European Union
Post-2015 Intergovernmental Negotiations, 19 February 2015 - EU Speaking points
• Many thanks to co-facilitators, useful step forward. At this stage and without making any specific drafting or ordering suggestions, wish to stress a few points:
1. Very positive elements
• Appreciate the brevity of paper and the objective to keep the declaration short.
• Importance of building peaceful and inclusive societies, strengthening institutions, promoting the rule of law and good governance.
• Strongly agree with recalling the fundamental values, including solidarity and shared responsibility.
• The objective to leave no-one behind. We need to reach the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. Targets need to be met for all relevant groups, including the poorest and most vulnerable.
• Agree with the importance of addressing the special needs of the LDCs and people most in need.
• Six essential elements put forward by the UNSG in his Synthesis Report. Could be used to facilitate communication of the agenda and galvanise collective action.
2. Positive while needing to be reinforced
• Need to convey a clear, political, people-centered vision, providing an inspiring narrative for the international community coming together. Must explain the transformative nature of the new agenda and stress the shared values and principles on which it is based.
• Need to set out upfront the purpose of the agenda – addressing the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in its three dimensions– and stressing that these are deeply interrelated. This includes ending extreme poverty in a single generation, and ensuring sustainable and inclusive prosperity and well-being of all people within planetary boundaries.
• The interconnections need to come up stronger to ensure an integrated and balanced agenda.
• Several elements (such as universality, human rights, democratic governance, gender equality, climate action, respect for international law) must be given more emphasis.
• Agree on the need to ensure mutual accountability. The declaration needs also to give a strong impetus to monitoring to allow review at national, regional and global level, including a key oversight role for the HLPF.
• On your reference to strengthening the UN, what is important is to encourage ongoing work to make the UN development system more "fit for purpose".
3. Issues for which we have difficulties
• In the context of the new global partnership, there is a need to promote enabling policy frameworks and policy coherence for sustainable development.
• The new Global Partnership must mobilise all actors and resources, at all levels. It must be clear that the agreement in Addis should then be integrated into the September outcome and result in one single framework.
• Finally note that the paper still singles out Rio principle 7 on CBDR, which was designed in the context of global environmental degradation, and as such cannot apply to the entire agenda. In addition, the world has changed dramatically over the last decades, including our respective capabilities to address global challenges. The post-2015 development agenda needs to respond to these evolving dynamics, in light of different national circumstances.
Looking forward to work further towards the declaration under your leadership.
• Many thanks to co-facilitators, useful step forward. At this stage and without making any specific drafting or ordering suggestions, wish to stress a few points:
1. Very positive elements
• Appreciate the brevity of paper and the objective to keep the declaration short.
• Importance of building peaceful and inclusive societies, strengthening institutions, promoting the rule of law and good governance.
• Strongly agree with recalling the fundamental values, including solidarity and shared responsibility.
• The objective to leave no-one behind. We need to reach the most disadvantaged and vulnerable. Targets need to be met for all relevant groups, including the poorest and most vulnerable.
• Agree with the importance of addressing the special needs of the LDCs and people most in need.
• Six essential elements put forward by the UNSG in his Synthesis Report. Could be used to facilitate communication of the agenda and galvanise collective action.
2. Positive while needing to be reinforced
• Need to convey a clear, political, people-centered vision, providing an inspiring narrative for the international community coming together. Must explain the transformative nature of the new agenda and stress the shared values and principles on which it is based.
• Need to set out upfront the purpose of the agenda – addressing the challenges of poverty eradication and sustainable development in its three dimensions– and stressing that these are deeply interrelated. This includes ending extreme poverty in a single generation, and ensuring sustainable and inclusive prosperity and well-being of all people within planetary boundaries.
• The interconnections need to come up stronger to ensure an integrated and balanced agenda.
• Several elements (such as universality, human rights, democratic governance, gender equality, climate action, respect for international law) must be given more emphasis.
• Agree on the need to ensure mutual accountability. The declaration needs also to give a strong impetus to monitoring to allow review at national, regional and global level, including a key oversight role for the HLPF.
• On your reference to strengthening the UN, what is important is to encourage ongoing work to make the UN development system more "fit for purpose".
3. Issues for which we have difficulties
• In the context of the new global partnership, there is a need to promote enabling policy frameworks and policy coherence for sustainable development.
• The new Global Partnership must mobilise all actors and resources, at all levels. It must be clear that the agreement in Addis should then be integrated into the September outcome and result in one single framework.
• Finally note that the paper still singles out Rio principle 7 on CBDR, which was designed in the context of global environmental degradation, and as such cannot apply to the entire agenda. In addition, the world has changed dramatically over the last decades, including our respective capabilities to address global challenges. The post-2015 development agenda needs to respond to these evolving dynamics, in light of different national circumstances.
Looking forward to work further towards the declaration under your leadership.
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