Sixth Committee (Legal) — 70th session
Observer status for the Union for the Mediterranean in the General Assembly (Agenda item 174)
- Item proposed by Jordan (A/70/232)
Documentation
Summary of work
Background (source: A/70/251/Add.1)
By the letter dated 18 September 2015 (A/70/232) addressed to the Secretary-General, the Permanent Representative of Jordan requested the inclusion of this item in the provisional agenda of the seventieth session.
Consideration at the seventieth session
The Sixth Committee considered the item at its 11th and 27th meetings, on 19 October and 13 November 2015 (see A/C.6/70/SR.11 and 27).
Statements were made by the representatives of Argentina, Singapore, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of), Morocco, France, Greece and Jordan.
Some delegations supported the request for observer status of the Union for the Mediterranean.
Some other delegations indicated the need to see the constitutive instrument of the Union to confirm their general support for the request. It was stated that they would need to see the statute of the Union to be able to make a determination on its legal status.
Support was expressed the general comments regarding the granting of observer status in the General Assembly presented by some delegations during the 10th meeting of the Committee. Argentina indicated it would make a general proposal to require all sponsoring delegations to include copies of the respective constitutive instruments as part of their request for the granting of observer status.
Action taken by the Sixth Committee
At the 11th meeting, on 19 October, the representative of Jordan, on behalf of Albania, Croatia, Cyprus, Egypt, France, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritania, Monaco, Morocco, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia and Tunisia, introduced a draft resolution entitled “Observer status for the Union for the Mediterranean in the General Assembly” (A/C.6/70/L.5). Subsequently, Austria, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Israel, Lithuania, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey joined in sponsoring the draft resolution.
At its 27th meeting, on 13 November, the Committee adopted draft resolution A/C.6/70/L.5 without a vote.
Under this draft resolution, the General Assembly would decide to invite the Union for the Mediterranean to participate in the sessions and the work of the General Assembly in the capacity of observer; and would request the Secretary-General to take the action necessary to implement the resolution.
Subsequent action taken by the General Assembly
