Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-09-28-Speech-3-292"
| Predicate | Value (sorted: default) |
|---|---|
| rdf:type | |
| dcterms:Date | |
| dcterms:Is Part Of | |
| dcterms:Language | |
| lpv:document identification number |
"en.20050928.24.3-292"2
|
| lpv:hasSubsequent | |
| lpv:speaker | |
| lpv:spoken text |
".
Mr President, thank you for the opportunity to respond to this debate. I thank Members of Parliament for their insightful questions and challenging comments. I will endeavour to address as many of your points as possible in my closing remarks.
Turning to the questions posed by Mr Guardans Cambó, I would respectfully say that smaller European Union countries did play a vital role in formulating the shared views of the European Union in the run-up to the Millennium Review Summit. To suggest otherwise would be a disservice to the contribution made by a number of countries other than the larger Member States of the European Union.
Mrs Vaidere then went on to question whether there was a role for a new international organisation to replace the United Nations. Again, I would say respectfully that I have to disagree with that proposal. Rather, the challenge on the basis of what I and some Members of this Parliament have made clear today is that we need to give tangible expression to the words agreed back in the United Nations Millennium Review Summit only a few days ago, and ensure that the further words that are now on paper can be translated in the weeks and months ahead into further action.
Mrs Belohorská addressed questions to the Commission about the Beijing follow-up summit. I can inform her that the European Union did not send anyone to the unofficial Beijing conference on 29 August and 1 September. The tenth anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action was commemorated at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in March 2005. On that occasion the European Union was represented by the Luxembourg Minister for Gender Equality.
Mr Deva made a powerful case for greater efficiency and effectiveness in the operation of the United Nations. I believe there has been a broad consensus throughout this Parliament today on the need for that further action to be taken now.
Mr Pistelli asked – given his disappointment about the somewhat patchy nature of the progress, as he characterised it – in what areas the European Union could push further ahead for more progress to be made given the constraints of the summit's final document. I can give him the following assurances. We are encouraging interlocutors, including Kofi Annan, to move forward urgently on the reforms that are important to us, but were not included or were unsatisfactorily worded in that final Summit Outcome Document. Specifically, on the issue of management reform – about which there has been much discussion in this debate today – Kofi Annan has been mandated by the summit outcome to propose further reforms for the UN organisation and secretariat in the first quarter of 2006. We have already urged the Secretary-General to make bold proposals, not least in the wake of the oil-for-food scandal, as it is important that such steps are taken.
The European Union supports the Summit Outcome Document's strong condemnation of terrorism – a matter that was again addressed by a number of honourable Members – and its call for an effective UN counter-terrorism strategy. However, we believe the text should have gone further.
For nearly a decade the United Nations has been discussing a global convention on terrorism that seeks itself to define terrorism. We want to see that definition agreed in terms that are unequivocal. It would leave no doubt what an act of terrorism is and that such acts are utterly unacceptable.
Finally, let me make this other specific point. We agree entirely with the UN Secretary-General that the lack of non-proliferation and disarmament language in the Summit Outcome Document was a significant disappointment. The European Union worked literally until the last moment to try to broker agreement on those key issues. Despite this setback, I reaffirm that the European Union will continue to seek out opportunities to strengthen the non-proliferation regime in all relevant fora.
Mr Romeva i Rueda expressed his disappointment on the Security Council. I have spoken about that already. We share, however, the disappointment that he expressed on the failure to pursue a treaty on the international arms trade. Again, I am conscious that I speak to this Parliament today representing the Presidency rather than any one individual Member State. However, I can assure him of our continuing commitment to this issue, not least because my own party was recently re-elected in the United Kingdom on an explicit manifesto commitment to try and take forward progress on an arms trade treaty.
Mrs Sinnott said that even the tidiest house sometimes needed to be spring cleaned. I certainly agree that reform has a real contribution to make to the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals and that is why we are so determined that the words of September are translated into action in the weeks and months ahead.
At the 2005 Millennium Review Summit our heads of state and government and those of another 166 countries took up the challenge set by Kofi Annan of reforming the United Nations to make it more efficient, more effective and indeed more relevant to today's challenges. The summit outcome document, to characterise the discussion we have had this afternoon, should be seen not as a glass half empty, but instead understood for what I believe it to be: a clear mandate for further change. I believe that we all share the view that a stronger, more effective and appropriately resourced United Nations is the only way to ensure global stability and prosperity in this interdependent world.
Mr Dillen quoted General Charles de Gaulle. I was tempted to reply in kind, but I shall resist that and leave that for another day. Instead he went on to raise the question again of United Nations Security Council enlargement and I have spoken at some length about the position of the Presidency in relation to that question.
Mr Barón Crespo raised an issue which frankly I expected we might have heard more of in the course of the debate today, which is the centrality of the World Trade Organization talks, just ten working weeks away, in pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals. It is hard to overstate the significance of the challenge that collectively Europe, the United States and the other representatives of the World Trade Organization face when they arrive, and in the weeks before arriving in Hong Kong. There is simply no doubt that 2005 will already be remembered as a year of real progress in relation to debt reduction and increases in aid flows, for all the reasons that I have described. The opportunity for Europe now is once again to grasp the leadership potential that is within its grasp and move actively and aggressively to try and make sure that the very development dimension to the original Doha Declaration is given expression in Hong Kong. I was heartened in that regard by the remarks of Pascal Lamy last week, in his first press conference as Secretary General of the WTO, for I believe that only by being clear as to the development dimension of the Doha round in Hong Kong, will we see the kind of progress that I believe many Members of this Parliament would wish to see made in early December.
