What member States said about it …
- Ambassador François Roux, Belgium, Chairman of
the Commission and Chairman of the Open-ended Negotiation Committee
- Ambassador Alexander Slabý, Czech Republic, as
a member of the Bureau, and representing Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania,
Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia
- Bob Fairweather, United Kingdom, on behalf of the European Union, Bulgaria,
Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Ukraine
- Ambassador Pierre-Louis Girard, Switzerland
- Christina Kokkinakis, Austria
- Andrei Savinykh, Belarus
- Marc Giacomini, France
- Ambassador Paolo Bruni, Italy
- Ambassador Kairat Abusseitov, Kazakhstan
- Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanian, Armenia
- Ambassador Muktar Djumaliev, Kyrgyzstan
- Andrey Pirogov, Russian Federation
- Ambassador Dumitru Croitor, Republic of Moldova
- Ambassador Dejan Šahovic, Serbia and Montenegro
Ambassador François Roux, Belgium, Chairman of the Commission
and Chairman of the Open-ended Negotiation Committee
This was a productive process, which does not end here. For UNECE
to be an active
organization we don’t have to call a reform. The reform happens
once in a while. In the
meantime the organization has to work by itself, that means by the
involvement of member
States, and my message to you today is “please, member States, remain
engaged in UNECE.
It is an important organization and it has a future and it depends
on the participation of
member States to remain active”.
Ambassador Alexander Slabý, Czech Republic, as a member of the
Bureau, and representing Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia
and Slovenia
The UNECE showed the courage to prepare and agree on the biggest
and most important
reform since 1997, if not since its creation. The outcome of the
reform process is encouraging
in many respects, mainly in terms of a new mission statement, a
new governance structure, a
renewed set of priorities as well as a redistribution of the limited
available resources. Good
luck to UNECE in the implementation of the new reform. The whole
United Nations could
take the UNECE reform as a good example which deserves to be followed.
Bob Fairweather, United Kingdom, on behalf of the European Union, Bulgaria,
Romania, Turkey, Croatia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, The former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro, and Ukraine
At the beginning we set ourselves a very ambitious target, to reform
from the bottom-up a UN regional commission, and I understand that we
have never seen such an attempt neither in Geneva nor in New York and
certainly never seen anyone succeed. What we are adopting today sees us
very much as forerunners in the UN reform.
At the beginning of the process
we had to consider what type of reform we were looking for. Was
it just going to be governance, an in depth look at the work programme
or budget cuts? In retrospect I think we made the right decision to look
at the role, mandate and function of the organization and not to consider
budget cuts, and this allowed us to look at how best to streamline, refocus
and reallocate within the limited resources available. Looking at the
working plan, I think that we have achieved the majority of our initial
goals. I will not list all the changes but just the ones we find notable.
We substantially streamlined the governance structure by discontinuing
four decision-making bodies and replacing them with an executive committee.
We are establishing a new subprogramme on economic cooperation
and integration to focus on countries with economies in transition. We
have been able to redeploy 1 D and 18 P posts, which is about 10% of UNECE
staff. Many of these posts have been redeployed in areas of importance
to the EU like environment and transport and we have discontinued the
Economic Analysis Division and the industrial restructuring and enterprise
development subprogramme.
I don't want to deal today with why the evaluation of the UNECE was necessary, now is
the time to look forward, to both what we need to do now and how best we can enhance the
role of the UNECE for its recognized expertise and capacity. Once the reform is implemented,
the UNECE will be better placed to meet the needs of a changing Europe and subsequently
all 55 member States. Enhancing cooperation with other regional organizations is surely one
of the ways which will contribute to this end.
Ambassador Pierre-Louis Girard, Switzerland
In 2004, the UNECE realised that it had to reform. Today a reform plan
is ready for adoption. I would like to express the satisfaction
of my authorities for the work that has been done. And to tell
you that we fully subscribe to the result that has been attained.
The
reform plan makes it possible for us to pick up new challenges
with which this Commission and ourselves are faced in the light of the
considerable changes taking place in the economic, political and institutional
context in Europe. And I include in this central Asia.
