Permanent Mission of France to the UN
April 20, 2009
Mr. President,
The French delegation would like to thank you for organizing this new meeting for our negotiations on Security Council reform. Your letter of April 16 relating to the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly helpfully reminds us of the terms of the discussions that have already been held on this issue.
With regard to France, I would like to specify the following key points:
1. Maintaining a balance between the main organs established by the United Nations Charter is very important to us.
The Security Council and the General Assembly must continue to exercise their powers in accordance with the provisions of the Charter that, from our perspective, have not to be modified in this respect.
2. At the same time, we support the most effective implementation of the relevant provisions of the Charter with regard to the relationship between the Security Council and the Assembly General.
I want to emphasize once again that France has always made every effort to ensure that the working methods of the Security Council allow it not only to operate effectively, which is fundamental for its credibility as the principal peace-keeping and security organ, but also to maintain a relationship based on transparency and interaction with all Member States of the United Nations.
Major progress has been made in this respect. Opportunities for holding public Security Council meetings have increased, with exploratory debates being held, making it possible to hear the views of States that are, to varying degrees, concerned about a particular issue, as well with the organization of public discussions between the members of the Council on issues that do not need to be dealt with in private. Experience shows that most of the issues can be dealt with in public.
Since then the Council has continued to regularly improve its methods and procedures based on this greater openness and the December 2006 presidential statement both endorses and reinforces these efforts.
We also support the initiatives that were recently taken to increase consistency between the actions taken by the Security Council and the General Assembly. These initiatives include, for example, the creation of the Peacebuilding Commission and the adoption of the global counter-terrorism strategy which shows that it is possible for the two organs to work in synergy.
We would also like the quality of the Security Council reports to the General Assembly to be further improved in accordance with article 24, paragraph 3 of the Charter. While we recognize the recent progress that has been made, these reports should be as substantial as possible.
Mr. President,
With these objectives in mind, we would like the relationship between the Security Council and the General Assembly to continue to improve in terms of greater transparency and consistency.
Thank you.
