Activities of Nikos ANDROULAKIS related to 2019/2135(INI)
Plenary speeches (1)
Annual report on the implementation of the common foreign and security policy - Annual report on the implementation of the common security and defence policy (debate)
Amendments (24)
Amendment 25 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Notes the lasting deterioration in the Union’s strategic environment in the face of multiple challenges directly or indirectly affecting the security of its Member States and citizens: armed conflicts immediately to the east and south of the European continent, jihadist terrorism, cyber attacks, uncontrolled migrationdisinformation campaigns, increasing threats to natural resources, climate change, etc.;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Considers that instability and unpredictability on the Union’s borders and in its immediate neighbourhood (north Africa, the Middle East, Ukraine, the Caucasus, the Balkans, Eastern Mediterranean etc.) pose a direct threat to the security of the continent; stresses the inextricable link between internal and external security;
Amendment 48 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Expresses serious concerns over Turkey's overall destabilizing behavior, including its illegal activities within Cyprus’ EEZ/continental shelf, which violates International Law and good neighbourly relations and threatens peace and stability in an already fragile region;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Continues to condemn Russia’s military intervention and illegal annexation of Crimean peninsula; ensures support for Ukraine's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 a (new)
Paragraph 4 a (new)
4 a. Recalls the importance of ensuring the coherence of EU policy as regards situations involving the occupation or annexation of territory;
Amendment 62 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 b (new)
Paragraph 4 b (new)
4 b. Notes that targeted restrictive measures can be effective tools, but stresses that they should not affect innocent people and should be in line with the principles of UN Charter and of the CFSP;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4 c (new)
Paragraph 4 c (new)
4 c. Reiterates its support for Commission President Juncker’s call in his State of the Union Address on 12 September 2018 to move from unanimity to QMV in specific areas of the CFSP, including decisions on sanctions;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Is convinced that the response to the Union’s security challenges lies primarily in strengthening its strategic autonomy; therefore, supports moving ahead on security and defence integration, including, in the long term, the creation of a common European Army;
Amendment 96 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7 a (new)
Paragraph 7 a (new)
7 a. Welcomes the achievements of the last five years regarding the strengthening of the Common Security and Defence Policy and calls on the Council and the Commission to develop further the Union’s capacities to act as a global partner, representing the interests of European citizens and acting as a positive force in international relations;
Amendment 228 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23 a (new)
Paragraph 23 a (new)
23 a. Welcomes the recognition that there is no security without women and stresses the importance of the participation of women in negotiations and missions;
Amendment 231 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Stresses the need to assess missions and operations on a regular basis in order to make them more effective; calls on the EEAS and the Commission to draw up mandates and budgets which are appropriate to the operations concerned and to provide for an exit strategy; calls, in that connection, for more regular information sharing and consultations with the relevant parliamentary committees prior, during and after the missions and operations, and calls on the latter to focus their missions and delegations on areas where CSDP missions and operations are deployed; demands that the European Parliament - alongside national parliaments has a strengthened role in CSDP respect, so as to guarantee the parliamentary oversight of the EU Common Security and Defence Policy and its budget;
Amendment 234 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Recalls the importance of organising joint training and exercises between European armed forces, thereby promoting interoperability, with a view to maximising mission preparedness and addressing a broad range of threats, both conventional and non-conventional; welcomes in that respect the European Initiative for the Exchange of Military Young Officers (Military Erasmus - EMILYO), operated by the European Security and Defence College, which aims to enable the national military education and training institutions to explore possibilities for quantitative and qualitative exchange of Knowledge and know-how;
Amendment 282 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34 a (new)
Paragraph 34 a (new)
34 a. Recalls that the solidarity clause (Article 222 TFEU) also provides the Union and the Member States with the possibility of providing assistance to a Member State that is the object of a terrorist attack or the victim of a natural or man-made disaster; recalls that the 2013 Cybersecurity Strategy of the European Union states that “a particularly serious cyber incident or attack could constitute sufficient ground for a Member State to invoke the EU Solidarity Clause (article 222 TFEU); reminds that the Council Decision 2014/415/EU ‘on the arrangements for the implementation by the Union of the solidarity clause’, establishes that the solidarity clause calls for the Union to mobilise all the instruments at its disposal, including the structures developed in the framework of the CSDP; calls on Member States to consider the activation of the solidarity clause in the future;
Amendment 284 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 35
Paragraph 35
35. Believes that the implementation of CSDP missions and operations must be backed up by flexible instruments in order to make it easier for the Union and its Member States to commit to ensuring European strategic autonomy, in the service of the stability of the European continent; stresses, in this connection, the effectiveness of modular, multipurpose and genuinely operational command structures, such as the European Corps (Eurocorps); notes that the missions of this command structure have been successfully extended and diversified: between 2015 and 2018 the European Corps was deployed four times as part of the EU training missions in Mali and the Central African Republic (EUTM Mali and EUTM RCA); calls on the Member States and the Commission to follow this example of flexible and operational cooperation, which has already proved valuable and effective; believes that the set up of an EU Operational Headquarters as a could be a good step for the effective planning, command and control of common operations;
Amendment 307 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 38
Paragraph 38
Amendment 365 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 45
Paragraph 45
45. Questions the slow start-up of the 34 projects and the delays to the launch of a third wave of 13 projects, given that none are as yet up and running; notes that only four projects will reach their initial operational capacity in 2019; highlights the lack of ambition and scale of some projects, which do not address the most obvious capability gaps, particularly those in the first wave, which are primarily capability projects involving as many Member States as possible; notes that the desired inclusion of participation in PESCO projects should not jeopardise a high level of ambition on the part of the participating Member States; considers that the involvement of third countries and the entities of third countries’ involvement should be subject to stringent conditions and based on established and effective reciprocity; calls on the Member States to submit projects with a strategic European dimension, thereby strengthening the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base (EDTIB), which is an essential part of the strategic autonomisation process and relates more to the operational side in order to respond directly to the operational needs of European armed forces;
