The European Union in the 2009 Durban Review Conference

Abstract

When the Durban Review Conference (DRC) on racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance ended, on 24 April 2009, with an outcome document, which had been adopted consensually by the 183 participating states,² there was a great sense of relief as this had proved a long and particularly arduous process whose outcome had seemed uncertain until the last minute. There was also a sense of unease within the European Union (EU) because five EU Member States (Italy, The Netherlands, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic) had withdrawn from the conference at the last minute, in spite of the fact that the outcome document took all EU concerns into account. As a result, the EU suffered a major and enduring blow to its credibility as a big UN player and supporter of effective multilateralism (European Commission, 2003). Indeed, a few months later, during one of the regular political dialogues between the EU and the African Union (AU), the EU was heavily criticised by AU representatives because, in their own words, there had been one major UN event for the African continent in 2009, i.e. the Durban Review Conference, and the EU had failed to deliver. Clearly, expectations on the part of African countries had been particularly high because, in 2001, the European Union, under the strong leadership of the Belgian minister for foreign affairs, Louis Michel, had contributed in a major way to the success of the Durban Conference. This crucial role was acknowledged by Navi Pillay, the current UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, during another regular EU Political Dialogue, when she reported a recent conversation she had had with Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, the South African minister for foreign affairs in 2001.