Increasing the Impact of the EU at the UN

With major powers undermining the rule-based international system, a global pandemic and the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, the EU faces new challenges in the UN. At the same time, these shifting dynamics also create a unique opportunity to evaluate and strengthen the EU’s performance in the UN. 

In a new study published by Konrad Adenauer Foundation New York, SEBASTIAN BORCHMEYER AND WASIM MIR looks at how the EU and its Member States can build on this historic moment to further increase its impact in the UN.

Covid-19, coupled with recent geopolitical changes, have put the United Nations under unprecedented strain. The future of the UN is more precarious than at any time in its 75-year history. The European Union and its Member States have played a pivotal role in supporting the UN since its creation. 

A rule-based international system, with the UN at its core, is central to delivering the EU’s foreign policy objectives. An effective EU presence in the UN also helps ensure a stronger UN. Closer coordination, led by the EU Delegation, has increased the EU’s performance in the UN in New York over the last eight years but there is still more to do. 

One the one hand, the EU has become a strong voice and a node of influence across the UN System. On the other hand, because the UN remains primarily an organization centered around Member States, there are limitations on how the EU can operate and engage in the UN; this cannot be changed by the EEAS or EU Member States acting alone.

With major powers undermining the rule-based international system, and the United Kingdom’s exit from the EU, the EU faces new challenges in the UN. At the same time, these shifting dynamics also create a unique opportunity to evaluate and strengthen the EU’s performance in the UN. 

The study looks at how the EU and its Member States can build on this historic moment to further increase its impact in the UN. Specifically, the paper analyzes how the EU and its Member States operate in the United Nations General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council as well as how they interact with the UN Secretariat and New York-based UN Funds and Programmes. 

The authors make specific practical recommendations on how to enhance the EU’s performance in each fora with a view to generating an in-depth discussion amongst EU Member States. They hope that EU Heads of Mission in New York collectively consider these recommendations and identify those that can be implemented immediately and those that require further deliberation.

Increasing the Impact of the European Union at the United Nations in New York