Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2007-06-06-Speech-3-108"
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"en.20070606.14.3-108"2
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".
Mr President, Commissioner Ferrero-Waldner, ladies and gentlemen, from the very outset the European Union welcomed the creation of the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006 but has always emphasised that it expects the Council to be an efficient and credible body making a genuine contribution to the global protection and promotion of human rights. At the previous sessions of the Human Rights Council, the European Union has also attached importance to substantive debates on human-rights issues as well as to dialogue and close cooperation. During the fourth regular session, the European Union and the African Group succeeded in securing the adoption by consensus of their resolution on Darfur. This was the result of sustained efforts on the part of the European Union, and the outcome reflects not only the mandate of the Council but also the level of responsibility it should be expected to exercise.
The capacity of the Human Rights Council to fulfil its mandate is inextricably linked to its composition. Allow me to recall once more that the General Assembly of the United Nations expects the member nations of the Council to observe the highest standards of human rights. It has also called on all UN Members to elect to the Council only those nations with good human-rights records. Although this ideal is still far from having been achieved, I should like to express the satisfaction of the European Union that the election of Belarus to the Human Rights Council was successfully thwarted in May. This success was due in no small part to the opposition of the European Union to the candidature of Belarus. Although it is in a minority in numerical terms, the European Union nevertheless plays a leading role in the Council and has established itself as a major player.
In spite of some encouraging developments, such as the adoption of an International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, more action is needed to equip the Human Rights Council with the working practices and instruments it needs to live up to the expectations of the international community and particularly those of the European Union. The European Union attaches top priority to the institutional establishment of the Council. It is therefore making strenuous efforts to ensure that this institution-building process is successfully completed by the end of the first year. The forthcoming fifth session will therefore be crucially important. At that session the Council will take its concluding decisions on the establishment of the institution and will thereby ultimately determine its own efficiency and credibility for the next five years.
The European Union is currently cooperating closely in Geneva with all participants in order to achieve an outcome that will enable the Human Rights Council to make full use of its mandate. In the Presidency’s contacts with the President and the other delegations of the Human Rights Council, we are trying to establish a central role within the United Nations system for an efficient and credible Council. To this end the European Union wishes to insist on the creation of an effective and universal periodic review process and on the preservation of issue-based and country-based mandates. The planned code of conduct for special rapporteurs must not impair their independence; on the contrary, it must guarantee that independence and focus on the obligations of the states with which the rapporteurs cooperate. Moreover, we are pursuing the aim of establishing a suitable process for the selection of national representatives which will ensure that they possess the requisite expertise as well as guaranteeing their independence.
We are aware of the difficulties involved in the pursuit of these objectives. Let me assure you that we will not relax our efforts to achieve them. It also remains the firm hope of the European Union that the Human Rights Council, with its sessions held at regular intervals throughout the year, its new and improved set of instruments and its continuing commitment to the present dialogue with special rapporteurs and the High Commissioner for Human Rights, will develop into a cornerstone of the human-rights system of the United Nations. It is now up to all members of the Human Rights Council to act responsibly and to work towards the achievement of these goals."@en1
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