Speech
Permanent Council No 547 of the OSCE: EU Statement on the financial situation

In the absence of an agreement on the 2005 Unified budget proposal and on the scales of contributions, the European Union recognizes the responsibility of the Secretary General to maintain the functioning of the organization and will support him in his efforts.

By sending out the “first interim bills for 2005“ the Secretary General has taken the right action in line with his authority under the Financial Regulations. Many EU members have already paid and others will shortly do so.

With regard to the future financing of the organization, the European Union is fully committed both politically and financially to the OSCE. Read in conjunction with each other, Financial Regulations 3.04, 4.04 and 4.05 permit in our view the Secretary General to issue a “second interim bill�?. In the absence of an agreement on budget and scales, we confirm our view that the Secretary General has full authority to issue, in due time, a second bill, in order to ensure adequate financing of the organization.

In conclusion, the EU believes that we should concentrate our efforts on seeking durable and long-term solutions with regard to both the budget and scales.

The Candidate Countries Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey and Croatia (1) align themselves with this statement.

(1) Croatia continues to be part of the Stabilisation and Association Process