Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-28-Speech-3-273"
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"en.20050928.24.3-273"2
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".
Mr President, I wish to begin by welcoming the President-in-Office – who, I know full well, is a very committed internationalist himself – to this debate. I thank the Commissioner for the support she gave us in the delegation that attended the summit in New York.
The biggest disappointment is the failure to address the proliferation of nuclear weapons. That means that we now have a yawning gap in our international arrangements and the EU again must apply pressure to move this forward.
Finally, I wish to refer to the amendment tabled by the PSE Group on sexual and reproductive health rights. This is an important position for us to take if we are to meet the Millennium Development Goals. It underpins all those goals, particularly on HIV/AIDS and maternal and child mortality. I trust that this Parliament will reinstate this in the text; that we will commit ourselves, as we did in the vote on my report on the Millennium Development Goals, to this important aspect. This Parliament should then subsequently support the international legitimacy of the UN. In 1945 the stakes were high for the policy makers; the stakes are high now, but the reasons for moving forward are just as great as they were then.
As you have all mentioned, NGOs and others have been somewhat critical of the Outcome Document of the summit. However, I would argue, as you have done, for a more measured approach in the assessment that we make and would agree that we should describe it as a glass half-full. I also believe that exaggerated accusations of failure will not help to create the right incentives for policy makers to take risks and take action.
In the Outcome Document there are strong commitments on how we should meet the MDGs by 2015. However, one of the things I regret is that global target 8 is not strong enough to ensure that countries like New Zealand, Australia, Canada or Italy are not let off the hook and to keep pressure on them to do the same as the European Union has done. Promises of 0.7% are simply not enough and, therefore, we need to see action from these countries and others.
I also welcome – as I am sure the President-in-Office does – the strong reference in the document to the need for innovative sources of finance to be sought in order to meet the MDGs.
I also believe that the endorsement given by George Bush to the MDGs represents significant progress – perhaps the best progress of the week. Perhaps self-interest is pushing the United States along that multilateral road that many of us believe it is not prepared to take.
I am also keen to acknowledge that in the Outcome Document they make a very clear link between security, development and conflict resolution in the measures that they take. It also clearly identifies the responsibilities of both developed and developing countries. The EU development policy statement is now the appropriate vehicle for us to move this forward and to show that we firmly believe in the need to rebuild, in Europe and elsewhere, that strong sense of unity, purpose and action. The document is also strong on governance and the rule of law, which are very important aspects of our work with developing countries.
You have mentioned the Peace-building Commission – which is very important – and peace-making, peace-keeping and peace-building. I regret that the Human Rights Council is now going into the General Assembly, where it will be subject to wrangling and horse-trading. Therefore, again, the European Union has a role to play in pushing this forward in a positive way.
Most of all, I welcome the fact that we now have collective responsibility to protect civilians against genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and all crimes against humanity. Now we look forward to the proof that in the future the UN will be able to avoid those failures that we so tragically saw in Bosnia and Rwanda.
On reform issues, we regret that the Secretary-General will continue to be micro-managed by the member states of the United Nations."@en1
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