The Conference on Disarmament is the sole multilateral forum at the disposal of the international community for disarmament negotiations. The persisting stalemate within this body thus does nothing to strengthen the international regime for disarmament and non-proliferation.

This situation is also preventing us from doing today what we actually decided to do, and started to do, in 1998 - the immediate and effective launch of the negotiations on a non-discriminatory, multilateral and internationally and effectively verifiable treaty banning the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices in accordance with the statement of the Special Coordinator in 1995 and the mandate contained therein, taking into account both nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation objectives. The full implementation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the FMCT negotiation constitute the next essential steps in nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.

The necessity of the immediate start of such a negotiation was clearly reaffirmed in the Final Document of the NPT Review Conference, and also in resolutions adopted by the United Nations General Assembly later in the year. In spite of the delays, the European Union continues to attach the utmost importance to the start of the negotiation of such a treaty during this year's session of the CD, and to its conclusion at the latest within five years.

Mr. President,

The European Union is still hopeful that the Conference on Disarmament will be able to overcome the obstacles to the effective launch of its work very soon, and thus respond to the legitimate expectations of the international community.

The success of this endeavour requires that the security concerns of all states be taken into account. The immediate launch of the FMCT negotiations, as well as dealing with both nuclear disarmament and the prevention of an arms race in outer space within subsidiary bodies whose mandates shall need to be both pragmatic and substantial in order to be accepted by all - these three parts together constitute the basis today for an agreement to begin our work.

Mr. President,

Throughout the sessions of last year, the member Governments of the EU brought continued and concrete support to the efforts of the successive Presidents, of the Conference. Their work, refined over the months and manifest in CD document 1624 - which has come to be known as the Amorim proposal - contains in the view of the EU the elements for a rapid agreement, if all members of the Conference display a spirit of openness and pragmatism. We are also convinced that other delegations and

Mr President,

I have the honour to take the floor today on behalf of the fifteen Member States of the European Union. Furthermore, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated to the European Union - Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia - and Cyprus and Malta, also associated to the EU, align themselves to this statement.

Mr President,

It is a great pleasure for me to see you in the important office of President of the Conference on Disarmament. I have always appreciated your energy and creativity, and I believe they have well served the Conference in the difficult times it is now confronting. I also want to extend the greetings of the European Union to the Secretary-General of the Conference, Mr Petrovsky, and a warm welcome to our new Deputy Secretary-General of the CD, Mr Roman-Morey.

Mr President,

The European Union has asked for the floor to set out the views of its Member States on the work of the Conference on Disarmament in 2001, and the expectations and hopes that we collectively have for this year.

The year 2000 proved to be another year of standstill and stalemate for the Conference, which was unable to effectively launch its work. So far the beginning of 2001 has not been promising either. Whilst paying tribute both to you and to the chairs of the Conference immediately preceding you - Ambassador Lint of Belgium, Ambassador Amorim of Brazil and Ambassador Draganov of Bulgaria, who spared no efforts in attempting to find a compromise solution - and whilst thanking them wholeheartedly, the European Union can only deeply regret this situation.

That said, Mr President, the year 2000 was not a uniformly dismal year for multilateral efforts in disarmament and non-proliferation. The EU wants to stress that the NPT Review Conference was an important success, and we have on many occasions welcomed the adoption of its Final Document. The European Union will fulfil its responsibility in this regard, by contributing to the full implementation of the Final Document.

In the context of the Conference on Disarmament, this refers especially to two important practical steps which were unanimously agreed by the States Parties of the NPT i.e., the negotiations on a fissile material treaty and the establishment of an appropriate subsidiary body with a mandate to deal with nuclear disarmament.
Groups of countries share this assessment of the situation, which would allow the President to arrive at a solution.

There is no need today to detail the views of the European Union on the other items of the CD agenda that are included in 1624. We support the start of work on those items too, and we will come back to outline our positions in relation to them, as soon as the Conference reaches agreement and gets started on substantive work.

Mr President,

I would like to recall today that the European Union is particularly attached to the prospective CD memberships of those Member States of the EU and Associated Countries which have applied for admission to the Conference. We therefore support the continuation of the enlargement process of the Conference on Disarmament.

Let me conclude by saying that we strongly urge the Conference to explore all avenues to start substantive work. We, the European Union, as well as States that have aligned themselves with this Statement, will not fall to support the President actively and energetically to restore the important and central position of the Conference on Disarmament in the web of international fora that we are all dependant upon.

Thank you, Mr President.