] The main objective of the project is to put forward a
] portfolio of strong cryptographic primitives that has
] been obtained after an open call and been evaluated using
] a transparent and open process. The project intends to
] contribute to the final phase of the AES block cipher
] standardisation process (organised by NIST, US), but will
] also launch an independent open call for a broad set of
] primitives providing confidentiality, data integrity, and
] authentication.

Whirlpool is being proposed as part of NESSIE which is a European version of the AES process except for all kinds of crypto primitives, not just a block cipher.