EU Presidency Statement - Improving the UN financial situation

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak 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, Slovakia, Slovenia and the Associated Countries - Cyprus, Malta and Turkey, align themselves with this statement.

Allow me at the outset Mr. Chairman, to thank Under-Secretary-General Connor for his very informative presentation this past Monday, a presentation which clearly outlined the financial situation of the United Nations.

Mr. Chairman,

The European Union notes the conclusion by Mr. Connor that 2002 was a good year for the UN. We are satisfied that the United Nations' finances slowly but surely continue to move away from earlier years' state of crisis and precariousness.

The demands on this Organisation continue to grow. It is of absolute importance that the Secretary-General has a solid and predictable financial basis on which to carry out the tasks entrusted to him in a cost-efficient manner.

However, while the overall assessment for the year 2002 is positive, we have also taken note of the words of caution expressed by Mr. Connor regarding the status of contributions, the cash-flow situation and the capacity of the regular budget for 2002-2003.

Mr. Chairman,

It is a cause of concern that only 105 countries, compared to 122 in 2001, to date have paid their assessed contributions to the regular budget in full for 2002. 98 countries have not yet made any payment this year on their assessed contributions to the Tribunals. The total amount of unpaid assessments - including to the regular budget, to peacekeeping and to the Tribunals - is nearly 2.5 billion Dollars. These are alarming figures, which show that the financial stability of the United Nations remains under pressure.

The European Union urges all countries to fulfil their Charter obligations with respect to the payment of assessed contributions. We regret the continuing problem of late payments and growing arrears to the Organisation and encourage all contributions to be paid promptly, fully and without conditions.

The European Union notes with concern that the declining number of countries who have paid their contributions in full has resulted in a growing cash-flow problem for the Organisation. By the end of the year, it may once again be necessary to resort to cross-borrowing from the peacekeeping budget. As pointed out by Mr. Connor, the amount available for this purpose will decrease in the future.

The European Union is concerned over the slowdown in the scheduled payment of the Organisation's debt to Member States who have contributed troops and equipment to UN peacekeeping operations. Unfortunately, the Secretary-General's goal of paying for all current obligations in the year they are incurred will not be met.

Mr. Chairman,

The European Union has carefully noted that more focus will be given to the lack of alignment between appropriations and mandates in the programme budget.

We are concerned that the present budget for 2002-2003 is under considerable pressure due to a number of 'add ons'. These additional expenses are presently estimated by the Secretariat to exceed 300 million Dollars. This figure is disturbingly high and would bring the regular budget close to 3 billion Dollars for the first time in the history of the Organisation.

We will take this matter under strategic review in connection with the First Performance Report and the Budget Outline proposal for 2004-2005, which will be before the Fifth Committee during the main session of the 57th General Assembly.

I thank you, Mr. Chairman.

| Arriba |

• EU Presidency Statement - UN Common System (8/11/2002)
• EU Presidency Statement - Strengthening of the UN system (30/10/2002)
• EU Presidency Statement - Operational activities for development (28/10/2002)
• EU Presidency Statement - Financial reports (16/10/2002)
• EU Presidency Statement - UN finances (14/10/2002)