Finland, 2006

Madam President, on behalf

of the European Union, I have the honour to address

the General Assembly at its sixty-first session. The

acceding countries Bulgaria and Romania; the

candidate countries Turkey, Croatia and the former

Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; the countries of the

Stabilization and Association Process and potential

candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina,

Montenegro, Serbia; and also Ukraine and the Republic

of Moldova, align themselves with this statement.

Let me start by congratulating you, Madam

President, upon your assumption of the office of

President of the General Assembly. I also wish to

express our appreciation to your predecessor, Mr. Jan

Eliasson, whose input has been crucial to the United

Nations reform process. We are confident that under

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your wise leadership, Madam President, this session

will turn out to be successful.

The European Union is deeply committed to the

United Nations and to its comprehensive agenda

promoting peace and security, sustainable

development, human rights and fundamental freedoms.

We want to create a more peaceful, prosperous and

democratic world. The European Union continues its

close and loyal cooperation with the world

Organization. Recent events in different parts of the

world have proved once again that, 61 years after its

establishment, an effective United Nations is needed

more than ever.

Contrary to our shared ideals, the realities of war

and violence have not passed away into history.

Conflicts and terrorism continue to destroy the social

and economic progress for which we are all striving.

The recent tragic events that occurred in Lebanon,

Israel and the Palestinian territories have again

demonstrated the need to achieve a just and lasting

peace in the Middle East. Sustainable peace in the

Middle East and security for the people living there can

be achieved only through a commitment to a peace

process that leads to a viable independent Palestinian

State living in peace with a secure Israel. That remains

our goal. The European Union is determined to

participate actively in the implementation of Security

Council resolution 1701 (2006) in order to help

consolidate the ceasefire and reach a long-term

solution based on the terms contained in the resolution.

The European Union is strongly committed to

respect of international humanitarian law, including the

protection of civilians and humanitarian personnel

during conflict. We therefore condemn the deaths of

hundreds of civilians in Lebanon and Israel in the

recent conflict. We welcome the outcome of the

Stockholm International Donor Conferences on the

Humanitarian Situation in the Occupied Palestinian

Territories and on Lebanon. The European Union has

responded swiftly and generously to both humanitarian

appeals.

In the Middle East, we have demonstrated our

continued, strong commitment to the United Nations.

Peacekeepers from European Union countries are

already deployed in the area and will form the

backbone of the new United Nations Interim Force in

Lebanon (UNIFIL) operation.

On this occasion, I want to pay tribute to the

memory of the United Nations military observers and

other personnel who recently fell victim to the war in

southern Lebanon.

The European Union will continue active

engagement in United Nations peacekeeping operations

in the future. We see wide scope for further

complementary and combined efforts with the United

Nations as well as with other regional entities.

In sub-Saharan Africa, many peace agreements

have been brokered with the help of the United

Nations, the African Union and the European Union. In

the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the European

Union remains greatly involved in assisting in the

completion of the electoral process through a major

financial contribution and the decisive support of the

European Union military operation.

Unfortunately, in Darfur, the humanitarian and

security situation is deteriorating. The European Union

welcomes the recent Security Council resolution on the

United Nations-led peacekeeping operation in the

Sudan, and we strongly urge the Sudanese Government

to give its consent to the deployment of the United

Nations operation.

Peacebuilding is an integral part of the broad

security concept. The newly established Peacebuilding

Commission brings its own and much-needed

contribution to United Nations work for peace and

security. The European Union will work actively to

ensure that this new body will have a strong and

dynamic role in the United Nations system. Gender

aspect is important in this context. We also welcome

the establishment of the Central Emergency Response

Fund to enhance the capability of the international

community to respond to urgent humanitarian needs.

The events of the past year show that terrorism

continues to threaten international peace and security.

This threat can be effectively addressed through broad-

based cooperation within the framework of the United

Nations. The European Union welcomes the agreement

on a global counter-terrorism strategy as an important

instrument and expression of international solidarity in

the fight against terrorism. The European Union urges

United Nations Member States to build on this

achievement and to intensify their efforts to reach a

speedy consensus on a United Nations comprehensive

counter-terrorism convention. We underline the

importance of prevention and of conducting the fight

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against terrorism in accordance with human rights,

refugee law and international humanitarian law.

We consider it important that this session of the

General Assembly should mark progress in the areas of

disarmament and non-proliferation. Concrete action is

needed on small arms and light weapons at the

national, regional and global levels. The European

Union will continue to push for a legally binding treaty

on trade in all conventional weapons.

Effective multilateralism is crucial in facing the

growing threat of the proliferation of weapons of mass

destruction. The Security Council has a central role in

addressing those threats. In this regard, the European

Union welcomes the unanimous adoption of resolution

1695 (2006) on the Democratic People’s Republic of

Korea. We look forward to its effective

implementation, and we strongly urge the Democratic

People’s Republic of Korea to implement fully the

requirements of this resolution.

