European Parliament resolution on the ratification of the Rome treaty to establish the permanent International Criminal Court
Date: 1999-12-16
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: International Criminal Tribunal, international court, the EU's international role

18.10.2000

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 296/207

Thursday 16 December 1999

Calls on the appropriate bodies of the European Union to ensure the correct use of European Union

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cooperation funds in Nicaragua and to report back to Parliament;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Government
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and Parliament of Nicaragua, the Parliament of Central America and the President of the Audit Office of
the Republic of Nicaragua, Mr Agustín Jarquín.

16. International criminal court

B5-0337, 0344, 0349, 0373 and 0386/1999

European Parliament resolution on the ratification of the Rome treaty to establish the permanent
International Criminal Court

The European Parliament,

A. whereas, in July 1998, in Rome, the Statute of a Permanent International Criminal Court was adopted,
establishing for the first time a court with international jurisdiction to judge independently those
responsible for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity,

B. whereas the Court and its work do not depend on a specific political mandate from the UN Security

Council and will be presided over by an Independent Prosecutor,

C. whereas the Court’s jurisdiction, although operating in complementarity to national jurisdictions, will
enable it to judge crimes perpetrated during internal conflicts as well as having the capacity to decide,
in controversial cases, the respective spheres of competence,

D.

congratulating the six states that have already ratified the ICC Rome Statute and those countries,
including the EU Member States and the applicant countries, that are at present carrying out the
internal procedures for ratification,

E. whereas, for the Court to begin functioning, at least 60 countries must deposit the instruments of

ratification at the United Nations,

F. whereas a Preparatory Commission has been mandated by the Rome Conference to finalise the Rules

of Procedure and Evidence and the Elements of Crimes by June 2000,

Urges the 14 Member States of the EU and the applicant countries that have not yet ratified the ICC

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Rome Statute to do so as soon as possible;

2.
Calls on the Council and the Commission to clearly set the goal of the entry into force of the Court’s
jurisdiction by 31 December 2000 as a priority of the Union’s foreign policy, including the negotiation
process with all the applicant countries;

3.
Asks, therefore, both the Council and the Commission to take firm action in order to persuade those
States that have not yet approved the Statute of the Court to accept its jurisdiction as binding and to do
their utmost to ensure that the Preparatory Commission completes its work by the set deadline of June
2000;

Asks the Member States to take action in all the appropriate fora to speed up execution of the

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required procedures by the Preparatory Commission;

5.
Asks the Council, the Commission and the Member States to support, through voluntary contribu-
tions, the trust funds established by the UN General Assembly whose mandate comprises the costs of
participation in the work of the Preparatory Commission of the least developed countries and of those
developing countries not covered by UNGA resolutions and to support the international campaigns for
the effective entry into force of the ICC;

C 296/208

Official Journal of the European Communities

EN

18.10.2000

Thursday 16 December 1999

6.
Decides that it is politically relevant to send its own parliamentary delegation to the next working
session of the preparatory commission, which will finalise the annexes to the Court’s Statute shortly in
New York, and asks parliaments of Member States to send parliamentary observers to the Preparatory
Commission;

7.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission, the parliaments
of the Member States, the governments and parliaments of applicant countries, and to the Secretary-Gen-
eral of the United Nations.

17. Natural disasters: France

B5-0334, 0345, 0374 and 0387/1999

European Parliament resolution on flooding in the South of France

The European Parliament,

A. having regard to the particularly severe weather conditions and the exceptional rain in the South of
France, in four départements in particular (Tarn, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales and Hérault) in the night of
Friday to Saturday, 12 to 13 November 1999,

B. whereas several dozen people were killed,

C. whereas thousands of people in the region are still facing hardship, enormous damage has been
caused to road and transport infrastructure, many homes have been destroyed and there are serious
economic and social consequences for the inhabitants, businesses and farms,

D. having regard to the scale of the disaster and the funds which have been made available to restore

normal living conditions,

Expresses its sympathy and support for the families of the victims and with the people who have

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been injured;

2. Welcomes the Commission’s undertaking to Parliament on 16 November 1999 to adjust and adapt
the funding allocated to France to cope with the urgency of the situation;

3.
Calls on the Commission to take exceptional emergency aid measures to assist the victims of this
natural disaster and to supplement the action taken by the French government and the local authorities
by using the facilities afforded by the Structural Funds, in particular by redeploying the outstanding bal-
ance on the 1994-1999 programming period;

4.
Believes that the new regional development programme for 2000-2006 financed by the Structural
Funds should include substantial funding aimed at preventing natural disasters and systematic prior evalu-
ation of the environmental impact of the projects financed;

5.
Calls on the Commission, in view of the damage suffered by the region, to make particularly sure
that the four départements are properly taken into account when the zones eligible for Structural Funds are
defined for the period 2000-2006;

6.
Calls on the Commission to submit to the Council a proposal for a decision to release exceptional
Community aid for the reconstruction of disaster areas, identical to the aid which certain Member States
have benefited from in comparable situations;

7.
Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments
and parliaments of the Member States and the members of the regional council and local councils of the
départements of Tarn, Aude, Pyrénées-Orientales and Hérault.