Mr. President,
let me first of all join my colleagues in welcoming the Secretary General. His presence at this Debate is yet one more confirmation of the personal engagement of the Secretary General in the very important issue the Security Council is discussing today.
 Mr. President,
I wish to thank you for convening this Open Debate and for the excellent concept paper that you have circulated. The concept paper is an effective and enlightening instrument for our work, enabling us to better understand what has been achieved so far two years after the issuance of Presidential Note S/2006/507, and what remains to be done. Today’s Debate is of the utmost importance. Too much time has passed since the last Open Debate of the Security Council on the issue of its working methods. Opening the Council to the general membership for this Debate is a concrete development that we fully supported during the Consultations of recent weeks.
A reform of the Council’s working methods represents, for Italy, a priority objective in the United Nations reform process. Maintaining a direct and focused dialogue with the membership, particularly on the issue of working methods has always been a fundamental point of reference for Italy. Our goal is to fulfill the expectations of the general membership and to counter the risk of inertia within the Council. This in order to foster a sense of ownership of the Council among the general membership and, conversely, to prevent the Council from being perceived as isolated from the rest of the UN system.
Italy’s action has long been characterized by its constructive attitude toward Security Council reform in all its aspects. We have actively participated in the work of the Informal Working Group on Documentation and Other Procedural Questions. We remain committed to a comprehensive reform of the Security Council in all its aspects. Working methods have also a clear priority, in order to improve the imbalance in the relationship between the General Assembly and the Security Council. The desire for a constructive dialogue with the rest of the membership, also on working methods, has always been a characteristic of the Uniting for Consensus Movement and it remains a goal to which we are committed.
  For Italy, transparency, openness, efficiency and interaction with the rest of the membership are crucial to a substantial improvement in the Council’s working methods. Many ideas for improvements have been voiced: fuller access to the Security Council, also through better and more regular communications by the Council to the general membership; more thematic debates in the General Assembly; improved and more detailed annual reports to the GA; renewed impetus for public meetings; an effective system to prevent overlap and assure transparency in the subsidiary bodies. We also consider of the most crucial importance the close and effective cooperation between the Secretariat and the Council. As for a better use of the existing format of private meetings, Mr. President, among the many possible improvements, we believe that a mechanism has to be established in order to allow interested member States to be heard confidentially, upon their request, in what we could call private consultations in the Chamber. In particular circumstances, all member States should have the opportunity to explain, in a formal setting, their position, within a direct dialogue with members of the Security Council.
These and other tasks, Mr. President, have to be completed through an adequate redefinition of the rules that govern the working methods. It is a goal that Council members should strive for on a daily basis. In this regard, I wish to praise the decision by the Vietnamese Presidency in July to inform non-Council members of the preparation of the “Annual Report on the Work of the Security Council.”
On the interaction with the membership, allow me to bring up the issues of involving regional organizations in the Council’s activities and of the contribution they can make to its actions. A great deal has been achieved in this area in recent years. I think, for example, of the development of regular contacts and meetings between the Peace and Security Council of the African Union and the Security Council with regard to conflict prevention, crisis situations, and the deployment of peace-keeping missions on the African continent.
To a growing extent regional organizations interact with the subsidiary bodies of the Security Council and contribute, for example, to the effectiveness of the global action in the fight against terrorism and the application of sanctions regimes. Also, in this regard, the European Union plays a fundamental role. The EU has formed a partnership with the UN to cooperate in the area of crisis management and peacekeeping operations. From the Balkans to the Middle East, from Africa to Asia, the EU and the UN are working together on the ground even under very difficult circumstances.
  Mr. President, regional organizations are the great new realities of today’s international relations. Let me restate how crucial has become to take into consideration this trend of our time and let it be adequately reflected in this Council. I thank you Mr. President.