EU Presidency Statement - Strengthening of the Role of the Organization

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, the Candidate Countries, Bulgaria and Romania, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro and the EFTA countries, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

Mr. Chairman,

General Assembly Resolution 58/248 has given the mandate to the Special Committee to continue to consider a number of items. For the purposes of our statement today, the EU would like to focus our attention in those two areas which we have been requested to continue to consider on a priority basis.

The first is the question of the implementation of the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations related to assistance to third States affected by the application of sanctions under Chapter VII of the Charter.

The European Union, while reiterating its view that mandatory sanctions can be and have been an effective mechanism against a State, entity or group of individuals that threaten international peace and security, recalls once again the impact of sanctions on civilian population and third countries. The continuing recourse of the Security Council to targeted sanctions is therefore to be welcomed, preserving the effectiveness of sanctions while minimising unintended negative consequences. The recognition by the Security Council that even targeted sanctions may have certain unintended consequences and the provision for humanitarian exemptions from such sanctions as a result is an additional salutary development. The EU encourages the Security Council to continue to refine its sanctions regime to avoid any undesirable consequences.

The second area which we wish to dwell on this morning is the ways and means of improving the working methods and enhancing the efficiency of the Special Committee.

Mr. Chairman,

For some time now it has been our stated position that the Special Committee should avoid duplicating the work of other UN bodies, such as the special working group on sanctions of the Security Council and the Special Committee on Peacekeeping operations. The EU strongly continues to hold this view. We also continue to believe that discussions in the Special Committee could better focus on fewer topics and that relevant proposals should be submitted well in advance to allow for thorough reflection. We have made other common sense proposals for rationalisation in the past which we believe deserve serious consideration. In this connection, the EU also strongly supports the practical recommendations submitted by Japan in its revised working paper regarding the working methods of the Committee.

Mr. Chairman,

At a time when the members of the General Assembly as a whole are intensively engaged in a comprehensive revitalization review, it seems peculiar that the Special Committee has by and large refrained from embarking on a similar path. The future relevancy of this Committee is not aided by a tenacious reluctance to introduce badly needed reform in our working methods. The apparent refusal by some to recognize this self-evident fact reflects poorly on the Special Committee and all those who participate in its proceedings.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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