Check against delivery

Excellencies, dear colleagues, 

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia*, Montenegro*, Serbia*, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina*, and Georgia as well as Monaco align themselves with this statement.

First of all, let me congratulate you, Excellencies, on your appointment as co-facilitators for this important process. We thank you for the detailed roadmap and clear vision.

In the last twenty years, the WSIS process has contributed to advancing universal and meaningful digital connectivity across the globe, reducing digital divides, championing inclusivity, and contributing to the achievement of the SDGs through its multi-stakeholder model of participation and a human-centric and human rights-based approach to digital transformation. 

The upcoming WSIS+20 Review will set the direction for the coming years, and the EU will continue to strongly and coherently support the process to ensure it continues to harness the benefits that digital transformation can bring to humanity. It is therefore essential that the UN Member States remain committed to advancing universal and meaningful connectivity across the globe, by building upon the existing standards, and sending a strong positive signal to the international community through the adoption of the outcome document by consensus. 

The EU and its Members States will continue to uphold the key WSIS principles coherently, as integral parts of several frameworks and processes adopted in the past. 

We remain unequivocally committed to the 2030 Agenda and believe that digital technologies remain key to accelerating progress towards the SDGs and closing all digital divides. 

We are committed to advancing the digital transformation globally, in line with international human rights law and other relevant standards and frameworks.

We commit to proactively defending the general availability and integrity of the Internet as a global, interoperable network of networks, reflecting the importance of the multistakeholder model of Internet governance as enshrined in the Tunis Agenda and re-affirmed in the GDC. We believe that effective Internet governance must be inclusive, participatory, action-oriented and consensus-driven, involving a broad array of actors from the public sector, private sector, civil society, technical community, academia, regional and international organisations. 

We are also committed to ensuring alignment between the WSIS process and the implementation of the GDC, to maximising impact and synergies, while reducing duplication and avoiding competition for scarce financial resources.

More specifically, let me outline a few priorities for this year’s review.

First, we need to strengthen the WSIS framework to address persisting digital divides. For that, we favour an incremental update of the Action Lines grounded in the development of targeted, result-oriented roadmaps linking the Action Lines to the SDGs and the GDC commitments. The Action Lines have demonstrated their adaptability over the last 20 years. We believe that the focus should be on the effective implementation of the existing Action Lines, and therefore not to reopen or introduce new ones. We should prioritise enhancing their implementation and coherence in light of technological advances, shifting development needs, and the growing complexity of digital inequalities.

Second, we need to fortify the existing inclusive, human right-based and human-centric multistakeholder governance model of Internet governance to preserve the unity, interoperability, and openness of the global Internet. We therefore support the Tunis Agenda as it stands, which has been instrumental in preserving the Internet as a global, open, and interoperable resource — a vital catalyst for sustainable development, innovation, and inclusive economic opportunities across all regions. To keep this model fit for purpose, we support the use of multistakeholder governance sandboxes within existing institutions to collaboratively explore and anticipate policy responses to emerging technologies. These sandboxes will provide collaborative and adaptive spaces where diverse but specialised stakeholders can jointly explore innovative governance solutions, test policy approaches, and build consensus. 

Third, we call for the permanent institutionalisation of the IGF beyond 2025, securing stable funding via the reallocation of existing funds of the UN budget, as well as voluntary contributions, thus reinforcing its position as the primary multistakeholder forum for inclusive digital governance. Sufficient funding for the IGF is essential for representation and participation from developing countries and youth at the IGF annual meetings, as they often make use of travel support.

Fourth, we can strengthen the WSIS framework in the light of socio-political and technological developments by solidly anchoring it in universal human rights principles, and explicitly reinforcing the role of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) within WSIS processes to combat digital authoritarianism, protect fundamental freedoms (e.g., privacy, expression), and address human rights crises related to digital technologies.

Finally, we advocate for a consolidated multistakeholder governance approach as a central principle within the broader UN digital governance framework, ensuring meaningful engagement of all stakeholders—particularly from developing countries—in the implementation of the WSIS Action Lines and other UN-led processes. The GDC clearly reaffirms our commitment to multistakeholder cooperation to harness the potential of digital cooperation. We further recall the São Paulo Multistakeholder Guidelines complementing the NETmundial principles, which underscore the importance of broad, meaningful and more systematic stakeholder participation in digital governance discussions.

On this last point, it is essential for the EU to ensure that diverse perspectives from all stakeholder groups are considered during the review, and to amplify voices from developing countries both during the intergovernmental negotiations of the outcome document, and during the High-Level Meeting itself. 

We therefore propose to establish, within existing resources, a WSIS+20 Multistakeholder Sounding Board. A clearly defined, representative, and trusted Sounding Board will significantly enhance the transparency, inclusivity, and legitimacy of the WSIS+20 review outcomes, continuously gathering views and expertise from a wide multi-stakeholder community, supporting negotiators in their deliberations and reinforcing stakeholder trust in the process with the objective of increasing legitimacy of the outcome. 

We have shared a proposal with the President of the General Assembly detailing this idea. We hope that the co-facilitators will consider establishing such a Sounding Board, as a tool to help them digest efficiently the high number of inputs expected from the WSIS community.

Excellencies,

Thanks again for gathering us today, in what marks an official start to the review process in New York. We look forward to the next steps, starting with the elements paper.

The EU and its Member States remain committed to continue working closely and constructively with partners worldwide to advance an inclusive, open, free, reliable, safe and secure digital space for all.

Thank you.

* North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.