Sumario: 14 April 2009, Barcelona - Speech by Benita Ferrero-Waldner, European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighbourhood Policy, "Effective multilateralism: Building for a better tomorrow" at the United Nations Association of Spain, High Level Meeting on European Union and United Nations: Towards effective multilateralism
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Thank you for inviting me to the opening of this High Level meeting.
Never has the world needed effective multilateralism more than today. As governments around the world struggle to cope with the effects of the global economic crisis, it is clearer than ever we live in a global age - and global solutions are required.
Undoubtedly the economic decline we are witnessing is deeper than any we have seen since the 1930s. Fears about jobs, housing and food-on-the-table are real and concrete.
But there is something we can do - both to address today's problems and to prevent them occurring again in the future.
International cooperation is the key.
The highly successful G20 meeting two weeks ago underlined how important it is for world leaders to take coordinated action on a common response. Countries must look outwards, realising that our partners' welfare is ultimately also our own. Protectionism is not an option. Global markets must remain open.
The EU played a driving role in the process - reflected in the conclusions of the G20.
Our fiscal effort of over €400 billion will generate new investments, boost demand, create jobs and help move us to a low-carbon economy. We will contribute an extra €75 billion to the IMF's resources. We are frontloading aid for developing countries and taking action on executive pay, hedge funds and private equity. We are focusing on job creation schemes. We are proposing new financial supervision structures and we will play our full part in working for a breakthrough on the Doha development
round.
We are confident that the Summit marked a turning point and real progress can now be made; repairing our global economy and ensuring this crisis can never happen again.
Multilateralism is the only effective approach, not only for the financial and economic issues which dominate the agenda today, but for a whole host of issues which affect the future of our planet: from energy security to climate change, from health pandemics to international terrorism.
The theme of today's meeting is the EU and the UN working together to promote more effective multilateralism. Both organisations have an important role to play in responding to today's challenges.
The EU firmly believes the UN, drawing on the unique legitimacy of its global membership, can and should contribute more to enhancing global economic governance.
It has an important contribution to make in helping developing countries tackle the current economic and financial crisis; the related challenges of food, water and energy security; and the impact of climate change. All measures should be adapted to avoid negative consequences for the poorest and most vulnerable.
Ensuring that developing countries do not pay the price for a crisis created in the developed world is a key element of the EU's approach. We are providing additional support to help the poorest countries, frontloading our aid and proposing a global instrument for trade finance. And a deal on Doha would be hugely beneficial.
But there is a more fundamental issue which I would like to emphasise: for multilateralism to work we need a new form of global governance, with institutions equipped to manage today's challenges. Reforming the economic and financial institutions is top of the agenda, but the rest of the international institutional framework also needs attention.
A common problem persists - that of voice and representation. Globalisation and shifts in economic power have not been followed by changes in multilateral institutions. Many countries seek a greater role in global decision-making, reflecting today's reality rather than that of 1945.
It is both natural and welcome that they should want to participate in global governance, sharing responsibility for decisions which affect the planet. Responsibility and influence go hand in hand and it is in everyone's interest that we work for a multilateral system based on stability, freedom, and democracy.
The EU supports a greater voice and influence for developing countries, including the poorest, in the international financial institutions.
And a similar issue applies to the UN. Institutional reform is the key to maintaining the UN's universality and legitimacy. As the UN's biggest supporters, its instinctive allies, the EU strongly believes that the commitments made at the Millennium Summit need to be implemented sooner rather than later.
We need to use the impetus of today's crisis to position the UN for the future.
Let me highlight three issues:
1) Security Council
Reform of the Security Council is important. Many would say it is crucial to unlocking other much needed reforms.
We must be realistic - reform will take time and may require several steps, including a transitional phase.
But there are some interesting proposals which are worth exploring. One is the Secretary-General's proposal that permanent members abstain from the veto in matters concerning the Responsibility to Protect. The veto abstention could also apply to humanitarian crises. Another is the idea that permanent members adopt a Declaration on respect for their obligations - setting a custom for others to follow.
