UNUnited Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Introduction by the UNECE Executive Secretary

The first quarter of 2003 was dominated by the concerns linked to a possible war with Iraq. These concerns have had an important impact on both the political and economic situation of the region. In particular, the increase in the cost of energy and the gloomy economic prospects had a slowdown effect on most of the economies of the UNECE region. Paradoxically, once the war had started the economic situation tended to stabilize and the year ends with a surprisingly strong economic recovery in North America. Two elements remained constant, however, throughout the year namely the security concerns and – although somehow reduced due to the rapid ending of the Iraq war – global uncertainties.

Improved expectations for a global cyclical recovery in 2004 – with major regional differences – are not without significant downside risks. Doubts remain about the strength of growth in the United States, on how long it will last, and whether the United States economy will resume its role of engine for world growth. The picture of protracted sluggishness of the European economy in the euro area, and mixed developments in Central Europe, is perhaps improved by a strong economic upturn in the Russian Federation, Ukraine and other economies of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS). But there remain many other uncertainties, such as the increase of oil prices, the further appreciation of the euro against the dollar and the yen, and the impact of Asian economies on repairing global imbalances. The answers to these questions will be of key importance in the shaping of the economic situation of the UNECE countries during 2004 and most likely far beyond.

In 2003 the UNECE, thanks to its flexibility, was able to adapt to international developments in the region. In the field of security, UNECE reacted immediately to the energy threats posed by the possibility of war, by organizing together with the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) a roundtable on energy security with all major stakeholders in this area. The Tenth Ministerial Council in Porto, Portugal, 6-7 December 2002, renewed its commitment to the economic dimension of security and invited UNECE, in close working relation with the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), to take the lead in making the economic dimension of security more relevant to conflict prevention and at the same time to contribute to the preparation of the OSCE New Strategy Document. Strengthening the role of UNECE in the economic and environmental dimensions of conflict prevention, and the mandate assumed to be given to develop an early warning system in the economic and environmental dimensions in Maastricht, Netherlands, December 2003, by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the OSCE members, will have to be reconsidered at the next UNECE Annual Session in February 2004.

No doubt May 2004 will be a new milestone in European history as it will mark unprecedented European Union (EU) enlargement and close the West, Central and East European divide. Fully in line with its mandate, UNECE is working to prevent a new divide between the EU-enlarged and non-acceding countries. UNECE legal instruments for trade facilitation, transport, energy and environment provide the basis for the further cooperation of non-acceding countries with the enlarged EU as there is a need for non-acceding countries to adopt and implement standards and legislation that is not identical to, but complies with, the EU body of law. UNECE in cooperation with the European Commission (EC) therefore organized in 2003 sectoral “Beyond enlargement” workshops on the impact of enlargement on the energy sector, trade, environment, transport (in cooperation with the European Conference of Ministers of Transport (ECMT)) and on regulatory convergence (in cooperation with the Greek Government). It will hold a joint workshop with the OSCE on the economic dimension of security after EU enlargement in early 2004.

In the context of the information society and Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for development, which is a key concern for all countries, the UNECE was, in 2003, responsible for coordinating the regional commissions’ contribution to the preparation of the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) Declaration of Principles and Plan of Action, in which the regional dimension of implementation was explicitly recognized. The role of UNECE in Geneva (and from Geneva to Tunis) in preventing or eliminating the digital divide includes the exchange of best practice, providing an assessment of achievements in the knowledge-based economy at country level (14 Country Readiness Assessments Reports have been issued in 2002/03 on “Towards a Knowledge-based Economy”), and implementing a gender perspective in building an information society (Second Forum of Women Entrepreneurs in Geneva, March 2003). UNECE has long and excellent expertise in e-commerce (UN/CEFACT, UN/EDIFACT, UNe-Docs), in e-government, and in collaboration with the Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) implements the e-Med project funded from the United Nations Development Account. These efforts – as intended – will lead to a regional plan for the information society in 2004/05.

At the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD), Johannesburg 2002, the role of regional commissions in sustainable development was agreed upon. The 2003 Spring Seminar provided momentum to proceed with in-depth discussion on the relationships between growth and environmental degradation, whilst the High-level Segment of the 58th Annual Session underscored the importance of national strategies and the role of regional cooperation to promote national efforts in sustainable development. It was also decided that the UNECE Regional Implementation Forum, as a follow-up to WSSD, would be held in January 2004. The Forum will also renew the organization’s preparedness to assist member States in the progress towards sustainable development which assumes the integration of all three dimensions: economic, environmental and social.

Apart from these new undertakings, UNECE has and will continue its efforts in many areas where it has recognized expertise and skills, and has also embarked in emerging areas relating to new regional and global concerns. In doing so, UNECE proves its commitment to multilateral cooperation and works within its mandate to achieve the goals defined in the United Nations Millennium Development Project, and the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), as well as declarations adopted at the United Nations conferences.

UNECE is successfully pursuing its international law-making activities. The fifth Ministerial Conference “Environment for Europe” in Kiev adopted three new protocols to UNECE conventions. At the same time, UNECE increasingly produces “soft” legislation in the form of guidelines, e.g. guidelines for reforming energy prices to meet sustainable development objectives, guidelines on condominiums, on housing finance (forthcoming), for cost-benefit analysis of transport infrastructure projects, for public-private partnerships (PPPs), etc. Guidelines in general are intended to address the main challenges in different UNECE areas and although they do not define standard solutions, they provide a general framework based on experience and best practice for decision-making in the national context.

UNECE has further strengthened its collaboration with United Nations and non-United Nations organizations, country groupings and all relevant stakeholders in member States: governments, civil society and the private sector. Concerning the latter, there is no doubt that UNECE is a leader in building partnerships between the United Nations and the business community in energy, industrial restructuring, trade, transport and the environment. Collaboration with the business sector is indispensable in developing standards and norms (e.g. technical standards for e-business), in discussing how to ensure energy security (a good example is the Gas Centre), and so on. UNECE is a strong advocate for a closer public-private partnership by initiating the network of public-private-units at the national level, drafting guidelines for PPPs and good governance for PPPs. The recent corporate governance failures have put corporate governance reform on the policy agenda. UNECE has not only analysed developments in improving corporate governance in the Economic Survey of Europe, 2003 No. 1, but has decided in cooperation with other organizations (such as the International Chamber of Commerce) to take on board more systematically the issue of good governance in its niche areas such as corporate governance in the energy sector, good governance for SMEs and for PPPs.

The UNECE 2003 and 2004 objectives and targets cannot be achieved without the strong dedication and hard work of the secretariat in servicing intergovernmental bodies, in preparing numerous publications, in developing and expanding analytical capacity, in working on indicators, data collection and databases, and in providing technical assistance to member States particularly in South-East Europe and CIS. The reform initiated by the Secretary-General in 2002 inspired many reform actions at the level of the secretariat. In 2003, UNECE has continued to strengthen cross-sectoral cooperation by means of crossdimensional task forces (on information society, on security, and on global public goods for instance), to increase transparency and improve information-sharing in the work of the secretariat and UNECE (by introducing UNECE Weekly, proposing a new knowledgesharing initiative for government representatives, deepening analytical thinking by brainstorming and new academic discussions, and a fellowship programme). We hope very much that these efforts will allow us to continue responding to the expectations of the member States and reinforce multilateral cooperation in the UNECE region.

 

 
Brigita Schmögnerová
Executive Secretary
United Nations Economic Commission
for Europe