European Union leaders today provisionally agreed to have a Kyoto ratification document ready before the end of 2001 so members could rapidly sign up to the landmark treaty on limiting greenhouse gas emissions.
According to draft conclusions of an EU summit, the leaders decided to ensure the widest participation of industrialised nations in the 1997 treaty.
The commission will prepare a proposal for ratification before the end of 2001 making it possible for the union and its member states to fulfil their commitment to rapidly ratify the Kyoto protocol, the document said.
The European Union will work to ensure the widest possible participation of industrialised countries in an effort to ensure the entry into force of the protocol by 2002.