The European Union also welcomes the adoption

of Security Council resolution 1696 (2006) and calls

on Iran to respond positively and swiftly to the

demands of the international community in

implementing this resolution, in particular by

suspending its enrichment activities in accordance with

that resolution. This would pave the way for

negotiations on a comprehensive agreement aimed at

restoring confidence that the Iranian nuclear

programme serves exclusively peaceful purposes. We

welcome the current exploratory talks aimed to

facilitate the opening of the negotiations. An

increasingly important element in the promotion of

global peace and security is the need to foster

tolerance, mutual understanding and respect. In this

regard, the European Union has already expressed its

strong support for the Alliance of Civilizations

initiative.

Development builds peace. The United Nations

and its Member States have created effective common

goals for economic, social and environmental

development. We must fulfil our common commitment

to the global partnership for development with all

stakeholders and implement all the Millennium

Development Goals and other jointly agreed

development targets in the time agreed on by Member

States. In our view, every country has control over and

primary responsibility for its own development.

The social dimension of globalization, including

the importance of decent work for all, deserves special

attention in the work of the United Nations. Ensuring

decent work is not only about economic and social

development and individual rights and standards. It is

also very much a factor that contributes to the social

and political stability of countries and regions.

We have seen positive development also in

Africa. However sub-Saharan Africa as a whole is not

on track to reach the Millennium Development Goals

by 2015. Therefore, the European Union has decided to

give 50 per cent of its increase in aid to Africa. We are

willing to strengthen the strategic partnership with

Africa by developing a joint strategy.

We also need to improve aid effectiveness and

donor practices. The European Union is fully

committed to implementation of the Paris Declaration

on Aid Effectiveness and calls on all other donors to do

the same. In addition, the international community

must deliver real gains for poor countries on trade.

Trade can be a strong catalyst for economic growth and

poverty reduction. Thus trade is a key element to

achieve the Millennium Development Goals.

The negotiations of the Doha Development

Agenda must be resumed, as their successful outcome

will deliver substantial development benefits to

developing countries. We urge quick implementation of

the aid-for-trade commitments of December 2005.

The European Union welcomes the outcome of

the Midterm Comprehensive Review of the

Implementation of the Programme of Action for the

Least Developed Countries held in New York this

week. We are pleased that from 2001 onwards

economic growth in the least developed countries

(LDCs) as a group has almost reached the 7 per cent

target. As the providers of the greatest net official

development aid, we note with satisfaction the overall

increase in official development assistance from donor

countries, especially to LDCs.

Ensuring sustainable development is an urgent

task. Environmental sustainability underpins long-term

development and the achievement of all the

Millennium Development Goals. Addressing climate

change and biodiversity loss are integral parts of

achieving sustainable development. For this purpose,

the Montreal Action Plan on climate change agreed last

year needs to be pushed forward urgently.

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The Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on

United Nations System-wide Coherence is about to

finalize its work. The European Union looks forward to

studying the Panel’s recommendations, which could

give an urgently needed global response, especially at

the country level. This should be done in close

cooperation with other multilateral stakeholders and

the developing countries themselves.

The European Union looks forward to continuing

cooperation in the field of migration and development

after last week’s High-level Dialogue. Migration is an

integral part of the development agenda, and

development is an important element in migration

policies.

The European Union is committed to

strengthening and mainstreaming human rights within

the United Nations system. One of the major

accomplishments of the United Nations has been the

comprehensive framework of international human

rights law. It sets out clear standards by which all

States are measured. With a view to strengthening that

framework, we attach great importance to the adoption

of new instruments on enforced disappearances, the

rights of indigenous peoples and the rights of persons

with disabilities during the present session of the

General Assembly.

The newly established Human Rights Council has

the potential to significantly strengthen the promotion

and protection of human rights throughout the world.

The European Union wants to ensure that it lives up to

that potential and that it soon plays a strong and

dynamic role in the United Nations system. The Union

has high expectations for the second regular session of

the Council, which began yesterday.

The EU is also committed to ending impunity for

the most serious crimes of concern to the international

community. We strongly support the International

Criminal Court (ICC) and call upon all States that are

not yet party to the Rome Statute of the ICC to ratify or

accede to it without delay.

The EU will continue to promote the rule of law

both at the national level and in international relations.

In Iraq, upholding the rule of law is a key challenge.

The Union is working closely together with the United

Nations and other partners to assist the Iraqi

Government in that field.

The EU wishes to see this world Organization

function in a more effective, transparent and

accountable way. The EU recognizes the need to

reform the main United Nations bodies, among them

the General Assembly, the Economic and Social

Council and the Security Council. Management reform,

as well as the mandates review, will be high on our

agenda when we start our work this autumn. We need

to continue our collective efforts through consensual

decision-making. After all, United Nations reform will

benefit the entire membership of the Organization.

Before I conclude, let me pay tribute to our

Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan. For nearly 10

years, he has shown leadership and vision in his work

to uphold the principles of the United Nations Charter,

as well as courage in the much-needed transformation

of our world Organization. He has put a human face on

the United Nations, both inside and outside the

Organization. I wish him all the best.