President Van Rompuy to address the UN General Assembly

Source: Council of the European Union (Council) i, published on Friday, September 16 2011.

Herman Van Rompuy i, President of the European Council, to address the UN General Assembly

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, will address the UN General Assembly in New York on 22 September.

On the eve of his departure, Herman Van Rompuy said: "It is a great honour for me to be the first EU i representative to address the gathering of world leaders at the UN. I am keen to promote at the UN General Assembly the EU's position on climate change i, sustainable development, the Arab Spring and the Middle East peace process and global interdependence i."

During his stay in New York from 20 to 23 September, President Van Rompuy will also meet bilaterally with a number of other heads of state and deliver a speech at the New York University school of law on the subject: "Europe and the United States: a transatlantic dialogue".

A UN resolution adopted in May invites the EU to participate in the general debate of the General Assembly and establishes the right for EU external representatives to present the positions of the EU and its member states at the UN. According to the EU Treaty, it is the President of the European Council that represents the EU at the level of heads of state, as is the case in the UN General Assembly. Prior to this resolution, EU positions were expressed through representatives of the rotating Council presidency at the UN General Assembly.

 

The programme of Mr Van Rompuy's activities during the UN General Assembly is the following:

Tuesday, 20 September

10.00 Bilateral meeting with UNSG Ban Ki-moon i 10.30 High level meeting on Libya

12.00 Executive Round Table Discussion chaired by Bill Clinton (Clinton Foundation)

16.00 Intervention at the Haiku competition of the United Nation International School Wednesday, 21 September

09.00 UN General Assembly General Debate: speeches by UNSG Mr Ban Ki-moon; President of Brazil, Mrs Dilma Rousseff; President of US, Mr Barack Obama i

13.15 Luncheon hosted by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon

15.00-17.00 Bilateral meetings

18.00 Emile Noel Lecture "Europe and the United States: A Transatlantic Dialogue" (NYU)

Thursday, 22 September

11.00 Address of the President to the 66th UN General Assembly General Debate 15.00-16:45 Bilateral meetings

17.00 Meeting with Robert E. Rubin, Co-Chairman of the Council on Foreign Relations

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