European Parliament recommendation to the Council on the EU priorities for the 63rd Session of the UN General Assembly
PURPOSE: to propose a European Parliament recommendation to the Council on the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
CONTENT: pursuant to Rule 114(1) of the Rules of Procedure, Alexander LAMBSDORFF (ALDE, DE)and Annemie NEYTS-UYTTEBROECK (ALDE, BE) propose, on behalf of the ALDE Group, a draft recommendation to the Council on the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly.
In this recommendation, the European Parliament notes that the coordination of EU Member States' positions within the United Nations varies sharply from body to body and from policy to policy. It also notes that the Treaty of Lisbon confers legal personality upon the EU, an innovation which will have major repercussions for the representation of the Union at the United Nations.
Visibility of the European Union at the United Nations: Parliament calls for the Union’s political priorities for the next UN General Assembly session to be the subject of an in-depth, wide-ranging debate in Brussels, and to be spelt out in a formal position of the Council. This formal position should be regarded by Permanent Representations in New York as a binding political platform to be used as a basis for negotiations with other countries. Parliament urges the Council to study in depth the implications which the Treaty of Lisbon has for the Union’s future representation at the UN and Member States to commit themselves unequivocally to taking all the necessary steps to ensure that the Union enjoys adequate visibility and authority within the UN bodies and fora.
The EU contribution to the United Nations reform: Parliament calls on the Council, the Commission and the Member States to continue to press for the establishment of membership criteria for the purposes of elections to the UNHRC. Pending such a reform, EU Member States in the UNHRC are asked to apply those criteria when determining their support for candidate countries. Parliament points to the need for the EU to speak with one voice in addressing human rights issues, but also to the fact that it is important for each EU Member State to voice the EU position, in order to give it more weight. It strongly believes that, by establishing the Peacebuilding Commission, the United Nations member states have created an important new structure to support fragile societies recovering from the devastation of war. The Council must support the work of the Peacebuilding Commission, highlighting any gaps that threaten to undermine peace.
Lastly, Parliament felt that Member States need to find a more cohesive position on the reform of the UN Security Council.