The EU has its own share of difficulties when it comes to matters of representation, and I don't pretend Security Council reform is easy. In my personal view, we should have a permanent seat for the European Union at some stage. And we should have majority voting fast-track procedures for extreme humanitarian disasters requiring urgent response.
But despite the difficulties we need to keep plugging away at this key issue of representation, and looking for creative ideas to take us step by step towards a solution.
2) System wide coherence
We need to make rapid progress on reforms relating to system-wide coherence, including the management and administrative reforms decided at the 2005 World Summit.
A particular concern of mine is gender, and the international women's conference I hosted in Brussels last year played a significant role in taking forward progress on implementing Resolution 1325. As a result of this conference, the UNSG Ban Ki-moon supports our call on that occasion for a ministerial conference in 2010 to review the implementation of UNSCR 1325, ten years after its adoption.
The UN's gender architecture is in dire need of strengthening, and it is high time that the four existing gender-specific entities be consolidated into a single, coherent and more effective structure. That would bring the different functions - technical, policy, programmatic and operational under one roof and make for a more streamlined approach.
3) Peace and security
But in the meantime, while these reforms are being implemented, we must continue to work creatively and persistently, with all the means at our disposal, for peace and security.
The Peacebuilding Commission needs to be used to its full potential. The EU is a strong supporter of its role and the possibilities it holds for the future. Its sponsorship by both the Security Council and the General Assembly, its broad membership, and its flexible working methods are all tremendous strengths. In addition to developing comprehensive peacebuilding strategies, we believe the Peacebuilding Commission can work in a more tailor-made way, providing advice focused on a narrow area
for a discreet time period.
We would like to see the Responsibility to Protect implemented consistently. I welcome the Secretary-General's report and proposals for making this a reality, and particularly his emphasis on the responsibility of states themselves; the importance of early prevention; and helping states build their capacity to shoulder their own responsibilities. I hope the General Assembly this Spring will move this debate forwards - re-situating it as a universal concept.
And we fully support the role of the Human Rights Council in upholding the universality and integrity of the rights set out in the Universal Declaration. The UN's role in this field is irreplaceable; we in the EU make full use of the UN standards, reports and recommendations in our own human rights policy and activities.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The EU is the UN's most ardent supporter and firmest friend. We are fully committed to maintaining and consolidating its unique role in the institutions of global governance.
We want to see our cooperation with the UN as a real partnership on strategic issues - with in-depth policy dialogues and joint initiatives (joint missions, training methodologies).
It's already so much more than financial cooperation. Our traditional partnership on development and humanitarian aid has expanded hugely in the last five years, especially in the area of peace and security.
The UN and the EU are the only multilateral actors able to draw on a wide range of instruments at all stages of the conflict cycle and build bridges with longer-term stabilisation and development efforts. We put considerable effort into ensuring all our instruments - aid, trade, cooperation agreements - are used in a coherent and coordinated way to promote peace-building and sustainable post-conflict stabilisation.
This integrated approach is all the more effective when coordinated with the UN. We have made a start, for example almost a third of our crisis response funding is jointly managed with UN agencies. But it's an area to focus on for the future.
To conclude, let me return to the theme of this conference.
Reforms of multilateral institutions to make them stronger and more effective are vital.
The EU is determined to play our part in contributing to a more constructive climate in the UN, and encouraging open and postive debate. We must focus on solutions - not problems.
We will continue to engage with partners from all over the world, to better understand their concerns, and see how we can advance together. Reform is not a prerogative of one or another group - it is necessary for all.
We believe the economic crisis offers us an opportunity to re-tune the institution and make it fit for the 21st century. As the American writer, Charles R. Swindoll put it,
"We are faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations".
The UN can count on the EU's support to turn the just quoted "impossible" situations into indeed great opportunities, and so strengthening it for its vital role in today's interconnected world.
Thank you for your attention.
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