Brussels, 31/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - The Union has fulfilled the commitment that it had taken to ratify the Kyoto Protocol before the World Summit on Sustainable Development. Commissioner Margot Wallström and Jaume Matas, who chairs the Council, accompanied by the environment ministers of Italy and Greece, deposited the ratification instruments of the Community and the fifteen Member States with the secretariat of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change on Friday, in New York. "The fact that we have come today to announce that the Union has fulfilled its political commitment is not just a formality. It translates the conviction of millions of European citizens that the Kyoto Protocol is the best instrument available to us", said Mr Matas. Margot Wallström felt it was an "historic moment", and called on the other parties to follow suit.