EU Presidency Statement - Report of Economic and Social Council

Mr. President,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union. The acceding countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and the countries associated with the EU - Bulgaria, Romania, and Turkey - have aligned themselves with this statement.

The European Union holds the revitalization and reinforcement of the Economic and Social Council's role to be of the utmost importance. This objective, reaffirmed by the Heads of State and Government in the Millennium Declaration, needs to be vigorously pursued. We welcome the progress made in strengthening the Council's role. At the same time, we believe that much remains to be done to give ECOSOC its rightful role in the United Nation system as it has evolved since its inception.

The European Union wants to highlight major areas in which the role of ECOSOC can be strengthened.

Reinforcing the system-wide coordination role

The European Union is encouraged by the outcome of the ad hoc working group of the General Assembly on the follow-up to major Conferences as reflected in resolution 57/270B.

There is a broad consensus on ECOSOC's pivotal role in system-wide coordination and in promoting integrated, coordinated implementation of and follow-up to major UN Conferences and Summits, and achieving the MDGs. This will allow the Council to assume the responsibilities invested in it by the Millennium Summit, the Monterrey Consensus, the WSSD, and all the Conferences and Special Sessions of the GA throughout the nineties. We welcome ECOSOC's decision in Geneva last July to finalize the list of cross-cutting themes and the multi-year work programme before the next substantive session in 2004.

At the same time, we consider the activities of ECOSOC's functional commissions to be of the utmost importance. They can inject great vitality into UN debates and activities, as demonstrated by the recent outcome of the eleventh Commission on Sustainable Development. The CSD's new path shows how innovation can lead to better targeted and more productive actions. Such actions keep the UN at the focus of the initiatives and attention of Governments, civil society and other stakeholders. To this end, openness to innovation in identifying the most effective and result-oriented work methods is a must. The General Assembly has asked the various Commissions to continue to review their methods. We have high hopes for the results that this process will deliver.

Mr. President,

In his report on the ECOSOC's coordination segment, E/2003/67, the Secretary-General indicated areas that deserve more attention. In particular, we agree with the Secretary-General's suggestions to focus on the relationship between ECOSOC and the regional commissions and on the need to build a closer relationship with specialized agencies and inter-agency bodies to ensure consistency in the implementation of the Millennium Development Goals.

Mr. President,

The Secretary-General has suggested that, "the role of the Economic and Social Council - and the role of the United Nations as a whole in economic and social affairs, including its relationship to the Bretton Woods institutions - needs to be re-thought and reinvigorated." The European Union believes that the relationship between the UN and the BWI and WTO has improved substantially: the preparatory process of the Monterrey Conference on Financing for Development showed the tremendous potential for a relationship among different organizations working within their mandates to achieve a common outcome. We must work hard to keep up that spirit, using this type of methodology to implement our common agenda for development. I have to say however that we have not yet achieved the level of synergy and co-operation that should be expected.

Address main topics

The enhancement of the ECOSOC's role depends largely on its ability to address issues of major relevance to Governments and public opinion. The membership has a great responsibility in establishing the themes on which we focus our action since they are the outcome of a negotiated process. At the same time we have not to refrain from allowing ECOSOC to be more pro-active on important issues calling ad hoc meetings whenever the issue's relevance will justify it. As an example, ECOSOC could, if needed, devote more of its work to country specific situations or crisis.

Humanitarian Assistance

The humanitarian segment of last July's ECOSOC highlighted another area where more action is needed. The Council plays a major role in strengthening the coordination of United Nations emergency humanitarian assistance. In this respect, the resolution gives clear guidance to all stakeholders. The EU believes that humanitarian assistance should be provided in ways that support recovery and long-term development, and that promote self-reliance among affected populations and sustainability of the humanitarian efforts. In complex emergencies a sound transitional phase and well-coordinated and appropriately sequenced relief and development interventions could help prevent the recurrence of conflicts, which should also be an objective. In welcoming the UN's work in this area, we believe that ECOSOC must continue to focus on the challenges of the transition from relief to development.

Post conflict

The European Union is pleased by the establishment of the Ad Hoc Advisory Group on African countries emerging from conflict. The first experience with Guinea Bissau and the recent establishment of the working group on Burundi show that there are opportunities to improve ECOSOC's role in filling the gap between relief efforts and long-term reconstruction and development. We believe that this experience will provide useful lessons for enhancing coordination between ECOSOC and the Security Council in addressing the post-conflict challenges faced by African countries.

Management issues

Mr. President,

In closing, the initiative of the President of ECOSOC, Ambassador Rosenthal, to present a memorandum on his recent experience in Geneva deserves our attention. He has made a number of suggestions on how to improve ECOSOC's working methods in a way that would enable it to better discharge its statutory duties. The European Union appreciates Ambassador Rosenthal's initiative. We cannot simply continue to repeat that ECOSOC has a pivotal role in the UN System while ignoring that it cannot perform many of its tasks efficiently because of its manner of working. His idea of improving the General Segment's ability to carry out management tasks deserves our careful attention: it may not be a major reform, but it may well produce major results. The European Union encourages the President of ECOSOC to continue the process he has undertaken

Thank you, Mr. President.

| Top |