Chair,

I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union and its Member States. The candidate countries Türkiye, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina[1]  and Georgia, the EFTA countries Iceland and Norway, members of the European Economic Area, as well as Armenia and San Marino, align themselves with this statement.

We thank the Secretariat for preparing the Agency's Draft Budget Update for 2025 (GOV/2024/1). This is an important part of a transparent budgetary process and of the continued implementation of a results-based approach to budget management.

The EU continues to be committed to ensuring a sufficiently and sustainably resourced, effective and efficient IAEA, able to meet its legal obligations, statutory tasks and the increasing demands of Member States. We reiterate the priority we attach to the Agency’s work in safeguards, nuclear security and nuclear safety. 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 Technical Cooperation, drawing on the expertise and activities of all Major Programmes. We underline the continued importance of gender equality and mainstreaming in all activities, as well as of enhancing Agency-wide coordination.

In view of the prevailing circumstances, we welcome the savings and efficiencies that apply to the 2025 budget as well as that no real growth has been proposed. We reiterate the need to ensure that savings do not come at the cost of effective programme implementation or over-reliance on extra-budgetary contributions, which are fluctuating and unpredictable.

The EU and its Member States take note of the proposed price adjustment for 2025 of 2.2% which is in line with the Secretariat’s price adjustment methodology as well as the prediction for 2025 made by the European Central Bank (ECB) in October 2023.

Bearing all this in mind we consider the proposed Budget Update for 2025 a good basis for consensus and hope this Committee will make a recommendation to that end. Once the budget has been agreed, we look forward to all IAEA Member States paying their assessed contributions in full and on time and urge Member States in arrears to settle them without delay.

Chair,

We thank the Secretariat for the update provided on the status of the Working Capital Fund (WCF) and note that it currently covers less than two weeks of operation. We look forward to further consideration of how this issue could be addressed in the context of the 2026-2027 budget discussions, based on information from the Secretariat on how to set a new, sustainable WCF ceiling and available funding methods.

Finally, turning to the issue of funding the After Service Health Insurance (ASHI), we take note up the most recent update (GOV/INF/2024/2) and the Secretariat’s assessment that the current pay-as-you-go mechanism is not sustainable in the long run. On that basis, the fact that the Secretariat has begun to accrue funds for extra-budgetary funded positions as well as the cost containment measures implemented are welcome developments. We look forward to receiving the Secretariat’s proposals for a future funding mechanism.

Thank you, Chair.

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