I take the floor again today firstly to align ourselves with Friday’s EU statement. Secondly, I wish to flag our availability to postpone our last substantial session, This postponement would allow us to meet in person as well as additional time to increase the momentum of our discussions, deepen our common understanding, maximize convergences and ultimately aim for a more ambitious set of OEWG recommendations. As some colleagues already pointed out, not being able to deliver a Report might also cast doubts on the ability of a new OEWG to carry out its mandate. The more time we have at our disposal, the greater are the chances of adopting a meaningful consensual report. Less time will probably mean that we might need to sacrifice part of the text because of lack of consensus, which would not be our preferred way forward. Precisely because we share Russian and other colleagues’ views that common threats of malicious use of ICTs are pressing, we wish our report to be as incisive and relevant as possible. On content, I promised a set of more specific remarks on the draft report: Introduction Para 11 – we are happy with this paragraph, for it highlights the connection, albeit a distant one at times, that exists between digital divides and security. It is never good when large segments of the world population are left behind on any given development or situation and we hope that our recommendations will contribute to bridge that gap. Para 13 – International law is not – in our opinion – a framework for State actions, rather one could define international law as the legal discipline of State actions. I think this should be better reflected in the text.

Select target paragraph3