73. Reiterates its full support for the work of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in its role of ending the impunity of perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community and of providing justice for the victims of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide; remains vigilant regarding any attempts to undermine its legitimacy or independence; recalls its vital role in the dual processes of justice and reconciliation; urges the EU and its Member States to cooperate with the Court and provide it with strong diplomatic and political support in bilateral relations and in all forums, including the U ...[+++]N; expresses its concern that several arrest warrants have still not been executed; calls for the EU, its Member States and EU Special Representatives actively to promote the ICC, the enforcement of its decisions, and the fight against impunity for crimes under the Rome Statute; considers the increasing number of States Parties to be an important development in strengthening the universality of the Court; welcomes the ratification of the Rome Statute by Côte d'Ivoire in February 2013, but considers it regrettable that no state ratified the Statute in 2014; encourages the EU and its Member States to step up their efforts to promote the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute with a view to widening access to justice for victims of serious crimes under international law; calls on the EU Member States, as States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC, to provide it with the resources it needs to exercise its mandate fairly and effectively; encourages the EU to continue to provide assistance to international criminal justice and the ICC, including by supporting civil society actors through the EIDHR;

39. Welcomes Tunisia's recent accession to the Rome Statute and hopes that this will send a positive signal to other North African and Middle Eastern countries, so that they may follow suit; further welcomes the recent ratification of the Rome Statute by the Philippines, which increases the number of Asian States in the Court's system and gives an important signal that Asian membership in the ICC is growing, as well as the recent ratification of the Rome Statute by the Maldives and the recent bill by the National Assembly of Cape Verde authorising ratification of the Rome Statute, and hopes that its government will proceed accordingly w ...[+++]ithout delay; expresses its hope that all Latin American countries will join the ICC;

39. Welcomes Tunisia’s recent accession to the Rome Statute and hopes that this will send a positive signal to other North African and Middle Eastern countries, so that they may follow suit; further welcomes the recent ratification of the Rome Statute by the Philippines, which increases the number of Asian States in the Court’s system and gives an important signal that Asian membership in the ICC is growing, as well as the recent ratification of the Rome Statute by the Maldives and the recent bill by the National Assembly of Cape Verde authorising ratification of the Rome Statute, and hopes that its government will proceed accordingly w ...[+++]ithout delay; expresses its hope that all Latin American countries will join the ICC;

B. whereas achieving the widest possible ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute has also been an EU objective during enlargement negotiations and in the process of accession by new EU Member States, and whereas the ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute should be also an important objective for the EU in its relations with other partners, in particular the United States, China, Russia and Israel,

I will now turn to the question of how we can make Rome III a success, and I should once again like to thank Mrs Gebhardt and Mr Deprez for their oral question, pulling me up on the progress of Rome III. Obviously, I am with you in regretting the deadlock in the Council regarding the negotiations on Rome III. Last July, we had a debate between the justice ministers on the possibility of enhanced cooperation on Rome III and, at the end of July, nine Member States presented the Commission with a request for enhanced cooperation: that is more than a third of the Member States involved in the adoption of Rome III. It is therefore clear th ...[+++]at the Commission needs to look into this request for enhanced cooperation, but, as you will understand, if we want this to be a success we will need to pay attention to the whole context.

[46] Revision of the 1980 Rome Convention on the law applicable to contractual obligations ('ROME I') and completion by a new instrument governing conflict of laws rules for non-contractual aspects of commercial transactions ('ROME II')