Summary: July 10, 2002: Statement by Minister Plenipotentiary Ole E. Moesby, Deputy Permanent Representative of Denmark to the UN, on behalf of the European Union, at the ECOSOC Substantive Session on: Strengthening of ECOSOC - Integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to major United Nations conferences and summits - Implementation of GA resolutions 50/227 and 52/12B (New York)
Allow me to address you on behalf of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European Countries associated with the European Union - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia, and the associated countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, as well as the EFTA countries, which are members of the European Economic Area, Iceland and Liechtenstein, endorse this statement.
Mme Chairperson,
Today we are going to discuss one of the most pertinent questions on the ECOSOC-agenda this year: How to strengthen our work, to improve the way we are doing business. For the European Union, the Millennium Declaration and the Development Goals contained therein constitutes the overriding priority for the economic and social work of the UN. This guides our actions both here at ECOSOC, in the General Assembly, the functional commissions and the funds and programmes. Our task here today is to
examine how this can be done in a more comprehensive way - in short how to ensure that the UN is a vital, energetic and operational player in the economic and social areas in the 21st Century.
In order to address this very complex topic, I will be touching upon the agenda items 6a and 8 as well. We cannot look at the question of strengthening ECOSOC in isolation. This question is closely interlinked with the integrated and coordinated implementation of and follow-up to UN conferences and summits and thus also with the work of the functional commissions. The European Union therefore does not intend to address the Council separately under these agenda items. In fact I want to recall
that the European Union last year suggested merging agenda items 6 and 8. We still believe that this is called for.
As a last word of introduction, we should like to extend our compliments to the Secretariat for having prepared extensive as well as very substantive documentation for these sessions. This will provide us with a sound basis for our deliberations. Furthermore, we would like to express our great appreciation of having you, ambassador Mrs. Marjatta Rasi of Finland, chair this segment of ECOSOC.
Mme Chairperson,
The last two times the Council has met, both in 2000 and 2001, we have discussed how to apply and follow up the results of the major UN conferences and summit meetings. And twice we have failed to come to any significant conclusions. To summarize the positions of the European Union on integrated conference follow-up as expressed during the past years, we believe that +5 and +10 Conferences should be held based on their substantive merits on a case-by-case-basis and there should be no
automaticity in this process. Existing structures, in particular ECOSOC and its functional commissions, should be used for follow-up. No new institutions. Avoiding duplication of work and focus on implementation of commitments, past agreements and outcome documents. We believe that there is a strong need to strengthen the role of the Council in the monitoring of and follow-up to the major conferences and the Millennium Declaration in order to provide a comprehensive overview of implementation
and progress in achieving the Development Goals therein.
Since we met last year, the Monterrey Conference has reaffirmed the resolve of our Heads of State and Government at the Millennium Summit to strengthen ECOSOC and to help it fulfil the role ascribed to it in the UN Charter. Enhancing the coordination between developmental, economic, social, and environmental areas of the UN requires a strengthening of the very organ entrusted with this mandate. We are committed to staying engaged based on the Monterrey agenda, both at ECOSOC and in the other
venues foreseen in the Monterrey Consensus. The issue of strengthening ECOSOC is also high on the agenda of the final deliberations leading to the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg. The European Union thus agrees with the Secretary-General, when he in his report stresses the new challenges for ECOSOC.
We are convinced that it is high time to bring this discussion to fruition here in the Council. The implementation of the Millennium Declaration and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals at national level cannot wait; the leadership in taking the Millennium Declaration agenda forwards has to come from the UN and its Member States. We have to show that our institutions are useful for Conference follow-up for all development partners and processes, including for WSSD
Mme Chairperson,
We agree that there are a number of questions, which have to be addressed at this session of ECOSOC in order to keep track of the commitment to implementing the Millennium Declaration. The Staying Engaged-section of the Monterrey Consensus constitutes one building block in this regard. This recognition has implications for the WSSD follow-up discussions. And it has implications for the larger agenda of enhancing the work of ECOSOC suggested by the Secretary-General in his very timely report to
this segment. Thus we have to look at the larger picture also, in order to build a coherent system.
We would like to note at this point that one of the important additions made by the Monterrey Consensus was to call for a stronger involvement of WTO, in addition to the Bretton Woods institutions dialogue. We believe that the dialogue between ECOSOC and the Bretton Woods institutions and WTO therefore should have the implementation of the Monterrey Consensus as a main item on the agenda. To us the commitment to ensuring sustainable development and the implementation of the Millennium
Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals at country level is key. At the same time it might be wise to leave the door open for including the follow-up to other UN-conferences, not least WSSD, in our agenda.
In addition to discussing the agenda, we believe that this session of ECOSOC should strive to agree on the organization of next years meeting between ECOSOC, the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO. Furthermore we should strive to agree on the modalities for involving the stakeholders in the follow-up to the Monterrey Conference.
We believe that the innovative modalities that were used for stakeholder participation in the preparations of the Monterrey Conference and at the Conference itself should be continued both when it comes to preparing the meeting, discussing the agenda and the possible outcome of the meeting. As a practical outcome of this mornings meeting, we suggest to, invite the major stakeholders to participate in our informal consultations on these issues. In fact, the innovative approach for engaging civil
society and the private sector and other non-state actors could be applied in a practical way to the general work of the Council. In this regard we would welcome further proposals on how to engage non-state actors other than NGOs in our work.
