Friday

29th Mar 2024

EU set to demand permanent seat at UN

The EU will soon demand its own permanent seat on the UN security council as a part of a wide-ranging reform paper to be presented by the European Parliament this week.

The paper, reported by German daily Die Welt, proposes that four new permanent seats be established, one for the EU and one for a representative of Africa, Latin American and Asia.

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This would bring the number of permanent members of the security council up to nine. The council currently comprises five members - the US, France, the UK, China and Russia.

The document also suggests reform of the veto system. Under the present system, any one country can veto a UN resolution. But the EU is set to propose a "double veto" system, whereby two countries would need to use their power of veto to block a resolution from being passed.

According to the paper, the increased power would "reflect the present situation in the world and the European Union". The EU currently contributes 300 million euro for UN programmes around the world. If contributions from individual member states are included, then the EU makes up 37 percent of the UN's budget. In comparison, the US contributes 23 percent and Japan 20 percent.

The EU getting its own seat in the UN formed part of substantial deliberations in the Convention that drew up the draft EU Constitution.

It proved a very controversial issue. However, the new post of EU foreign minister (from 2006) could represent an important step towards eventual representation of the Union at the UN.

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Rather than assuming a pro-European Labour government in London will automatically open doors in Brussels, the Labour party needs to consider what it may be able to offer to incentivise EU leaders to factor the UK into their defence thinking.

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