Mr. Pierre Vimont:

Perhaps I can explain a few elements. The Deputy asked about Syria. We have maintained our EU delegation to Syria, therefore, we are in contact with the Government of Syria and express strong messages, time and again, about the need for the Syrian Government to take notice of what the international community has repeated time and again. Of course, we are a nuisance and Syria is not happy with that and has told us so. At the same time, it respects us because we have remained in Damascus saying we want to be close to the people of Damascus and Syria at a time of great suffering and try to help them as much as we can through humanitarian assistance. We should do much more and this is what we are trying to do. The fact that we are there is important.

In the case of Iran, the High Representative, Catherine Ashton, chairs the EU 3 plus 3 group, in other words the group that is negotiating on behalf of the international community to try to find a solution to the whole issue of the nuclear programme. She has regular contacts with her counterpart. Every time they have decided they should meet they have arranged a meeting without difficulty, which means they may not like what the High Representative has to tell them but they come, listen, discuss and, perhaps, contradict her but we are considered as a legitimate partner, which is not bad.

On the question about the International Criminal Court and whether there should be a referral to that court, that is a complicated issue. Do we have to push that issue as quickly as possible at the beginning of a crisis, with the risk of closing any possibility of finding a solution to make the leader involved in that crisis step down from office? There is a need to think about this issue.

With regard to Syria, more than half of the member states are of the opinion that we should have a referral to the International Criminal Court. A few member states wonder whether we should wait a little longer. It was decided among all of us to discuss that issue with Mr. Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint special representative of the UN and the Arab League for Syria. We would not want to jeopardise his efforts and the plan he is trying to set up to try to find a political solution to the crisis. If Mr. Brahimi is of the opinion that we should go ahead with a referral to the International Criminal Court, then the 27 of us will meet again to decide if we should go forward on that issue. It is a tricky issue on which, every time, we have to look at the pros and cons and find the right balancing act. While we have not yet decided on a referral to the International Criminal Court, we are trying to use, as much as possible, all the evidence we can gather and work very closely with the commission of inquiry in Geneva to have the principle of accountability with regard to what is happening in Syria implemented as fully as possible