Summary: March 10, 2004: Statement on the Organization of Work of the Fifth Committee at its First Resumed Session, on behalf of the European Union, by Ms. Margaret Stanley (New York)
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Acceding Countries Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia, the Stabilization and Association Process Countries, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro, the Associated Countries Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and the EFTA countries, members of the European Economic Area, Iceland and Liechtenstein, declare
that they align themselves with this statement.
At the outset, I wish to welcome back the Chairman and all the other members of the Bureau, as well as the Committee secretariat, to this First Resumed Session of the Fifth Committee. The European Union is looking forward to working closely with you and all delegations in order to reach our shared goal of achieving the best possible outcome of our deliberations. We stand ready to engage in a constructive dialogue with all delegations on all the issues before us.
Mr. Chairman,
Let me touch upon those items that the European Union considers as the most important in the current session.
Foremost among these for the European Union is the reform of the Joint Inspection Unit. Regrettably our Committee had insufficient time at our last session to consider fully the proposals of the JIU and of Member States. But we have a good opportunity now to make progress on this important issue and to agree on meaningful changes that will strengthen the Unit in its functioning as an effective system-wide external oversight body. We should not lose this opportunity.
The implementation of the Capital Master Plan is of crucial importance for the European Union. We expect that the discussion at this session will clarify the options available to us and facilitate a decision on the next steps.
The European Union also looks forward to renewing our discussion of the item on Closed Peacekeeping Mission Accounts which first came before us during the second resumed 57th session of the Committee in 2003.
Finally, Mr. Chairman,
Our Committee is entrusted with the oversight of effective and efficient functioning of the Organization and we should set the example of optimum use of available resources. We had expected to deal at this session with safety and security of UN premises. Now that this important issue has been deferred to May, we welcome the reconsideration, by the Bureau, of the length of the present session. We look forward to finishing our work on 19th March.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
| Top |
European Union Member States
Alerts by email
Email this page
Print this page