EU Statement at IAEA Board of Governors on agenda item 11 on the restoration of sovereign equality in the IAEA

Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the EU. North Macedonia^*, Montenegro^*, Serbia^*, Albania^*, Ukraine^*, the Republic of Moldova^*, Bosnia and Herzegovina^*, Iceland⁺, Liechtenstein⁺, Norway⁺ and San Marino.

We would like to thank Kazakhstan for adding this item on the agenda of the IAEA Board and the General Conference and for continuing to raise our collective awareness of the current situation affecting several IAEA Member States.

We fully recognise the concerns expressed by those States which are not part of any of the current eight regional groups in the IAEA. It goes without saying that all Member States’ rights resulting from membership, as per the Statute, should be respected, including participation in decision-making in the IAEA governing bodies, similar to other multilateral fora.

We therefore welcome the efforts of Kazakhstan to conduct informal consultations with the aim to identify solutions to this longstanding pending issue.

While different options can be explored to remedy the situation in full respect of the IAEA Statute, we encourage all IAEA Member States that have not yet done so, to ratify the 1999 Amendment to Article VI of the Statute that would modify the composition of the Board of Governors.

This Amendment – which will enter into force when accepted by two-thirds of the IAEA Member States – would increase the number of Board members and represent an important step towards more equality and inclusiveness. All 27 EU Member States have already ratified the said amendment.

Thank you, Chair.

* Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, as well as potential Candidate Country Bosnia and Herzegovina continue to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process.

+ Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway are members of the EFTA and of the European Economic Area.