The enlarging European Union at the United Nations

60 Pages·2004·6.84 MB·English

The enlarging
European Union
at the
United Nations:
Making
multilateralism
matter
EN
Venta • Salg • Verkauf • Pvlèseiw • Sales • Vente • Vendita • Verkoop • Venda • Myynti • Försäljning
http://eur-op.eu.int/general/en/s-ad.htm
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7/2003
T E U
HE ENLARGING UROPEAN NION
U N :
AT THE NITED ATIONS
M
AKING MULTILATERALISM MATTER
PUBLISHED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION
AGREED BY THE TROIKA
AND MEMBER STATES IN NEW YORK
APRIL 2004
The boundaries shown on these maps do not imply on the part of the European Commission
any judgment on the legal status of any territory or the endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
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Agreat deal of additional information on the European Union is available on the Internet.
It can be accessed through the Europa server (http://europa.eu.int).
Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.
Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities, 2004
ISBN 92-894-6185-3
©European Communities, 2004
Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.
Printed in Belgium
PRINTEDONWHITECHLORINE-FREEPAPER
Contents
1. The EU at the UN — Overview ....................................................................................... 5
2. The EU and how it works at the UN .............................................................................. 10
3. EU–UN development cooperation .................................................................................15
4. Environment and sustainable development .................................................................. 23
5. Keeping the peace and preventing conflict ................................................................... 28
6. The fight against terrorism and transnational crime ......................................................33
7. Humanitarian aid ........................................................................................................... 35
8. The EU and human rights ............................................................................................. 38
9. EU–UN trade and development .................................................................................... 46
10. EU–UN culture and civilisation ..................................................................................... 51
C 1
H A P T E R
The EU at the UN — Overview
An enlarging European Union The EU is also the world’s largest provider of official
takes the world stage development assistance (ODA), totalling some USD
36.5 billion in 2002.
The European Union (EU) is committed to ensuring a
stable and peaceful Europe while building its presence
Net official development assistance, 2002 (%)
on the world stage to contribute more effectively to
peace and development across the globe.
Other
Having started in the 1950s (1) as a project to bind contributors
Europe together through economic integration, aiming 7.9
to prevent future war, the EU (2) has grown into a sig-
nificant world actor, the biggest trading entity in the
world with a single market as well as a single currency United States
for 12 member countries. 20.7
European Union share of world gross European
Union and
national income (GNI), 2002 (%) European
Commission
56.9 Japan
14.5
European
Union (1)
26.8 Rest of world
27.6
Note: The 10 new Member States of the EU are not members of the
Development Assistance Committee (DAC), the principal body
through which the OECD deals with issues related to cooperation
with developing countries. DAC members account for at least
95% of worldwide ODA disbursements.
Source:OECD, December 2003.
In the 1990s,the EU developed a common foreign and
Japan
13.5 security policy (CFSP) to match its already formidable
economic clout. This led to the decision at the
United States
European Council meeting in Nice in December 2000
32.1
to include in its CFSP the progressive framing of a
common defence policy, including a rapid reaction
force, civilian crisis management capabilities and the
(1) European Union of 25 Member States. creation of permanent political and military crisis
Source:World Bank, July 2003. management organs (3).
(1) On 9 May 1950, French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman put forward the Schuman Plan to place the West German and French coal and steel industries under a
single High Authority. This marked the beginning of the European Community. 9 May is celebrated every year as ‘Europe day’.
(2) The EU-15 comprises Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland, Sweden and the
United Kingdom until the next enlargement.
(3) The European Community (EC), created in 1957, had already developed a wide range of activities, including in the field of external relations. The Treaty of Rome and
these policies are still in force today. The Maastricht Treaty, signed in 1992, which created the European Union (EU), mainly added the common foreign and security
policy and cooperation in the field of justice and home affairs to the existing activities of the European Community.
