Uniting for Consensus (UfC), nicknamed the Coffee Club, is a movement that developed in the 1990s in opposition to the possible expansion of permanent seats in the United Nations Security Council. Under the leadership of Italy, [1] [2] it aims to counter the bids for permanent seats proposed by G4 nations (Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan) and is calling for a consensus before any decision is reached on the form and size of the United Nation Security Council.
Italy, through the ambassador Francesco Paolo Fulci, along with Pakistan, Mexico and Egypt, founded the "Coffee Club" in 1995 . [3] The four countries were united by a rejection of the proposal to increase the number of permanent members of the Security Council, instead desiring to encourage the expansion of non-permanent seats. The founders of the group were soon joined by other countries, including Spain, Argentina, Turkey, and Canada, and in a short time the group came to include about 50 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. [3] The thesis of the Uniting for Consensus group is that the increase of permanent seats would further accentuate the disparity between the member countries and result in the extension of a series of privileges with a cascade effect. The new permanent members would in fact benefit from the method of electing, which is particularly advantageous in a number of specific organs of the United Nations System.[ clarification needed ]
During the 59th session of the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, the UfC group — led by the representatives of Canada, Italy, and Pakistan — made a proposal [4] that centred on an enlargement of the number of non-permanent members from ten to twenty. The non-permanent members would be elected by the General Assembly for a two-year term and would be eligible for immediate re-election, subject to the decision of their respective geographical groups. [5] The other members and co-sponsors of the text, entitled "Reform of the Security Council", were listed as Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, Malta, Mexico, San Marino, Spain and Turkey. [6] Although the proposal was not accepted, the initiative found broad consensus among member states, including permanent member China. [7]
On 20 April 2009, Italy, acting as representatives of the UfC group, provided a new model of reform, [8] which was presented as a concrete attempt to reach a deal. The document proposed creating a new category of seats, still non-permanent, but elected for an extended duration (3 to 5 years terms) without the possibility of immediate re-election. This new kind of seat would not be allocated to single national countries but rather to regional groups on a rotational basis. As far as traditional categories of seats are concerned, the UfC proposal does not imply any change, but only the introduction of small and medium size states among groups eligible for regular seats. This proposal includes even the question of veto, giving a range of options that goes from abolition to limitation of the application of the veto only to Chapter VII matters.
During the last round, Italy firmly rejected the G4 proposal as well as the African Union one and even denounced the unfair behaviour of G4 countries. According to Italy, the G4 is attempting to exclude the UfC proposal from the floor, “on the basis of a presumed level of support”. [9] Moreover, Italy believes that it has shown flexibility by putting forward a new proposal in April 2009, while the G4 remained tied to its 2005 document. [10] Italy's active role in current discussions started in February 2009 before the beginning of intergovernmental negotiations, when Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini hosted more than 75 countries to develop a shared path towards a reform of the Security Council. [11] In May 2011, the members states which have participated in the group meeting held in Rome rose to 120. [12] [13]
As of 27 March 2023, core members of the Uniting for Consensus group were: [14]
| Country | Continent | UN funding 2 | Member of the UN since | International trade 1 | GDP (nominal) 1 | GDP (PPP) 1 | Defense budget 1 | Active military | Population | G20 | OECD | DAC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Italy | Europe | 3.307% | 1955 | 948,600 | 2,120,232 | 2,610,563 | 40,800 | 347,927 | 59,045,521 |  | | |
 Canada | North America | 2.734% | 1945 | 947,200 | 2,015,983 | 1,978,816 | 18,600 | 68,250 | 38,610,406 | | | |
 South Korea | Asia | 2.267% | 1991 | 1,170,900 | 1,823,852 | 2,436,872 | 50,100 | 630,000 | 51,671,569 | | | |
 Spain | Europe | 2.146% | 1955 | 715,200 | 1,439,958 | 1,959,037 | 5,767 | 132,798 | 47,394,223 |  * | | |
 Turkey | Europe / Asia | 1.371% | 1945 | 417,000 | 795,952 | 2,749,570 | 18,200 | 639,551 | 84,680,273 | | | |
 Mexico | North America | 1.292% | 1945 | 813,500 | 1,285,518 | 2,613,797 | 11,600 | 280,506 | 126,014,024 | | | |
 Argentina | South America | 0.915% | 1945 | 142,370 | 455,172 | 1,015,008 | 4,021 | 73,100 | 45,808,747 | | | |
 Pakistan | Asia | 0.115% | 1947 | 58,000 | 286,340 | 1,370,075 | 7,600 | 643,800 | 225,200,000 | | | |
 Malta | Europe | 0.017% | 1964 | 9,200 | 10,582 | 23,501 | 42 | 2,130 | 514,564 | | | |
 Colombia | South America | 0.288% | 1945 | 314,464 | 1,014,978 | 293,200 | 52,085,168 | | | | ||
 Costa Rica | North America | 0.062% | 1945 | 64,282 | 139,482 | 0 | 5,212,173 | | | | ||
 San Marino | Europe | 0.002% | 1992 | 1,702 | 2,694 | 0 | 33,661 | | | | ||
| 1 USD millions 2Percent contributed to total UN budget | ||||||||||||
*While Spain is not an official member of the G20, it is a permanent invitee.
China and Indonesia are participating as Observers. [15] [16]
The foreign relations of the Italian Republic are the Italian government's external relations with the outside world. Located in Europe, Italy has been considered a major Western power since its unification in 1860. Its main allies are the NATO countries and the EU states, two entities of which Italy is a founding member. Italy was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and it is a member and a strong supporter of a wide number of international organisations, such as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade and World Trade Organization, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the Council of Europe, and the Central European Initiative.
