Signing Ceremony: Secretary-General and Prime Minister of Italy

Silvio Berlusconi (left), Prime Minister of Italy and representing the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, and Secretary-General Kofi Annan (right at the table) sign a Joint Declaration on UN-EU cooperation in crisis management. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that he is delighted to do so, and hopes that this step will lead to even closer cooperation between the two organisations in both military and civilian areas of crisis management. He is particularly pleased that the declaration outlines specific areas where practical cooperation can advance, such as training, planning, communications and ""lessons learnt.""