October 21, 1997

Statement by the Representative of the Netherlands Mr. Harry Verweij on behalf of the European Union

The European Union reaffirms its support for the decision taken to hold the Diplomatic Conference in Rome and would like to repeat its gratitude to the Italian Government for its gracious and generous offer to host the Conference in June/July 1998. Rome is a most suitable venue for an occasion of such historic value.

Furthermore, the year 1998 is of symbolic value to the establishment of the International Criminal Court, as it marks the fiftieth anniversary of both the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the Genocide Convention.

It is hoped that the Conference will be attended by the largest number of States possible so as to promote universal support for the Court. We encourage States to contribute voluntarily for this purpose to the Trustfund for the participation of the least developed countries, as by now a fair number of countries have done so already. It is in our view a bounden duty for all member States of the United Nations to work towards a successful outcome of the Rome Diplomatic Conference. We express the hope and confidence that it will be possible to reach the goal: to finalize and adopt in Rome a comprehensive and universal Convention on the establishment of the ICC.

In order for the Conference to be successful its Rules of Procedure should be considered during the Prepcom meeting in March/April 1998, so that a complete set of rules may be recommended to the Conference for adoption. We seek guidance from the Secretariat in the preparation of the text of the draft rules.

It is also important that representatives of relevant non-governmental organizations continue to play a meaningful role in the process of establishing an International Criminal Court. Many of them have, by their commitment and expertise, contributed significantly and positively to the work.