Mr. President,
I have the honour to speak 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, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA country Norway, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and Armenia align themselves with this declaration.
The EU would like to begin by thanking the Secretariat for its excellent report on UNCTAD assistance to the Palestinian people.
The European Union remains committed to a comprehensive settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict, on the basis of international law, the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, the terms of reference of the Madrid conference, including land for peace, the Roadmap, the agreements previously reached by the parties and the Arab Peace Initiative. The EU remains equally committed to the two-state solution with an independent, democratic, contiguous and viable Palestinian state, comprising the West Bank and Gaza, living side by side in peace and security with the State of Israel.
The declared readiness of the government of Israel to promote Palestinian economic development is a positive sign. This should be carried out within the framework of the broader perspective of the two-state solution. The EU welcomes the positive steps recently taken by the Israeli authorities regarding the easing of restrictions on the West Bank.
However, the continued settlement activities, house demolitions and evictions in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including in East Jerusalem remain a serious concern for the EU. We urge the government of Israel to end immediately these settlement activities, including so called natural growth, and to dismantle all outposts erected since March 2001. The EU reiterates that the settlements are illegal under international law and constitute an obstacle to peace. If there is to be genuine peace, a way must be found to share Jerusalem as the capital of two states.
The EU is also gravely concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and calls for the immediate and unconditional opening of crossings for the flow of humanitarian aid, commercial goods and persons to and from Gaza. Reconstruction and economic recovery has to be allowed and the current humanitarian crisis must be solved.
We look forward to further and sustainable improvements of movement and access in the occupied Palestinian territory. The Agreement on Movement and Access of 2005 must be fully implemented. The EU is ready to work closely with Israel, the Palestinian Authority and international donors in order to achieve sustainable development of the Palestinian economy.
The European Union is the largest donor of aid to the Palestinian people.
Within the UNCTAD Programme of assistance to the Palestinian people, the European Commission funds the Palestinian Customs Modernization Programme, which includes the implementation of the Automated System for Customs Data (ASYCUDA), thereby facilitating the customs service for Palestinian exports and imports. The programme is part of a strategic vision to build the institutions of a future viable and independent Palestinian state. European Commission funds also helped establish the Palestinian Shippers’ Council. The Council will be one of the building blocks in the formation of a vibrant private sector, with the objective to lessen transport and transit related bottlenecks, as well as to develop and promote trade.
The EU also contributed 496.66 million Euros in assistance to the Palestinian people, beyond the UNCTAD Programme, in 2008. The main part of these funds were channelled through PEGASE: the European Union’s Mechanism to support the reform and development priorities of the Palestinian Authority. PEGASE aims at a gradual shift in emphasis from emergency support to longer term priorities.
For the year of 2009, the EU pledged a total of 439.9 million Euros at the International Conference in support of the Palestinian economy for the reconstruction of Gaza, held in Sharm El-Sheikh in March.
This level of support, clearly indicates the EU’s commitment to help build the government institutions and a robust economy of a future Palestinian state, which will help to bring a climate of law and order to the Palestinian people and contribute to expedite the peace process.
For the EU’s support to bring benefits to the Palestinian people, conditions for free trade and economic development must however be in place.
The European Union would like to underline the importance of boosting the private and public sector through capacity-building, trade policy, trade facilitation, financial management, development strategies, enterprise development and investments.
It’s important that UNCTAD continues its efforts to assist the Palestinian people in accordance with paragraph 44 of the Accra Accord. As the largest contributor to the UNCTAD Programme of assistance to the Palestinian people, the EU must express its concern over the lack of programme funding from other parties, which has led to the procrastination of the Investment Retention Programme and the EMPRETEC Palestine, and to the suspension of the DMFAS Programme. In light of the importance ascribed to the programme among UNCTAD member states, we hope funding will increase over time.
Thank you for your attention.
_______________ * Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.