Budget at the UN no sober subject

The United States thinks the United Nations has a drinking problem.

Joseph Torsella, who represents the US on the UN's budget committee, says the tense process of negotiating the world body's annual budget is made more complicated by the number of diplomats who turn up drunk.

The UN budget is finalised in December, when holiday parties apparently lead to some revelry spilling over into negotiations.

Mr Torsella has told the UN General Assembly's budget committee the US is making ''the modest proposal that the negotiating rooms should in future be an inebriation-free zone''.

Some tipsy negotiating partners had left the US ''truly grateful for the strategic opportunities'', he said on Monday. But Mr Torsella said annual talks on how much the global body spends had become increasingly tense as Western nations called for spending cuts and the committee should ''save the champagne for toasting the successful end of the session''.

The assembly's budget body, the Fifth Committee, holds long negotiations in December on spending and national contributions.

These often last all night for days in a row so that a vote can be held before the year-end holidays.

Some envoys had turned up for talks ''falling down drunk'', said one diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, who said he suspected that in some cases it was an attempt to hold up talks.

Mr Torsella echoed the suspicion that negotiators were often using stalling tactics.

''If … negotiators do not arrive on time for meetings scheduled on nights and weekends, or simply refuse to meet on a specific item in order to run down the clock, we must conclude that they do not share a commitment to negotiating in good faith, and we will respond accordingly,'' he said.

Another diplomat, speaking anonymously, said negotiators were not the only participants whose drinking caused problems. ''On one occasion the note-taker who was meant to be recording the talks was so intoxicated he had to be replaced,'' he said.

But others close to the talks rejected the impression that negotiations took place in a disorderly fashion. ''It is absolutely not the case that everyone at the talks is drunk,'' another diplomat said. ''All the people doing the negotiating are sober.''