European Council President António Costa told the United Nations General Assembly that countries must work together on issues ranging from pandemics and climate change to artificial intelligence and conflict.
Costa said no country could tackle challenges such as resilient supply chains, financial stability or “deliver sustainable development” on its own, and called for “multilateralism that is strong, effective, representative and capable of delivering for people,” according to his speech released by the European Council on Thursday.
He also called for global rules on artificial intelligence, saying governance should be “accountable, transparent and regulated”, and argued that the AI industry “cannot be regulated by a few major global companies.”
Costa said the UN should play a “central role” in setting global standards through initiatives including the UN Global Digital Compact and a planned Global Dialogue on AI Governance.
New EU-backed ‘Partners for Multilateralism’ group launched
The European Union has launched a new initiative with Australia, Barbados, Brazil, Canada, India and Kenya called Partners for Multilateralism, International Law, Peace and Prosperity — or P4M, Costa said in the speech.
The initiative is intended as an “open platform” for countries “ready to defend common principles and work towards practical solutions”, and will support the work of the UN and other multilateral formats.
Costa also called for reforms to make the UN “more efficient and more effective”, and said the EU continued to back “comprehensive reform” of the UN Security Council to make it “more effective, inclusive, democratic and accountable.”
On international law, he said there should be “no double standards” and criticised threats against the International Criminal Court, adding that the EU stood behind both the ICC and the International Court of Justice.
Costa described Russia’s war against Ukraine as an “act of aggression against a sovereign state” and said Russia had “repeatedly threatened the security” of EU member states over the past 12 months.
He also addressed the Middle East, saying the EU and its member states supported a two-state solution with Israel and “an independent and democratic state of Palestine” living side by side in peace and security.
Costa said the EU wanted “a comprehensive reform of the global financial architecture” and remained committed to the Paris Agreement and the UN Sustainable Development Goals, adding that the EU and its member states account for “more than 40%” of official development assistance internationally.