Mr Coûteaux raised the issue of a seat at the United Nations, which I have already addressed, and Mr Martínez Martínez spoke of the United States. As I hope I have already made clear in my contribution in winding up this debate, it is with some relief that I speak on behalf of the Presidency of the European Union, rather than any other Administration, so I will leave it for others to answer for the actions of those outside the European Union.
Mrs Segelström raised the issue of terrorism and the need for more cooperation, something I wholeheartedly agree with, and heard very strongly articulated in this Parliament when Charles Clarke, the Home Secretary of the United Kingdom, made a powerful case that it is not by building thicker or higher walls that we will effectively counteract terrorism, but rather by deeper and more fulfilling cooperation between the Member States of the European Union. She also made an important point in terms of gender representation in the high levels of office represented at the United Nations Millennium Review Summit. I certainly acknowledge the significance of that point and therefore respectfully suggest that perhaps the Commissioner is better qualified than I to answer it.
The final contribution came from Mr dos Santos, in which he explained his own presence at an important international meeting that preceded the Millennium Review Summit. Again, I would simply take this opportunity to reiterate the sincere gratitude, both of the Commission, I believe, and certainly of the Presidency-in-Office, for the tireless efforts of many Members of this Parliament in pursuing what was achieved in the United Nations Millennium Review Summit.
I fully accept that there is some disappointment that the Summit document ultimately did not go as far as many of us would have wished it to, but I am absolutely convinced that but for the effective action of members of the European Union, we would not have achieved the progress that we did in New York. For that, I believe, we can feel a real and genuine sense of shared pride.
As the European Union set out in its statement to the General Assembly on 17 September: 'Without a shared effort to accelerate progress towards the Millennium Development Goals, rich and poor countries alike face a future of increased instability. Failure in UN-led efforts to tackle the threat of terrorism and proliferation would endanger the prosperity of the developing world as much as the developed. The United Nations should not be a forum for countries to push individual agendas, but one in which the international community can agree common action for the benefit of all of the world's citizens.'
That seems to me the appropriate context in which to address a number of the important points raised by honourable Members today. Mr Millán Mon, Mr Lambsdorff and Mr Schmidt raised the issue of Security Council enlargement. In relation to this issue, while European Union partners agree that the Security Council should be reformed, it is the case that there is no European Union consensus on the model. On the related issue of whether the European Union should have a seat on the Security Council, I would respectfully remind Members of this Parliament that the United Nations Charter is very clear on this point: it allows only individual member states to hold seats on the Council, not regional organisations. There is, therefore, no question of a single EU seat on the Security Council.
Mrs Kinnock paid fulsome tribute to the work that had been achieved and painted, I believe, an accurate picture of the progress that has been made, albeit against a context of much further work still to be undertaken. Her contribution is the rightful opportunity for me to pay tribute not just to her tireless efforts on this agenda over so many years – both before entering this Parliament and then thereafter – but also to the experience and expertise of so many other Members of this Parliament, which I believe has enriched the European Union's discussion of these issues and indeed Europe's voice in international fora. It will not surprise her to hear that I am indeed supportive of the references to the need for innovative funding mechanisms in relation to the pursuit of the Millennium Development Goals.
In relation to her other specific question, whether Member States are already starting to roll back on their aid volume commitments, I would categorically say no. The 25 Member States signed up to collectively provide at least 0.56% of GNI by 2010 and, in the case of the EU 15, to all spend at least 0.7% of their GNI on aid by 2015. As I told the party conference I addressed only a couple of days ago, to imagine that 15 countries within Europe would make such a commitment even only a few years ago would have been a dream for many of us who have long pursued that objective.
The European Union reaffirmed that commitment in its statement at the Millennium Review Summit. The Commission and the Council will monitor progress on an annual basis. It is vital that guarantee is in place. I would also point out that the European Union is on course to exceed the targets for 2006, which is 0.39% of the EU average, set in 2002. There is no reason at this stage why we should not do so again.
The next point raised was by Mr Portas. He expressed views towards the United States with which I candidly disagree.
However, on the specific issue of non-proliferation, let me make clear the following points. It is important to reflect the fact that we all share the disappointment of many Member States within the United Nations, and indeed of many Members here in this Parliament, including Mr Leinen, about the lack of an international commitment to non-proliferation displayed in the ultimate inability of states to agree any language on these subjects. I can assure you all that although I speak for the Presidency today, the United Kingdom has worked tirelessly and literally to the last minute both nationally and in other fora representing the European Union as Presidency, to seek the best possible outcome on non-proliferation and disarmament at that Millennium Review Summit. I can also assure this House that we will continue to seek sensible and pragmatic solutions to overcome this deficit that will enhance the nuclear non-proliferation regime."@en1
|
| lpv:unclassifiedMetadata |
Named graphs describing this resource:
The resource appears as object in 2 triples