Brussels, 12/09/2005 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the General Assembly of the United Nations in New York, which will be decisive for the reform of this institution and the achievement of the Millennium Development objectives, José Manuel Barroso, the President of the European Commission, has launched an appeal to all leaders on the planet to make the summit (14-16 September) a success.
The European Commission will be represented in force at this event, which will bring together over 170 Heads of State and Government, making it the largest conference ever held. Aside from President Barroso, vice-president Benita Ferrero Waldner, who is responsible for External Relations, and the Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Louis Michel, will go to make the EU's voice heard, and to communicate the Union's resolution to play a central role in speeding up efforts to reduce world poverty by half by the year 2015. This was the objective set five years ago in the Millennium Declaration. However, despite not having changed its policy, the international community is far from achieving its goal, particularly as it relates to sub-Saharan Africa.
Just before he left for New York, Jose Manuel Barroso told the press in Brussels that the EU is committed to organising the United Nations in such a way that it is "better equipped to meet the new challenges of peace, security and human rights". The EU, which is one of the main partners of the United Nations (in terms of funding, with a contribution of 30% to the organisation's budget, but also in terms of its unwavering support for multilateralism), is the largest provider of state aid in the world (55% of all PDA), the largest trade partner of the developing countries and the largest supplier of trade-related aide, President Barroso pointed out. The Union nonetheless intends to do more, better and faster. This is the reasoning behind its commitment to double the level of its aid to reach 0.7% of its GNP in 2015, representing 66 billion a year, with an interim objective set at 0.56% for 2010. "We will not make do with empty words. I call on all the developed countries to follow the EU's lead with the 'Everything but Arms' initiative, by setting a date to remove subsidies to agricultural exports and by doubling their development aid", said Mr Barroso.
On the subject of UN reform, José Manuel Barroso welcomed the creation of a Peacebuilding Commission, and called for a Human Rights Council which would be a "permanent, high-level body, with a clear mandate to refer matters to the Security Council", and a global convention on international terrorism, to be established. But although this reform is close to the heart of the European Commission, the achievement of the Millennium objectives is, in the view of José Manuel Barroso, the absolute priority.
Jose Manuel Barroso said the most important thing was the commitment to the Millennium Development Goals. This is a humanitarian problem, he said, where it was possible to save hundreds of thousands of lives. The resources are there, he said. What is lacking is political will and organisation capacity.
Asked about the danger of the MDGs being watered down in the Summit's final declaration under pressure from the United States, Jose Manuel Barroso ruled out suggestions that the EU's position would be weakened in this way. European commitments, he said, are genuine commitments. The initiative taken by Louis Michel and then endorsed at the highest level by the European Council, will be respected no matter what other countries decide. He added that the EU would discuss matters with its partners and it was important that the United States also made commitments. He said that using the problem of corruption as an excuse for not getting more involved in developing countries was the wrong approach.
Benita Ferrero-Waldner stressed the extent to which development and human rights are connected, hence the importance of the proposed reforms to 'make the world safer, fairer and more secure.' Highlighting that the EU and the UN have common objectives, 'born of the same experience of war and founded on the same conviction that acting together we can achieve more than acting alone,' the Vice-President highlighted the EU's role as a major peace builder in its own right, with a 'strong contribution to make to the new Peacebuilding Commission' to ensure lasting peace by better tackling the needs of countries emerging from conflict. 'The strongest indicator of potential for future conflict is continuing evidence of past conflict. We have to tackle the root causes of existing grievances that could spark future conflict. When a peace agreement is signed, the hard work is only just beginning. To stabilise post-conflict states, we need a coordinated and effective multilateral response to accompany the whole continuum from relief and peacemaking efforts at the end of a conflict, to immediate reconstruction, and then sustainable long term development, institution building, help in establishing the rule of law, and respect for human rights,' said the Commissioner. 'The present Human Rights Commission is no longer up to the job, and reforming the UN's human rights architecture is crucial,' said Ferrero-Waldner: 'If we are serious about rooting out human rights abuses, torture, and oppression of minorities; if we really want to empower women, and protect children in armed conflict, we need to do better… Candidates for the new Human Rights Council should have to demonstrate that they carry out their own Human Rights obligations.' The EU will be pushing for the new Council to be put into place as soon as possible after the summit. The Commissioner also highlighted what could be expected from a new, well-funded UN Environmental Organisation. Louis Michel said he was proud and delighted that the EU's contribution to catching up on the time lost in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in Africa, explaining that there was an unheard-of commitment to greater effort from the Member States and the European Commission, which has placed the EU as global leader in development issues - more development aid, greater coordination between development policies (through the EU's harmonisation strategy), greater coherence between the various common policies and the development policy, and particular attention to Africa.