EU Presidency Statement - United Nations Peacekeeping Operations

Mr. President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The candidate countries Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey, 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 country, Norway, a member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

The European Union welcomes the initiative shown by the Pakistan Presidency in tabling this discussion and the very helpful non-paper circulated in advance of the debate. Our debate is also very timely from an EU perspective in that it takes place on the day in which our Foreign and Defence Ministers are meeting in Brussels to discuss development of EU peace-keeping and crisis management capabilities, including in support of the United Nations.

The European Union has actively supported and participated in peacekeeping and crisis management operations throughout the world from the Balkans to Africa and Asia, manifesting its commitment to the UN and to maintaining peace around the globe.

Mr. President,

EU Foreign and Defence Ministers, at their meeting today in Brussels, adopted Conclusions which reflect the significant steps taken forward over recent months in the European Union's Security and Defence Policy. I am pleased to report to the Security Council that good progress is being made in relation to both military and non-military aspects of EU peace-keeping and crisis management capabilities.

Last September, the UN and EU signed a joint declaration providing for deeper cooperation in these areas and which placed particular emphasis on the need for greater consultation and cooperation in relation to planning, training, communication and best practice.

In January of this year, Minster Brian Cowen of Ireland, representing the European Union, met Secretary General Annan to discuss how the Joint Declaration might be further implemented. Their exchanges cemented our collective resolve to see ongoing close collaboration between the two organisations. Meetings between the two sides have since taken place at official level and EU-UN relations were the subject of a seminar held last week in Dublin, with the participation of Under-Secretary-General Guéhenno, on the theme of 'Synergy between the UN and EU Military Crisis Management'. These contacts are aimed at further concrete progress, most notably in the area of EU capacity to respond rapidly to UN requests for assistance in short-term crisis management situations. Discussions with the UN on identifying modalities for co-operation in crisis management operation will continue.

The European Union is ready to share in the responsibilities for global security and in building a better world. The EU's approach in this area is informed in particular by the European Security Strategy, adopted by the European Council last December. This Strategy reflects the collective desire of the Union and its Member States that the EU should be better able to assist in responding to challenges to peace and security arising at international level, while fully acknowledging that primary responsibility in this regard rests with the UN Security Council. The European Union stands ready to work more closely with the Chair of the Security Council's Working Group, which could provide important impetus and ideas to the C34 process.

Mr. President,

The European Union welcomes the reform and strengthening of UN peacekeeping in recent years. We recognise, for instance, the significant progress made by DPKO to enhance its operational capacity. Certainly, it is clear that there are areas which require further strengthening, not least because of the complex nature of recent missions coupled with the current surge in operational activity.

In this regard, we welcome the integrated task force concept and recommend that it be further developed across all departments and involving all stakeholders, producing a mission concept of operations and component plans that are fully understood, integrated, rehearsed and owned. We encourage DPKO to seek additional surge planning capacity from external sources such as existing regional HQs, formations such as SHIRBRIG or national staffs on a time, objective or mission-orientated basis.

The European Union welcomes the creation of new types of partnerships and cooperation arrangements for peacekeeping between the UN and regional organisations. Regional organisations have unique and complementary capacities to offer in support of UN peacekeeping. Drawing from our positive experiences to date of seeking to implement the joint EU-UN Declaration of September 2003, we recommend that DPKO expand and deepen its contacts with regional organisations and their sub-regional partners, especially at the working level, in order to identify and implement practical means of tapping this potential for cooperation. We recommend that the Best Practices Unit, in consultation with the regional organisations, continues to develop its catalogue of lessons learned from EU Operation ARTEMIS in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, ECOMIL in Liberia, ECOMICI in Cote d'Ivoire and AMIB in Burundi. It remains our collective responsibility to ensure that these lessons are fully reflected in future partnerships between the UN and regional organisations.

We welcome the UN's own improved rapid response capability and encourage DPKO to assess and evaluate the effectiveness of the UNSAS arrangements and optimise the SDS system in light of recent lessons learned. However, when the contingency arises to deploy a peacekeeping force at much shorter notice, DPKO should further develop partnerships with formations and regional arrangements that have the capacity to meet this specific need. The European Union welcomes DPKO's recent pre-deployment headquarter training initiative and stresses the need for the deployment of coherent, well-trained, pre-existing headquarters at the initial stages of a mission to afford optimum levels of command and control.

Mr. President,

There is a clear need to enhance African peacekeeping capacity as well as the effectiveness of UN peacekeeping in Africa. We welcome, and we support, renewed efforts by African states to strengthen conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peace-building activities. We also welcome the recent developments within the AU to create rapidly deployable capacities and encourage the UN to further develop its partnership with the AU and African sub-regional organisations. The European Union is working with the African Union in the establishment of a Peace Facility for Africa. It is intended that the Peace Facility, which will be operational shortly, will assist the African Union and sub-regional organizations in their capacity for conflict prevention and resolution. At their meeting today in Brussels, EU Foreign and Defence Ministers underlined the importance of developing the potential of European Security and Defence Policy, in both its military and civil aspects, to assist in effective conflict prevention and management in Africa, while encouraging and ensuring African ownership.

We believe that peace-building elements are vital for the success of a peacekeeping operation in the short-term, as well as being essential for sustainable peace and the long-term prevention of conflict. Accordingly, we believe that a more comprehensive and integrated approach to peace-building is required from all relevant UN bodies, Member States, the Bretton Woods institutions and NGOs, to prevent the recurrence of conflict and consolidate the gains wrought by peacekeeping, as well as to enable long-term development. Re-establishing the Rule of Law and provision of justice in post-conflict situations, should be a core part of such strategies.

Mr. President,

We place the highest priority on strengthening the Safety and Security of UN and associated personnel deployed in the field and welcome the steps taken by the Secretary General towards a thorough review of the Safety and Security System of the UN. We recognise the need for an enhanced capacity for security assessment and risk and threat analysis. The European Union underlines the need for the establishment of a full-time focal point for Safety and Security in DPKO and for the improvement of information management and sharing, both at mission and New York Headquarter level. Such capacities are essential for an efficient and integrated approach to planning and managing UN Peacekeeping Operations. Once again, we stress the need for DPKO to ensure that adequate, customised medical facilities, supported by dedicated medical evacuation plans, are in place from the commencement stage of a mission.

We trust that the Presidential Statement at the end of this debate will help to highlight the recommendations outlined in the 2004 report of the Special Committee on Peacekeeping Operations and will inform and assist the deliberations of the Fourth Committee this autumn.

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