Amendment 370 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Stresses the still virtual nature of the European Defence Fund; points out that that this instrument has not yet been finally approved, with only partial and political agreement having been given in April 2019; stresses the importance of maintaining Parliament’s position concerning the amount of the EDF, the involvement of third countries and the establishment of an appropriate intellectual property policy in relation to security and defence in order to protect research results; draws attention, in that connection, to the highly sensitive and strategic nature of defence research, both for industrial competitiveness and for the strategic autonomy of the Union; calls for the initial lessons learned from the implementation of the EDIDP (in particular concerning the application of derogations for eligible entities), the pilot project and the preparatory action on defence research to be properly taken into account; calls on the Member States to be fully involved in the decision-making process in order to avoid bureaucratic excesses and to ensure that the programmes included address the strategic needs of the CSDP and the Member States; considers that the success of the EDF will depend on its ability to cater for the specific defence needs of the participating states and to guarantee the availability of sufficient budgetary resources, whilst ensuring that industrial know-how is not duplicated, national defence investment is not crowded out and cooperation does not become over- complicated; considers that developing the European defence industry by regulating access for entities controlled by non-EU third parties to projects financed by the Fund is fully consistent with the European ambition of strategic autonomy;
Amendment 375 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Stresses the still virtual nature of the European Defence Fund; points out that that this instrument has not yet been finally approved, with only partial and political agreement having been given in April 2019; stresses the importance of maintaining Parliament’s position concerning the amount of the EDF, the involvement of third countries and the establishment of an appropriate intellectual property policy in relation to security and defence in order to protect research results; draws attention, in that connection, to the highly sensitive and strategic nature of defence research, both for industrial competitiveness and for the strategic autonomy of the Union; calls for the initial lessons learned from the implementation of the EDIDP (in particular concerning the application of derogations for eligible entities), the pilot project and the preparatory action on defence research to be properly taken into account; calls on the Member States to be fully involved in the decision-making process in order to avoid bureaucratic excesses and to ensure that the programmes included address the strategic needs of the CSDP and the Member States; considers that the success of the EDF will depend on its ability to cater for the specific defence needs of the participating states and to guarantee the availability of sufficient budgetary resources, whilst ensuring that industrial know-how is not duplicated, national defence investment is not crowded out and cooperation does not become over-complicated; considers that developing the European defence industry by regulating access for entities controlled by non-EU third parties to projects financed by the Fund is fully consistent with the European ambition of strategic autonomy and does not contravene the security and defence interests of the EU and its Member States;
Amendment 404 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50
50. Believes that the Union and its Member States face an unprecedented threat in the form of cyber attacks as well as cyber crime, disinformation campaigns and terrorism; believes that the nature of cyber attacks makes them a threat that requires a Union-level response; encourages the Member States to provide mutual assistance in the event of a cyber attack against any one of them;
Amendment 443 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57
Paragraph 57
57. Draws attention to NATO’s fundamental role in collective defence, as explicitly recognised in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; believes that the EU-NATO partnership is essential for addressing the security challenges facing Europe and its neighbourhood; believes that EU-NATO cooperation should be complementarymutually reinforcing and takes full account of each of the two institution’s specific features and roles and should continue to take place in full respect of the principles of inclusiveness, reciprocity and decision- making autonomy of both organizations;
Amendment 449 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 57
Paragraph 57
57. Draws attention to NATO’s fundamental role in collective defence, as explicitly recognised in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; believes that the EU-NATO partnership is essential for addressing the security challenges facing Europe and its neighbourhood; believes that EU-NATO cooperation should be complementarymutually reinforcing and takes full account of each of the two institution’s specific features and roles;
Amendment 453 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 58
Paragraph 58
58. Notes the importance of the EU-UN partnership in the resolution of international conflicts in the framework of existing agreed negotiating formats based on the norms and principles of international law, UN Charter and OSCE 1975 Helsinki Final Act and peace- building activities; calls on both organisations to further coordinate their efforts in areas where they deploy major civilian and military missions, in order to avoid duplication and optimise synergies;
Amendment 455 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 59
Paragraph 59
59. Stresses the importance of cooperation between the Union and other international institutions, in particular the African Union and the OSCE; considers that the Union should also strengthen dialogue and cooperation with third countries in the region and with regional and sub-regional organisations; also believes that a stable and peaceful environment in the Union’s neighbourhood countries are essential in order to stabilize the region, protect the residents, keep the peace and prevent conflicts. Notes with regret that the European Council failed to move forward concerning the enlargement of the Union towards the Western Balkans, in particular with respect to the opening of membership negotiations with North Macedonia and Albania. Urges the Member States, the Council and the European Commission to maintain a strong relationship with the countries of the Western Balkans, acting on earlier commitments of the EU as regards their European perspective, supporting their reforms aiming at the fulfilment of the Copenhagen Criteria for EU Membership; ensuring that each country is judged according to their real progress towards these requirements; maintaining a credible framework for enlargement; and further deepening the region’s integration in order to ensure the stable and peaceful development of the Western Balkans as a strategic partner of the European Union;
Amendment 465 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 60 a (new)
Paragraph 60 a (new)
60a. In order to tackle the threat of nuclear proliferation stresses the importance of multilateral negotiations among the European Union and the involved parties; urges to respect the nuclear treaties, to support closing new treaty which replace the INF (Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces)Treaty and to renewing the Non- Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 2020;