Mr Chairman, I am speaking on behalf of the European Union
The Candidate Countries Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia* , the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia as well as the Republic of Moldova and Armenia align themselves with this declaration.
Firstly, Mr Chairman, I would like to congratulate you on your appointment as Chairman of our Meeting.
The purpose of the CCW is to ban or restrict the use of certain specific types of weapons that cause excessive injury or unnecessary suffering to combatants or affect civilians indiscriminately. The Convention forms an essential and integral part of international law applicable to armed conflict. It is designed to provide a framework within which humanitarian concerns regarding conventional weapons can be dealt with. The European Union remains attached to the framework offered by this Convention, which enables prohibitions or limitations to be placed on conventional weapons that have indiscriminate effects or are excessively injurious, while at the same time taking account of military needs and humanitarian considerations.
Today the CCW has 110 States Parties. The number of States Parties to the Convention continues to increase, but it still falls short of achieving universal membership. Substantial efforts have been made in the last few years to promote the universality of the CCW. The potential for progress is all the greater because, among the States that are not party to the Convention, there are numerous countries that are affected by mines or explosive remnants of war and could benefit from accession to the CCW.
The Plan of Action on the Universality of the CCW, adopted at the Third Review Conference in 2006, aims to facilitate such progress. The European Union is aware of the importance of this. It took an initiative in 2007 to support the universalisation of the Convention through a series of regional seminars, as well as by a contribution to the Sponsorship Programme, with a budget of almost EUR 1 million. This initiative has enabled the European Union, with UNODA – the United Nations Office of Disarmament Affairs - as the implementing agency, to hold six regional seminars which have allowed the sharing of knowledge and experience on the CCW in Latin America and the Caribbean, East and West Africa, the Horn of Africa, the Great Lakes region and South Africa, Central Asia, the Middle East and the Mediterranean, and in South-East Asia and the Pacific Islands, thereby contributing to realising the objective of universalisation.The sponsorship programme, established following a decision of the Third Review Conference, plays a part in promoting the Convention and its Protocols and improving their implementation. From its inception, this programme has received considerable funding from the European Union, as well as from several of its Member States. It has enabled countries that, due to a lack of resources, had not had an opportunity to be involved in our work to familiarise themselves with the Convention and its Protocols. The smooth implementation of this programme since it was established two years ago owes much to its Coordinators, Lithuanian Ambassador Mr Edvardas Borisovas and Mr. Pieter Van Donkersgoed of the Netherlands. I would like to thank them both as well as the Secretariat/ODA and the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining - GICHD, which provides the technical management of the funds supplied to the programme.
Mr Chairman,
As to the decision on Compliance of the Third Review Conference, the European Union wishes to support your appeal to all States Parties to implement this decision in full and to submit their national compliance reports as required.
The Third Review Conference took place in 2006. In line with established practice, the next review conference should be held in 2011. The European Union supports your intentions to initiate preparations for the next review conference in the course of 2010.
The achievements of the CCW cannot be preserved without solid administrative support from the Secretariat. All States Parties that have taken on responsibilities as office-holders in the framework of the CCW know that their task would not be possible without this support. The European Union supports the proposal to establish a CCW Implementation Support Unit, in order to secure the continuity and stability of the support provided by the Secretariat and preserve the institutional memory for the implementation of the Convention. It welcomes your initiative in this regard and hope that all States Parties will be able to join in this support.
With the adoption of Protocol V, and its entry into force in November 2006, the CCW showed that it is a living and important instrument of international humanitarian law. Since the entry into force, the universalisation of this Protocol has made regular progress, which is a testament to the recognition of its added value by a growing number of States. The European Union welcomes the commitment of States Parties to the effective and efficient implementation of the Protocol, and the establishment by the States Parties of a comprehensive framework for exchange of information and cooperation to support this implementation. The EU also welcomes the recent adoption of a Plan of Action on Victim Assistance. This Protocol can and must produce tangible results on the ground, responding to problems caused by explosive remnants of war.
The European Union also welcomes the decision by States Parties to Amended Protocol II to establish an informal open-ended Group of Experts. This has facilitated the exchange of information on national implementation and also on the specific subject of IEDs – Improvised Explosive Devices - this year.The European Union has stressed, at various occasions, that one of the challenges of the next few years will most probably be to identify and ensure possible practical synergies between various instruments of international humanitarian law, such as the Ottawa Convention, Protocol V of the CCW, the Convention on Cluster Munitions and, possibly, a future Protocol of the CCW on Cluster Munitions. We should also bear in mind the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Mr Chairman,
I would now like to turn to the report of the Group of Governmental Experts. The European Union and its Member States have supported the work of this group in 2008 and 2009, and indeed still consider it very important to negotiate a legally binding instrument to address urgently the humanitarian impact of cluster munitions, while striking a balance between military needs and humanitarian considerations. This task – admittedly - is not an easy one, given the complexities involved and the divergence of the starting positions. Here, I would like to express our appreciation of the efforts made this year by the Chairman of the GGE, Mr. Gustavo Ainchil of Argentina. Views are still wide apart on many crucial issues, but today we have a better understanding of these different views.
The European Union considers it important that the CCW be able to respond to the expectations of many of its States Parties on the issue of cluster munitions. Thus, we are prepared for the Group of Governmental Experts to resume its work and conclude it swiftly on the basis of a mandate with the express aim of negotiating a Protocol to the CCW. We are ready to contribute fully to the success of these negotiations with a view to reaching an agreement which is credible in humanitarian terms, meaningful in the scope of its prohibitions and compatible with the Convention on Cluster Munitions. The European Union wants to see a tangible expression of the progress made during these past two years. We need the CCW to be a dynamic instrument responding to urgent humanitarian challenges before us.
In this context the EU welcomes the adoption in Dublin and the opening for signature in Oslo last year of the Convention on Cluster Munitions as well as the growing number of ratifications, which will lead to its entry into force.
In conclusion, Mr Chairman, we are looking forward to a productive meeting of States Parties to the CCW. We know that you will lead our work wisely, and I would like to assure you of the full support of the European Union in your endeavours.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.
_______________ * Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process."