The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international peace and security, recommending the admission of new UN members to the General Assembly, and approving any changes to the UN Charter. Its powers as outlined in the United Nations Charter include establishing peacekeeping operations, enacting international sanctions, and authorizing military action. The UNSC is the only UN body with authority to issue resolutions that are binding on member states.
Since the late 1990s there have been many calls for reforms of the United Nations (UN). However, there is little clarity or consensus about what reform might mean in practice. Both those who want the UN to play a greater role in world affairs and those who want its role confined to humanitarian work or otherwise reduced use the term "UN reform" to refer to their ideas. The range of opinion extends from those who want to eliminate the UN entirely, to those who want to make it into a full-fledged world government. Secretaries-General have presented numerous ways to implement these new reforms. There have been reform efforts since the creation of the UN and closely associated with each of the Secretaries-General.
Canada was a founding member of the United Nations, and was an original signatory of the Declaration by United Nations. At the signing of the Declaration by United Nations, Canada was one of four Dominions of the British Empire present, alongside Australia, New Zealand, and the Union of South Africa. In 1945, Canada was present at the United Nations Conference on International Organization and signed the Charter of the United Nations. McGill University professor John Peters Humphrey was the principal author of the first draft of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The G4 nations, comprising Brazil, Germany, India, and Japan, are four countries which support each other's bids for permanent seats on the United Nations Security Council. Unlike the G7, where the common denominator is the economy and long-term political motives, the G4's primary aim is the permanent member seats on the Security Council. Each of these four countries have figured among the elected non-permanent members of the council since the UN's establishment. Their economic and political influence has grown significantly in the last decades, reaching a scope comparable to the permanent members (P5). However, the G4's bids are often opposed by the Uniting for Consensus movement, and particularly their economic competitors or political rivals.
The United Nations Security Council veto power is the power of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council to veto any "substantive" resolution. They also happen to be the nuclear-weapon states (NWS) under the terms of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. However, a permanent member's abstention or absence does not prevent a draft resolution from being adopted. This veto power does not apply to "procedural" votes, as determined by the permanent members themselves. A permanent member can also block the selection of a Secretary-General, although a formal veto is unnecessary since the vote is taken behind closed doors.
Reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) encompasses five key issues: categories of membership, the question of the veto held by the five permanent members, regional representation, the size of an enlarged Council and its working methods, and the Security Council-General Assembly relationship. The Member States, regional groups and other Member State interest groupings developed different positions and proposals on how to move forward on this contested issue.
France has been a member of the United Nations (UN) since its foundation in 1945 and is one of the five countries, alongside China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States, that holds a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), which is responsible for maintaining international peace and security.
Brazil is a non-permanent member of the United Nations. It has participated in peacekeeping operations with the UN in the Middle East, the former Belgian Congo, Cyprus, Mozambique, Angola, and more recently East Timor and Haiti. Brazil has been regularly elected as a non-permanent member to the Security Council since its first session in 1946 and is now among the most elected UN member states to the UNSC. Brazil was successfully elected to become a member of the 15-country UN Security Council for the two-year term of 2022-23.
Francesco Paolo Fulci was an Italian diplomat who served as Ambassador to the United Nations.
Gianni Vernetti is a writer and Italian politician.
Giulio Terzi di Sant'Agata is an Italian diplomat and politician. He was Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs in Mario Monti's government from November 2011 until March 2013, Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations in New York between 2008 and 2009 and Ambassador of Italy to the United States between 2009 and 2011. He is currently a Senator of the Republic of Italy and the President of the 4th Permanent Senate Commission of EU Affairs elected from the Lombardy constituency as a part of Brothers of Italy. He is also the President of the India-Italy Parliamentary Friendship group.
India was among the charter members of the United Nations that signed the Declaration by United Nations at Washington, D.C., on 1 January 1942 and also participated in the United Nations Conference on International Organization at San Francisco from 25 April to 26 June 1945. As a founding member of the United Nations, India strongly supports the purposes and principles of the UN and has made significant contributions in implementing the goals of the Charter, and the evolution of the UN's specialised programmes and agencies.
The permanent members of the United Nations Security Council are the five sovereign states to whom the UN Charter of 1945 grants a permanent seat on the UN Security Council: China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
Mexico is one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations and was admitted into the organization in 1945. Since then, Mexico is a full member of all the UN agencies and participates actively within the organization and has diplomatic relations with most member states. In June 2020, Mexico was elected for its fifth two year Non-Permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council which begins on 1 January 2021.
The 2016 United Nations Security Council election was held on 28 June during the 70th session of the United Nations General Assembly, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York City. The elections were for five non-permanent seats on the UN Security Council for two-year mandates commencing on 1 January 2017. In accordance with the Security Council's rotation rules, whereby the ten non-permanent UNSC seats rotate among the various regional blocs into which UN member states traditionally divide themselves for voting and representation purposes, the five available seats were allocated as follows:
The Intergovernmental Negotiations framework or IGN is a group of nation-states working within the United Nations to further reform of the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).
Ferdinando Nelli Feroci is an Italian diplomat who served briefly as a European Commissioner in 2014.
Stefano Baldi is an Italian ambassador and author. Since January 4, 2021, he is the Permanent Representative of Italy to the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE). From 2016 to 2020, he was the Ambassador to Bulgaria.
The Republic of Türkiye is one of the 51 founding members of the United Nations when it signed the United Nations Conference on International Organization in 1945.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)