UN: EU statement on permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources

UN 61st Session; II Committee, Agenda Item 40: Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources;

Statement by Mr. Taisto Huimasalo, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of Finland to the UN, on behalf of the European Union

New York, 10 November 2006

Madam Chairperson,

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 Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

Madam Chair,

The European Union has voted in favour of the draft resolution contained in document L.13/Rev.1 on the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people over their natural resources. We believe that the natural resources of any territory seized by force of arms should not be used inappropriately or illegally by the occupying power. We wish, however, to take this opportunity to express our interpretation of certain aspects of the text.

The European Union reaffirms the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 to the occupied territories and also reaffirms that any infringement of the rights of the Palestinian people with regard to this Convention is illegal.

However, the issues referred to in this resolution are matters which need to be dealt with in the framework of the permanent status negotiations of the Middle East Peace Process. The European Union remains committed - in close co-operation with our partners in the Quartet and in the Arab world - to assisting the parties in their efforts to find a final settlement to the Middle East conflict. The resolution adopted today must therefore not be considered as prejudicial to or pre-emptive of the outcome of these negotiations. Any actions or statement, which might be seen as doing so, has to be avoided.

The position of the European Union regarding the separation barrier and the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory remains unchanged.

Thank you,  Madam Chairperson.

* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.