Mr. Chairman, Director General, Distinguished delegates,
I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the 27 States Parties that are Members of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Croatia*, The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia* and Turkey, the Countries of the Stabilization and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia & Herzegovina and Serbia and the European Free Trade Area countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Armenia, Georgia, Montenegro and Ukraine align themselves with this statement.
At the outset, let me welcome you to the Chair. The European Union and its Member States are looking forward to working closely with you, as a number of important decisions will have to be taken in the coming 12 months. I would also like to extend our gratitude to your predecessor Ambassador Tomová. We are proud that a representative of the European Union has been guiding the work of the Executive Council with such professionalism, style and success.
The European Union continues to strive for universal adherence to the Convention, and believes that the participation in the Chemical Weapons Convention is a clear demonstration of a State’s commitment to disarmament and international cooperation. The European Union warmly welcomes The Bahamas and The Dominican Republic among the States Parties of the OPCW. We note that there are now only seven States that have yet to become parties to the Convention – including two signatories – and we call on these States to join the membership of the CWC as early as possible. To this end, the EU will continue its engagement with the concerned States.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to take part in the stabilisation and association process
The European Union considers that full national implementation of the Convention is an essential obligation and invites all the States Parties to implement the appropriate legislative and administrative measures. In this context, it is important to assess the effectiveness of the Technical Secretariat’s implementation support programmes.Mr. Chairman,
We have a busy agenda ahead of us. It spans a number of relevant issues including matters related to disarmament and non-proliferation, annual reporting for 2008, economic and technological development and a number of issues of administrative nature.
Clearly among the items that we will give particular attention is the appointment of the new Director General. In this regard, the EU strongly supports the on-going, open procedure launched by Ambassador Tomová and continued by yourself, Mr. Chairman, with clear deadlines for selecting a strong, experienced and suitably qualified candidate. We would like to assure you of the EU’s full support and we express our confidence in your ability to manage this process, in order that the Executive Council reaches consensus on a recommendation to the Conference of the States Parties. We are looking forward to meeting all the candidates for their presentations during tomorrow’s informal meeting.
Mr. Chairman,
Destruction of all chemical weapons remains a key objective of the CWC and an essential priority for the OPCW. The European Union is heartened by the fact that three possessor states have now completed destruction. We welcome the announcement that destruction in the United States has now reached the 60% mark. We are also pleased that operations have began this year at the Shchuch'ye facility in the Russian Federation, which was constructed with assistance from the European Union. With regard to the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, we are pleased that reloading of chemical agent has commenced in preparation for destruction. We look forward to the early start of actual destruction. We would hope that all required actions related to chemical weapons destruction facilities may be taken by the EC during this session.
It is of utmost importance that the remaining four possessor States continue to be mindful of their obligations, address their challenges effectively, and make every effort to complete destruction on time, within the framework of the Convention and its verification regime. This applies to those States that have reported that they are still on track to meet their agreed timelines, and not least the State Party whose current projections indicate that the deadline may not be met. We also look forward to the submission of a detailed plan for destruction by Iraq.
The EU calls upon concerned States Parties to complete the conversion of Chemical Weapons Production Facilities as soon as possible. With regard to the Technical Secretariat’s proposals for how to deal with converted facilities after ten years of systematic verification, we think that this issue requires further consideration. Specifically, we believe that the Technical Secretariat should continue to have the ability to conduct inspections at former chemical weapons production facilities that continue to be capable of producing toxic chemicals.
We also welcome the visit of an OPCW delegation to the Pueblo and Umatilla facilities in the United States. The European Union once again stresses the relevance of these visits to the two main possessor States as measures of transparency and confidence building. For this reason, the European Union have supported the participation by several delegations in such visits, and looks forward to proposals for a further visit to the Russian Federation.
Destruction of the weapons of the past must be accompanied by the prevention of new chemical weapons being created in the future. In particular Articles VI and IX of the Convention are vital pillars for pursuing the non-proliferation goals of the Convention.
It is important to strengthen the industry verification regime by better focused industry inspections. The Second Review Conference noted that, the verification system of the Convention is sound, but needs to be adapted in order to take into account economic evolutions, developments in characteristics and changes in science and technology, as well as industrial practices.
The European Union calls on all States Parties to work constructively to reach consensus on the issues under discussion in the Industry Clusters as soon as possible. We would also like to encourage fast appointment of coordinators and commencement of informal consultations on further issues in the clusters, in particular where successful outcomes may be attained in the short term .
In order to improve the OPCW preparedness for investigations of alleged use and challenge inspections, and to increase the amount of information available to laboratories in States Parties, the European Union finds it important to continue to develop further the OPCW Central Analytical Database - the OCAD.
Mr. Chairman
The European Union welcomes the 2008 Verification Implementation Report, and commends the Technical Secretariat for its continuous work to improve the structure and clarity of the document. We would like to see a continued move towards the inclusion of data which would enable the analysis of trends and continuous challenges to the verification regime. We note that, unlike the Annual Report, States Parties are not called upon to negotiate the content of this report. Factual omissions or inaccuracies are to be taken into consideration in separate corrigenda. Against this background, the European Union is of the opinion that it is incumbent upon the Executive Council to note the VIR without delay.
With regard to our common efforts to prevent the use of chemicals by non-state actors, the Second Review Conference underlined the importance of implementation of Article X, cited the relevant UN resolutions and invited States Parties to cooperate both bilaterally and regionally to that effect. The European Union recognizes that the implementation of all Articles of the Convention constitutes an tangible measure in the fight against terrorism, and considers that the activities of the OPCW in this field are of great importance – in particular those leading to enhanced national implementation. The European Union supports the work of the Open Ended Working Group on Terrorism to enhance this contribution within the framework of the existing mandate of the Convention, for instance, through the exchange of best practices.
We have noted with satisfaction the Technical Secretariat’s intention to hold Assistex III in the second half of 2010, and welcome the offer by Tunisia to host the event. Several EU Member States have made offers of contributions to assistance efforts under Chapter X of the Convention, and we are looking forward to this important event. We also call upon the Technical Secretariat to ensure a focused approach that would enable the Technical Secretariat and States Parties to derive maximum benefit from the exercise.
We have before us the Draft OPCW Programme and Budget for 2010. As one of the largest contributors to the OPCW, the EU attaches great importance to sound and cost-effective budgeting, a zero-nominal growth budget to the extent possible and results-based budgeting focused on the priority objectives that makes reporting on and assessing of impact achievable.
Since the last EC session, the EU has completed its evaluation of the three Joint Actions in support of the OPCW. The third joint action was operationally completed in June 2009, with the holding of events in Turkey and Algeria. I am pleased to announce that a new Council Decision is due for approval by the EU Council on 27 July. Once the financial agreement has been passed, this Council Decision will provide for continued support to key activities of the OPCW, in keeping with the European Union’s Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction.
The new Council Decision should be seen as a sign of the continued importance that the EU attaches to the aims and activities of this organization. We look forward to working with you to ensure a successful outcome of this meeting, and to expeditious decision-making, without undue deferral of decisions to future sessions.
In conclusion, I would like to request that this statement be treated as an official document of the Executive Council.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman