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EU Presidency Statement - Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission

Summary: October 11, 2004: Statement by Mr. Ronald Elkhuizen, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of the Netherlands to the UN, on behalf of the European Union at the 59th SESSION OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY - FIFTH COMMITTEE - Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission (New York)

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union. The Candidate Countries Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Croatia, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and the EFTA countries Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, align themselves with this declaration.

The EU wishes to thank Mr. Warren Sach, The Budget Director and the Chairman of the ACABQ, Mr. Vladimir Kuznetsov for the introduction of their reports.

The EU recognises the importance of the work of the Cameroon-Nigeria Mixed Commission and underlines its contribution to conflict prevention and peaceful settlement of conflicts.

As it has been recalled, the Fifth Committee, at its second resumed session in May, was not in a position to approve the proposed budget for the Cameroon - Nigeria Mixed Commission.

The General Assembly, in its resolution 58/294 of 18 June, authorised the Secretary General to enter into commitments up to the amount of $ 6 million. At the same time, both the ACABQ and the Fifth Committee raised a number of questions.

The main questions related to:



The Secretary General has now submitted a report in accordance with resolution 58/294 of 18 June 2004, which contains the resource requirements for the period 1 June to 31 December 2004, estimated at $ 5,419,300.

This report contains some information on the voluntary contributions and pledges received as of 31 August 2004 as well as on activities funded from voluntary contributions. Some information on staffing and consultants and their functions had already been shared with the Fifth Committee during the second resumed session.
However, the new report from the Secretary General does not answer all the questions raised in the previous session and we will seek further clarification in the informals.

In principle, the EU is in a position to approve the proposed budget. Nevertheless we concur with the ACABQ opinion that additional efforts are needed to closely monitor the costs. We would like to see any possible savings reflected in the performance report.

The EU notes that the requirement of $ 5.42 million for this year is lower than the Secretariat's initial bid of $6.9 million. This is due to a lower than expected disbursement rate because of problems in the implementation process.

We learn from the report of the ACABQ that delays were registered in the withdrawal of armed forces from the Bakassi peninsula.

We do not wish these problems to cause further delays in implementing the Commission's mandate, and invite all parties concerned to comply with the agreed time frame.

We note that the requirements for 2005 will be included in the consolidated report on special political missions to be discussed later this autumn.

We look forward to the comments of the Fifth Committee receiving due consideration in the consolidated report.

  • Ref: PRES04-242EN
  • EU source: EU Presidency
  • UN forum: Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary Affairs)
  • Date: 11/10/2004


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See also
 

European Union Member States