Summary: EU Presidency Statement - Report of the IAEA 2005 (31 October 2005: New York)
EU Presidency Statement on Item 84: Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency 2005 by H.E. Adam Thomson, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the United Nations General Assembly Plenary, New York
Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey and Croatia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this
statement.
Mr. President,
Allow me first of all to congratulate on behalf of the EU the IAEA and its Director-General, Dr. Mohammed ElBaradei, on their well-deserved receipt of the Nobel Peace Prize. This is welcome recognition for the work of the Agency over many years. We would like to thank him too for his statement on the report of the IAEA activities in 2005. The EU commends the Secretariat of the IAEA and its Director General for the excellent work done by the Agency and for the importance of the results achieved
last year. The EU Member States welcome the outcome of the 49th IAEA General Conference, held in Vienna from 26-30th of September 2005, and the resolutions and decisions that were adopted at this Conference.
Mr. President,
The European Union Member States are co-sponsoring the draft Resolution on the Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency and fully support its content. The draft Resolution reflects a broad agreement among IAEA's Member States and is the result of consultations in Vienna. In this regard, we commend the efforts of the Chairman of the IAEA Board of Governors and hope that the present draft Resolution will be adopted by consensus.
Mr. President,
Allow me to briefly touch upon a few elements of the role of the IAEA within the global nuclear non-proliferation regime and its contributions to it, as illustrated by the report submitted to you under this draft resolution.
The EU is fully committed to the NPT and the three mutually reinforcing pillars on which it is based. On 25 April this year, the EU updated its common position. Our commitment has only been reinforced by the disappointing Review Conference and the inability to reach consensus at the UN World Summit on language on non-proliferation and disarmament. These shortfalls in international political will were disheartening to the EU, which made clear throughout the Conference its strong support for a
strengthened nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime. The EU considers a nuclear non-proliferation regime of universal character, supported by a strong system of international safeguards, to be an essential prerequisite for collective security. Challenges to the Treaty and to the non-proliferation regime have in recent years underscored the necessity of full compliance and the need to work actively towards universal accession to the NPT. In this regard, the EU will continue its efforts
to maintain the authority and the integrity of the Treaty and calls on those states not yet party to the NPT to join the treaty as Non-Nuclear Weapon States.
The international safeguards system of the IAEA is an essential part of this global nuclear non-proliferation regime. These technical instruments provide necessary support for the political goal of sustaining an environment in which there can be peaceful use of nuclear energy without the diversion of nuclear material to nuclear weapons programmes. In this context the EU recognises the continued need for a properly funded safeguards system that is both effective and cost efficient and therefore
credible, robust and complied with.
Mr. President,
The universal adoption and implementation of comprehensive safeguards agreements, and Additional Protocols to them, is a pre-requisite to an effective and credible safeguards system. In particular, the measures contained in the Additional Protocol are crucial to strengthening IAEA's ability to detect possible undeclared nuclear material and activities and provide assurance about the absence of such activities. The EU therefore continues to support universalisation of the Additional Protocol and
urges those who have not yet completed Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements with Additional Protocols to do so as a matter of urgency. The EU considers that Comprehensive Safeguards Agreements together with Additional Protocols constitute the current IAEA verification standard.
Mr. President,
The NPT confers a set of interrelated and mutually reinforcing obligations and rights on States Party to it. Full compliance with the Treaty and the obligations that derive from it is of fundamental importance. Therefore, the EU reiterates the specific calls by the IAEA for compliance. The challenges to compliance with the safeguards agreements must be addressed in a manner that upholds the integrity of the Treaty and the authority of the IAEA safeguards system, including through referral by
the IAEA to the UN Security Council as appropriate.
Mr. President,
The EU attaches the utmost importance to a high level of nuclear safety world-wide. Although safety is a national responsibility, international co-operation on this issue is indispensable. Nuclear safety is a permanent concern of the international community and its continuous improvement should be the aim of all IAEA Member States. The EU commends the Director General and the IAEA Secretariat for continuing to help the Member States during the past year to establish and maintain a stringent
nuclear security framework for nuclear installations and materials and welcomes the recent Amendment to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. The EU urges States Parties to ratify the amended Convention at the earliest opportunity. In addition, we call upon all States that have not yet done so, to adhere to the CPPNM, and its amendment and, until such time as the amendment has entered into force, for all states to act in accordance with the object and purpose of the
amendment.
Mr. President,
Finally, the fight against terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction deserves a specific mention as it represents a challenge of paramount importance to the international community. The EU Member States strongly support all appropriate measures aimed at preventing terrorists from acquiring nuclear weapons. While the primary responsibility for the necessary nuclear security rests with Member States, the IAEA clearly has an essential role to play in preventing and combating
nuclear terrorism. In that respect we look forward to co-operation between the IAEA and the Security Council Committee established pursuant to Resolution 1540. We welcome too the work that the Agency is engaged in with Member States to address the issue of illicit nuclear trade.
Mr. President,
To conclude, we all live in an increasingly interdependent world in which we have to ensure our own and each other's security and safety. At the same time all of us are under an obligation to continue to ensure appropriate access to the benefits of nuclear knowledge, technology, equipment and materials, as provided for under Article IV of the NPT. The IAEA has a central and indispensable role in this arrangement. We are pleased to note the Agency's decision that the monetary award accompanying
the Nobel Peace Prize will be used for funding the needs of developing countries in the peaceful application of nuclear energy.
The EU reiterates its full support for the IAEA and is pleased to co-sponsor the draft Resolution on the Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency before you.
Thank you, Mr. President.
*Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
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