24 Amendments of Edward CZESAK related to 2017/0125(COD)
Amendment 51 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1
Recital 1
(1) In the European Defence Action Plan, adopted on 30 November 2016, the Commission committed to complement, leverage and consolidate collaborative efforts by Member States in developing defence capabilities to respond to security challenges, as well as to foster a competitive and, innovative and balanced European defence industry. It proposed in particular to launch a European Defence Fund to support investment in joint research and the joint development of defence equipment and technologies. The Fund would support cooperation during the whole cycle of defence product and technology development.
Amendment 59 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2
Recital 2
(2) In order to contribute to the enhancement of the competitiveness and innovation capacity of the Union's defence industry, and to strengthen Member States' strategic defence capabilities in cooperation with NATO, a European Defence Industrial Development Programme (hereinafter referred to as the Programme) should be established. The Programme should aim at enhancing the competitiveness of the Union's defence industry inter alia cyber defence by supporting the cooperation between undertakings in the development phase of defence products and technologies. The development phase, which follows the research and technology phase, entails significant risks and costs that hamper the further exploitation of the results of research and adversely impact the competitiveness of the Union's defence industry. By supporting the development phase, the Programme would contribute to a better exploitation of the results of defence research and it would help to cover the gap between research and production as well as to promote all forms of innovation. The Programme should complement activities carried out in accordance with Article 182 TFEU and it does not cover the production of defence products and technologies.
Amendment 66 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3
Recital 3
(3) To better exploitcreate an efficient European defence industry and to make better use of economies of scale in, the defence industryProgramme should allow for the full potential of all European actors to be utilised. Therefore, the Programme should support the cooperation between undertakings in the development of defence products and technologies and facilitate the development of cooperation between new partners.
Amendment 108 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 11
Recital 11
(11) Given that the Programme aims particularly at enhancing cooperation between undertakings across Member States, an action should be eligible for funding under the Programme only if it is undertaken by a cooperation of at least three undertakings based in at least twohree different Member States.
Amendment 116 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) As the Programme aims at enhancing the competitiveness of the Union's defence industry, only entities established in the Union and effectively controlled by Member States or their nationals should be eligible for support. Given that the aim of the Programme is to enhance the overall competitiveness of the Union's defence industry, it is important to apply the research and industrial potential of all Member States. The Programme takes into account the economic and social differences in the development of entities that form the defence industry, which had an impact on the present level of integration within the sector and the particular characters of the entities, such as their ownership structure. Therefore, an undertaking established in the Union but controlled by non-EU States or by non-EU entities would be eligible provided that this would not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and of all Member States as established in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy in accordance with Title V of the TEU and if the Member State, where the entity is located, provides other Member States with sufficient guaranties thereof. Additionally, in order to ensure the protection of essential security interests of the Union and its Member States, the infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources used by the beneficiaries and subcontractors in actions funded under the Programme, shall not be located on the territory of non-Member States.
Amendment 135 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13 a (new)
Recital 13 a (new)
(13a) For the purpose of this regulation any entity engaged in an economic activity, that is an activity consisting in offering goods or services on a given market, regardless of its legal status and the way in which it is financed, is considered an undertaking. To qualify, no intention to earn profits is required, nor are public bodies by definition excluded1a. __________________ 1aCommission Notice on the concept of undertakings concerned under Council Regulation (EEC) No 4064/89 on the control of concentrations between undertakings.
