EU cooperation with UN

Relations between the United Nations(1) and the European Union have grown over time into a rich and diverse network of co-operation and contacts. Relations are strong and complex and they now cover virtually all areas of EU external relations, spanning the entire scope of the UN Charter from peace, security, human rights to social and economic affairs, including development and humanitarian activities and trade policy.

Improving co-operation with the UN is a major priority to the EU, to its Member States and to the European Commission. The United Nations Millennium Declaration(2), reaffirmed the UN global role and set out the international community's commitment to make the UN a more effective instrument for pursuing a series of priorities, among which the fight for development. Following the meetings between Secretary-General Annan and President Prodi, the European Commission considers that there is good reason to strengthen further relations with the UN and to improve efficiency and coherence in our co-operation.

The Commission considers that a first step in the direction of a more effective partnership could be taken by enhancing collaboration in the fields of development and humanitarian affairs. Over recent years, a consensus on the fundamental objectives and strategies of development co-operation has emerged on the global scene, allowing the international community to engage actively in the debate over the potential for more coherent action between various organisations and donors. The Commission is convinced that the quality and impact of EC development and humanitarian policies and activities can be improved by better clarifying what the Community's role should be in the UN context and what it suggests to contribute to the multilateral system. That positive impact can however only be achieved if on the other hand the Commission specifies what it expects from the partners in the United Nations system.

The new strategy for improved co-operation with the United Nations relies upon and benefits from the ongoing overhaul of the Commission's system of operations in the field of external activities (strengthening of the programming process, de-concentration and decentralisation, result-based approach). It pre-supposes increased co-ordination between Member States and the Commission, namely in the international fora and within partner countries. Finally, it is based on the concept of increased complementarity both between the Community and its Member States and the Community and the United Nations.

The main goals of the proposed strategy are to strengthen the involvement of the EC in the upstream policy dialogue and to build a more transparent, financially predictable and easier to monitor partnership with chosen UN agencies, funds and programmes. These entities should be selected on the basis of their ability to match the objectives of the EC and to make a reliable and effective contribution to the provision of emergency relief to the victims of humanitarian crisis as stipulated in the humanitarian aid regulation(3) and to the implementation of the EC development priorities set out in the Statement by the Council and the Commission "The European Community's Development Policy" of 10 November 2000.

This Communication does not address the issues of the security and peace maintenance, in spite of their close connection to development and humanitarian matters. The Commission intends come back to the overall EU/UN relationship and to closer co-operation in the fields of conflict prevention and crisis management in a later Communication, incorporating the conclusions from the current reflection on EC-UN co-operation in the development and humanitarian fields.


For the full text of this document, please go to:

http://europa.eu.int/eur-lex/en/com/cnc/2001/com2001_0231en01.pdf


(1) For the purpose of this Communication, "United Nations" means the UN bodies listed in Annex I. This definition excludes the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and WTO.
(2) A/res/55/2, 8 September 2000.
(3) Council Regulation (EC) No 1257/96 of 20 June 1996

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