Mister President, excellences,

Before delivering our prepared statement on behalf of the EU and its Member States, I would like to express our collective and sincere sadness over the passing of Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts are with the royal family and all those who mourn her in the UK, the Commonwealth and worldwide. As President Charles Michel wrote earlier today, “she never failed to show us the importance of lasting values in a modern world with her service and commitment.”

I am delivering this general statement on behalf of the EU and its Member States in relation to both resolutions for action under this agenda item: Draft A/76/L85 on the establishment on the UN Youth and Draft A/76/L.87 on the modalities for the Summit of the Future. In the interest of time and in view of the close interlinkage, I am addressing both in one statement.

The Candidate Countries Türkiye, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova, the country of the Stabilisation and Association Process and potential candidate Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EFTA country Liechtenstein, as well as Georgia, Australia, Canada,  align themselves with this statement.

As regards the Summit of the Future modalities, we welcome the consensual adoption of draft resolution A/76/L87 and thank the Permanent Representatives of New Zealand and Oman for their tireless efforts towards achieving such outcome, which we agree was not an easy tasking.  We did join consensus on the draft resolution as just adopted, but it should come as no surprise to hear me say that we would have appreciated even stronger ambition.

The Summit is a key milestone of ‘Our Common Agenda’ process, which we were looking forward to and preparing for to have in September 2023 as proposed by the Secretary-General in his report.

We deeply regret that this ambition did not find the support of everyone in the membership, despite many – across regional groups- having spoken in favour. Holding the Summit in 2023 would have paid tribute to the urgency of agreeing a ‘Pact for the Future’ in response to the multiple burning crises that unfold simultaneously across our planet. From the ongoing global pandemic, the climate emergency, to ravaging conflicts, including the unprovoked Russian aggression against Ukraine, which has triggered a global humanitarian, food and energy crisis of massive proportions.

All of these crises require swift and common responses. As the distinguished Permanent Representative of Sri Lanka had put it during the first consultation on the ‘Declaration on Future Generations’ – far more eloquently than I can do it now: “if we do not act swiftly and decisively, there will be no future to discuss anymore.”

The Agenda 2030 is our common roadmap to address many of those challenges collectively. The SDG Summit in September 2023 will take stock of progress on its implementation. Holding the ‘Summit of the Future’ in 2023 during the same week would have therefore allowed us to demonstrate the complementarity between those two Summits, which the Secretary-General rightly called “twin summits”, and to prove our determination to live up to the expectations of future generations. We regret this opportunity has now been pushed back to 2024.

This said, we feel reassured by many delegations that spoke out very vocally on the need to maintain momentum on ‘Our Common Agenda’ and in favour of a preparing a ‘Summit of the Future’ that can be truly transformative in nature.

Transformative both with the view to the preparing and agreeing an action-oriented outcome document and to ensuring a process that is as inclusive as possible, engaging all relevant stakeholders as closely as possible throughout the preparatory process and at the Summit itself.

When it comes to the substance, we welcome the agreement to holding a preparatory ministerial meeting during next year’s High-Level-Week. This meeting will be an important opportunity for our principals to express their views on the vision and ambition for the Summit of the Future in 2024. An opportunity to take stock, reconfirm our strong commitment and ambition and look ahead. 

Such meeting calls for thorough and well-structured preparation. We look very forward to both the Secretary-General’s guidance and the broad and inclusive engagement with a wide array of stakeholders in the upcoming 77^th session and stand ready to work constructively with all parties towards delivering the ambition the Secretary-General has called for and that is needed to achieve the transformative change ‘Our Common Agenda’ has embarked to achieve.

We welcome the strong language in the resolution on the active participation of civil society and other stakeholders, including notably youth, and look forward to their active participation in the months ahead.  More systematic and effective youth engagement is a top priority and clear deliverable of ‘Our Common Agenda’, true to the notion of an inclusive and networked multilateralism.

The EU therefore welcomes the adoption of draft resolution A/76/L85 setting up a UN Youth Office. We thank Guyana and Egypt, as well as the Youth Envoy, for their leadership and look forward to the creation a standalone, full-fledged and properly staffed UN Youth Office, which will ensure close coordination on youth issues within the UN system.

The new Office will have the crucial role of promoting youth involvement and partnerships, following a gender-responsive approach, across all three pillars of the UN and in humanitarian action. We expect the office to lead, promote and coordinate efforts to advance the full realization of young persons’ human rights and opportunities.

The EU will engage constructively in the upcoming discussions of the 5^th Committee, which will need to ensure the sustainability of the initiative.

I thank you.