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JEF-Europe

Recalling that the EU is by definition called upon to be a driving force in the process of UN reform and that the 2003 European Security Strategy stresses the pivotal role of the UN, as well as the EU's attachment to ‘effective multilateralism',

Noting that during the 2005 UN Summit the EU has been a successful frontrunner in the creation of the Peacebuilding Commission and the Human Rights Council and the promotion of a future United Nations Environment Organization,

Considering that the EU delivers common statements on an ever-increasing number of issues in most UN bodies and has become a highly recognisable actor for third states, it has the opportunity to act as a true bridge-builder in UN management reform,

JEF-Europe, however,

Regretfully acknowledging that the 2005 World Summit Outcome Document still falls short of reaching all the necessary agreements for a new structure of the UN and failed to transform it into an organisation that is fit for the new requirements of globalisation and changing world order.

Fearing that the UN, as the most prominent of all international organisations, not only faces a lack of transparency and control by the peoples of the world, but also needs general reform in order to cope with problems ranging from poverty, infectious diseases, environmental damage, and civil violence to terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and nuclear non-proliferation, as enumerated by the 2004 Report of the High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change,

The EU needs legal personality and a single seat in the UN.

JEF-Europe therefore

Calls for a streamlining of the UN system, possessing strong global implementation capabilities and endowed with the necessary authority, resources and accountability structures to carry out its mandate,

Desires that the UN continues its reform efforts, as a more inclusive participation in UN deliberations and decision-making is an indispensable part of the process of the democratisation of its organs.

Proposes the establishment of a Parliamentary Assembly with genuine rights of information, participation and control; this Assembly being competent to adopt recommendations directed at the UN General Assembly and in doing so act as a political catalyst for the development of international law and global cooperation,

Calls upon the EU and its member states to actively engage in UN reform by paving the way for an international legal personality of the EU accompanied by a single European seat in the Security Council which could be taken up by the High Representative of the CFSP and eventually by a true European Minister of Foreign Affairs.