Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-06-08-Speech-3-157"
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"en.20050608.16.3-157"2
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".
Mr President, I welcome this opportunity to discuss UN reform before the crucial UN Summit in September. I congratulate the rapporteur, Mr Laschet, on his report.
The European Community's longstanding, worldwide and sustained peace building efforts are well known. I am therefore glad to inform you that, in the preparatory work for the summit, the European Union has decided to press for the participation of the European Community in all meetings of the Peace Building Commission. I trust that Parliament will be able to support that position.
The Commission strongly welcomes the UN Secretary General's proposals relating to human rights A substantial reform of the current UN human rights architecture, including the replacement of the ailing UN Commission on Human Rights by a standing Human Rights Council, is essential if the system is to be made more efficient and credible.
The ultimate objective is to make human rights protection and promotion effective worldwide. I am therefore delighted to see that we agree on the proposed Human Rights Council. The proposed election of the Council by the General Assembly should extend a sense of ownership to the wider UN community. Ownership must, however, be balanced by responsibility and the Secretary-General's view that States seeking membership of the Council should demonstrate a 'solid record of commitment to the highest human rights standards' is a welcome requirement, also in view of the obligations deriving from membership of the Council.
Obviously the issue of reforming the Security Council is one of the high-profile elements of the current UN reform debate. I note with interest the proposals made in the resolution for the establishment of an 'EU' seat. Whilst Security Council reform is naturally an issue of great importance, it must not be allowed to stall the whole process of vital reform of other UN institutions or other important areas where progress is needed. I would call upon all Member States of the UN to make every effort to ensure such paralysis does not occur.
The Commission fully supports better environmental integration across the UN system, including the establishment of a UN Environmental Organisation, and is delighted to see that the European Union is coming together on this.
I shall conclude by stating my satisfaction at the degree of concurrence that exists between us on many of the key topics at the heart of this issue. Furthermore, I wish to underline the Commission's determination to continue to work towards achieving good results in September and ensuring implementation of the summit's outcome.
The September 2005 UN Summit, to be held on the 60th anniversary of the UN, is an opportunity that must not be missed. The summit represents an opportunity to take decisions leading to a more efficient United Nations and one that is better equipped to deal with the challenges of the 21st century.
In the last three weeks President Barroso and Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner have both been to New York, where they held constructive discussions on the summit preparations with the UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, his deputy, Louise Fréchette, and the President of the UN General Assembly, Ambassador Ping. During those talks, all the parties underlined the need for continuous and strong EU leadership in the preparations for the summit, in order to achieve substantial results in September.
The Commission, together with the presidency and Member States, is thus reaching out to partners, both in New York and in capitals throughout the world. The active involvement of Parliament in mobilising other parliamentarians around the world on the summit agenda would also be extremely useful.
On 3 June we received the draft outcome for the summit, which provides us with a good starting point but nonetheless requires a strong European Union input if we are to achieve ambitious results during the September summit. I am glad to see that the views expressed in the resolution tabled by this Parliament are similar to those of the Commission in many respects.
As the UN Secretary General's report correctly states and as is underlined in Parliament's resolution, progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) requires urgent attention. A serious boost to common actions is needed to reach the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
On 24 May the European Council agreed the Commission's ambitious proposals to achieve collectively 0.56% of GNI for ODA by 2010 and 0.7% by 2015. This is an important step forward for international solidarity and a clear sign of the European Union's commitment to a successful summit. We hope that it will provide a strong impetus for others to follow our example.
Allow me to address a few of the UN reform proposals on the table that are of particular interest for reinvigorating the effectiveness of the United Nations. The Commission has been actively engaged in the discussions on the proposed Peace Building Commission, which could fill the very real gap that currently exists within the UN institutional machinery for dealing with the period between the end of a conflict and long-term sustainable development.
I welcome the resolution's support for the Peace Building Commission. The Commission supports as broad a mandate as possible for the Peace Building Commission, including support for democracy, functioning institutions and strengthening the rule of law. Its work should consolidate peace and prevent the outbreak of new conflicts. In terms of its membership, both UN Security Council and ECOSOC membership should be represented, as well as major donors and contributors to peace building, international financing institutions, and key UN agencies, funds and programmes."@en1
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