EU priorities at the 77th United Nations General Assembly: Council approves conclusions

The Council today approved conclusions setting out the EU's priorities at the United Nations during the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly (September 2022 – September 2023).

The conclusions are approved at a time when the world is facing one of the greatest challenges to global peace and security in decades - Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine - which adds to existing geopolitical fractures and crises, such as those caused by COVID-19 and climate change.

Against this background, the EU and its member states recall the binding character of the UN Charter in its entirety – peace and security, human rights, gender equality, human dignity, equal rights of large and small nations – and stress the universality of the UN’s founding principles. The EU reaffirms its conviction that the major challenges of our time, by their nature and global scope, cannot be addressed by countries acting alone but must be tackled together. Together with partners, the EU and its member states will spare no effort to make the world a safer place to live for all, by defending democracy, human rights, the rule of law, and by ensuring peace and prosperity.

In the coming year, the EU will focus on upholding the UN Charter and the rule of law, addressing the global consequences of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, promoting sustainable development and human rights, supporting access to quality education, strengthening global health security, and fighting climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution, as well as shaping the global digital agenda.

The multiple and often overlapping crises of recent years have exposed some significant gaps in global governance and underlined the need to modernise and reform the United Nations in view of deepening geopolitical fractures.

The EU underlines the need for transformative changes, so that the United Nations becomes a UN 2.0, which is sustainably funded, more inclusive, transparent and accountable, and ultimately properly equipped for future challenges and opportunities.