Chair,

This first regular session of 2023 is the first one for some new members. On behalf of the European Union, I hope that they will all contribute to fulfil the mandate of this Committee and overcome its challenges and shortcomings, in particular by rejecting the practice of the unjustified deferral of some NGOs, sometimes for many years, on the basis of dilatory arguments, repeated questions, and contrary to the spirit of Resolution 1996/31.

The NGO Committee bears a high responsibility for the credibility of the UN. A reform of the NGO Committee is overdue. It should allow for a more inclusive, effective, fair and transparent functioning of the Committee, including through limits to deferrals and a process to reconsider arbitrary or erroneous deferrals or denial decisions. We see that in many cases, a further deferral is requested despite the fact that the NGO in question has provided detailed responses year after year, and is evidently of good faith. The practice consisting of asking irrelevant or repetitive questions should be discontinued.

The EU takes note of the decision by ECOSOC last year to grant special consultative status to a number non-governmental organisations, changing the recommendation provided by the NGO Committee. We would like to recall that ECOSOC has the final decision-making authority on granting consultative status and it has exercised it previously in cases where the Committee failed to fulfil its mandate.

Chair,

For the current session, the European Union sees no justification for the NGO Committee to delay further a number of applications of EU-based NGOs that have been pending for a long time, including Secours Islamique France, whose request has been deferred since 2018, the Hellenic Institute of Cultural Diplomacy and the Panhellenic Union of Cappadocian Associations, Associazione Luca Coscioni, the Robert Bosch Stiftung Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung, and Terre Des Femmes - Menschenrechte fuer die Frau e.V. We call on the members of the Committee to grant accreditation to these NGOs now.

Chair,

The EU would also like to reiterate its call on the Committee to make the possibility for the NGOs to intervene online during the daily Q&A session a permanent feature of its work.

Finally, the European Union wishes the NGO Committee a successful session.

I thank you.