Brussels, 02/03/2006 (Agence Europe) - The Austrian Presidency of the EU Council has announced in a press release that the European Union is in favour of adopting the compromise proposal presented last week by the president of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Jan Eliasson, aimed at creating a UN Human Rights Council to replace the Human Rights Commission in Geneva. The EU considers that the draft resolution from the president of the General Assembly meets the essential requirements for establishing a Human Rights Council and that the “EU could therefore accept this text as a compromise”, states a press release published by the Austrian delegation at the UN in New York. “EU members support efforts by UN General Assembly President Jan Eliasson to secure the broadest possible backing for the early establishment of the Human Rights Council”, the press statement reads. The United States has announced that it opposes the text in its current form and that it would vote against if a vote were held. Mr Eliasson's draft provides for a Council composed of 47 members (compared to 53 at the current Human Rights Commission) elected by absolute majority (i.e. 96 votes out of the 191 UN member nations) whereas simple majority of those present is enough to enter the current Human Rights Commission. Washington is hoping for a more restricted body whose members would be elected by a two-third majority of the General Assembly.