Brussels, 21/08/2001 (Agence Europe) - On a proposal from Commissioner Chris Patten the Commission has approved two decisions relating to projects and programmes aimed at contributing to the creation of the International Criminal Court. The first decision relates to a project entitled "completing the establishment of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and working to ensure its effectiveness". Headed by "The NGO Coalition for an International Criminal Court", this project will receive up to 750,000 euros (or 60% of the total budget which is EUR 1,249,168). The second decision relates to a project "parliamentary campaign and effective implementation of the International Criminal Court, Statute and Promotion of the Rule of Law" and headed by the "Parliamentarians for Global Action". The maximum financial participation is EUR 530,846 (or 80% of its total budget amounting to EUR 663,558).
These projects will be funded under Heading B7-704 of the EU's general budget 2001, with a package of EUR 3 million in commitment appropriations. Concerning the first decision the date scheduled for the beginning of the project will depend on the Commission's decision and will last eighteen months. For the second decision, the date of the beginning of the project was 15 August 2001 and is expected to last 12 months. In both cases, the actions are targeted at all countries of the world. The two projects aim to: 1) get Member States that have not yet ratified the Rome Convention to do so rapidly and 2) provide expertise on the technical and legal conditions necessary for the adaptation of national legislation and regulations. In its introduction, the Commissioner recalls that, on 1 July 2001, 36 ratifications of the 60 necessary for the creation of the Court had already been secured and that it would be possible to reach this legal threshold by the end of 2002.