Mme Chairperson,
From what has just been said then also flows our general positive attitude to the suggestions contained in the Secretary-Generals report to this segment. Overall, we look forward to engaging in a dialogue on the suggestions presented by the Secretary-General on the organization of different segments of the council, including the scheduling of the sessions of ECOSOC in order to elicit the participation of high-level policy makers. But it should also be strongly emphasized that the responsibility
of creating relevant sessions worth the while of high-level policy makers ultimately lies with us here in the Council. To be blunt: Policy makers will come, when substantive policy debates are taking place with concrete implications for the development efforts in the economic and social field. That does not depend on when a session is scheduled or how it is linked to other segments or events.
Obviously we cannot go into details on the many concrete proposals in the report of the Secretary-General on the various segments, but they definitely merit further deliberations. Some of the proposals are linked directly to the way we do our daily business in the Council. That is an area where there is a considerable room for improvement and an area where resources could be freed up for more substantive purposes than is the case today. In doing so we must all show more restraint in requesting
reports that we don't need and we must work to ensure that there is a clear division of labour between the various organs.
Suffices to say that we will also have to look closely at the high-level segment and the coordination segment. Both in light of how we enhance the role of ECOSOC in the follow-up to conferences, and in light of how we shape the agenda of our dialogue with the Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO. The EU supports the proposal of the Secretary-General, to use the coordination segment of ECOSOC to discuss follow-up of the major UN conferences and summits. At the same time, we should be careful
not to have conference follow-up as the only theme for ECOSOC. That would for example exclude the suggestion by the Secretary-General to devoting a high-level segment to the long-term strategies to address root causes of conflict.
We agree that the Council could further improve coordination of the operational work of the UN system in support of national sustainable development efforts. The Council should in this regard also insist on mainstreaming sustainable development in the whole UN system. This will be central to the work of the Council with implementing the Johannesburg Plan of Action.
In this context I should like to recall that the European Union has proposed to make Global Public Goods the theme of next years high-level segment of ECOSOC. We believe that it would be incoherent and inconsistent if we should not be able to deal with this issue at the proper instance for coordination in the UN system.
The European Union is very supportive of the establishment of an ad hoc advisory group on African countries emerging from conflict. This group has to be small and effective. The flexible, time-limited approach at the request of the concerned country itself seems like a workable, pragmatic way ahead. If it succeeds, we will have taken a major step towards filling one of the most critical gaps at the end of a peacekeeping mission and between relief and long-term reconstruction and development.
Thus ECOSOC together with the Security Council can contribute to the integrated and complimentary approach to conflict, peace and development in Africa called for by the Secretary-General.
Already pragmatic steps have been taken like having the president of ECOSOC address the Security Council, and having the president of the Security Council address the UNICEF Executive Board. We welcome pragmatic further steps that will reduce gaps between development and humanitarian approaches, as well as between these approaches and peace and security, and welcome close coordination between the different bodies concerned.
Mme Chairperson,
When it comes to the functional commissions I have already touched upon various aspects of their involvement in the strengthening of ECOSOC. It is essential that day-to-day follow-up of the major UN conferences, summits and special sessions and the implementation of their results takes place at the appropriate level, where the expertise is present, i.e. in the Commissions. As it is right now much too much time is spent on lengthy negotiations of issues that belong elsewhere. I will take this
opportunity to reiterate some more precise ideas on the question of follow-up, namely:
It is evident that follow-up to the conferences is above all the responsibility of Governments, and that commitments made at conferences should be implemented firstly at national level - on the ground.
The follow-up to the conferences should be carried out on a regular basis at technical, expert level in a way adapted to the various major Conferences and the Millennium Declaration. Thereby they would provide a valuable input to the work of both ECOSOC and the General Assembly in the follow-up to the Millennium Declaration. May I in this regard remind this Council of the EU-suggestion at last year's ECOSOC to encourage participation of experts from the developing countries in meetings of the
functional commissions? If need be (for the LDCs in particular), the EU would be in favour of financial support provided voluntarily by the developed countries in order to ensure the presence of experts from capitals at functional commission meetings.
The development of a range of common indicators is indispensable. The monitoring of a limited number of indicators, selected on the basis of conference objectives and Millennium commitments, is very useful to the funds and programmes of the UN and for the functional commissions in evaluating the progress, which has been made. In this context, the EU will carefully study the work of the Statistical Commission on the indicators as well as the continuing work of other subsidiary organs of
ECOSOC.
Mme Chairperson,
Right now we have to seize the window of opportunity, the momentum for action and improvement created by the Millennium Summit, the Monterrey Conference and the process leading up to the Johannesburg Summit. We believe that fulfilling the mandate given to us by the Heads of State and Government in the Millennium Declaration is a positive sum game that will benefit all of us. What it now takes is the political will and resolve to do so. It is our responsibility to finally ensure that ECOSOC
fulfils its potential in the economic and social field, in accordance with the UN Charter.
Mme Chairperson, thank you.
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