17 Amendments of Fabio Massimo CASTALDO related to 2020/2003(INI)
Amendment 24 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas Member States recognise the special responsibility that may derive from exporting military technology and equipment to third states in influencing or exacerbating existing tensions and conflicts;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas divergence in Member States arms export behaviour is sometimes weakening the EU ability to achieve its foreign policy objectives as well as undermining its credibility as an actor speaking with one voice in the international arena;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A c (new)
Recital A c (new)
Ac. whereas the recent spat over arms exports to Saudi Arabia clearly shows how national arms export decisions are often driven by different political, economic and industrial concerns and how such disunity makes it harder for the EU to influence the behaviour of third countries;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A d (new)
Recital A d (new)
Ad. whereas the absence of a truly coordinated arms export policy affects negatively the reliability and consistency needed for Member States to engage in joint capability development, ultimately hampering initiatives to improve European defence capabilities;
Amendment 37 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A e (new)
Recital A e (new)
Ae. whereas EU final goal should be to go beyond the common position and put in place a common and enforceable EU arms export regime that includes a strong sanctionatory mechanism in case of non- compliance and a supervisory arms control body;
Amendment 66 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3a. Calls on Member States to increase their coordination and to define common best practices to collect and process information and data to produce more harmonized annual reports in order to improve transparency and usability of such reports;
Amendment 71 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, a region of several armed conflicts, an extreme volatility of the political landscape and a great permeability of national borders, remain the foremost regional destination for exports according to the last two annual reports; is concerned that this regional focus undermines the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and specific EU action aimed at regional peace and stability;
Amendment 111 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8 a (new)
Paragraph 8 a (new)
8a. Notes with satisfaction that the Council acknowledges the importance of a consistent export control policy regarding defence-related materials and dual-use goods; believes that the EU should establish clear criteria and guidelines regarding the export of such goods;
Amendment 155 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that bilateral and multilateral agreements may further reduce convergence at EU level and that the failure to regulate exports uniformly between the Member States and the lack of convergence in export decisions to third countries have a negative impact on the ability of the EU to speak with one voice and be influential in the international arena, human rights and international law, generate market distortions, and hinder industrial strategic planning, economies of scale and a level playing field;
Amendment 179 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the fact that the interinstitutional agreement on the establishment of the EDF authorises the Commission to assess whether the transfer of ownership or the granting of an exclusive licence of EDF-co-funded military technology contravenes the security and defence interests of the EU and its Member States or the objectives of the fund as set out in Article 3 of the proposed regulation; notes that this new legislation establishes a specific type of control function for the Commission with regard to a specific category of exports of military technology to third countries; suggests that the export of these EDF-co- funded technologies should also be closely monitored vis a vis the Common Position;
Amendment 205 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18 a (new)
Paragraph 18 a (new)
18a. Suggests that exports of products financed under the EDIDP and/or the European Defence Fund (EDF) should be listed separately in the data submitted to COARM, in order to ensure a close monitoring of those products which have been financed from the European budget and to ensure the criteria of the Common Position are strictly applied at least to the products financed under EDIDP and EDF;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Welcomes the decision to transform the annual report into an interactive and searchable online database and expects it to be up and running before publication of the export data for 2019; calls on the EEAS to inform Parliament about the precise date on which this database will go online; urges COARM to choose a solution that is user-friendly and easily accessible by European citizens and civil society and that enables data to be exported in a structured format;
Amendment 262 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Believes that the EU institutions should organise peer reviews with a view to encouraging national authorities to share best practices on the collection and processing of data, fostering a better understanding of different national approaches, identifying differences as regards the interpretation of the eight criteria, and discussing ways to improve harmonisation;
Amendment 273 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 24
Paragraph 24
24. Stresses that effective end-use controls are crucial for a responsible export policy and for lowering the risk of diversion in particular; calls on the Council, the Member States, the EEAS and the Commission to set up a large-scale training and capacity-building programme for national and EU officials on arms export controls; encourages Member States governments to take steps in order to ensure better compliance with its end- use regulations, including the implementation of the practice of post- shipment controls, particularly for small arms and light weapons; stresses the need to use EU funding to ensure that sufficient staff resources are available at national and EU levels and at delegations and embassies in importing countries for the purposes of implementing viable end-use controls; calls on the EEAS and COARM to report on iTrace any identified diversion of EU- origin goods as part of the annual report;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Believes that the increasing Europeanisation of arms production, the recent Council conclusions on convergence in arms exports and the establishment of the EPF should be complemented by a mechanism for EU-level monitoring and control based on strict compliance with the eight criteria; regrets the lack of provisions on sanctions to be imposed on Member States that fail to check compliance with the eight criteria in advance of granting licences;
Amendment 292 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 a (new)
Paragraph 25 a (new)
25a. Believes that it is time to launch a process leading to a mechanism which sanctions those Member States which do not comply with the Common Position; believes the EU final goal should be to go beyond the Common Position and put in place a common and enforceable EU arms export regime that includes a common monitoring system, a strong sanctions mechanism and a supervisory arms control body;
Amendment 295 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25 b (new)
Paragraph 25 b (new)
25b. Believes that the increasing control over the trade of dual-use goods by the Commission should be balanced by a greater participation and overview from the European Parliament and the civil society in order to restore accountability; calls again on the EU to establish clear criteria and guidelines for assessing whether to export dual-use goods and encourage information exchange between Member States;