Strasbourg, 26/09/2002 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament has approved the adoption of minimum common rules on compensating victims of crime but rejects the idea of a European Fund. The report by Roberta Angelilli (UEN, Italy), adopted in March by 390 votes for, 47 against and 56 abstentions, was a response to the Green Book on compensation for victims of crime and published on 28 September by the European Commission. Having, "noticed profound divergences" between the different systems in Member States, which "provoke unjustifiable differences", the European Parliament "insists on the fact that all Member States in the Union set up a public compensation system that constitutes an ultimate guarantee for the victim, who has not been able to obtain compensation from the perpetrator of the crime or by other means (compulsory or private insurance)". It also calls on the adoption of minimum common rules within the EU. MEPs believe that harmonisation is a "long-term objective" but point out that the differences in financial compensation are also due to "differences in the quality of life". The
Angelilli report considers that non-EU nationals who legally reside in the EU should have access to compensation mechanisms but on the condition that they have legal residency in the Union. The plenary rejected two paragraphs of the Angelilli report, which called for the setting up of a European compensation fund for victims. On the other hand, they approved the idea of setting up a European Freefone number in all official Union languages for crime victims.