressed its
strong support for the Alliance of Civilizations
initiative.
Development builds peace. The United Nations
and its Member States have created effective common
goals for economic, social and environmental
development. We must fulfil our common commitment
to the global partnership for development with all
stakeholders and implement all the Millennium
Development Goals and other jointly agreed
development targets in the time agreed on by Member
States. In our view, every country has control over and
primary responsibility for its own development.
The social dimension of globalization, including
the importance of decent work for all, deserves special
attention in the work of the United Nations. Ensuring
decent work is not only about economic and social
development and individual rights and standards. It is
also very much a factor that contributes to the social
and political stability of countries and regions.
We have seen positive development also in
Africa. However sub-Saharan Africa as a whole is not
on track to reach the Millennium Development Goals
by 2015. Therefore, the European Union has decided to
give 50 per cent of its increase in aid to Africa. We are
willing to strengthen the strategic partnership with
Africa by developing a joint strategy.
We also need to improve aid effectiveness and
donor practices. The European Union is fully
committed to implementation of the Paris Declaration
on Aid Effectiveness and calls on all other donors to do
the same. In addition, the international community
must deliver real gains for poor countries on trade.
Trade can be a strong catalyst for economic growth and
poverty reduction. Thus trade is a key element to
achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
The negotiations of the Doha Development
Agenda must be resumed, as their successful outcome
will deliver substantial development benefits to
developing countries. We urge quick implementation of
the aid-for-trade commitments of December 2005.
The European Union welcomes the outcome of
the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the
Implementation of the Programme of Action for the
Least Developed Countries held in New York this
week. We are pleased that from 2001 onwards
economic growth in the least developed countries
(LDCs) as a group has almost reached the 7 per cent
target. As the providers of the greatest net official
development aid, we note with satisfaction the overall
increase in official development assistance from donor
countries, especially to LDCs.
Ensuring sustainable development is an urgent
task. Environmental sustainability underpins long-term
development and the achievement of all the
Millennium Development Goals. Addressing climate
change and biodiversity loss are integral parts of
achieving sustainable development. For this purpose,
the Montreal Action Plan on climate change agreed last
year needs to be pushed forward urgently.
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The Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on
United Nations System-wide Coherence is about to
finalize its work. The European Union looks forward to
studying the Panel’s recommendations, which could
give an urgently needed global response, especially at
the country level. This should be done in close
cooperation with other multilateral stakeholders and
the developing countries themselves.
The European Union looks forward to continuing
cooperation in the field of migration and development
after last week’s High-level Dialogue. Migration is an
integral part of the development agenda, and
development is an important element in migration
policies.
The European Union is committed to
strengthening and mainstreaming human rights within
the United Nations system. One of the major
accomplishments of the United Nations has been the
comprehensive framework of international human
rights law. It sets out clear standards by which all
States are measured. With a view to strengthening that
framework, we attach great importance to the adoption
of new instruments on enforced disappearances, the
rights of indigenous peoples and the rights of persons
with disabilities during the present session of the
General Assembly.
The newly established Human Rights Council has
the potential to significantly strengthen the promotion
and protection of human rights throughout the world.
The European Union wants to ensure that it lives up to
that potential and that it soon plays a strong and
dynamic role in the United Nations system. The Union
has high expectations for the second regular session of
the Council, which began yesterday.
The EU is also committed to ending impunity for
the most serious crimes of concern to the international
community. We strongly support the International
Criminal Court (ICC) and call upon all States that are
not yet party to the Rome Statute of the ICC to ratify or
accede to it without delay.
The EU will continue to promote the rule of law
both at the national level and in international relations.
In Iraq, upholding the rule of law is a key challenge.
The Union is working closely together with the United
Nations and other partners to assist the Iraqi
Government in that field.
The EU wishes to see this world Organization
function in a more effective, transparent and
accountable way. The EU recognizes the need to
reform the main United Nations bodies, among them
the General Assembly, the Economic and Social
Council and the Security Council. Management reform,
as well as the mandates review, will be high on our
agenda when we start our work this autumn. We need
to continue our collective efforts through consensual
decision-making. After all, United Nations reform will
benefit the entire membership of the Organization.
Before I conclude, let me pay tribute to our
Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan. For nearly 10
years, he has shown leadership and vision in his work
to uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter,
as well as courage in the much-needed transformation
of our world Organization. He has put a human face on
the United Nations, both inside and outside the
Organization. I wish him all the best.