Chair,

Germany aligns itself with the statements delivered by the European Union and would to highlight the following points in our national capacity.

We join others in thanking you for your efforts to enable this exchange on Strengthening the Review Process under Cluster III which remains of high priority for Germany.

The interactive and constructive debates of the working group in 2023 and at the previous PrepComs of this Review Cycle have clearly demonstrated the strong interests and broad support of a vast majority of NPT State parties on continuing the work on Strengthening the Review Process.

We commend you for your “Chair’s Elements Paper on Strengthening the Review Process”, which – if we focus on the proposals that unite us – can offer a chance to improve the Review Process.

There are numerous proposals in this regard, which we share, such as:
- First, avoiding overlap between Main Committees and Subsidiary Bodies
- Second, establishing a bureau to allow for a greater degree of continuity and cohesion throughout a review cycle,
- Third, enforcing time limits to leave more room for work on substance and real dialogue.

Mr. Chair,

Particularly, we would like to highlight the importance of transparency and accountability for a more effective Review Process.
Transparency is a critical component of State parties’ confidence in the treaty and helps them to assess whether treaty obligations are met.

To this end, we highly welcome the draft national reports and related side events offered by France and the United Kingdom.

On transparency and accountability, allow me to draw your attention on the Working Papers of the EU and the NPDI, which in our view provide the nucleus of what might unite us.

Mr. Chair,

We fully support the proposals on the adoption of a standard reporting form in order to strengthen the NPT reporting and accountability mechanisms on all three pillars of the NPT.

Standardizing the reporting on Art.VI Implementation is crucial for NPT Member States to receive comparable information with regard to the status and progress in all three pillars, including nuclear disarmament.

We fully agree that Non-Nuclear Weapon States as well should develop a standardized template for national reporting. This process however should not be preempted by recommendations by this PrepCom.

We stand ready working on this matter at the upcoming Review Conference, where we should discuss and hopefully decide on the modalities and details of those national reports.

Thank you.