EU Presidency Statement - The General Debate [2/2]

Mr. Chairman,

More than ever, disarmament and non-proliferation form the cornerstones of any peace and security structure and must therefore be subject to binding multilateral norms. It is against this background that we wish to strengthen non-proliferation regimes, promote the rapid entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and strengthen the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention. We must also combat the proliferation of ballistic missiles and the illicit trade in light weapons and continue to work for the complete elimination of antipersonnel mines.

(Peacekeeping and maintenance of security)

With regard to peacekeeping, the United Nations has shown in the past year that it was better equipped and better organized than in recent times. By way of example, I should like to mention the operations in East Timor, Eritrea and Sierra Leone. Thus some progress has already been made, on the ground, in implementing the recommendations of the Brahimi report. However, much remains to be done, and the European Union will continue to give active support to improving peacekeeping capabilities and advocate that the Organization receive the resources necessary to enable it effectively to discharge its increasingly complex responsibilities.

In order to resolve differences of opinion, consolidate peace and prevent a resurgence of conflicts, a comprehensive, long-term approach is required. The European Union, which is currently establishing its own military and civil crisis-management capability, is actively engaged in strengthening its cooperation with the United Nations and other international organizations in the area of conflict prevention, crisis management, humanitarian aid, post-conflict reconstruction and long-term development.

The Balkans, a region so close to our countries, remains at the center of the European Union's external action. We resolutely maintain our commitment to contribute there to building an area of security, prosperity and democracy where multi-ethnic societies are free to flourish. While the progress made has been remarkable and encouraging, the situation in many cases remains fragile. The international community must remain vigilant and not let extremists, of whatever kind, use violence to destroy the stabilization work carried out.

The European Union remains gravely concerned by the situation in the Middle East and continues to act on a daily basis, in conjunction with other States, to persuade the parties to put an end to the infernal cycle of violence. Everyone must realize that there is no alternative to the peace process. The recommendations of the report of the Fact-Finding Committee ("Mitchell Report") should be implemented without delay and efforts concentrated on urgently opening up the prospect of a peaceful solution.

The European Union finds the status quo in Cyprus unacceptable. We would express our disappointment at the unjustified decision of the Turkish side to decline the Secretary-General's invitation to pursue negotiations. We continue to support the Secretary-General's endeavors to arrive at a comprehensive and lasting settlement of the Cyprus question in accordance with the relevant Security Council resolutions.

The scale of the dramas witnessed on the African continent calls for resolute action on our part, at all levels, aimed at tackling the direct and structural causes of the conflicts. Conflicts in Africa have become increasingly complex and their cross-border effects more and more destructive. The crises in the Great Lakes region of West Africa, as well as in Zimbabwe and the Horn of Africa, call for increased vigilance on the part of our organization.

These crises also show the need for an international approach that is comprehensive and integrated. We gave an enthusiastic welcome to the launch of the new African initiative at the Lusaka Summit. The European Union expressed its willingness to respond and has already entered into a dialogue at the highest level with the African Union.

(Fight against poverty and promotion of sustainable development)

Mr. Chairman,

Together, at the Millennium Summit, we pledged to achieve a set of development objectives. It is an ambitious project which involves, inter alia, good governance in each country and at international level.

The Union underlines the need for a strengthened partnership between rich countries and poor countries to achieve the development objectives of the Millennium Declaration. That partnership entails obligations and joint but varied efforts on the part of all countries.

Firstly, we must make every effort to eradicate poverty. New, concrete commitments were made at the 3rd Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Brussels last May. The European Union committed itself to untying aid, to opening up its markets by means of the "Everything but arms" initiative and to the full financing of the HIPC initiative. It is now a question of finalizing the follow-up mechanisms of the Programme of Action. The European Union will also continue to give priority to the development of Africa.

Two major international conferences will present us with the opportunity to take up the challenges and achieve the principal objectives of the Millennium Declaration. At the Financing for Development Conference to be held next March in Monterrey, Mexico, we shall attach importance to improving cooperation between all the development actors, using resources more effectively and mobilizing them better.

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in October 2002, we wish to promote the sustainable use and management and the protection of the natural resources, which underlie social and economic development. We also wish to integrate actions aimed at the environment and poverty, make globalization serve the needs of sustainable development and promote better ways of managing public affairs and participation. The European Union would like to explore with its partners the scope for achieving a Global Pact on Sustainable Development at the Summit. This Pact should contain commitments both from governments and from the other actors. A Global Pact should lead to concrete action to improve the implementation of sustainable development policies.

We hope that the UN Member States will without delay undertake to be represented in Monterrey and Johannesburg at the highest political level.

The Convention on Climate Change was one of the major results of the 1992 Earth Summit. We welcome the progress made in Bonn and in Marrakesh and we undertake to ratify the Kyoto Protocol rapidly.

We have also just reached an intergovernmental consensus at the highest level on the strategy that needs to be followed to halt the appalling global AIDS pandemic. That is a major step forward, but the urgent and dramatic nature of the problem requires us to be more ambitious. We will actively contribute to the creation of a new global Fund to combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis and we will play an active role in all the other processes that emerged from last June's Special Session so that the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS is put into practice by means of concrete measures.

Of the other challenges, the demographic changes that lie ahead are of particular interest to the European Union. The Second World Assembly on Ageing to be held in Madrid in April 2002 will be an opportunity for us to work together to build a society for all ages.

Mr. Chairman,

The Millennium Summit, the prime objective of which was to strengthen and give new impetus to the United Nations, allowed us to tackle, at the highest level, the major challenges facing the global community. We must now turn our attention to the process of following up the Declaration of the Heads of State and Government, with all due regard for the lofty and balanced aims of that cardinal text. For that we need to call on reliable data, the existing follow-up machinery and processes and the concerted efforts of the various actors in the international community who can help us to achieve the objectives set.

We must also continue reforming the United Nations system as a whole, including the specialist institutions and the Operational Funds and Programmes. The strengthening of the Security Council and its comprehensive reform in all its aspects should be pursued with determination. If we want a Security Council capable of responding even more effectively to the major challenges of the moment, we should intensify our efforts.

Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Secretary-General,
Heads of State and Government,
Ministers,
Delegates,

Looking beyond the tremendous and growing complexity of our actions in the world, our debate should highlight this basic truth: if we want to build a world made more peaceful by respect for the law, solidarity and tolerance, we need to strengthen our cohesion in the face of the new challenges that have been thrown down, but also to step up our efforts to promote human rights, eradicate poverty and achieve sustainable development.

In this forum of the United Nations we set against the messengers of destruction our common ideal, which will be stronger than hatred and divisions among mankind. That edifice, whose foundations are set in our spirits and our hearts, will be unassailable.

Thank you for your attention.

| Top |