5
On 16 April 2003,10 more countries,most of them from These future member countries have made a remark-
the former Communist bloc, signed Accession Treaties able transition — politically,economically and admin-
to join the EU on 1 May 2004 — Cyprus, the Czech istratively — guided by the EU enlargement process,
Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, with the Union serving as a goal, a model and a mon-
Poland,Slovakia and Slovenia. In addition,Bulgaria and itor of progress.
Romania are expected to join in 2007,and Turkey could
start membership talks soon after 2004. The countries of Hence,the EU is an expanding zone of peace,stability
the western Balkans may not be far behind,either. and prosperity in today’s highly volatile world.
Together, the EU-25 comprises more than one eighth
of all votes in the United Nations General Assembly
(UNGA). Along with other European countries,almost
one sixth of UN Member States now align themselves
with EU statements at the UNGA. And EU member
and candidate countries account at present for a third
of the UN Security Council’s (UNSC) membership.
➜
The EU-25 luncheon, including the European Commission and Council
Secretariat, on the day of the signing of the Treaty of Accession for
10 new countries to join the European Union. The guest of honour was
UN Deputy Secretary General Louise Fréchette. New York, 16 April 2003.
Photo: GANP/Dimitrios Panagos.
6
The main objectives of the UN are to maintain inter-
national peace and security, to develop friendly rela- Contributions to United Nations regular budget 2003 (%)
tions among nations, to cooperate in solving interna-
tional economic social, cultural, human rights, trade
and humanitarian problems and to be a centre for har- Rest of world Japan
20.7 19.5
monising the actions of nations in attaining these com-
mon aims. As a consequence of the EU’s own political
development and very similar objectives, it is not sur-
prising that the EU and the UN should be deepening
their relationship at this time. The UN promotes the
values of democracy,solidarity,sustainability,market-
based economy, cultural diversity and the rule of law, United States
which are central to the EU. Flowing from the deep 22.0
commitment to these values comes a natural support
by the EU for multilateral institutions, like the UN, European Union (1)
37.8
and for multilateral solutions to global problems.
The EU’s substantial contribution (1) European Union includes 25 Member States.
to the UN’s work Source:United Nations, assessments of Member States.
Growing cooperation in many fields
Moreover, the EU makes a major contribution to the
UN’s activities. It works with all UN bodies, agencies
Working through the UN is an EU priority. The EU
and programmes across virtually the whole range of
recognises its responsibility to support and strengthen
UN activities, from development policy and peace-
the UN in order to protect the organisation’s role in
making to humanitarian assistance, environment,
seeking multilateral solutions to global problems on
human rights and culture, throughout the world.
the basis of its charter.
Drawing on well-equipped European troops from
national armed forces,the EU has undertaken to create
a rapid reaction force of 60 000 soldiers as part of its
European security and defence policy (ESDP).
Depending on circumstances, this force can be made
available to provide prompt assistance for UN peace-
keeping operations, like the ‘Artemis’ EU military
operation launched in the Democratic Republic of the
Congo in June 2003 in response to the UN Secretary
General Annan’s request (and as authorised by UNSC
Resolution 1484). This EU operation reflects the con-
tribution the ESDP can make to crisis management in
cooperation with the UN.
➜ The EU and the UN have also cooperated intensively
EU Troika meets with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, 13 September 2002.
throughout the Balkans in recent times and will continue
UN/DPI photo by Eskinder Debebe.
to do so into the future,including,inter alia,in the UN
Not least, EU Member States together are the largest Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK),where the EU is in charge
financial contributor to the UN system. At present, the of the reconstruction ‘pillar’, the current EU Police
EU-25 pay 38 % of the UN’s regular budget,more than Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (based on UNSC
two fifths of UN peacekeeping operations and around Resolution 1396); and the ongoing EU military opera-
half of all UN Member States’contributions to UN funds tion ‘Concordia’ in the Former Yugoslav Republic of
and programmes. Despite the fact that EU Member Macedonia (based on UNSC Resolution 1371) to help
States already contribute far more to the UN than their build peace and stabilise the political situation there.
share of the world economy,the EU as a whole decided
to keep its overall financial contribution at the same level
as before in the last round of UN budget negotiations in
2000. It is proud to have maintained its generous share of
UN funding as a sign of its support of the UN system.
