European Union

Statement on Revitalization of the Conference on Disarmament

Conference on Disarmament

Geneva, 20 June 2023

Madam President,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member states.

The candidate countries North Macedonia ^*, Montenegro^*, Serbia^*, Albania^*, Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, and the potential candidate country Georgia, as well as the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this statement.

We thank you for convening today’s meeting with the aim to discuss ways and means to improve the functioning of the Conference on Disarmament (CD). The CD can benefit from such an exchange of views and we should continue to foster such discussions, which can increase understanding and trust among the CD Member States.

We also acknowledge and commend UNIDIR for its research on this issue, as presented in its illustrative compendium circulated at the request of the Presidencies of France and Germany for the benefit of the CD Members. We appreciate the efforts made to produce this useful study within a short period of time. It creates a valuable foundation for our discussions on revitalizing the work of the CD. The compendium should be considered as an illustrative resource that could be further expanded in the near future through additional consultation, initiatives, brainstorming, and a forward-looking perspective.

Madam President,

The UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, when introducing his Disarmament Agenda in 2018, noted that “our principal multilateral fora, the Conference on Disarmament and the UN Disarmament Commission, both have produced very little for the last half of their lifetimes. … They will require improved coordination, an end to duplication, better use of expertise, and above all, political courage to shift positions.”

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) has played an important role over the years in constructing the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture in order to make the world safer. Many of successful and ambitious disarmament agreements in the past were born here. However, the CD finds itself at a crossroad on how to overcome its long standing impasse in order to regain its credibility and maintain its relevance as a single multilateral disarmament negotiating forum of the international community.

We are very concerned that the CD continues to be deadlocked. It has failed to adopt and implement a programme of work in over 25 years. This state of affairs is not tenable and stands in stark contrast to the significant security challenges we face today, as well as a changing landscape due to rapid technological developments. In addition, the failure of the CD to produce substantive annual reports on the work of the body, and the vote last year on the CD UN General Assembly Resolution are worrying signs.

The CD has faced significant procedural deadlocks and difficulties in recent years, hindering its ability to make progress on disarmament issues. Agreement on a Programme of Work (PoW) should not hinder the beginning of substantive work on core items on the CD’s agenda. In this regard we stand ready to look at different options to simplify the current practice with the aim of returning to substantive discussions and negotiations.

Strong political will and flexibility are required from all CD members if we are to break the impasse and bring the CD back on track. We should bring forward technical, substantive work and broaden areas of agreement so that we are better prepared to start negotiations when the overall context so allows. We must modernise our working methods to avoid protracted procedural debates on the organisation of work, as proposed in the Working Paper by the Netherlands submitted in 2019.

Madam President,

The EU recognizes the consensus rule as reflected in the rules of procedures of the CD. However, a procedural veto should not be used to block substantive progress in the CD.

Furthermore, this year, we are in a deplorable situation of having no observers in the CD.  Not allowing observers to participate in the work of the Conference is deeply troubling and raises further questions around the effective functioning of the CD. It is also not in line with the core principle of multilateralism. The CD should grant observer status to interested UN Member States without political obstructions. Any reservations of CD-Members to the participation of UN Member States in the Conference on Disarmament may be submitted in writing, without blocking the observer status of any UN Member State. Russia’s opposition to approve the entire list of observers is concerning.

The EU supports the long overdue enlargement of the CD, which currently comprises only 65 members. The expansion of the membership of the CD is a matter of urgency and should be the subject of substantive consultations, laying out concrete scenarios for the consideration of CD members. One of the ways forward would be to appoint a special coordinator on this issue, which the EU fully supports.

Gender equality and the full empowerment of all women and girls are important cross-cutting priorities for the EU. We welcome efforts to promote gender equality and improve women’s full, active, equal, and meaningful participation, including in leadership positions in disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control fora. However, the Conference on Disarmament is clearly lagging behind. The discussion on gender equality and perspective continues to be hampered by objections of several delegations. Moreover, despite broad support, the Conference on Disarmament has not been able to reach consensus on a technical update to its Rules of Procedure to reflect the equality of women and men. We deeply regret this and expect more from the Conference on Disarmament. Furthermore, we should also engage youth and explore further opportunities for engagement with civil society, academia, industry and research institutions as well as affected communities within the Conference on Disarmament. We share the view that disarmament initiatives have been most successful when they involved effective partnerships between all the relevant stakeholders—Governments, the expert community and civil society organizations—as well as strong interest and support from the general public and well-functioning international negotiation forums.

In conclusion, the EU reiterates its firm commitment to the disarmament and non-proliferation agenda. We believe that a revitalized Conference on Disarmament can play a pivotal role in advancing these objectives. Let us seize this opportunity and work together to build a stronger, more effective CD that meets the expectations of the international community in the 21^st century. The revitalization of the CD requires a collective commitment from all members. We stand ready to engage in constructive dialogue and cooperate closely with all states to ensure progress in the Conference's work.

I thank you, madam President.

^*  North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.