EU and Member States Explanation of Vote - UN General Assembly 2nd Committee: The Role of the UN in Promoting Globalization and Interdependence Adoption

Chair,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina* and Georgia align themselves with the statement.

The EU has engaged constructively in the negotiations and I would like to thank the Facilitator and the negotiators for the discussions.

Ongoing crises have prompted a reflection on how globalization can better foster resilient societies. Focusing on the SDGs and its imperative of leaving no one behind, the EU approached the negotiations with the objective of updating the text to better reflect the integrated approach of the 2030 Agenda. The EU also made constructive proposals on the need for inclusive global partnerships and the strengthening of the international financial system.

Improvements were made in some paragraphs to better define, the role of the UN in promoting globalization and interdependence, including with a reference to the Pact for the Future and its annexes.



However, we deeply regret that we were, once again, not in a position to support the Resolution.

The Member States of the European Union have voted against the preambular paragraph 11 of the Resolution entitled “Role of the United Nations in promoting development in the context of globalization and interdependence”, and abstained in the vote on the whole Resolution.

Since the start of these negotiations, we have reiterated our concerns regarding the language used in PP11 which has prevented the EU from supporting this resolution in the past. We were very disappointed that our position and constructive alternative was not taken into account towards a possible bridge-building proposal in the final text submitted by the G77 and China.

Indeed, the EU and its Member States do not believe that mutual economic gains should take precedence over the sustainable developmental needs of countries – and therefore we can not support the promotion of “win-win cooperation” in the context of this Resolution, as a concept that has no universally agreed definition.

We also regret that it was not possible for the resolution to include that gender equality was a key objective of the UN in its role of promotion of globalization and interdependence.

Chair,

The EU remains committed to continuing its constructive cooperation in the future, and we call on all Delegations to work towards bridge-building proposals that will facilitate consensus on this important issue.