PRESS CONFERENCE BY PRESIDENCY OF EUROPEAN UNION

press conference by presidency of European Union

Multilateralism was a major priority of the European Union, which would strive to be an effective and positive partner for United Nations agencies, Jean-Marc Hoscheit, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg, said at a Headquarters press conference this morning.

Briefing correspondents on the programme for his country’s European Union Presidency in the first half of this year, he said Luxembourg would coordinate the regional group’s activities with different countries and international organizations, including the United Nations.  In the context of the United Nations, the high-level meeting to be held in September 2005 would feature high on the Presidency’s activity plan.  The challenge would be to develop a consensus on security and development, as there was a balance and interaction between those two areas.

Noting that the 25-member European Union was by far the largest donor, in absolute terms, of official development assistance (ODA), he said a discussion of progress towards attaining the Millennium Development Goals would also feature prominently on the agenda, as would the fight against HIV/AIDS and the question of financing for development.  Among other issues to be taken up in the coming six months, were negotiations on small arms and light weapons and the upcoming meetings of the Commission on the Status of Women, the Commission on Sustainable Development, the Review Conference of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and, in Geneva, the Commission on Human Rights.

Turning to European Union actions in the aftermath of the 26 December tsunami disaster, he said that a great sense of solidarity and compassion had been mobilized in Europe.  The Council of Ministers, the Presidency and the European Commission had tried to get active on the ground as soon as possible after 26 December 2004.  A special emergency meeting of foreign affairs, development cooperation and health ministers on 7 January had developed a package of assistance measures, while European Union member States had mobilized more than €1.5 billion ($2 billion, not including private donations) for emergency, rehabilitation and long-term reconstruction efforts.  A meeting of economic and finance ministers had been convened today to assess the impact of the disaster on the affected region.  Also, thanks to significant European Union contributions, 75 per cent of the 11 January Flash Appeal had been covered.

Future activities would include European Union participation in the establishment of early-warning systems, he said.  Ministers of Foreign Affairs would meet on 31 January to consolidate the help-package, including some €1 billion in concessionary loans, to be administered by the European Investment Bank.  The European Union would lend its fullest support to the United Nations coordination role in the present aid effort.  The European Union was also committed to going beyond the immediate emergency effort and to stay active in the medium- and longer-term reconstruction and development dimensions of the situation.

Answering a correspondent’s question on the ability to meet the Millennium Development Goals given the tsunami relief efforts, he stressed that specific efforts in the aftermath of the tsunami disaster should not detract from longer-term development cooperation objectives in all of the world’s regions.  The so-called “Barcelona Commitment” stated clearly a number of European Union objectives in attaining the targets and that commitment would be reviewed in the coming months.

Asked about donor fatigue, he replied that the strong solidarity shown by the €1.5 billion pledged, matched by an extraordinary mobilization by civil society, indicated that there was no donor fatigue.  In that regard, four of the five countries that had reached or exceeded the target of earmarking 0.7 per cent of their gross domestic product to ODA were European Union member States, while other member States had set timelines to achieve that target.

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