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EU Statement – UN General Assembly 6th Committee: Report of the Special Committee on the Charter

20.10.2023
New York
Press and information team of the Delegation to the UN in New York

20 October 2023, New York - Statement on behalf of the European Union and its Member States by Ms. Simona Popan, Counsellor, Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, at the 78th Session of the United Nations General Assembly Sixth Committee on the Agenda item 82: "Report of the Special Committee on the Charter of the United Nations and on the Strengthening of the Role of the Organization"

– CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY –

 

Thank you, Mr. Chair,

 

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

 

The Candidate Countries Serbia*, Albania*, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina*, the potential candidate country Georgia, and the EFTA country, Liechtenstein, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Monaco and San Marino align themselves with this statement.

 

Mr. Chair,

 

The EU and its Member States engaged constructively in the debate of the Special Committee on the Charter earlier this year. We welcome the opportunity to provide some remarks on its work.

 

First, we welcomed the annual briefing on UN sanctions. The EU firmly believes that UN sanctions must be implemented in full compliance with international law, in particular international humanitarian law and international human rights law. UN sanctions must be fair and clear and respect the rights of listed persons, including due process rights. The EU is fully committed to preserving the humanitarian space. In this regard, we welcome the adoption of UN Security Council Resolution 2664, introducing a humanitarian carve-out to asset freeze measures across UN sanctions regimes. We also welcome the reference in the Haiti Resolution 2653 to the Ombudsperson, as a step towards strengthening due process rights beyond the ISIL (Da’esh) and Al Qaida sanctions regimes.

 

Secondly, we were pleased to participate in the thematic debate on the resort to regional agencies or arrangements as a peaceful means of dispute settlement. We look forward to discussing other means of peaceful settlement of disputes in the next session of the Special Committee. As indicated on previous occasions, we see merit in discussing topics that are non-political and that do not duplicate discussions elsewhere in the United Nations.

 

Lastly, we recall that, last March, the Special Committee on the Charter concluded its work without the adoption of a substantive report. We would like to mark our disappointment with the fact that, for the second consecutive year, a substantive report could not be adopted due to opposition by one delegation to put on record what has been discussed in the room.

 

We look forward to fruitful exchanges on this agenda item.

 

I thank you.

 

 

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