NON-PAPER ON EU/EC PARTICIPATION IN THE UN

C O N F I D E N T I A L STATE 162747 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2017 TAGS: PREL KCRS EUN UNGA UNSC ECOSOC UN PO SUBJECT: NON-PAPER ON EU/EC PARTICIPATION IN THE UN PEACEBUILDING COMMISSION REF: STATE 5389 Classified By: IO/PDAS James B. Warlick, reasons: 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (SBU) PURPOSE: This is an action request. Post is requested to deliver the following text on the United States' (US) position on European Union/European Community participation in the UN Peacebuilding Commission in a non-paper to an appropriate host counter-part. The text of the non-paper is as follows: The United States welcomes the participation of the European Union and European Community in the United Nations (UN) Peacebuilding Commission (PBC) pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1645 and UN General Assembly Resolution 60/180, which are the resolutions establishing the PBC. We support European Community participation in Organizational Committee meetings of the PBC as an "institutional donor" under OP 9 of these resolutions. We support European Union membership in PBC country-specific meetings as a "relevant regional organisation" under OP 7(b) of these resolutions. We do not object to the rotating European Union Presidency, the European Commission, and the Secretary General/High Representative collectively occupying SIPDIS one seat in the country-specific meetings, behind one nameplate, with one head of delegation and with one speaker on any agenda item. Of course, the European Union delegation is free to choose the person who speaks to a particular agenda item at these meetings, as any delegation is free to choose. We look forward to working with the European Union and European Community in realizing our shared hopes that the PBC strongly succeed in carrying out its important mission. ¶2. DEADLINE: We would appreciate a response by 10 December ¶2007. ¶3. (SBU) BACKGROUND: The Department provided guidance on the issue of European Union (EU) and European Community (EC) participation in the PBC in January 2007 (reftel). We do not object to the EU's membership and EC's participation as described in the non-paper because they do not gain voting rights; only the 31 PBC member-states have the right to vote in meetings of the PBC. The EU's right of membership and the EC's right of participation derive from the resolutions establishing the PBC. ¶4. (C) Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs (PDAS) James B. Warlick clarified the Department's position at the semi-annual US-EU consultations on the UN (CONUN) in New York City (NYC) in September, then with the EU Presidency in Washington, DC, in mid-November. In both instances, the PDAS emphasized that, while the US government was flexible about the EU choosing to rotate representatives from the Presidency, the Commission, and the Council Secretariat in the country-specific meetings, it must be in a single seat, behind a single nameplate, based on a single invitation (though we do not oppose the EU getting more than one copy of the single invitation). Though the EU institutions may share competence on some of the issues addressed in the country-specific meetings, that does not justify an extra seat at the table of an international organization. ¶5. (C) Following the mid-November meeting, the Presidency appears to have gained the impression that the US position would allow for two EU seats at the table (for the Presidency and the Commission) behind a single nameplate and that both could speak on the points according to their competence. The Department wishes to prevent any continued misperception on the EU's part on this issue; therefore, we are presenting this non-paper to the Presidency in NYC, Lisbon, and Brussels to ensure that the US position is clear and in writing. ¶6. POINT-OF-CONTACT: Grace M. Kang, IO/PSC, 202-736-7735. RICE