EU: Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern has given strong backing to an EU endorsement of a draft resolution for a new UN human rights council circulated by president of the General Assembly Jan Eliasson of Sweden.
The new text "offered significant improved arrangements over what existed previously", the Minister said yesterday following the announcement that EU ambassadors meeting in New York had arrived at a common position.
"Clearly there are areas where the proposals could have gone further, e.g., in relation to having a higher threshold for electing members to the new council, but overall the proposals represent a major step forward," said Mr Ahern.
Mr Eliasson's proposal envisages a council elected by an absolute majority of the UN membership - 96 states out of 191. The US seeks a requirement that all candidates for membership of the new human rights body would need a two-thirds majority.
The General Assembly head also proposes a council of 47 member states which could only be elected for two consecutive three-year terms, following which they would have to step down for three years. The US wants a council of 30 members elected on a permanent basis.
The UK was the last to come on board in support of the EU position. The level of EU solidarity on the issue contrasts with the disparate stances taken on the Iraq war in 2003 when, in the words of US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, "old" and "new" Europe took different positions.
The proposal for a human rights council emerged from the World Summit in New York last September.
It is intended to replace the current 53-member Human Rights Commission which has come in for much criticism because it includes countries regarded as major, long-term human rights abusers such as Sudan, Libya and Zimbabwe who protect each other from criticism.
This became a focus of political and media attention in 2001 when the US lost its place on the commission while Sudan was chosen for a seat.
US ambassador to the UN and leading neo-conservative ideologue John Bolton has been the main proponent of his country's policy but has received backing from the other end of the political spectrum in the shape of an editorial in the New York Times. However the firmness of the EU position may cause some adjustment in Washington's strategy.
The US seeks to prevent countries it regards as wholesale human rights violators from acceding to membership of the new council. One suggested criterion is that countries which are subject to UN sanctions should not be eligible. The EU position is that a mix of countries is essential because there must be engagement.
If the US opposes a General Assembly resolution to establish the council it is highly unlikely the new body will get off the ground.
Despite being outnumbered on many issues, the US remains a key influence at the UN, providing, along with its ally Japan, 41 per cent of the body's regular budget.