EU Statement – UN Security Council Arria-formula meeting: Collective Security through equitable burden sharing

President,

Members of the Security Council,

We welcome today’s discussion on strengthening regional arrangements for the maintenance of international peace and security. Thank you to the mission of Ghana for taking this initiative and to the briefers for sharing their insights.

I would like to focus my intervention on three points: (1) the EU’s support to international peace and security; (2) our support to regional organisations committed to strengthening peace and security; and (3) our commitment to equitable burden sharing.

1. The European Union has a long established partnership with the United Nations. Only last month the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy Josep Borrell addressed the Security Council on the EU’s support to the maintenance of international peace and security. He spoke of a world where the demand for multilateral solutions is greater than the supply. Regional organisations like those present today can contribute to creating trust and strengthening multilateral solutions.

The EU is a steadfast supporter of the UN, including in the area of peace and security, in financial, human and political terms. We collaborate through the UN-EU strategic partnership on peace operations and crisis management. Over 4000 women and men are deployed by the EU in 18 crisis management missions on three continents, always working in close cooperation with the UN. In the Mediterranean, IRINI is implementing the UN arms embargo and preventing illicit petrol export from Libya. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, ALTHEA is supporting the authorities in maintaining a safe environment in a politically challenging context.

We also support the UN’s work on mediation, conflict prevention, peacebuilding and transition. The past year for example we have tripled our contribution to the UN Peacebuilding Fund to 8 mio EUR, which continues to demonstrate its important catalytic role. On mediation we support the UN-led peace process in Yemen by chairing the Cessation of Hostilities Working Group, setting up a ceasefire monitoring mechanism, leveraging track II activities and supporting economic peace building. On conflict prevention, the EU strengthens the Resident Coordinator System in fragile environments through its 2.5 mio EUR contribution to the Joint UNDP-DPPA Conflict Prevention Programme.

2. As a regional organisation ourselves we have championed regional organisations elsewhere. The EU has developed close partnerships with ECOWAS, SADC, ECCAS, the League of Arab States, NATO, OSCE, ASEAN, CELAC, Pacific Island Forum, and many more.

But I believe it is fair to say that no partnership has been as close as the one with the African Union. This partnership is based on the same values that underpin the UN: respect for the rule of law, democracy and human rights. At our EU-AU Summit in February our Leaders committed to a renewed and enhanced cooperation for peace and security, premised on the principle of ‘African solutions to African problems’. The EU will continue to support African-led peace operations, as we are currently doing with ATMIS, the UN-mandated Transition Mission in Somalia. Since 2007 the EU has contributed 2,3 bio EUR to the AU’s peace operations in Somalia alone. In April we allocated 600 mio EUR from the European Peace Facility to support the African Union over three years, including for Somalia and to strengthen the Multi-National Joint Task Force against Boko Haram. We also want to increase our work with the AU on conflict prevention and mediation.

Throughout our partnerships with regional organisations, we promote respect and compliance with human rights and international humanitarian law.

3. These examples of EU engagement illustrate our commitment to equitable burden sharing. We are keen advocates for greater burden-sharing: recognizing that regional organizations are often best positioned to send peacekeepers to local war zones, but lack the funds. We are ready to consider any option to ensure adequate, predictable and sustainable funding for peace operations undertaken by regional organizations, including through the use of UN assessed contributions.

The necessity to ensure adequate, stable and predictable funding also applies to UN peacebuilding. Demand for peacebuilding support remains much larger than the available resources. We look forward to the discussions in the GA plenary and the Fifth Committee in this regard. The EU reiterates its gratitude to the missions of Kenya and Sweden for their efforts in facilitating this discussion at the General Assembly. We are confident that it will allow us to adopt an action-oriented and negotiated outcome, in order to explore new ways of addressing the funding of UN peacebuilding. This includes assessed contributions, an expanded donor base, an increased volume of voluntary contributions, innovative funding streams, and enhanced cooperation with international financial institutions. Support to peacebuilding extends beyond our traditional divides, and across regional groups, as a common ambition to sustain peace.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Before concluding I want to express the EU’s full support for the Secretary-General’s call for an ambitious ‘New Agenda for Peace’. This must address current and future threats to global peace and security in a comprehensive and integrated manner. A strong focus on prevention, where regional actors play a central role, is key.

President, I thank you once again for today’s initiative and conclude by reiterating the EU’s commitment to supporting regional organisations and more equitable burden-sharing.

Thank you.