Mr. Chair,

I have the honor to speak on behalf of the Member States of the European Union.

At the outset, I would like to thank the Assistant Secretary-General Controller for his presentations and updates on the financial situation of the United Nations and on how Member States have fulfilled their obligation of contributing to the Organization's financial expenses, as per the UN Charter

The European Union and its Member States remain concerned with the persistent liquidity shortages that affect the ability of the Organization to properly deliver on its mandates. We are alarmed that, through the persistent liquidity shortages, activities and outputs are being postponed or even cancelled. As a result, mandate delivery is not simply hampered: the accumulation of delays and under-execution create a downward spiral that gravely affects the performance and undermine the relevance of the Organization.

Mr. Chair,

The European Union and its Member States call upon the Committee to rise up to this challenge.

Solving the liquidity crisis is a shared responsibility between the Secretariat and the Member States. We commend the work of the Secretary-General, the UN controller, and all programme managers, who have strived to deliver on their mandates despite the difficulties of cash shortages.

Bearing in mind that the root cause of the problem can only be solved by full and timely payment of member states’ contributions, we reiterate our call that all Member States make every effort to pay their assessed contributions in full, and on time. In those cases where payment in full and on time proves impossible, we urge Member States to communicate their payment plans clearly and reliably to the Secretariat in order to provide as much predictability as possible. In this regard, we welcome the reduction of arrears by some Member States and urge all others who have accumulated arrears to address this matter of utmost priority.

We continue to advocate for more sustainable solutions to this crisis and believe we need to address the structural root causes of the cash liquidity’s ‘downward spiral’.

We reiterate our support to a review of the UN Financial Regulations and rules, the backbone of the UN budgetary law, aiming at even better expressing their spirit and in order to improve the handling of an already difficult cash situation. We would see merits in particular to prevent the return of unspent appropriations to Member States in arrears. We would also call for a comprehensive cash-pooling, to make the best use of the liquidity already available across the UN accounts. More generally, we reiterate the importance of liquidity-bridging mechanisms, and call upon the Committee to keep under close review the functioning of all reserve and complementary mechanisms, in order to ensure that they remain "fit-for-purpose".

On peacekeeping operations, we note with great satisfaction the positive effects of the measures adopted during our 73^rd session, notably so the cash-pooling mechanism and annual assessment. These measures clearly improve not only liquidity management and cash predictability but they also have a positive impact on missions in the field and the implementation of their mandates.

Mr. Chair,

As strong defenders of the principles of multilateralism, and as the largest collective financial contributor to the United Nations, the Member States of the European Union would like to reiterate our commitment to providing the necessary resources to the Organization so it can implement all its mandates, fully and effectively.

We hope that under your leadership, Mr. Chair, we can take decisive actions and agree on concrete measures to improve the UN financial situation. Ensuring the financial health of the organization is instrumental for the United Nations to respond to its numerous mandates and missions.

I thank you, Mr. Chair.