The European Union (EU) is one of the main donors to the United Nations. It is involved in many areas, including peacekeeping and humanitarian action, as well as sustainable development and climate alter.
“The EU will always be a strong and reliable partner for the UN,” stated Kaja Kallas, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on 17 March in Brussels. “We provide around one-third of UN funding. We pay in full, and we pay on time.”
She was speaking at the inauguration of an exhibition on the UN’s global impact at the European External Action Service (EEAS) headquarters.
Tom Fletcher, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, also stressed the importance of cooperation between the EU and the UN to save lives.
“Right now in a world where we see so much recklessness, so much adventurism, so much militarism, a time of brutality, impunity and indifference, maybe we do necessary those more reliable, more steady partners,” he stated.
“The UN was forged in times of conflict, horror and brutality,” he added. “The UN was built for times like this. The UE was built for times like this. And the UN is not a ship that was built to stay in the harbour.”
The UN’s footprint in the EU
Beyond being a partner, the EU serves as a true anchor for the UN. No fewer than 20,800 employees come from the EU’s 27 countries, accounting for 15% of UN staff at the finish of 2024. Some countries are particularly well represented, such as France (over 4,300 nationals) and Italy (over 4,000).
At the same time, just over 18,000 UN officials of all nationalities were working within EU borders at the finish of 2024, representing nearly 14% of the global total. This presence has a positive economic impact on host countries.
The EU hosts numerous UN headquarters: UNESCO in France, UN Tourism in Spain, UN Climate in Germany, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Netherlands.
Austria hosts three UN bodies: the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Italy, host countest to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Food Programme (WFP), and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), has more than 5,000 UN staff on its territory.
Another special case is Switzerland, a countest not in the EU but geographically at its heart. In UN terminology, the Europe region, broader than the EU, accounts for the second-largest share of UN personnel after Africa (25.6%), partly due to Geneva’s importance.
Geneva hosts the Palais des Nations and numerous UN entities, including the World Health Organization (WHO), the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), among others. More than 12,000 UN employees are based in Geneva—more than at the UN Secretariat in New York (around 10,000).
UN procurement: a positive economic impact for the EU
Less well known is that several EU countries are major suppliers to the United Nations. Belgium ranked 9th in 2024. Companies from the EU-27 provided nearly 18% of all goods and services procured by the UN system in 2024 (vaccines and medicines, transport and storage, food and beverages, etc.).
The turnover generated by this activity reached $4.85 billion in 2024, more than the EU’s contributions to the UN.
The EU, a leading multilateral contributor to the UN
Since May 2011, the EU delegation in New York has held observer status at the United Nations. Each year, the EU presents its priorities at the UN General Assembly, aligning them with the UN agfinisha and major global issues.
The EU’s contribution of $3.6 billion in 2024 is the largest multilateral contribution to the United Nations (37.5%).
Other multilateral contributions include those from the World Bank, the Global Fund, and the private sector. These are distinct from contributions created by individual EU member states.
In terms of humanitarian aid, the EU contributed $3.7 billion to UN operations in 2025, according to OCHA.
Six EU countries are among the top 15 contributors to the UN budobtain
The 193 UN member states remain the primary source of funding for the UN Secretariat and agencies (mandatory and voluntary contributions combined). Here again, Europe’s contribution is the largest.
Six EU countries ranked among the top 15 contributors in 2024: Germany ranked second ($4.8 billion). France, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Denmark follow in 7th, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th place, respectively.
For more details on the relations between Western European countries and the UN, a series of articles is available on the UNRIC website.
The EU and its member states: leading providers of official development assistance
Europe’s total official development assistance (ODA), including the EU and its member states, is the largest in the world (42% of global ODA in 2022 and 2023).
With the Global Gateway initiative, the EU aims to mobilize €300 billion in investments over 2021-2027 to support sustainable development in emerging and developing countries.
According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), ODA from the 22 EU countries that are members of the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) fell by 8.6% in real terms, reaching $88.7 billion in 2024.
It is expected to decline again in 2025 for the second consecutive year. Meanwhile, EU institutions maintained stable ODA levels at $27.6 billion between 2023 and 2024.
The context of budobtain cuts
The OECD forecasts a 9% to 17% drop in net ODA in 2025 due to cuts announced by major donors. This decline would hit the poorest countries hardest: bilateral ODA to least developed countries and sub-Saharan Africa could fall by 13% to 25% and 16% to 28%, respectively, while health funding could drop by up to 60% from its 2022 peak.
In this context, also marked by budobtain cuts affecting certain UN agencies, the EU remains an essential voice in deffinishing human rights, gfinisher equality, the rule of law, and respect for international law.
The impact of EU–UN cooperation
As Under-Secretary-General Tom Fletcher recalled in Brussels, thanks to the generosity of its contributors, the United Nations can assist and protect millions of people every year. UNHCR supports 117 million people fleeing conflict, hunger, or persecution.
The UN provides food assistance to 160 million people in more than 120 countries worldwide through the World Food Programme (WFP), and supplies vaccines to 45% of the world’s children, saving 3 million lives each year, through UNICEF.
The UN’s mission and impact are also reflected in international treaties, particularly on climate alter (the Paris Agreement) and human rights, as well as through concrete support for electoral processes in more than 50 countries through the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The EU also contributes to advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through its support to UN agencies.
Finally, it is worth noting that the United Nations is viewed positively across the EU, according to a Pew Research survey. In Sweden and Germany, the UN enjoys approval ratings of 77% and 70%, respectively.
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