40. Greatly welcomes the fact that the current US Administration is seeking greater involvement with the UN and has assumed a seat on the UNHRC for the period from 2009 to 2012; acknowledges that US membership enhances the credibility and capacity of the UNHRC; calls for the EU to strengthen cooperation with the US, particularly in terms of exchanging experiences of human rights dialogues; 41. Recalls that in 2011 the UNHRC will undergo a major review of its procedures, and therefore calls for the EU to prepare for, and actively participate in, this review; 42. Highlights the important role of the Universal Periodic Reviews (UPR), and calls on the Council, the Commission and, in particular, the new EEAS to closely follow and monitor the undertakings of the Universal Periodic Review and, in the context of the UNHRC review, to make the UPR more effective and to increase the weight attached to independent expert opinion; 43. Strongly supports the EU’s efforts to prevent any partiality and manipulation of the UPRs; in this context, strongly deplores the outcome of the session in February 2009, which suffered heavily from procedural obstructions and efforts to manipulate the process during the review process; 44. Calls upon the HR/VP to visit the UNHRC regularly and to ensure personally that there are the closest possible links between the UNHRC and the EEAS at all levels; encourages the future Human Rights segment of the EEAS to set up close working contact with the UNHRC; calls for coordinated dialogue with non-EU countries on the positions taken in the UN Human Rights Council, not just in Geneva and in the specific Human Rights Dialogues, but as an integral part of all the EU's bilateral political, trade and development cooperation discussions with these countries; 45. Notes that EU Member States are in a minority in the UNHRC; calls on the EU institutions and the Member States to take concerted action in developing appropriate alliances with those countries and with non-state actors which are continuing to defend the universal and indivisible nature of human rights; 46. Calls on the High Representative and EU Foreign Ministers to adopt Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) conclusions ahead of every UN Human Rights Council and of UN General Assembly Sessions, setting out the EU's priorities and strategies; 47. Calls on the Council, the Commission and the EEAS to strengthen their engagement with democratic governments or governments on the path to democracy from other regional groups within the UNHRC, with a view to improving the chances of success of initiatives aimed at respect for the principles contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; to this end, calls on the Commission and the Member States to coordinate their actions more effectively, and asks the Commission to provide an annual report on voting patterns at the UN in matters concerning human rights, which would analyse how these have been affected by the policies of the EU and its Member States and those of other blocs; reiterates that the EU Delegation and EU Member States in Geneva should give greater priority to outreach to non-EU countries at an earlier stage in discussions, and avoid over-emphasis on internal discussions designed to achieve EU unity at the risk of a 'lowest common denominator' approach; 48. Reaffirms the vital importance of the special procedures and country mandates within the UNHRC; welcomes the newly established thematic mandate in the field of cultural rights, and welcomes the extension of the thematic mandates on the right to food, freedom of religion or belief, and internally displaced people; further welcomes the extension of the country mandates for Burundi, Haiti, Cambodia, Somalia, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), Myanmar and Sudan; regrets that the mandates for Liberia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) were not