EOP on Item 7

I am taking the floor on behalf of the European Union. 

With regards to the draft Decision on the structure of the outcome document for the Durban Review Conference we would like to welcome the efforts by all delegations to move towards consensus. 

The EU would like to stress that the EU interprets the contents of point 5 as remaining within the established parameters of the DDPA.  As stated previously, the European Union holds the strong conviction that the Durban Review Conference must not re-open the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action.  The process we find ourselves in is to review the implementation of the DDPA, with all stakeholders, through sharing of best practices and identifying the success es and failures in this respect. The European Union is of the view, furthermore, that all forms of racism and racial discrimination are covered by the DDPA and that we should not lose our focus. In the framework of Durban our common endeavor is to intensify the fight against racism on the basis of what we agreed in 2001. We should not broaden the agenda. 

In this spirit, Madam Chairman, the EU can join the consensus on the draft outcome document before us.