➜
Left to right: Commissioner Chris Patten and High Representative Javier
Solana confer with Mr Goran Svilanovic, Foreign Minister for Serbia and
Montenegro, the day after the assassination of Serbian Prime Minister
Djindjic, 13 March 2003.
Photo: Fonet, Belgrade.
7
Other notable recent examples include the following. when necessary. A recent example of this is the joint
EU–US initiative on HIV/AIDS.
•The EU is fully supportive of UN efforts to fight
terrorism through the UN Counter Terrorism Many current and future EU Member States’citizens
Committee and various UN conventions on ter- serve the UN in senior positions. Among them are UN
rorism, particularly in response to 11 September High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers,
2001 (see Chapter 6). Relatedly, the EU is the UN Development Programme Administrator Mark
leading donor of reconstruction and humanit- Malloch Brown, UN Environment Programme
arian aid in Afghanistan, which is firmly set in Executive Director Klaus Topfer, UN Legal Counsel
the context of the Bonn Agreement (December Hans Corell,Vice-Chairman of the International Civil
2001) that was negotiated under the aegis of the Service Commission Eugeniusz Wyzner, Executive
UN and endorsed by UNSC Resolution 1383. Director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and
Director-General of the UN Office at Vienna Antonio
• Both the EU and the UN are involved in the Maria Costa, Executive Director of the UN Iraq pro-
Middle East Peace Process as members of the gramme Benon Sevan, International Fund for
‘Quartet’— the EU, the Russian Federation, the Agricultural Development President Lennart Båge,
United States and the UN — which has launched UN Under Secretary General for Peacekeeping
a ‘roadmap for peace’ between Israel and the Jean-Marie Guéhenno and UN Under-Secretary
Palestinian Authority. General for Political Affairs Sir Kieran Prendergast.
•In spring 2001,the European Commission issued
a communication on ‘Building an effective
partnership with the United Nations in the The European Union at the UN
fields of development and humanitarian
affairs’, aiming to improve the quality and
The presence — and the representation — of the EU
impact of the EC’s development policy within
at the United Nations has many faces. As only States
the UN system. This has had a positive impact,
can be Members of the UN, the Union is represented
leading to the signing of a new financial and
by the State holding the presidency of the EU
administrative framework agreement between
Council,which at present rotates every six months. At
the European Commission and the UN in May
the Security Council, EU positions are also repre-
2003. This, together with other measures aimed
sented and defended by EU Member States who are
at creating an enabling environment,will prepare
elected or permanent members. In order to ensure
the way for strategic partnership in development
continuity,the EU Council has set up a Liaison Office
and humanitarian fields with a number of UN
with the UN, as part of its Secretariat. For the same
agencies, funds and programmes.
purposes, the EU Council has also set up an office in
Geneva.
•The EU took leading roles at the UN
Conference on Financing for Development
The European Community was granted observer sta-
(Monterrey, March 2002), the World Food
tus at the 29th General Assembly in 1974 by
Summit (Rome, June 2002) and the World
Resolution 3208. It is represented by the European
Summit on Sustainable Development
Commission, which has delegations that are accred-
(Johannesburg, September 2002).
ited to UN bodies in Geneva (including, inter alia,
the Office of the High Commissioner for Human
The EU is also very grateful concerning the UN
Rights (OHCHR), the United Nations High
Secretary General’s efforts in trying to find a compre-
Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the United
hensive solution to the issue of the divided island of
Nations Conference on Trade and Development
Cyprus, which is due to join the EU in 2004.
