23 January 2009

The Open-ended Working Group on Security Council Reform met on Monday, 19 January 2009, to discuss what kind of modalities would be used during the upcoming intergovernmental negotiations slated to begin in an informal plenary of the General Assembly no later than 28 February.

During the meeting, Member States' statements mostly fell into three overall categories, largely mirroring the 5 December 2008 Working Group meeting on the framework for negotiations.

• Canada and Malta, on behalf of the Uniting for Consensus faction, presented a draft GA proposal to serve as a basis for the upcoming intergovernmental negotiations. In essence, the proposal suggests that future negotiations rest on a consensually pre-agreed agenda, that the aim of the negotiations should be a solution that can garner well above the required two thirds majority, that all issues - such as expansion, geographical distribution of seats and working methods - have to be negotiated in one package and not individually, and finally that negotiations be "conducted in accordance with the general practice of informal plenary of the General Assembly." Italy added that "we simply cannot afford to go to negotiations with fundamental divisions among Member States as our starting point."

• The countries in the Group of Four (Germany, Brazil, India and Japan) argued in turn that the rules of procedure of the General Assembly could serve as a framework. Among other, Japan noted that the chairman could produce a "composite working paper," which would include all previous reform proposals as a basis for future negotiations.
  
• The African group reiterated their support of their Ezulwini proposal, which would give Africa two permanent seats with the right of veto as well as five non-permanent seats.

No decision was made on Monday. The next meeting is scheduled for 26 January 2009, in which it is expected that Member States discuss the results of the two previous meetings on framework and modalities. The first meeting of the informal plenary is expected to be scheduled before 1 February 2009.