Madam Chairperson,
I have the honour to take the floor on behalf of the fifteen Member States of the European Union. The Central and Eastern European Countries associated with the European Union - Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia - and the associated countries Cyprus, Malta and Turkey as well as the EFTA country member of the EEA, Iceland, align themselves with this statement.
Let me start by congratulating you warmly on your election as Chairperson of the 2001 session of the UNDC. We are confident that under your able guidance we will further develop the two agenda items so that we will come to a successful conclusion next year.
I would also like to thank the outgoing chairman for his relentless efforts in support of the success of the Commission's work and Under-Secretary-General Dhanapala for his inspiring introductory statement.
The United Nations Disarmament Commission resumes its work this year with two items on its agenda, "Ways and Means to achieve Nuclear Disarmament" and "Practical Confidence Building Measures in the Field of Conventional Arms". Our objective is to agree on recommendations for the 57th General Assembly. These recommendations will be of use for all Member States in their policy-making in the respective fields.
Let me turn, first of all, to the topic of ways and means to achieve nuclear disarmament. The European Union continues to aim to consolidate, in an irreversible manner, the cessation and reversal of the arms race that ensued in the wake of the cold war, to progress concretely towards nuclear disarmament and to reinforce the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.
Against this background, the success of the 2000 NPT Review Conference was a welcome and important achievement, that built upon the Principles and Objectives of the 1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference. The European Union has, on many occasions, expressed its satisfaction with the adoption of last year's Final Document. One such occasion was last year's session of the first committee of the UN General Assembly, which confirmed the agreements contained in the Final Document of the Review Conference and thus carried the work forward. The European Union, for its part, will fulfil its responsibility, by contributing to the full implementation of the Final Document.
The EU strongly believes that the work of the UNDC regarding ways and means to achieve nuclear disarmament should indeed build on the agreement reached by all States Parties at the NPT Review Conference. We therefore believe it important that the report of this year's deliberations adhere, as far as possible, to the agreed language in the Final Document of the 2000 Review Conference. The EU has forwarded some proposals in this regard (A/CN.10/2000/WG.I/CRP.2 and A/CN.10/2000/WG.I/WP.3).
At last year's conference, the 187 States Parties, made up of nuclear-weapon states and non-nuclear weapon states, agreed unanimously on a number of practical steps which in the view of the EU, constitute a mutually reinforcing set of ways and means to achieve nuclear disarmament.
The EU believes that the principles established at the Conference should be adhered to and that all the practical steps agreed by the States Parties to the NPT should be fully implemented. In this regard the EU reiterates its call for:
As regards the work in the Conference on Disarmament, the European Union is still hopeful that the Conference be able to overcome the obstacles to the effective launch of its work soon, and thus respond to the legitimate expectations of the international community. The success of this endeavour requires that the security concerns of all states be taken into account. The immediate launch of the FMCT negotiations, as well as dealing with both nuclear disarmament and the prevention of an arms race in outer space within subsidiary bodies whose mandates shall need to be both pragmatic and substantial in order to be accepted by all, constitute a basis for substantive work in the CD.
This year, the UN Disarmament Commission will also continue to work on "Practical Confidence Building Measures in the field of Conventional Arms". The European Union hopes that this year's session will bring about fruitful discussions leading to concrete and comprehensive recommendations in this field. The recommendations should be designed to make progress in strengthening confidence and security and in achieving disarmament, so as to build an environment of co-operative security, and give effect and expression to the duty of Member States to refrain from the use of threat or force in their international relations.
The EU therefore supports and encourages efforts aimed at promoting confidence- and security-building measures. We believe that the UNDC can make a useful contribution in this field by preparing a catalogue of military confidence- and security-building measures. In this context, the EU welcomes the fact that a paper has been put forward by the Chairperson of the working group on CBMs, which includes, among other things, principles as well as practical measures. We are prepared to work on the basis of this paper and will revert to it with more specific comments and proposals for refinement at a later stage.
CSBMs are valuable tools in conflict prevention as well as in post-conflict stabilisation and rehabilitation. The essential task of arms control in both situations is to create a positive process where measures implemented can create confidence and security through transparency and predictability. This also implies that they are an integrated part of a larger political process.
