Economic Commission for Europe

Economic Commission for Europe Economic Commission for Europe
Flag of the UN and the UNECE
Organization type	Commission
Abbreviation	UNECE
management	Oľga Algayerová since 2017 Slovakia
Founded	March 28, 1947
Headquarters	Geneva
Upper organization	United Nations Economic and Social Council
www.unece.org

Member countries of the UNECE
Country	accession
Albania	December 14, 1955
Andorra	July 28, 1993
Armenia	July 30, 1993
Azerbaijan	July 30, 1993
Belgium	March 28, 1947
Bosnia and Herzegovina	May 22, 1992
Bulgaria	December 14, 1955
Germany	18th September 1973
Denmark	March 28, 1947
Estonia	17th September 1991
Finland	December 14, 1955
France	March 28, 1947
Georgia	July 30, 1993
Greece	March 28, 1947
Ireland	December 14, 1955
Iceland	March 28, 1947
Israel	July 26, 1991
Italy	December 14, 1955
Canada	August 9, 1973
Kazakhstan	January 31, 1994
Kyrgyzstan	July 30, 1993
Croatia	May 22, 1992
Latvia	17th September 1991
Liechtenstein	September 18, 1990
Lithuania	17th September 1991
Luxembourg	March 28, 1947
Malta	December 1, 1964
Macedonia	April 8, 1993
Moldova	March 2, 1992
Monaco	May 27, 1993
Montenegro	June 28, 2006
Netherlands	March 28, 1947
Norway	March 28, 1947
Austria	December 14, 1955
Poland	March 28, 1947
Portugal	December 14, 1955
Romania	December 14, 1955
Russia	March 28, 1947
San Marino	July 30, 1993
Sweden	March 28, 1947
Switzerland	March 24, 1972
Serbia	November 1, 2000
Slovenia	May 22, 1992
Slovakia	March 28, 1947
Spain	December 14, 1955
Tajikistan	December 12, 1994
Czech Republic	March 28, 1947
Turkey	March 28, 1947
Turkmenistan	July 30, 1993
Ukraine	March 28, 1947
Hungary	December 14, 1955
Uzbekistan	July 30, 1993
United Kingdom	March 28, 1947
United States	March 28, 1947
Belarus	March 28, 1947
Cyprus	20th September 1960

The Economic Commission for Europe of the United Nations ( English United Nations Economic Commission for Europe ), abbreviated as UNECE, and UN / ECE, also briefly ECE, is one of five regional commissions of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations (ECOSOC), whose main objective it is to promote pan - European economic integration .

Emergence

ECE was founded almost two years after the Second World War by the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations . The aim was to support the reconstruction of the economies in Europe, especially their economic relations with each other and worldwide. On the same day, the Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific was founded with the same objective , and later the Economic and Social Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean , the Economic Commission for Africa , and the Economic and Social Commission for West Asia followed . The impetus was given by Jan Stanczyk , Minister of Labor and Social Affairs of Poland , when he called for long-term help for self - help at the first General Assembly of the United Nations . From the objectives of the ECE and the situation of economic strength and power at that time, it almost inevitably resulted that the USA and the Soviet Union were among the founding members.

Disagreed about the Marshall Plan , the Organization for European Economic Co-operation and the Council for Mutual Economic Aid were established a little later . Since then, the Cold War began, the ECE over 40 years remained a long forum in which the opposing economic systems at the Iron Curtain to consensus found. Canada has also been a member of ECE since August 1973 , so that it now covers the entire north of the world.

activities

UNECE meetings are usually held in public in Geneva and the United Nations Office in Europe is its headquarters.

Each member state of the UNECE sends one person to the commission, but other nations and persons are also invited. For example, from the first meetings to all European nations except Spain were involved.

UNECE results are omnipresent in Europe. For example, the European roads go back to the UNECE, vehicles rolling on the roads bear the ECE test mark according to ECE regulations or the European Inland Waterways Regulations (CEVNI) standardize European shipping law.

The UNECE develops proposals, templates and agreements, which are sometimes also joined by non-members such as Japan, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, South Korea, Tunisia, Malaysia and Thailand.

structure

The commission is divided into an executive committee and specialist committees:

• Committee on Economic Cooperation and Integration ( competitiveness , entrepreneurship , market regulation )
• Committee on Environmental Policy ( Environmental Protection )
• Committee on Forests and Forest Industry ( Forestry )
• Committee on Housing and Land Management ( Housing and Town Planning )
• Committee on Sustainable Energy ( Sustainable Energy )
• Committee on Trade ( norms , standards , trade barriers )
• Inland Transport Committee ( inland waterways , railways , motor vehicles )
• Conference of European Statisticians ( Statistics )

There are also units and working groups :

• Population Unit ( demographic change )
  • Working Group on Aging ( population aging )
• Technical Cooperation Unit ( harmonization , structural change )
  • Working Group on Technical Cooperation ( Monitoring , Synergies )

office

The Commission has a secretariat that is part of that of the United Nations. It is financed from the United Nations budget.

