Statement by Ambassador Dr. Gonther Seibert Permanent Representative of the Federal Republic of Germany to the Conference on Disarmament

23 January 2001

Mr. President,

it is a particular pleasure to congratulate you, Sir, on the assumption of the Presidency of this Conference. We are all aware of the strong commitment of Canada to arms control and disarmament in all areas. Your country has played a decisive role in many fora, especially in one major achievement of the recent past, the treaty to ban anti-personnet mines, fittingly called the Ottawa Treaty.

The first Presidency of the CD session is the most difficult and the most challenging one. According to the ambitious goals the Conference has set itself in its decision CD/1036, the Conference is supposed to take the major decisions on its work, that is on the agenda, the programme of work and the creation ct subsidiary bodies, within the first two weeks of its session. So your task is truly a daunting one. You are called upon to achieve within two weeks what the Conference has not been able to achieve during the last two years. It might seem to be a "mission impossible", but it must be undertaken. You can count on the fullest support of the German Delegation for your efforts to overcome the stalemate of the last years and to achieve the earliest possible resumption of substantive work in this Conference.

Mr. President,

the first decision this Conference is supposed to take is on its agenda. One year ago, at the first plenary of last year's session 1 have already expressed misgivings on the way the agenda has been handled in the past. ; pointed out that the agenda is not only outdated but that it has lost all practical significance for the w" of this Conference. During the last two years no substantial work has taken place on any of the items of the agenda. There has been no true discussion in the Plenary on any of these items, no subsidiary bodies to negotiate or to prepare the ground for future negotiations have been created. 1 do not want to repeat in detail what 1 said a year ago, as 1 consider it quite obvious that the Conference must discuss and try to deal with this unsatisfactory situation if we do not achieve an early break-through. What is, after all, the purpose of an agenda if we first have to adopt a so-called programme of work before we even can have a substantive debate on the items on the agenda? Furthermore, the decision on the agenda that we have adopted for the last four years refers to consultations on the review of its agenda and states that the decision is 'Without prejudice to their outcome". Nevertheless, no such consultations have taken place at all during the last two years. This does not enhance the credibility of the decisions of this Conference.

Mr. President,
there seems to be general agreement in this Conference that these questions have to be dealt with. In fact, the proposals on a so-called programme of work put forward by successive presidents last year include the appointment of special coordinators on the review of the agenda and the improved and effective functioning of the Conference. On these, as on other items of those proposals, general agreement has existed for quite some time. No decisions have been taken, however, due to the two major outstanding issues of which we are all aware. Even on these two issues, there exists a general agreement that they should be dealt with in appropriate subsidiary bodies. Only the designation and the mandates of such subsidiary bodies apparently remain controversial. If all delegations were to resist the temptation to attempt to prejudge the outcome of our work even before it has started, we could start work very soon. 1 can assure you, Mr. President, that - as in the past - the German delegation will be very flexible on these matters.
Mr. President,

the first objective of this Conference must be to get down to substantive work as early as possible. Germany will support all efforts to achieve this aim. We strongly prefer to concentrate on the major substantive issues and to avoid procedural debates. If we do not succeed, however, to achieve progress towards this goat during your presidency, we do believe that the Conference will urgently have to reexamine the way it conducts its business and the role and relevance of its present agenda.

Thank you, Mr. President