The President of the European Council, Charles Michel, addressed the 78th session of the General Assembly this week on behalf of the EU.

Throughout the week, he also participated in the UN Security Council debate on Ukraine, as well as in a series of side events and bilateral meetings.

The EU is fully committed to a multipolar world that cooperates and progresses towards democracy and human rights, he told the assembly.

However, in the face of multiple global crises such as Russia’s war against Ukraine, the climate crisis and the combat against global poverty and inequality, President Michel emphasised in his address to the General Assembly that the multilateral system is stuck in a rut and trust in it is eroding.

The UN governance system has become dysfunctional. The system must be reformed to make it fairer and more inclusive.

European Council President Charles Michel, 21 September 2023

To resolve the most pressing issues and put multilateralism back on track, President Michel called for repairing the UN system and reforming the UN Charter by:

• changing veto rights in the UN Security Council
• improving representativeness of the UN Security Council by including regional organisations and countries from under-represented regions

President Michel proposed to host an institutional summit with the EU, the African Union, CELAC, ASEAN and the UN.​

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