Madam President-Designate,
I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the European Union.
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia* , the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, as well as the Republic of Moldova, Armenia and Georgia align themselves with this declaration.
The EU appreciates this opportunity to make some general comments in preparation of the Second Review Conference in Cartagena. We would like to commend you, Madam President-Designate, and your team for the work done in preparing thoughtful discussion papers during the spring, a well as drafts of documents for the Conference.
The EU welcomes the progress made in universalising and implementing the Convention. At the same time we are strongly aware of the humanitarian and developmental challenges still posed by anti-personnel mines. For the EU mine action remains a key priority. It also plays an important role in early recovery and in supporting transition from conflicts to broader development efforts. The financial support provided by the EU and its Member States over many years clearly illustrates its strong and continuous commitment towards a world free of anti-personnel mines without any new anti-personnel mine victims and where sustainable care is provided for the victims of these weapons. Overall contributions to mine action by the EU Member States and the European Community over the last ten years amount to over 1,5 billion Euros and represents almost half of the world's financial assistance to mine action in that period.
The Convention is motivated by the humanitarian goal of ending the suffering that anti-personnel mines have caused, and continue to cause. The EU welcomes the general thrust of your discussion papers, where you urge States Parties to go back to this humanitarian imperative, and to focus on the linkage between compliance and the improvement in the lives of victims and their communities. We support you in your efforts to formulate a focused action plan, containing actions which are as specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound as possible.
It is important, as you have pointed out, that the people who are affected by anti-personnel mines are heard and involved. This is also one of the reasons why the EU, through its Joint Action in support of the Convention, is organising a range of regional seminars and facilitating a number of technical advisory visits to States Parties this year. This is done with the efficient support of the ISU (the Implementation Support Unit) and GICHD (the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian De-mining). The purpose of these seminars – three have already taken place in Managua, Bangkok and Dushanbe respectively and the next two will be held in Pretoria and in Tirana - is inter alia to promote national implementation and compliance efforts, to share experiences and lessons learned among countries of the respective regions and to identify particular needs for mine action. All this takes place with the participation of representatives of governments, international organisations and civil society.
The EU concurs with you, Madam President-Designate, that universal adherence to the Convention and acceptance of its norms remain essential. We should make use of all opportunities offered to promote these goals, and the EU appeals to countries which have not yet acceded to the Convention, to do so as soon as possible.
During the first decade of the Convention substantial progress has been made not least in mine clearance and the destruction of stocks. However, the EU agrees that mine clearance and the destruction of stocks remain two of the most important challenges to the Convention. States Parties will have to continue to devote national and collective efforts to the fulfilment of these core obligations.
It is a matter of concern that the transparency reporting rate has fallen, and the EU concurs with your conclusion, Madam President-Designate, that renewed attention needs to be given to fulfilling this important obligation on the part of all State Parties.
Coming back to our shared commitment to mine-affected communities and survivors, the EU continues to support mine action inter alia through the many development cooperation programmes of the EC and Member States. The EU looks to the Cartagena Summit as an opportunity to discuss ways to further strengthen co-operation among all relevant actors, and to enhance aid effectiveness in mine action. In our efforts to enhance effectiveness in implementation of the humanitarian aim of the Convention the EU also recognise that it could be useful to identify possible practical synergies with other instruments of international law.
In conclusion, Madam President-Designate, the EU highly appreciates the lead you have taken in drafting elements for the Final Document. We look forward to working with you on these texts, with the goal to reach an effective political instrument to guide our important work in the coming years.
_______________ * Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.