Mr President of the General Assembly,

Excellencies,

Colleagues,

I would like to join others in thanking the Permanent Representative of South Africa and the Permanent Representative of Romania for their excellent work on the revitalization of the General Assembly in the 79th session.

Germany aligns itself with the statement by the EU and its Member States.

Please allow me to add two additional points in my national capacity.

First, on working methods and efficiency: Germany applauds the PGA and all of us on having made real progress on time limits for our statements. From her first day in office, the PGA has been very consistent in enforcing these limits wherever possible. And we have all adapted very quickly. We have heard no major complaints. On the contrary: most Missions praise the efficiency and especially the predictability of the schedule, and find it easier to grasp the key points of each statement. Great news that f.ex. the First and the Fourth Committee are following the same pattern.

Please allow me to take the First Committee as an example of how we could be even more ambitious moving forward. In internal discussions, the calls for greater efficiency have been louder than they had been for many years.

One initiative that provides concrete suggestions is the French-German Non-Paper entitled “How can we collectively make the First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) more efficient?”. This Non-Paper has found broad support amongst Member States. It suggests incremental yet realistic improvements like inter alia the reduction of the time dedicated for general statements, the focus on the submission of draft resolutions providing for new mandates or substantial updates, and a reduction of the overall duration of the First Committee.

We would encourage the First Committee (as well as all other Main Committees) to submit these and other concrete proposals to the General Committee during the course of the 80^th Session in line with OP25 of Resolution 79/327.

Second, on the SG selection process: Germany encourages all Members of the Security Council, all Member States of the General Assembly as well as the respective Presidents to ensure an open, transparent and inclusive process for the selection, exactly as laid out in the Resolution 79/327.

Especially the dialogues that are to be held with all candidates are a key element. They are decisive for providing the necessary transparency, inclusivity and accountability. We also encourage civil society organizations to stay involved as they can serve as a bridge towards people all over the world during the process.

When it comes to the nomination phase, Germany would like to recall that the Pact for the Future encourages of us to strongly consider nominating woman candidates as no woman has ever held the position of UN Secretary General.

We assure you, Mme President that Germany will remain strongly committed to the process of revitalizing the General Assembly. You can count on our support.