The EU actively promotes the adoption of CSBMs, which can be particularly useful in situations where trust needs to be built step by step. They can institutionalise co-operation in an evolutionary process of confidence-and security-building.
The objective of CSBMs is to establish new patterns of interaction that are perceived as beneficial by the parties involved, and to make these patterns hard to reverse should perturbations occur. That is, CSBMs should have an "all weather capability". In times of increased tension, openness and predictability are more important than ever. This implies, inter alia, verification regimes that ensure the reliability of the provided information.
Consideration could also be given to the establishment, on a voluntary basis, of regional, subregional or bilateral CSBMs to meet specific needs. They could complement, not duplicate or replace, existing CSBMs or arms control agreements, and they should contribute to strengthening overall security and stability, in accordance with the principles of indivisible security and the right of every state to freely choose its security arrangements.
The OSCE area is a prime example of where CSBMs have contributed to a new pattern of interaction. Since the first CSBMs were agreed at the Stockholm Conference in the mid-80s, the CFE Treaty and the successive Vienna Documents have been instrumental in the creation of a new military culture of openness and transparency. These documents, along with the Open Skies Treaty, which still is pending ratification by some signatory states, constitute the cornerstones of CSBMs on conventional arms in Europe, and are fully supported by the European Union.
CSBMs should cover not only measures, but also principles. The OSCE Code of Conduct on Politico-Military Aspects of Security contains norms that are fundamental to the EU Member States and other OSCE participating States. The Code stipulates, inter alia, that all armed forces must be under effective democratic and constitutional control, and have clearly defined tasks. The EU expresses the hope that the UNDC will endorse these principles in its recommendations. Furthermore, all participating States are committed to educate their military personnel in international humanitarian law. The 1998 EU Code of Conduct has ushered in a new degree of transparency between governments in arms transactions. The Code builds upon common criteria for arms exports but also establishes an information exchange and consultations mechanism.
The OSCE Document on Small Arms and Light Weapons, adopted last November, is one example of a comprehensive document containing important transparency measures, but goes much further in that it requests the participating States to adopt a number of norms, principles and measures related to the manufacturing, marking, record-keeping, export controls and criteria, management of stockpiles, reduction of surpluses and destruction, etc.
The Document is an important contribution to the up-coming UN Conference on the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All its Aspects. The European Union is fully committed to a successful outcome of the conference, and believes that provisions concerning CBMs should be included in the Programme of Action resulting from the Conference. The European Union is of the opinion that the Programme of Action should encompass concrete solutions agreed upon by the Member States as well as political commitments, standards and guidelines for our future work.
The Joint Action on the European Union's contribution to combating the destabilising accumulation and spread of small arms and light weapons encompasses CSBMs, and in that spirit we provide technical and financial assistance to programmes and projects related to SALW, notably in Cambodia, Mozambique and Georgia (South Ossetia).
The EU considers transparency in armaments as fundamental in building confidence and security. In this context, the UN Register of Conventional Arms is a key instrument. The EU is committed to securing the widest possible participation in the register, and to improve its effectiveness in a way that could contribute to regional and sub-regional confidence-building efforts.
The EU reiterates its endorsement of the 54th UNGA Resolution "Objective information on military matters, including transparency of military expenditures", and the 55th UNGA resolution on "Consolidation of peace through practical disarmament measures". These resolutions are positive contributions to the enhancement and development of CBMs.
We also recall our support for the May 1996 UNDC Guidelines for Arms Transfers as well as the April 1999 UNDC Guidelines on Conventional Arms Control and Limitation and Disarmament with particular emphasis on the consolidation of peace.
The European Union is committed to continue to participate actively in all appropriate fora to discuss and elaborate concrete CSBMs, which can contribute to increased security and co-operation between all Member States of the United Nations. We emphasise that our deliberations should result in concrete recommendations, which could guide further action by Member States.
Under your able guidance and with the work already done by the Chairpersons for the two working groups, I am confident that we will have fruitful discussions and a productive session of the Disarmament Commission.
I thank you, Madam Chairperson.