UN: EU statement at Second Committee, General Debate
61st Session of the UN General Assembly, Second Committee, General Debate, New York, 2 October 2006
Statement by Mr. Jarl-Håkan Rosengren, Minister Counsellor, Permanet Mission of Finland to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union
Madam Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.
The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.
Madam Chairman,
On behalf of the European Union, allow me, firstly, to warmly congratulate you on your election as the Chairperson of the Second Committee. We would also like to congratulate the other members of the bureau, and assure our whole-hearted support for the fulfillment of your important responsibilities. We would also like to extend our compliments to the Secretariat for their preparations.
Last year, the main focus of our discussions was on reaffirming our commitments in implementing the outcomes of the major UN conferences, and on reiterating the need to strengthen the global partnership for development for achieving the Millennium Development Goals and other internationally agreed development goals and objectives. The 60th General Assembly also considered these issues at length in its resolution on follow-up to the development outcomes of the World Summit.
The task still remains to fully implement these commitments. To achieve MDGs and reduce poverty, we need urgent action and increased efforts on all sides. We need to strengthen the coordination and coherence between policies and actions of all relevant players; national, regional and international responses must work towards the same goals. The Second Committee plays an important role in building the global consensus around action for sustainable development and poverty eradication. Again this year, the Second Committee will have on its agenda several important issues related to macroeconomic policy questions, sustainable development, operational activities and humanitarian affairs. In this regard, we would like to make some specific comments on issues covered by the agenda of the committee.
Madam Chairman,
Last year, significant new commitments were made on Financing for Development. The EU has adopted a timetable for its Member States to achieve 0.7% of GNI by 2015, with an intermediate collective target of 0.56% by 2010. The World Summit recognized the value of developing innovative resources for financing, and various initiatives are being implemented.
The EU will also implement and monitor its commitments on Aid Effectiveness in all developing countries following the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness, and we call on our partners to fulfill the promise of this declaration. National ownership, donor coordination and harmonization, alignment to recipient country systems and results orientation are core principles in this respect. On the other hand, developing countries have the primary responsibility for creating an enabling domestic environment, in order to mobilize domestic resources and to attract FDI, and for conducting sound, coherent and effective policies that strengthen good governance. It is also important that developing countries themselves implement and monitor the commitments on aid effectiveness. Moreover, multilateral institutions, including the BWIs and the UN development system, should also continue efforts to make aid more effective.
The Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative is being implemented according to a prompt timetable. Debt reduction frees up additional development financing, and the EU is therefore committed to the continued work towards finding solutions to unsustainable debt burdens. The EU welcomes the current discussions on strengthening the debt sustainability framework. We urge all donor-participants of the Multilateral Debt Relief Initiative to transfer their political commitments to legally binding financial commitments.
The EU remains fully committed to the Doha Development Agenda and to the case for open markets, progressive trade liberalization, and stronger multilateral rules, as a trigger for growth and development. The offers that are already on the table must be retained and comparable offers be made. All Members must be ready to restart the negotiation from that basis as soon as circumstances allow. For its part, the EU continues to strive for a result that would deliver real cuts in tariffs, effective cuts in subsidies and real new trade flows. Since 2001, the EU has already been implementing duty free and quota free access for all goods but arms originating from the LDCs, and the EU also strongly supports the Aid for Trade Initiative.
Madam Chairman,
Both the High-Level Dialogue on International Migration and Development and the High-level Meeting on the midterm comprehensive global review of the implementation of the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries provided excellent opportunities to discuss these issues. These events will contribute usefully to our discussions in the 2nd committee.
The EU remains firmly committed to joint international efforts to implement the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and notably protect the natural resource base, achieve sustainable patterns of consumption and production, and safeguard the Earth’s climate, land, atmosphere, water and biodiversity. We are pleased with the results of 11th session of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Climate Change in Montreal (COP11), which initiated an important dialogue aiming at exchanging experiences and analyzing strategic approaches for long-term cooperative action to address climate change.
We also look forward to CSD15 to provide us with an integrated insight into the issues and inter-linkages of energy for development, industrial development, climate change, and air pollution and atmosphere. The UN itself needs to urgently reform to be better prepared to respond to the immediate challenges of protecting the environment, and to ensure sustainable living conditions for future generations. In this regard, the EU calls for an early resumption of the discussion on environmental governance in the framework of the General Assembly. As far as the 2nd committee is concerned, we will take part in the discussion on these items later on.
Madam Chairman,
Important improvements have lately been made in the area of humanitarian assistance; improvements that have also been mandated by the 2005 World Summit Outcome. However, more remains to be done to save lives in the many prevailing humanitarian crises. Ensuring sustained and unhindered access to humanitarian personnel and pursuing the humanitarian reform agenda, including more effective coordination efforts and flexible emergency funding, are key issues. Two of the sub-items under the cluster on effective coordination of humanitarian assistance efforts are being discussed in the Second Committee. The EU will address humanitarian issues in a statement to be delivered in the plenary of the General Assembly.
Madam Chairman,
The European Union attaches great importance to the ICT for development agenda. We continue to rely on the UN system as the backbone for the overall coordination of the implementation by and with the UN agencies, and for the system-wide follow-up of the outcomes of the World Summit on the Information Society.
Madam Chairman,
Finally, allow me to make some remarks on the organization of the work of our committee. The EU remains committed to strengthen and revitalize the work of the Second Committee and improve its methods of work. Rational division of work between the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council, which is under important reform, should also be considered in relation to the work of the 2nd Committee.
In addition, the rationalization of the agenda of the 2nd Committee should continue, including through further clustering of items and sub-items, and biennialization and triennialization as appropriate. As has been expressed before, fewer but more focused reports and resolutions can enrich the quality of our work. We would also like to emphasize the importance of respecting those deadlines the Secretariat has set for our work.
As in previous years, several side-events are planned to take place during the committee. Although most of them seem to be interesting and relevant for our work, we should be careful not to overburden our already very comprehensive agenda.
Madam Chairman,
The EU is committed to strongly support the bureau's work in these revitalization efforts.
Thank you, Madam Chairman.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.