Amendment 149 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16
Recital 16
(16) The promotion of innovation and technological development in the Union defence industry should take place in a manner coherent with the security interests of the Union. Accordingly, the action's contribution to those interests and to the defence capability priorities commonly agreed by Member States should serve as an award criterion. Within the Union, common defence capability priorities are identified notably through the Capability Development Plan. Other Union processes such as the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the Permanent Structured Cooperation will support the implementation of relevant priorities through enhanced cooperation. Where appropriate regional or international cooperative initiatives, such as in the NATO context, andThe EU-NATO Declaration stressed the importance of delivering key capabilities and addressing critical shortfalls through project in such areas as preserving critical infrastructure, strengthening resilience against hybrid and cyber threats. Other EU and NATO documents suggest a need for developing strategic transport as well. Other Union processes such as the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the Permanent Structured Cooperation will support the implementation of relevant priorities through enhanced cooperation. In order to avoid duplication of actions, and given the joint commitment to develop coherent, complementary, and interoperable defence capabilities of EU Member States and NATO Allies as expressed in the Warsaw Declaration in 2016, NATO-led initiatives, as well as other regional and international cooperation programmes serving the Union security and defence interest, may alsowill be taken into account in defining the defence capability priorities by Member States and in the award procedure.
Amendment 158 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 16 a (new)
Recital 16 a (new)
(16a) Meeting the objectives of this programme requires the application of the research and industrial potential of all Member States. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid a concentration of cooperation in the defence industry, which would lead to the emergence of closed networks of partners that exclude the potential of undertakings from other regions. In this way, the Programme reflects on the lessons learned from other EU programmes such as the Horizon 2020, which strengthened existing relationships within the groups of old partners and excluded newcomers from consortia, as evidenced by uneven distribution of the programme’s funding. Therefore, contribution of project to development of cooperation between new partners should be taken into account in the award criteria.
Amendment 160 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 18
Recital 18
(18) In order to ensure that the funded actions will contribute to the competitiveness of the European defence industry, they should be market-oriented and demand driven. Therefore, the fact that Member States have already committed to jointly produce and procure the final product or technology, possibly in a coordinated way, should be taken into account in the award criteria. Given the economic significance of non-EU exports for European defence undertakings and its impact on their capabilities and investment decisions, the commitment of non-EU countries to purchase the final product or technology should serve as an award criterion on the condition that the export of the product or the technology in question does not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and all Member States as established in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy in accordance with Title V of the TEU. The EU export control regime governed by Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 and the Common Position should apply accordingly.
Amendment 176 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 21
Recital 21
(21) The Commission should establish a multiannual work programme in line with the objectives of the Programme. The Commission should be assisted in the establishment of the work programme by a committee of Member States (hereinafter referred to as Programme Committee), as close cooperation between governments (as sole customers) as well as industries (as main suppliers) and R&T organisations from different Member States is crucial for the success of the Programme. In light of the Union policy on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as key to ensuring economic growth, innovation, job creation, and social integration in the Union and the fact that the supported actions will typically require trans-national collaboration, it is of importance that the work programme will reflect and enable such cross-border participation of SMEs and that therefore a proportion of the overall budget will benefit such action. This proportion of the overall budget should also include middle capitalisation companies (mid-caps), which, for the purpose of this regulation and without prejudice to post-2020 decisions, should be understood as entities having a number of employees up to 3000, where the staff headcount is calculated in accordance with Articles 3 - 6 of Title I of the Annex to the Commission Recommendation 2003/361/EC and which are not SMEs. However, the inclusion of middle capitalisation companies (mid- caps) to this proportion of the overall budget should be without prejudice to the financial support granted to SMEs.
Amendment 190 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 22
Recital 22
(22) In order to benefit from its expertise in the defence sector and to facilitate complementarity between projects carried out on the European and NATO levels, the European Defence Agency and NATO will be given the status of an observers in the committee of Member States. The European External Action Service should also assist in the committee of Member States.
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 25
Recital 25
(25) The Commission should draw up an interim progress report by the end of the first year of implementation and an implementation report at the end of the Programme, examining and evaluating the financial activities in terms of financial implementation results and where possible, impact. This report should also analyse the cross border participation of SMEs and middle capitalisation companies (mid- caps) in projects under the Programme as well as their participation of SMEs to the global value chain. The report will also include information on the origin of beneficiaries under the Programme. The future Programme will take into account the findings of the reports from previous years as well as of the Pilot Project and Preparatory Action, in particular the contribution of the Programme to the security of all Member States and its impact on innovation and technological development as well as on balancing of defence industries across all Member States.
