EU Presidency Statement - The United Nations common system

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the European Union. The countries of Central and Eastern Europe associated with the European Union (Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia), the associated countries of Cyprus, Malta and Turkey and an EFTA country belonging to the European Economic Area (Norway), align themselves with this statement

The European Union would thank the Chairman of the International Civil Service Commission, Mr. Bel Hadj Amor, for presenting the Commission's report for 2001.

Mr. Chairman,

First of all, the European Union wishes to reaffirm the importance which it attaches to the common system for ensuring, as far as possible, that staff employed within the United Nations system are treated equally and that organizations participating in the common system are relieved of various related administrative tasks. For these reasons, we reiterate our support for the role played by the International Civil Service Commission.

The European Union approves the Commission reports for 2001 and the positive developments in its various activities, which form part of the integrated Framework for Human Resources Management. It also commends the Commission's completion of the revision of standards of conduct required of international officials, which it recommends to the General Assembly. Moreover, it welcomes with interest the progress made by the Commission on examining the pay and benefits system and duly notes that the Commission will present its final report on the subject at the 57th session of the General Assembly.

Mr. Chairman,

Lastly, the European Union recalls that the ICSC study, undertaken in the context of strengthening the international civil service, is a useful step in the process of modernizing human resources management and regrets that, to date, progress has not been made on this problem. The European Union is of the view that a timetable could be drawn up to address this issue.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

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