Summary: 11 January 2010, New York – Speech by Ambassador Juan Antonio Yañez-Barnuevo, Permanent Representative of Spain to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union, at a Briefing by the UN Secretary-General on the Organisation's Agenda for 2010
I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union.
I would like to thank the Secretary General for convening this informal meeting to debrief us on the Organization’s agenda for 2010. Issues such as the High Level Plenary Meeting on development, the need to work towards a legally binding agreement on Climate Change after Copenhagen, the challenge presented by non proliferation and disarmament, including the TNP review conference, as well as the fight against impunity, the promotion of human rights and the rule of law or the United Nations reform are also priorities for the European Union. You can rely on the EU commitment to contribute to the success of this process in every possible manner.
The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty opens a new phase for the European Union. This stage is characterised by important changes both in the internal running of the European Union and its external action, which includes, of course, its role at the United Nations.
Mr. SG, you can count on the full cooperation of the Spanish Presidency to tackle the aforesaid challenges.
MILLENNIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS
The September Summit on Development is an utmost priority for the EU. Over the past nine years, significant strides have been made towards most of the MDGs, although progress has been uneven and Sub-Saharan Africa in particular is lagging behind. The economic and financial crisis, the food crisis and climate change are now, not only threatening the achievement of the MDGs by 2015, but also risk undermining past progress.
With only six years remaining before the target date of 2015, the EU sees the MDGs Summit as a unique opportunity not only to take stock and assess what has been achieved so far, but also to set the agenda for the next five years before the target date of 2015, and to galvanize the necessary joint effort to further accelerate progress towards the achievement of the MDGs worldwide.
With the recent adoption of the resolution that sets the modalities for the Summit, we have a good basis to continue our work. Now it’s the time to focus on the substantive preparations. We need to identify appropriate and effective policies, actions and strategies. And we need strong political commitment. The EU is fully committed to contribute to the success of this process in every possible manner.
EU will remain a leader in development assistance through our own ways and means and in close partnership with the UN system.
CLIMATE CHANGE
The European Union (EU) welcomes the political leadership demonstrated by the SG throughout the process and encourages you to continue providing an active role in the near future to ensure the success in COP-16 to be held in Mexico in November this year.
The EU remains committed to reverse the negative impacts of climate change. In this regard, although the outcome of Copenhagen has not fulfilled the expectations and the ambitions of the EU, it can indeed be considered as a step forward in the fight against this challenge which has relevant and positive aspects to be taken into account. This is why the EU expressed its support for the Copenhagen Accord negotiated in COP-15.
The EU considers that the “Copenhagen Accord” establishes the basis for the architecture of the future international regime in addressing climate change. Additionally, the EU believes that immediate attention must be paid to the urgent implementation of the Accord. We very much hope that the EU, following the incoming meeting of Environment Ministers in Seville (Spain) this very week, will be in a position to collectively associate itself formally with the Copenhagen Accord and also to transmit our commitments on emissions to the UNFCC by the end of this month.
In order to transform such accord into a comprehensive and legally binding text, it is necessary to build on progress made in the UNFCC negotiation during the last years, including COP-15, and continue working under the umbrella of, and with full respect to, the rules of Convention.
DISARMAMENT AND NON PROLIFERATION AFFAIRS
The EU welcomes the positive atmosphere that has prevailed throughout 2009 in the multilateral disarmament, non proliferation and arms control fora. The EU appreciates the efforts made and proposals presented by the UN Secretary General in order to reinforce global security and promote this new momentum in the disarmament, non proliferation and arms control agenda in a crucial year such as 2010.
The EU is determined to support the multilateral treaty system and pursues the implementation and universalisation of existing disarmament and non proliferation instruments. The EU considers the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as the cornerstone of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime. The EU seeks to strengthen this regime by promoting a balanced and successful outcome of the NPT Review Conference, which will take place in New York in May, by considering all aspects of the Treaty, including its three pillars and other related issues. The EU has elaborated forward-looking proposals on all these matters to be part of an Action Plan that should be before this coming NPT Review Conference.
We will also work in a positive and constructive way in other areas of the disarmament and arms control agenda, in particular regarding the action plan on small weapons and progress towards a treaty on conventional arms trade.
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