It is headed by the Executive Secretary ( German  Executive Secretary ), which the UN Secretary-General appoints. He is the governor of the Secretary General at the UNECE and is also authorized to initiate his own initiatives in the specialist committees.

Gunnar Myrdal from Sweden was the first to hold this office and had a lasting impact on the ECE by interpreting its statutes generously, disregarding official world politics and calling in experts from all zones of occupation . Myrdal also sent annual reports to all governments without being asked. The way to the European Union was cleared up by information from ECE.

Janez Stanovnik, a professor and later President of Slovenia , held this post from the late 1960s through the 1970s and into the early 1980s. He was just as influential with politics similar to Myrdal.

List of Executive Secretaries of UNECE

Surname	Country	Beginning of the term of office	Term expires
Gunnar Myrdal	Sweden	1947	1957
Sakari Tuomioja	Finland	1957	1960
Vladimir Velebit	Yugoslavia	1960	1967
Janez Stanovnik	Yugoslavia	1968	1982
Klaus Sahlgren	Finland	1983	1986
Gerald Hinteregger	Austria	1987	1993
Yves Berthelot	France	1993	2000
Danuta Huebner	Poland	2000	2001
Brigita Schmögnerová	Slovakia	2002	2005
Marek Belka	Poland	2005	2008
Ján Kubiš	Slovakia	2009	2011
Sven Alkalaj	Bosnia and Herzegovina	2012	2014
Christian Friis Bach	Denmark	2014	2017
Oľga Algayerová	Slovakia	2017	officiating

Web links

• UNECE website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ http://www.unece.org/press/execsec/current_exec.html accessed on December 23, 2019
2. ↑ ^{a b} History . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Member States and Member States Representatives . UNECE. November 21, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
4. ^ ^{A b c d e} Yves Berthelot, Paul Rayment: Looking back and peering forward: A short History of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, 1947–2007 . United Nations, Geneva 2007 ( PDF; 677 KB [accessed January 1, 2014]).
5. ↑ ^{a b} UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) . Foreign Office . August 23, 2012. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 1, 2014. 
6. ↑ ^{a b c} Terms of Reference and Rules of Procedure of the Economic Commission for Europe . 5th edition. United Nations, 2009 ( unece.org [PDF; 72 kB ; accessed on January 1, 2014]).
7. ^ Marian Martin: The European Waterways: A User's Guide . A&C Black, 2013, ISBN 978-1-4729-0155-2 , p. 60 .
8. ^ UN Transport Agreements and Conventions . Countries Parties to the 1958 Agreement ; in: Status of the Agreement, of the annexed UN Regulations and of amendments - Revision 25 - Note by the secretariat , February 28, 2017; in: Status of the 1958 Agreement (and of the annexed regulations) . Both in: www.unece.org . United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, accessed and received on September 5, 2017. An outdated list in German can be found in: Contracting Parties - List of Key Figures ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. . In: www.bmvi.de . Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure , accessed on September 5, 2017.
   
   
    
9. ^ Governance and organizational structure . UNECE. December 23, 2013. Accessed January 1, 2014.
10. ^ Economic Cooperation and Integration. UNECE, accessed February 8, 2018 . 
11. ^ Environmental Policy . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
12. ^ Outlook - Forestry and Timber . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
13. ^ History - Housing and Land Management . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
14. ^ Sustainable Energy . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
15. ↑ Trade . UNECE. Retrieved February 8, 2018.
16. ^ Structure / ITC . UNECE. Archived from the original on January 2, 2014. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved January 1, 2014. 
17. ↑ Statistics . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
18. ↑ population . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
19. ^ Working Group on Aging. UNECE, accessed February 8, 2018 . 
20. ↑ Technical Cooperation Strategy . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
21. ^ Working Group on Technical Cooperation . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
22. ↑ Management . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
23. ^ Sven Alkalaj takes office as UNECE Executive Secretary . UNECE. April 10, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
24. ^ Janez Stanovnik (Yugoslavia) . UNECE. Retrieved January 1, 2014.
25. ^ Former Executive Secretaries. In: UNECE. United Nations, accessed February 23, 2020 .