EURISGA Chair briefs EU PSC Ambassadors on future of EU-UN Relations

Joachim Koops, in cooperation with the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the United Nations Liaison Office for Peace and Security and the European External Action Service, briefed Ambassadors of the Political and Security Committee (PSC) of the EU on the future of EU-UN Relations. Professor Koops, Jean Monnet Chair on the EU’s Role in Security and Global Affairs (EURISGA) presented the key insights of his background paper “Quo Vadis EU-UN Relations in Peace and Security? Evolution, Challenges and Adaptation”, requested by the Cyprus Presidency as an input paper for the discussion with PSC Ambassadors from all EU member states.

In the discussion, alongside Dr Rory Keane (Head of the UN Liaison Office for Peace and Security) and Jean-Baptiste Valmary (Deputy Head of Division for Partnerships, EEAS), Koops underlined the importance for Europe to support and protect the UN and its work against ever more egregious attacks. As the input paper stresses:

“The European Union and its member states, which has since the 1970s, made the support of the UN and the rules-based system the hallmark of its ‘foreign policy philosophies’, must do more to double-down politically on its support for the United Nations in its entirety. This requires not only political signals in UN fora, but more importantly the clear positioning and actions when core UN Charter principles are being flagrantly broken or alternative arrangements are set up whose actual purpose and impact could run directly against the functioning and effectiveness of the UN system and Charter principles. This also applies to unlawful acts against UN agencies or bodies, where the Europeans are major donors – such as, but not limited to, the case of UNRWA”.

During the discussion, Koops also stressed that EU member states and EU institutions have failed bitterly in upholding international law and the multilateral order, beyond luke-warm declarations, particularly in relation to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The EU must do more than rehash old rhetoric about ‘effective multilateralism’ and double-down financially, politically and use the full arsenal of instruments at its disposal.

The EU and UN face a variety of common challenges and can and must in the coming months reach the right agreements and joint actions. This applies to a wide range of topics outlined in the latest “EU-UN Joint Priorities on Peace and Security for 2025-2028” document as well as the preparation of an EU CSDP operation in Lebanon in the wake of UNIFIL’s withdrawal.