EU Presidency Statement - Programme Planning

Statement by Mr. Tapio Pyysalo, Adviser, Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations, on behalf of the European Union, UN 61st Session; V Committee, Agenda Item 118: Programme Planning, New York

Mr. Chairman,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union.

The Acceding Countries Bulgaria and Romania, 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 countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova align themselves with this declaration.

At the outset, the European Union would like to thank Controller Warren Sach and Mr. Vladislav Guerassev, representative of the OIOS, for introducing their respective reports. We would also like to thank the Chairperson of the Committee for Programme and Coordination, Ms. Norma Taylor Roberts for introducing the report of the 46th session of the CPC and for her efforts during the session.

Mr Chairman,

The European Union places great importance on having an accurate and comprehensive analysis of the strategic framework for all activities of the Organization in fulfillment of the decisions taken and mandates given by Member States. We believe that the strategic framework should guide the Secretariat, in a simple and effective manner, on the priorities to be pursued and the way to ensure their proper implementation. The European Union regards the strategic framework as a fundamental pillar for building the budget. In this regard, the EU feels that the capacity of reports should be strengthened to implement and rationalise targets and indicators of achievement.

The European Union recognises the important role that the CPC currently plays in preparing the framework for the next biennal budget. Pending a reform of the present budgetary procedures, the CPC needs to assess the planning phase through related indicators of achievement and a clear account of the accomplishments expected by the Member States. Thus I would like to highlight the importance of improving the working methods of the CPC in order to efficiently respond to the requirements of the United Nations' current organizational structure, as repeatedly requested by the GA and decided by the Committee itself in its 44th session.

Mr Chairman,

A number of EU Member States participated also in the 46th session of the CPC as members and, while recognizing that progress has been made in the last session of the CPC, it was emphasized that more remained to be done. In particular, while commending the efforts of the Chairperson of the CPC to find consensus on a review of the working methods, regret was expressed that these efforts were unsuccessful. Considering the importance of improving the working methods and the steps taken in this direction, the report was approved by the EU members of the CPC, but the working methods are expected to be reviewed during the next session.

Today, the European Union, recognising the good work achived by the Chairperson of the CPC, would like to welcome the report and looks favorably at its contents with the understanding that several issues regarding the working methods of the CPC will be discussed in the context of its 47th session. We also look forward to the review of budgetary procedures in the 62nd session of the General Assembly and hope to address some of the issues in this context. With these expectations, we confirm our commitment to finding a common agreement that will allow us to achieve better and more practical results.

The European Union also notes that there was no decision on the plan outline contained in part one of the Secretary General's report A/61/6. There are also two specific programmes for the General Assembly to finalise, Economic and Social Council support and coordination, as well as Human Rights. We trust the discussions will benefit from expert views in the relevant committees and we hope that the Second and Third Committees will find a successful conclusion to these issues.

Mr Chairman,

The European Union looks forward to hearing the views of our colleagues on the subject and hopes that the discussions will lead to a swift and satisfactory conclusion.

Thank you.


* Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process

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• EU Presidency Statement - Human Resources Management (30/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Procurement Reform (23/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Charter of the UN and Strengthening the Role of the Organisation (16/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Programme budget for biennium 2006-07 (16/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - Review of Mandates (11/10/2006)
• EU Presidency Statement - UN Fifth Committee: Organization of Work (29/9/2006)