Speech
Statement on behalf of the EU to the Ad Hoc Committee established by the General Assembly Resolution 21/50

Date of Speech : 01-04-2005

Place : New York

Speaker : Carl Peersman, counsellor

Policy area : General Affairs and External Relations

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, the Candidate countries Turkey and Croatia , the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania and Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this Statement. We also understand that Ukraine would like to align itself with this Statement

It was an honour to see the presence of the Secretary-General at this meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee.

The Secretary-General outlined in his report In Larger Freedom, Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All, several steps that are urgently required in the fight against terrorism, one of them being the call for completion, without delay, of an international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism. This week States have shown their willingness to heed to that call.

For this positive result, the European Union would like first of all to thank the Russian Federation for the good initiative to bring the draft international convention for the suppression of acts of nuclear terrorism before this Ad Hoc Committee. We would also like to thank the Mexican delegation for its amendments in an earlier stage which helped to find consensus in this group. Also, we would like to express our gratitude for your skilful guidance and that of the members of the Bureau, as well as our gratitude to the co-ordinators for the Convention for their good work done, and here I have to mention Albert Hoffmann. Additionally, we would like to thank the Member States for working in a constructive manner on this draft Convention.

In this context I would like to mention in particular Cuba, Egypt, Iran, Pakistan, and the United States, as the spirit of consensus they showed this week needs to be commended. Let me express the hope that our debates on the draft Comprehensive Convention on International Terrorism continue in the same spirit and constructive manner. The European Union repeated its position on draft Article 2 and 2bis during the informal sessions on the Comprehensive Convention. We see no reason to re-open the debate on the elements of the crime of terrorism as laid down in draft Article 2. Also we have confirmed our position on Article 18. We hope that the summit in September will create the right environment to build consensus on those articles.

Finally, we would like to congratulate all member states with the result of this session of the Ad Hoc Committee, as the denial of nuclear material to terrorists is of vital importance to us all and as the importance of a comprehensive legal framework to fight terrorism can not be underestimated.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.