The pan-European
and transatlantic character of the Commission has been confirmed
by the creation of a new subprogramme devoted to economic integration
and cooperation which is the most important element. To this we can add
the strengthening of programmes in priority areas and the development
of the UNECE in areas where its comparative advantages are recognized,
such as standards for agricultural produce and so on.
This reform is part
of a much wider context that is the reform of the United Nations.
In this respect I believe that the UNECE has shown that in-depth reforms
are possible when they are clearly in the interests of member
States. Now we have to implement these measures. It is a great responsibility
for the secretariat and the secretariat will need the full support
of member States in the same way that we have committed ourselves to this
reform procedure.
Our task will not be over with the adoption
of the reform, but at least the main job will have been done.
What is needed is a commitment in the long-term. This commitment has to
be manifested not only through the new bodies of governance in Geneva,
but also in New York in the context of budgetary discussion. Since a few
years, the Fifth Committee in New York has needed our participation in
budgetary discussions. In conclusion I would add that the secretariat
and member States have to move forward in a spirit of transparency which
has been the characteristic of this process up until now.
Christina Kokkinakis, Austria
We are extremely pleased to see the positive outcome and concrete results
of our common endeavour. The UNECE reform has certainly addressed the
major concerns of all 55 member States. More than that, being put into
the wider context of the United Nations reform, it showed how successful
a reform process can be.
Andrei Savinykh, Belarus
When in 1947 the Economic Commission for Europe was first created,
a significant contribution was made to international dialogue
designed to increase economic cooperation and
the well-being of member States. The overall geo-political
changes of the last decades have
meant new problems for the Commission to deal with.
We are convinced that the UNECE is a multilateral
forum whose existence is in the interests
of member States, which can facilitate international economic
cooperation and where we will
be able to continue to exchange our experience. This is a body
with unique experience which
can show an increasing capability in working effectively under
the new economic conditions
and thus help to promote the sustainable development of member
States, increasing the
competitiveness of national economies and the integration of
various economic groupings.
Marc Giacomini, France
We find the results of this reform fully satisfactory.
It will make it possible for the UNECE
to fully express its added value as a pan-European institution.
At a time when we are moving
to the actual implementation of the reform, my delegation has
two wishes to express. The first
on the UNECE itself. We would like to ensure that the various
competencies of the body can be
fully expressed. The second is that this example will be followed
at the UN level.
Ambassador Paolo Bruni, Italy
We have achieved very good results but the UNECE
has to demonstrate that it can work
in this new framework, no longer living in the 1980s or in
the 1990s. We have a completely
different situation in the world and in the European framework
and this reality has to be taken
into account. That is why we would like to see this new beginning
not as just a bureaucratic
process, but also a process of intellectual reform with a view
to achieving better cooperation,
mainly for the benefit of transition countries in our region,
and in order to achieve the results we
want to achieve for the benefit of the people and the countries
that belong to the UNECE.
Ambassador Kairat Abusseitov, Kazakhstan
We find the results of the negotiation process
on the UNECE reform fully satisfactory. The reform of the Commission
will make it possible to increase the overall efficiency of the
Commission and enhance the role of the member States in directing
the day-to-day activity of the UNECE.
The substantial achievements
like the streamlining of the governance structure,
establishment of a new subprogramme on economic cooperation
and integration, as well as
redeployment of the UNECE staff, will have a positive impact
on the Commission. Kazakhstan
supports the schedule of the Work Plan implementation with
the reform entering into force at
the annual session of the Commission.
Ambassador Zohrab Mnatsakanian, Armenia
Following the changes in the world, the break-up of the Soviet
Union and the end of the
cold war, there was a fundamental change in the European architecture.
We had to adjust
ourselves to this new emerging architecture. We happen to be,
with some other countries of
the region, outside some of the economic organizations in Europe,
such as the European Union
and the OECD, while being part of other structures such as
the OSCE and Council of Europe.
