European Union and the United Nations
The European Union ( EU) as successor of the European Communities ( EC) since 1974 has been an observer member in the United Nations (UN). Since 3 May 2011, the EU has held an extended observer status in the General Assembly of the United Nations, without the right to vote to possess. She is thus represented in the General Assembly in addition to its 28 member States, of which two sit as permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations.
History
On 11 October 1974 the European Economic Community ( EEC) was awarded by the 29 th General Assembly of the United Nations permanent observer status. The EEC became the first non-governmental legal entity which received this status.
Over time, the observer status was granted in a variety of UN agencies. In addition, it is since 1991 a full member of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN ( FAO) and since 1995 the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 2001, the EU was the first non-governmental unit that held a summit meeting of the UN Conference on the Least Developed Countries.
The created in 1992 by the Treaty of Maastricht EU was not even represented to the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in the UN because they had no legal personality. The European Community therefore adopted this representation perceive 1993-2009. So had up to this point only the European Community in the UN General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations observer status, so has the contractual creation of the EU's legal personality ( according to Article 47 TEU) means that this participation status since December 1, 2009 the European Union has. Since 1974, the European Commission had a liaison office in New York. Also, the six-monthly rotating Presidency had a liaison office since 1994. Cooperation between the EC and the EU had to be coordinated between these two offices. In the wake of the Lisbon Treaty, the liaison offices have been merged into an EU delegation.
In 2009, the EU proposed a resolution that would grant her in the General Assembly the same representation rights as a full member but without voting right. This approach was rejected in 2010. After lengthy negotiations, a new resolution was adopted in 2011, which extended the EU's observer status in the General Assembly and their new grants rights. No votes against the resolution from 180 of the 192 UN member states was adopted. Syria and Zimbabwe had abstained from the vote and ten other states were not present at the vote.
Representation of the interests of the EU at the UN
All EU countries are independent members of the United Nations, some EU members are founding members of the UN. The Member States of the European Union, the external representation of the EU, which was formerly exercised by the representatives of the Member State, who held the regular Presidency of the Council of the European Union, transfer the following institutional representatives: the President of the European Council, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign and Security Policy, the European Commission and the delegations of the European Union. Since October 2011, Thomas Mayr- Harting Head of the Delegation of the European Union ( EU ambassador ) to the United Nations.
Head of the Delegation of the European Union at the United Nations
Representation in the General Assembly
Since the adoption of resolution A/RES/65/276 on May 3, 2011, the EU has held an enhanced observer status in the UN General Assembly, which gives it some privileges. You must submit the right opinions, is to participate in the general debate of the General Assembly invited can and amendments to which the Member States of the European Union have agreed to submit orally. However, the representative of the European Union have " neither the vote nor the right to table resolutions or draft resolutions with or to nominate candidates ". Normal observers in the General Assembly, as the Holy See and the Red Cross, these privileges have not been granted to date.
Representation on the Security
Two EU Member States are permanent members of the Security Council, France and the UK. These undertake by Article 34 § 2 of the Treaty on European Union, " the other Member States fully informed [ to ] " and " use of the positions and interests of the Union ."
Representation in other UN organizations and treaties
The EU is the only non-state actors Party of about 50 international UN treaties. She is also a full member in a number of subsidiary organs and specialized agencies of the United Nations such as the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development, the United Nations Forum on Forests and the Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO) of the United Nations. The EU was also a full participant in a number of international conferences, such as the Rio and Kyoto climate summits.
Voting behavior of the EU at the UN
The EU coordinates its voting behavior in the six main committees and other subsidiary bodies of the General Assembly, the Economic and Social Council and its commissions and other subsidiary organs, including the specialized agencies and offices of the UN. To enable a better coordination of the vocal behavior and joint decision-making, more than 1000 EU coordination meetings are held annually. The EU has also spoken at major UN conferences since 1990 with one voice.
The EU speaks with votes in the General Assembly within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy ( CFSP), as well as possible with one voice. The voting behavior of the EU's 27 members has unified more and more in the last 20 years. The share of votes on resolutions of the UN General Assembly in which the EU Member States voted uniformly increased from 86 % in the 46th General Assembly (1991 /92) to 97 % in the 53th General Assembly (1998 /99) and remains since stable at about this value. Even before the EU enlargements in 2004 and 2007, most of the candidate countries had already voted in line with the EU countries.
The EU budget contribution
The EU is the largest contributor in the United Nations system. The 27 EU member states contributed in 2007 around 38.9 % of the regular budget of the UN. The EU and its Member States are by far the largest donor of official development assistance for 55.6 % of global development assistance. The EU Member States are also about 40.6 % in 2007, the largest contributors to peacekeeping operations of the UN and finance around half of the households of funds and programs of the UN. Alone, the European Commission pays more than 1.35 billion U.S. $ for UN projects.
Important areas of cooperation
The main fields of cooperation are peacekeeping and conflict prevention, human rights, development cooperation, Sustainable Development and Environment, Humanitarian Aid, terrorism and crime, trade and culture.
Future prospects
Representatives of regional blocks of the African, Arab and Caribbean countries to support the EU's enhanced observer status. For them, this text is a precedent; they showed in anticipation that the Europeans would also support applications of other regional blocks in return now if they demanded similar rights for themselves.
Mark Malloch Brown, former Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, believes that the EU will one day get a seat on the Security Council. The development up to this point will be gradual in his view.
This debate is political but very tricky. Neither Britain nor France have shown interest to give up its permanent seat in the Security Council. In addition, Germany has long been his ambition made clear by its own seat on the Security Council.