Proposals from the Acting Secretary-General

Mia Gandenberger and Viola Giuliano | Reaching Critical Will of WILPF
3 June 2014

The Conference on Disarmament (CD) met on Tuesday, 3 June 2014 to discuss the proposals made by Acting Secretary General of the CD, Mr. Michael Møller, on 20 May 2014. The delegations of Japan, Malaysia, Ecuador, Poland, Finland, Italy, France, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Germany, Belarus, the United States, the Russian Federation, Pakistan, India, and Brazil welcomed the proposals and shared some preliminary reflections. Furthermore, India suggested to convene an informal plenary to develop these proposals more concretely. 

Proposals for the future work of the CD

Two weeks ago, Acting Secretary General of the CD, Mr. Møller, in his address to the CD had suggested that its member states:

• identify and turn over to the CD’s Informal Working Group areas of common ground on the core issues with a view eventually to produce framework conventions;
• explore issues for which voluntary, politically-binding regimes may be negotiated;
• establish a subsidiary body on the working methods of the CD or consider having focused discussions on a review of the working methods during the slots reserved for the plenary meetings; support the role and coordination of the P6; and
• hold an informal CD Civil Society Forum, hosted by the Secretary-General of the CD.

Member states had welcomed his suggestions then, but also expressed the need for more time to considerer these proposals in more detail. During this weeks session some member states took the opportunity to share their views on the proposals and identify areas where more information and context was needed. Below is a brief summary of what was discussed with respect to the four specific proposals: 

1. Identify areas of common ground and agree on a framework convention.

• Japan, Malaysia, the Republic of Korea, the Netherlands, Russia, Pakistan and United States wanted further elaboration on what a framework convention would look like and entail.
• Ecuador welcomed the suggestion for a framework convention.
• France and Belarus expressed concerns about the challenges of agreeing on a framework convention within the CD. 

2. Negotiate voluntary, politically binding agreements

• Japan, Malaysia, the Netherlands asked for clarification on what the idea of voluntary, politically binding agreements would mean and how such an initiative could move the work of the CD forward.
• Ecuador, Belarus, Finland and Pakistan welcomed the proposal as they believed it could open the door for legally binding treaties.
• Finland suggested addressing the issue in the context of the Informal Working Group.
• Germany, the Republic of Korea, and Russia, while welcoming the approach, noted it might dectract from the CD’s task to negotiate legally binding treaties.
• Pakistan suggested exploring the possibility of converting national moratoria to multilateral ones.

3. Review the CD’s working methods through establishing a subsidiary body on the issue

• Japan, Malaysia, Italy, the Netherlands, and Russia welcomed the idea of establishing a subsidiary body to review the CD’s working methods, while the Republic of Korea preferred a more informal setting.
• Ecuador, Poland, Italy, France, Russia, and Pakistan reiterated that the deadlock of the CD is caused by a lack of political will rather than for procedural reasons.  

4. Hold a CD-Civil Society forum before the end of the year

• Japan, the Republic of Korea and Italy welcomed the proposal of holding of a meeting with civil society under “appropriate conditions”.
• Ecuador, Finland, Germany, Pakistan, France, the Netherlands and Brazil expressed support for more active participation of civil society, such as non-governmental organisations and academic experts. .
• Japan, the Netherlands, and the United States suggested holding such a forum in mid-August, after the work under the Schedule of Activities has finished.
• Malaysia and Russia underlined the need for more details on the mandate and form of the meeting.

The discussion underlined member states interest in the Acting Secretary’s suggestions, but also that many governments wanted further clarification and deliberation before considering them. As always in the CD, delegations were more preoccupied with asking questions about issues being raised than sharing thoughts on what answers and solutions they would like to see.

More informal work ahead

Over the coming days, CD delegations will continue to meet informally under the schedule of activities. As noted last week, these meetings will be closed for civil society and Reaching Critical Will therefore can’t report on the discussions.

The next public plenary meeting will be held on Tuesday, 10 June 2014 at 10.00 in the Council Chamber.