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EU Statement – United Nations General Assembly: Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly

15.11.2018
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15 November 2018, New York – European Union Statement by Serge Christiane, Minister Counsellor, Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, at the United Nations General Assembly 73st Session on Agenda Item 123: Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly

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Madam President,

 

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The Candidate Countries Turkey, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Albania, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Georgia align themselves with this statement.

 

Thank you, Madam President, for convening today's plenary meeting. Allow me first to congratulate H.E. Ms. Sima Sami Bahous, Permanent Representative of Jordan and H.E. Mr. Michal Mlynár, Permanent Representative of Slovakia for their appointment as Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group on the Revitalization of the Work of the General Assembly during the seventy-third session. We wish them the very best for this session and express our support for the upcoming work, in the hope of continuing the progress made in the last sessions.

 

Our sincere gratitude also goes out to the previous Co-Chairs of the Ad Hoc Working Group, the Permanent Representatives of Croatia, H.E. Mr Vladimir Drobnjak and H.E. Ms. María Emma Mejía Vélez, former Permanent Representative of Colombia.

 

Recent resolutions on the Revitalisation of the General Assembly have significantly contributed to a more efficient and effective Assembly. The adoption of last year's resolution in September however also made clear that  – unfortunately – consensus was not possible on a number of areas, such as on the issue of civil society participation, rationalization of the agenda of the GA or the discussion on a code of conduct for elections. On these and other issues, the EU will continue to be led by agreed language from previous resolutions, but we are at the same time also concerned about the stalemate that we faced during our last session on many important issues and we sincerely hope that this session's negotiations will be more constructive.

 

A strong United Nations General Assembly is needed more than ever. Support for Multilateralism and the global rules-based world order is not a given. An unceasing effort to find new and creative ways to work is essential to achieve more effective delivery of mandates and sustainable use of resources. Revitalization of the work of the General Assembly is therefore clearly foundational for the overall reform of the United Nations.

 

Focusing on the negotiations ahead of us, we believe that the emphasis on this session's resolution should be on consolidating the work achieved so far, and we remain committed to working to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the working methods of the General Assembly, with a special focus to reduce overlap and duplication. I would like to assure you that the EU and its Member States will continue to engage in a constructive manner in the proceedings of the Ad Hoc Working Group.

 

I thank you.

Category
Statements on behalf of the EU
Location

New York

Editorial sections
UN New York