Statement on behalf of the European Union by Mr Borut Blaj, Third Secretary at the Permanent Mission of Slovenia to the United Nations
Please check against delivery
Mr. Chairman,
I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union on Agenda Item 140 –"Administrative and budgetary aspects of the financing of United Nations peacekeeping operations: Crosscutting Issues."
The Candidate Countries Turkey, Croatia* and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia*, the Countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidates Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, and the EFTA country Liechtenstein, member of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Armenia align themselves with this declaration.
Mr Chairman,
Let me begin by thanking Controller, Mr Waren Sach for his introduction of the reports of the Secretary General, Ms Inga-Britt Ahlenius, Under-Secretary-General for the Office of the Internal Oversight Services for her introduction of the report of the OIOS, and Ms Susan McLurg for her introduction of the relevant reports of the ACABQ.
The European Union regrets, however, the late issuance of a number of the reports before us today. It is not good practice for this Committee to be considering reports in their advance, unedited forms. And, as Ms McLurg noted during her statement to this Committee earlier in the week on our programme of work, it is a pity that the ACABQ's crosscutting report had to be written before the Advisory Committee had considered the individual mission budgets.
Nevertheless, the reports raise some important issues that get to the heart of effective and efficient peacekeeping – not least the question of the budget process itself, but also issues such as skills gaps, effective resource management, and better and closer working with mission partners.
The European Union remains strongly committed to peacekeeping. We therefore welcome this opportunity to take action to bring crosscutting improvements to the way United Nations peacekeeping operations are managed and resourced. And we look forward to working constructively with all Member States on the reports in front of us.
Thank you, Mr Chairman.
* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.
