The courts would be more likely to defer to such a clear, unified position.
They can get away with it because of the importance of "maintaining a unified position".
"And I'm a firm believer that once a decision is made, you have to have a unified position".
The finance minister, Mathias Cormann, said granting a free vote would, in effect, require the party to scrap its pre-existing policy and decide to have no unified position.
The European Union can make much more of a difference through adopting a unified position with Russia, than can the member states on their own.
In interviews, American and European officials involved in discussions over the Chinese currency last week outlined several reasons a unified position has been so hard to forge.
The commission also encouraged nations like France and Germany to come to a unified position on financial regulation at a European Union summit meeting on June 17 and before the G-20 meeting in Toronto on June 26 and June 27.
The Deputy Secretary stressed the importance of fashioning a full strategy to address the DPRK nuclear issue and having a unified position among Six-Party Talks partners and allies that would lead to an effective and diplomatic resolution of the problem.
"But now, incredibly, you see the peoples of the world, in whose name the Charter was written, saying, 'Don't ignore the Security Council.' And this is not just outside the United States but even in the U.S". Annan wants the Council to take a unified position — and if that means war, so be it.
Rhee had never publicly surrendered his "march north and unify" position, and in private he hinted that he might "accept" an armistice only in return for serious commitments by the United States, including an unambiguous mutual security alliance and $1 billion in economic aid.
