Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The following countries align themselves with this statement: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Iceland, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Republic of Moldova, Serbia, Türkiye and Ukraine.

We thank the Secretariat for preparing the Agency's Draft Programme and Budget for 2026-2027 (GOV/2025/1 and Note 18). We appreciate the transparent budgetary process and the continued implementation of a results-based approach to budget management. 

The EU and its Member States remain committed to ensuring a sufficiently and sustainably resourced, effective and efficient IAEA, able to meet its legal obligations and statutory tasks. We reiterate the priority we attach to the Agency’s work on nuclear safety, security and safeguards. With respect to its safeguards agreements, the Agency has legal obligations to fulfil and must be resourced to meet them. We also recognise the importance of the Agency’s efforts to promote the peaceful uses of nuclear technology and the attainment of the SDGs through effective and needs-based Technical Cooperation, drawing on the expertise and activities of all Major Programmes. We attach great importance to gender equality and mainstreaming in all activities, as well as to enhancing cross-departmental coordination and cooperation.

We thank the Co-chairs of the Working Group on the Regular Budget and Technical Cooperation Fund Targets for 2026–2027, Ambassador Cullinane of Ireland and Ambassador Molekane of South Africa, for all their work so far and their update today. We will continue to work constructively with them to reach a decision in time for the next Board meeting in June, both on the Regular Budget and the Technical Cooperation Fund targets, in line with the timelines set out in the Financial Regulations. 

We reiterate our readiness to support the Regular Budget proposal as it stands, noting that the proposed price adjustment is in line with the methodology contained in GOV/INF/2018/8. After a period of five years, without real budget growth, adopting this proposal is key to enabling the IAEA to carry out its statutory and core functions, to which we attach great importance. 

We support, at the same time, all efforts to identify further savings and efficiencies to offset growing demand for Agency services without compromising the achievement of the Agency’s mandate. As such, over-reliance on fluctuating extra-budgetary contributions should be avoided. Developing further partnerships with other UN organisations and non-traditional donors may help to meet the growing demands of Member States.

Chair,

Finally, turning to the issue of funding the After Service Health Insurance (ASHI), we take note of the most recent update (GOV/INF/2025/3) and the Secretariat’s assessment that the current pay-as-you-go mechanism is not sustainable in the long run. We welcome the fact that the Secretariat has begun to accrue funds for extra-budgetary funded positions and to implement cost containment measures. These measures contribute to stabilising the ASHI liability. We look forward to receiving the Secretariat’s proposals for a future funding mechanism in due course. 

Thank you, Chair.