Highlights: Today the Permanent Representative of Italy to the United Nations, Ambassador C.M. Ragaglini recalled the main points of the Italian position on the reform of the Security Council:
- a reformed Security Council must be more representative: by including longer term seats and 2 years non permanent members more Member States will have a chance to serve. An innovative approach to regional representation is also needed, particularly after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the progress achieved by the African Union;
- a reformed Security Council must be more accountable, because even longer term seats will be subject to election and scrutiny of the General Assembly;
- a reformed Security Council must be more flexible. The Italian proposal aims to make the Council adaptable, when the need to adjust it to new realities arise.
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Mr. President,
Thank you for convening this debate. It helps us focus in a very concrete way on two issues related to the Security Council: its annual report and the reform process.
The Security Council held an intensive activity in the period of time considered by the report. It dealt with geographic crises in Africa, Middle East, Asia, the Balkans, Haiti. It also devoted considerable time to thematic and general issues including terrorism, protection of civilians, women and peace and security, peacekeeping operations, peace-building and non proliferation.
To respond to the growing demand of Member States to improve its effectiveness,  the Security Council - under the leadership of the Turkish Presidency - also held an important Summit last September focused on: “Ensuring the Security Council an Effective Role in the Maintenance of International Peace and Security".
In this occasion, the representative of a member of the Council stated the following (quote):
“Improving the effectiveness of the Security Council depends also on the role of the non-permanent members. They must fully participate in the decision-making-process. Non-permanent members can bring a diversity of views and regional experiences to the Council. It is not appropriate to call upon them only to ratify decisions already taken by the permanent members.”
That member State was Brazil, and the representative who made the statement was its Foreign Minister.
We fully share the spirit, the letter and the approach of our Brazilian friends, and this allows me to shift my focus to the Security Council reform process.
Mr. President,
We are not deaf and we are not blind.
We are closely watching the international community’s reshaping. We understand and welcome the will and capacity of the Member States to contribute more and to take on more responsibilities.
Over the past 15 years the world has changed dramatically and it will change even faster in the next decade.
In reforming the Security Council, we all have the responsibility to consider the changes of the past, of the present but especially of the future: we need to make it more legitimate, more representative, more effective.
A reformed Council must give a chance to the 70 Member States that have never served in it. 
We must make it accountable to the General Assembly through the noblest of democratic principles: the right to vote, the right to elect.
This are the reasons why we strongly believe that the Security Council needs to be reformed.
This is why we do not believe that a democratic, representative and legitimate reform can be achieved by enlarging the Council extending out-dated and ineffective privileges such as permanent membership to few, neglecting the rights of many.
Italy, its Uniting for Consensus allies and many like-minded Member States are convinced that a reformed Security Council must be more representative, more accountable and more flexible.
- More representative, because by including longer term seats and new  non permanent members more Member States will have a chance to serve; more representative because of an innovative approach to regional representation, particularly significant after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty and the progress achieved by the African Union;
More accountable because even longer term seats will be subject to election and scrutiny of the General Assembly;
- More flexible, because our proposal has the merit of making the Council adaptable, without the need of spending another 17 years in looking for a reform to adjust it to new realities. This is a crucial point.
If we add new permanent members now - say 4 or 5 - in addition to further non permanent members, what shall we do in 10/15/20 years time when other Countries will be ready to assume greater responsibility?
Shall we add other permanent members applying the same logic?
Will we end up with a 30/35 members Council?
Will it work better or worse?
Won’t the Brazilian concerns on the permanent members’ attitude be heightened?
Mr. President,
The Uniting for Consensus’ proposal is not, of course, “take it  or leave it”.
It is a genuine and doable proposal, the newest ever seen over the last 5 years which, taking into account the link of all five key issues, reflects a fresh and compromising approach, shows flexibility, creativity and good faith.
It is therefore imperative that, during the current session, the Members of this Assembly will show the same flexibility, the same readiness to negotiate and the same willingness to compromise, in order to work on the text prepared by the facilitator, Ambassador Tanin.
Italy and its partners are ready to do so.
Thank you.