EU Statement Ambassador level consultations on the Summit of the Future following the end of the third reading

I have the honour to speak on behalf of EU and its Member States.

The Candidate Countries North Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania, Ukraine, the Republic of Moldova, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Georgia, as well as Andorra and Monaco align themselves with this statement.

Dear colleagues Antje and Neville, I would like to convey the sincere appreciation of the EU, for the excellent job you are doing.

At the end of this third reading, we have made significant progress towards an agreement. We now have a better understanding of each other's expectations.

We have listened carefully to each and every intervention in this room, and, in particular, we have heard the high expectations regarding the reform of the international financial architecture, the debt architecture, financing for development, the need to have international institutions that are more representative of today's world.

Dear colleagues, these are not just the priorities of developing countries. These are, equally, EU priorities. Let me give you one concrete example: Financing for development. It is a top priority for the EU as much as it is for developing countries. And we put our money where our mouth is. Together with our Member States, we are by far the largest provider of development finance in the world, accounting for a full 42% of global ODA in 2023. And - let me stress this - our ODA is continuing to increase! Despite COVID. Despite a brutal war of aggression against Ukraine. Despite the EU's leadership in the funding of UNRWA and in addressing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Our ODA went from 71.6 billion euros in 2021, to 93.3 billion in 2022, and to almost 96 billion in 2023.These are the facts! We call on other partners to watch the EU's commitments. False divisions, dear friends, are easy for some to sow, but have no place here.

With the Summit of the Future, we need to join hands, listen to each other with genuine desire to compromise, and focus on the future, because that's what we're talking about today. And while we might not be able to agree on everything, my pledge to you is that we will continue to be a true bridge-builder, an honest and reliable partner to all in these negotiations.

Now is the time for everyone to take a step towards an ambitious agreement that is truly useful for multilateralism and for the world. An Agreement that truly reaches the most marginalized and furthest behind first. Not only for the Pact itself, but also for its annexes: the global digital compact and the declaration on future generations. For that to happen, we all need to engage constructively and in good faith. And I mean everyone, because we are all in the same boat. Because a strong and effective multilateral system with the UN and international law at its centre is the best tool we have - perhaps the only tool we have, to meet the numerous challenges we face, together.

This requires strong political will. This requires each of us to get out of our comfort zones. We are ready to do that, but it's a two-way street.

There is one point I would like to stress in this respect. We cannot afford to pick and choose which existential challenges we want to fight and which not, which UN legal commitments to abide by and which to ignore. We have many challenges to face in parallel, which we can only meet together. Because peace, development, and human rights - the three pillars of the UN - are all inter-related. These are not trade-offs we should be fighting over. So we have to be equally ambitious on all of them:

• For that we need a clear recommitment to the UN Charter and to the values that underpin it in its entirety without picking and choosing. Acts of aggression against the sovereignty and territorial integrity of UN member states are illegal and we strongly condemn them. Achieving sustainable development for all is a firm commitment that applies to all. And human rights for all are non-negotiable. Without a strong human rights pillar with sustainable financing, there cannot be sustainable development or peace; war and conflict are huge inhibitors to development; and development and peace in turn contribute to the promotion of human rights and gender equality.
• We need to do more in terms of peace and security, including conflict prevention notably through national prevention strategies with a fully efficient peace-building commission. We need to highlight the key role of the UN in peace operations in tandem with an increased role and responsibility of regional organizations, with strengthened capacities to address disinformation.
• We must take bold commitments to effectively achieve a global level playing field for fairer and more equitable globalization. But also to preserve our global commons. The challenges ofclimate change, environmental degradation, biodiversity loss, oceans, pollution - you name it - have devastating consequences we can all see and cannot be put on the back-burner. This Summit must address them with equal ambition, both in terms of objectives and of actions, including better global environmental governance and initiatives to achieve gender equality.

Colleagues, we have a huge opportunity with this Summit to contribute to a comprehensive transformation of global governance, across all three pillars of the UN. This needs to be reflected in the Pact itself and in its annexes, but we hope also in the themes for the interactive dialogues around which this Summit will be organised. The EU would strongly welcome stronger references to human rights and gender equality here and wants to recall that transforming global governance must be truly comprehensive (proposal for interactive dialogue 2). Also through diverse stakeholder engagement.

Dear Antje and Neville, you can count on the EU and its Member States to support this process. Dear colleagues, you all can. ./.