Distinguished Co-Chairs,<\/p>\n
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Uniting for Consensus (UfC), a cross-regional, pro-reform group comprising Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Malta, Mexico, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, San Marino, Spain, T\u00fcrkiye, and my own country, Italy.<\/p>\n
Let me begin by thanking you for convening this session and for circulating the Revised Co-Chairs\u2019 Elements Paper. We wish to remark that the time available to thoroughly review it was limited. Adequate time for reflection and consultation is needed to have enriched discussions.<\/p>\n
In the current session the broad and growing support for a comprehensive reform<\/strong> of the Security Council was reaffirmed, and the continued legitimacy and relevance of the IGN as the sole platform for advancing this important process were further validated.<\/p>\n The UfC Group remains firmly committed to a reform that makes the Security Council more representative, democratic, inclusive, accountable, transparent, effective, efficient and responsive to today\u2019s global challenges<\/strong>.<\/p>\n We wish to state clearly that we actively support comprehensive reform of the Security Council and acknowledge the urgent need for such a reform. To that end, we strive to be flexible and open to ideas for how to achieve that outcome and encourage others to do the same, meaning being flexible and open.<\/p>\n As to the draft elements paper, we appreciate your clarification that the document reflects the Co-Chairs\u2019 understanding of the current state of the IGN discussions and is under your authority, including on procedural aspects. On that basis, we welcome your invitation to provide comments aimed at ensuring the document faithfully captures both areas of convergence and divergence that emerged during this session of negotiations.<\/p>\n Allow me to offer a few general observations, reflecting the UfC\u2019s understanding of the discussions and of the positions expressed.<\/p>\n Following the Summit of the Future in September 2024, we welcome the renewed momentum that has reinvigorated the reform process. In this regard, it is appropriate to reaffirm the guidance provided by the Pact in the Elements Paper. However, we recall that the Intergovernmental Negotiations (IGN) process emanated from Decision 62\/557 and continues to be conducted in accordance with its key provisions<\/strong>, including the five interlinked clusters. Therefore, we caution against any formulation suggesting that the Pact for the Future constituted a so-called formal mandate for the IGN. While Action 39 sets out clear guiding principles, these refer to those identified in the work of the IGN, and in accordance with General Assembly decision 62\/557.<\/p>\n While we acknowledge the encouragement to submit further reform models and the revision of already presented models, we underscore that the actual objective remains to develop <\/strong>a consolidated model through the reaching of convergence across the five clusters. <\/strong>We do not recall any delegations stating that \u2013 as mentioned in the draft elements paper – the development of a consolidated model constitutes an objective of the IGN per se: the overarching goal remains to forge a common vision on the most controversial issues in order to implement a reform that becomes more urgent every day. <\/strong><\/p>\n Distinguished Co-Chairs,<\/p>\n Regarding the Elements of General Convergence, the UfC continues to attach great importance to the following principles:<\/p>\n Turning to the core principles underpinning Security Council reform we wish to reiterate that for UfC the principles of effectiveness, democracy and accountability<\/strong> are paramount. Other negotiating groups and individual Member States have also underscored these principles, which, in our view, can only be meaningfully upheld through periodic elections that provide all Member States with the opportunity to participate in the Council’s composition. We remain firmly convinced that the introduction of new permanent seats – as proposed by some – runs counter to the democratic values the Council should embody<\/strong>.<\/p>\n With respect to the proposal presented by the Co-Chairs<\/strong>, it may be useful to clarify that this was introduced orally during an interactive informal session and has not been formally circulated in writing. Any proposal would benefit from reflecting the interlinkage across all five clusters, rather than focusing exclusively on two of them. We value the intention of the co-chairs to direct discussions and bridge positions through this proposal, which will require further discussion in the next IGN session, in particular with reference to the veto, the expansion of the permanent category through the \u201cfixed regional seats\u201d and its implications for accountability.<\/p>\n On paragraph 3<\/strong>, we suggest replacing \u201ckey parameters\u201d by \u201cguiding principles\u201d, as referred to in Action 39 of the Pact for the Future.<\/p>\n On paragraph 6<\/strong>, we welcome the acknowledgment that reform should prioritize enhancing the representation of underrepresented and unrepresented regions and groups. This includes the Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, in addition to the broadly recognized imperative of improving African representation.<\/p>\n Under paragraph 7<\/strong>, concerning the inclusion of a review clause in a comprehensive reform of the Security Council<\/strong>, we suggest a more balanced reflection of the discussions. Many delegations support a review mechanism to assess whether a reformed Council is functioning more effectively and transparently in the years following the reform. However, it must also be noted that several Member States oppose any approach that could serve as a vehicle for incremental or selective gains, or that could lead to piecemeal reform.<\/p>\n Finally, we believe that this process would be significantly strengthened by broader participation. Many Member States and negotiating groups have yet to voice their views in the IGN<\/strong>. Given the importance and sensitivity of the reform agenda, and the need to ensure that any outcome enjoys the widest possible political acceptance, we encourage all Member States and negotiating groups – particularly those who have not yet done so – to actively engage and, where possible, present their own proposals or models for reform.<\/p>\n Under the Divergences<\/em> of the Elements of General Convergence and Divergence<\/em>, we align with the recognition that further steps are required before moving to text-based negotiations<\/strong>. However, it is important that a transition to this phase is done once convergence on all clusters of reform and broad political will are reached. We want to ensure that the conditions are in place to ensure that these needed reforms will be sustainable.<\/p>\n On paragraph 2<\/strong> of the Divergences<\/em>, we suggest adding \u201csovereign equality among Member States, and accountability\u201d after \u201ceffectiveness\u201d. \u201cSovereign equality\u201d is a concept mentioned in the UN Charter but never appears in this Elements Paper.<\/p>\n Concerning the clusters<\/strong>, on categories of membership, <\/strong>the formulation: \u201cWhile there are different views on the categories of membership in a reformed Council, a significant number of delegations present in the meetings argue that the enlargement should include expansion in both the permanent and non-permanent categories,\u201d does not accurately reflect the reality.<\/p>\n As you can see, divergences could not be broader. The Elements Paper states that \u201ca significant number of delegations argue that the enlargement should include expansion in\u00a0 “categories\u201d and that \u201cnew permanent members must be granted equal standing\u201d. Putting all these seats into the same nature and claim is misleading in our view, and the paper would more accurately reflect the positions of delegations if it made this distinction clearer.<\/p>\n We believe that the Elements Paper should better reflect the significant progress made by the IGN on working methods and on the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly<\/strong>. These are two clusters that are receiving growing attention from global public opinion and for which the international community as a whole expects meaningful improvements.<\/p>\n Distinguished Co-Chairs,<\/p>\n We trust that these comments will be taken into serious consideration. The Revised Elements Paper demonstrates that tangible progress is possible, and it confirms that the IGN remains the only valid and legitimate platform for achieving Security Council reform.<\/p>\n We thank you once again for your dedication to this process and reiterate UfC\u2019s full commitment to a comprehensive reform that serves the interests of the entire membership.<\/p>\n I thank you. I also thank you for your patience and your work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Distinguished Co-Chairs, I have the honour to speak on behalf of the Uniting for Consensus (UfC), a cross-regional, pro-reform group comprising Argentina, Canada, Colombia, Costa Rica, Malta, Mexico, Pakistan, the Republic of Korea, San Marino, Spain, T\u00fcrkiye, and my own country, Italy. Let me begin by thanking you for convening this session and for circulating […]","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":13266,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13270","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13270","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13270"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13270\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13271,"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13270\/revisions\/13271"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13270"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italyun.esteri.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13270"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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