(2004/C 78 E/0807)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2839/03

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(25 September 2003)

Subject:   Place of Iraq in the UN and position of the EU

Member States of the UN have particular characteristics (sovereignty, legitimacy etc.) clearly not possessed by Iraq, which is currently under occupation. The Provisional Government Council of Iraq has been appointed by the occupying authorities without any form of legitimising mechanism but also without any of the powers which would enable it to represent the country at the UN. As an occupied country, Iraq is no longer a state within the meaning of international law and its membership of the UN should be suspended in accordance with the precedent established with Cambodia between 1979 and 1989, following the intervention of Vietnamese troops, when the government controlled by the Vietnamese occupying forces was not accepted at the UN General Assembly. The suspension of Iraq's membership of the UN should last until elections have been held in the presence of UN observers.

Has the Council considered the matter of Iraq's seat at the UN in the context of Article 19, paragraph 2 (Title V) of the EU Treaty with a view to the forthcoming session of the UN General Assembly? What are the thoughts of the EU Presidency in this regard? Is there agreement on this matter, within the meaning of the above article of the EU Treaty, among the Member States which are members of the UN Security Council as to the position they will adopt in the Accreditation Committee under Rule 28 of the UN General Assembly's Rules of Procedure? What is the current status of diplomatic relations between the EU, and its Member States, and Iraq as an occupied country?

Reply

(4 March 2004)

The Council informs the Honourable Parliamentarian that it has not discussed the question as to Iraq's seat in the United Nations.