Noting our mutual commitment to an international order based on effective multilateralism, the Secretary-General of the United Nations and the Presidency of the Council of the European Union reaffirm their determination to work together in the area of crisis management and have agreed on the following statement :
1. The United Nations and the European Union are united by the premise that the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security rests with the United Nations Security Council, in accordance with the United Nations Charter. In this context, the United Nations recognizes the considerable contribution of human and material resources on the part of the European Union in crisis management. The European Union reiterates its commitment to contribute to the objective of the United Nations in crisis management.
2. The Secretary General of the United Nations and the European Union note with satisfaction the significant enhancement of UN-EU cooperation that has taken place in the area of civilian and military crisis management since the Joint Declaration on UNEU Cooperation in Crisis Management of 24 September 2003.
3. Deeper UN-EU cooperation in crisis management has led to intensified cooperation in Africa, the Balkans and the Middle East. In Bosnia-Herzegovina, an EU operation succeeded a UN peacekeeping operation to assist national authorities put in place a professional police force. We have worked together intensely over the past year to assist the peace process in the Democratic Republic of the Congo through the establishment of an EU military operation, EUFOR, in support of the UN mission in that country. The UN and the EU are also cooperating closely in supporting the African Union's peacekeeping mission in Darfur, Sudan and working side by side in countries as diverse as Afghanistan, Georgia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
4. With EU Battlegroups fully operational, the EU has improved its capacity for crisis management operations requiring a military rapid response. The EU Battlegroup Concept also provides for the possibility of EU-led Crisis Management Operations being deployed in response to requests form the UN Security Council, under a UN mandate where appropriate.
5. Against this background and building on the achievements of the 2003 Joint UN-EU declaration, the Secretary General of the United Nations and the European Union seek to further enhance mutual cooperation and coordination through the following measures:
− Regular senior-level political dialogue between the UN Secretariat and the EUTroika on broader aspects of crisis management.
− Regular exchange of views between senior UN Secretariat officials and the Political and Security Committee of the EU.
− Continued meetings of the UN-EU Steering Committee including ad hoc meetings in crisis situations as required.
− Consideration of further steps to enhance cooperation in areas including, but not limited to: support to African peacekeeping capacity-building; cooperation on aspects of multidimensional peacekeeping, including police, rule of law and security sector reform; exchanges between UN and EU Situation Centers; and cooperation with the EU Satellite Centre.
− Pursuit of the establishment of specific coordination and cooperation mechanisms for crisis situations where the UN and the EU are jointly engaged.
− Systematic UN-EU joint lessons learned exercises following cases of joint operational cooperation.