(UNCTAD), the International Labour Organisation
The EU seeks to promote an integrated follow-up to all (ILO), the World Health Organisation (WHO), the
major UN conferences,aiming to make the review and World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO),
appraisal processes more rational and manageable,and the International Telecommunications Union (ITU),
to maximise the political impact of any follow-up the Conference on Disarmament (CD) and the
event. This approach applies to the follow-up to all United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
major conferences and summits held since the begin- (UN/ECE)), Paris (the United Nations Educational,
ning of the 1990s — Rio (environment and develop- Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)),
ment), Vienna (human rights), Cairo (population), Nairobi (the United Nations Environment
Beijing (women), Copenhagen (social development), Programme (UNEP), Habitat), New York (the UN
Rome (World Food Summit), Istanbul (habitat), New Secretariat, the General Assembly and its main com-
York (children), Kyoto (climate change), Monterrey mittees, the UN Economic and Social Council
(financing for development) and Johannesburg (sus- (ECOSOC), the United Nations Development
tainable development) — as well as the Millennium Programme (UNDP), etc.), Rome (the UN Food and
Summit itself. Agriculture Organisation (FAO), the World Food
Programme (WFP) and the International Fund for
The EU also raises UN issues of concern during its Agricultural Development (IFAD)) and Vienna
summits with major countries in the world, as and (including the United Nations Office on Drugs and
8
Crime (UNODC), the UN Industrial Development for regular EU–UN meetings. The UN Deputy
Organisation (UNIDO) and the International Atomic Secretary General and other senior UN officials also
Energy Agency (IAEA)). The European visit EU institutions in Brussels (where 16 UN spe-
Commission’s original information office in New cialised agencies, funds and programmes now have
York officially became a Delegation to the United offices), Luxembourg and Strasbourg regularly for
Nations in 1974. policy discussions. Regular meetings of senior UN
officials with the EU Council’s Political Committee
are foreseen. EU and UN officials liaise together more
and more frequently as daily working contacts de-
velop. Furthermore, the visibility of the EU at the UN
has been enhanced by the participation of EU Heads of
State or Government in major UN conferences,and by
ongoing visits of Commissioners and high-ranking EU
officials to cities hosting UN bodies.
The UN Secretary General and Deputy Secretary
General are also developing contacts with the
European Parliament (EP). The EP, in turn, has
increased the number of high-level MEP visits to the
UN to attend major events.
In autumn 2003, the European Commission issued a
Communication for discussion and agreement by the
➜ European Commission President Romano Prodi meets UN Secretary Council and the European Parliament entitled ‘The
General Kofi Annan, New York, January 2002. European Union and the United Nations:the Choice of
UN/DPI photo by Eskinder Debebe. Multilateralism’, which proposes the future course of
the EU–UN relationship. For this document and for all
As an observer within the UN General Assembly and other up-to-date information,please visit regularly the
most UN specialised agencies, the European EU @ UN website at http://europa-eu-un.org.
Community has no vote as such,but is a party to more
than 50 UN multilateral agreements and conventions
as the only non-State participant. It has obtained a spe-
EU–UN relations
cial ‘full participant’ status in a number of important
UN conferences, as well as for example in the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD) and The European Council reaffirms the deeply rooted
in the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests (IFF). In commitment of the European Union to make effective
1991, the European Community was accepted as a multilateralism a central element of its external action,
full member of the UN’s Food and Agriculture with at its heart a strong UN. The European Council
Organisation,the first time it had been recognised as a therefore welcomes the comprehensive Commission
full voting member by a UN agency. The European communication on ‘The European Union and the
Community speaks and votes on behalf of all EU United Nations: the Choice of Multilateralism’which
Member States in areas where powers have been trans- comes at a dynamic junction in the EU–UN relations.
ferred to it.
In this context, the European Council also recalls the
For descriptions of the EU institutions’delegations and EU–UN Joint Declaration of 24 September 2003 on
offices accredited to UN bodies, please visit: cooperation in crisis management, which constitutes
http://europa-eu-un.org/article.asp?id=474#t and the basis for enhanced cooperation in this area.
http://europa-eu-un.org/article.asp?id=1020.
The European Council welcomes the conclusions of
the GAERC on 8 December on EU–UN relations and
stresses the need for these conclusions, as well as the
Cooperation of EU institutions Joint Declaration on crisis management be translated
into operative action.
with the UN
The EU meets the UN Secretary General at ministerial
level annually in New York as part of an agreed format
9