The problem is that the economic components of these latter
structures are not strongly
expressed. For us, the reformed UNECE is not only a UN entity
which enables global decisions
to be channelled at the regional level, it is also a truly
pan-European institution with an
economic dimension which is unique for us. The fact that we
have established a programme on
Economic Cooperation and Integration inside the UNECE is a
matter of great hope for us. We
are very satisfied with the outcome of the reform and we are
very happy that our delegation
was forthcoming in bringing about such fundamental changes.
Ambassador Muktar Djumaliev, Kyrgyzstan
The reform process of the UNECE launched by the member States
within the broader
framework of the ongoing reforming process of the United Nations
is a matter of crucial
importance for the Kyrgyz Republic. Especially encouraging
is the creation of a mechanism
which, I believe, enables the UNECE to work closer together
with countries in transition, to
focus on their specific needs and to assist them in overcoming
challenges of transformation.
The SPECA Programme is gaining new breath and my country, in
close cooperation with the
UNECE and other States involved, will do whatever possible to
ensure better collaboration and
fruitful cooperation to sustain and promote development, stability,
security and prosperity for
all. I believe that the UNECE empowered with a new vision, a
renewed set of priorities and a
new governance structure will do its noble job for the benefit
of all member States.
Andrey Pirogov, Russian Federation
The UNECE has always been an important body for the countries
with economies in
transition, both as part of the UN system and an organization
active in the transatlantic
region. This reform confirmed that the Commission is important
for all the member States
and that it is a valuable element of the pan-European economic
network.
Russia was active in the reform process and will do its best
to implement successfully
the decisions adopted by all the UNECE membership. Our common
goal is to make the
Commission more efficient, more modern, and its activities more
demand driven. The UNECE
region faces too many real challenges to spend precious resources,
including intellectual ones,
on scholastic debates and outdated programmes.
One of the results of the reform is the creation
of a subprogramme focused on transition
economies. This is a clear sign for us that we should play a
leading role in setting the priorities
of this subprogramme, elaborating its work plan to make it truly
helpful. At the same time it
is crucial to strike the right balance between the interests
of all the countries and subregions
of the UNECE so that all of them are the beneficiaries of the
knowledge and expertise of the
Commission.
Ambassador Dumitru Croitor, Republic of Moldova
We have participated in the negotiation process
and followed very closely the developments
during that process. We highly appreciate the cooperative spirit
of participating member
States and the openness of the secretariat, which was of good
help to us.
We expect that the actual deep reform will contribute to bringing
UNECE closer to member
States, and that its activities will be more transparent, result-oriented
and demand driven.
We hope the reform will enter into force as
soon as possible. Thus, UNECE should confirm
its place as a political and economic platform for deeper cooperation
and the promotion of
best practices and experiences. We are confident that through
its new Economic Cooperation
and Integration subprogramme, the Commission will get to be more
transparent and more
present in the transition economies, and its results will get
better known in member States’
governments and societies. We also highly appreciate the support
of all UNECE member
States for our sensitive issues that are reflected in the Work
Plan.
Ambassador Dejan Šahovic, Serbia and
Montenegro
The UNECE reform made perhaps a modest but certainly
important contribution to the
efforts to implement broad and deep changes in the United Nations
system as the Organization
was marking this year its 60th anniversary. The reform was carried
out as a result of a
genuine desire of the Commission’s member countries to
make it more useful and efficient. It
was a members-driven process, characterized by concrete and in
the UN context short and
businesslike negotiations in the final stages, which rendered
a very successful outcome. The
UNECE now appears to be better structured to address the needs
of its members and to better
interact and cooperate with other organizations in the wider
European economic area, which have compatible agendas.
However, in a sense we are just beginning major
work. UNECE member countries now have
to ensure that changes are effectively implemented and to utilize
as much as possible the
capacities of the Commission to their benefit. This is especially
true for the least developed
countries of the UNECE area, such as mine – Serbia and
Montenegro. In the final analysis,
members have to be proactive and act within the UNECE in a manner
that will ensure that in
the longer run this reform process proves to be as meaningful
as it seems now.