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EU Presidency Statement - Plan of conferences

Mr. President,

It is a pleasure for me to take the floor on behalf of the European Union. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated with the European Union (Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovaquia, Slovenia), Cyprus and Malta (countries also associated), and the EFTA country of the EEA (Norway), endorse this statement.

Allow me to congratulate the President of the Committee on Conferences, Mrs. Valeria González Posse, on the work of the Committee.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services for its very efficient organization of the Millennium Summit and of the ministerial meetings taking place alongside the general debate. As you know, the European Union saw the creation of the Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services as a means of reinforcing the administration of conference services within the Secretariat as a whole and supported the institutional provisions enabling better coordination of these services.

Mr. President,

The European Union wishes to express its full and unreserved approval of the recommendations and comments contained in the Committee's report.

The European Union wishes to reiterate the importance it attaches to conference services, the quality of which is crucial to maintaining the required standard of the organization's work. In this respect, it reaffirms its attachment to equal treatment for the six official languages of the organization.

• The European Union also supports equal treatment for the various seats of the United Nations so as to enable constant quality in conference services. With this in mind, a permanent interpreting service has been established in Nairobi. The European Union welcomes the good cooperation which has been established between the United Nations Office in Nairobi and the

Department of General Assembly Affairs and Conference Services, and within the various departments of the United Nations Office in Nairobi.

It hopes to see increased use of the conference facilities in Nairobi and welcomes the opportunities opened up by the requests received from a number of intergovernmental bodies and private sector entities.

• With regard to the coordination of conference services, the European Union welcomes the Secretariat's active dialogue with the Member States, the secretariats of intergovernmental bodies, and with the United Nations Offices in Geneva, Nairobi and Vienna. It awaits with interest, for the 55th session of the General Assembly, a revised version of administrative instruction ST/AI/342 on the guidelines governing the preparation of agreements with the governments of host countries.
  
  
• In terms of setting the timetables for conferences and meetings, the European Union particularly supports efforts to prevent the busy periods from coinciding in the different places of work. It welcomes the Secretariat's efforts to develop the advance planning of conferences and meetings, and strongly encourages it to continue in that vein.

- The European Union notes with satisfaction that the utilization factor of the conference services in 1999 is more than 80% overall, and highlights the importance it attaches to achieving this utilization factor for all bodies and sites.

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• The European Union takes careful note of the Secretary-General's observation that careful planning of meetings of the regional groups helps respond better to the working requirements of these groups, and confirms that it is a matter of priority to ensure the servicing of meetings of the bodies set up by the Charter of the United Nations.
  
  
• The European Union attaches major importance to the recruitment and careers of the language staff. It urges the Secretary-General to implement the managed assignment system and the incentive system which has already been established. It keenly awaits the Secretary-General's reports on the recruitment problems and possible solutions, and on the incentive system intended to attract language staff to places of work with high vacancy rates.

- With regard to remote interpretation, the European Union would reiterate its interest in continuing activities in this sector and the importance it attaches to the cost analysis of the proposed systems and their effect on the working conditions of the interpreters. It notes the Committee's recommendation that each place of work be regarded as both a recipient and provider of this service.

• With regard to the use of new technologies, the European Union pays homage to the officials who have developed technical skills in these fields and who work on perfecting these technologies. It notes the hidden costs of these technological projects, mentioned in the report of the Committee on Conferences, and would welcome any further information that the Secretariat can supply. Attentive to the progress accomplished in the development and implementation of these new technologies, the European Union calls upon the Secretariat to develop a global strategy on this subject for all the conference centers.
  
  
• The European Union welcomes the conclusions and recommendations of the Committee on Conferences concerning the websites. The objective of developing, updating, and adding several languages to the organization's websites, in the interests of modular parity between the different official languages, should be achieved in a cost-effective manner and with a focus on the textual content.

Thank you, Mr. President.

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