Amendment 212 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point a
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point a
(a) to foster the competitiveness and, innovation capacity and balance of the Union defence industry by supporting actions in their development phase of defence technologies or products;
Amendment 218 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point a a (new)
(aa) to facilitate a balanced development of the European defence industry by supporting the creation of new networks of cross-border cooperation between undertakings;
Amendment 219 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point b
(b) to support and leverage the cooperation between undertakings, including small and medium-sized enterprises and middle capitalisation companies (mid-caps), in the development of technologies or products in line with defence capability priorities commonly agreed by Member States within the Union, which reflect other relevant regional and international cooperation initiatives, primarily those carried out in the NATO context;
Amendment 258 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 4 – paragraph 3
Article 4 – paragraph 3
3. The Union's financial assistance shall be implemented by the Commission as provided for by Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 directly or indirectly by entrusting budget implementation tasks to the European Defence Agency or to entities listed in Article 58(1) (c) of that Regulation.
Amendment 286 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 2
Article 6 – paragraph 2
2. The action shall be undertaken in a cooperation of at least three undertakings which are established in at least twohree different Member States. The undertakings which are beneficiaries shall not effectively be controlled, directly or indirectly, by the same entity or shall not control each other.
Amendment 309 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7
Article 7
Amendment 344 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 a (new)
Article 7 a (new)
Article 7a Eligible Entities 1. Beneficiaries shall be undertakings established in the Union. 2. The beneficiaries’ and their subcontractors’ infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources used for the purposes of the actions funded under the Programme shall be located on the territory of the Union during the entire duration of the action, and their executive management structures shall be established in the EU. 3. For the purposes of the actions funded under the Programme, the beneficiaries and their subcontractors shall not be subject to control by non-EU States or by non-EU entities. 4. By way of derogation from paragraph 3, an undertaking established in the Union but controlled by non-EU States or by non-EU entities would be eligible under the condition that this would not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and all Member States as established in the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy in accordance with Title V of the TEU and that the Member State where the entity is located provides to other Member States sufficient guaranties thereof. Undertakings which are engaged in defence industry cooperation with the third states which are under a sanctions regime by the EU or otherwise undermine European security, or which are directly or indirectly controlled by entities from the third states which are under a sanctions regime by the EU or otherwise undermine European security should not be eligible for participation. 5. If there are no competitive substitutes readily available in the EU, and if this usage would not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and its Member States, beneficiaries and their subcontractors may use assets, infrastructure, facilities and resources located or held outside the territory of Member States or controlled by third countries. When performing an eligible action, beneficiaries and their subcontractors may also cooperate with undertakings established outside the territory of EU Member States or controlled by non-EU states or non-EU entities, if this would not contravene the security and defence interests of the Union and its Member States. 6. Beneficiaries shall provide before the signature of the funding agreement all relevant information necessary for the assessment of the eligibility criteria. 7. If the beneficiary, as defined in paragraph 1, is developing an action, as defined in Article 6, in the context of Permanent Structured Cooperation, it shall be eligible for the increased funding referred to in Article 11(2) in respect of that action.
Amendment 370 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point c
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point c
(c) contribution to the security and defence interests of the Union and commitments undertaken in the context of NATO cooperation by enhancing defence technologies which contribute to implement defence capability priorities commonly agreed by Member States within the Union; and,
Amendment 374 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point c a (new)
(ca) contribution to a balanced development of European defence industry by creation of new networks of cross-border cooperation between undertakings;
Amendment 388 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
Article 10 – paragraph 1 – point e a (new)
(ea) for actions described in points (b) to (e) of Article 6(1), the contribution to the competitiveness of the European defence industry through the demonstration by the beneficiaries that non-EU countries have committed to procure the final product or technology.
Amendment 447 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 14 – paragraph 2
Article 14 – paragraph 2
2. The proposals submitted following the call for proposals shall be evaluated by the Commission assisted by independent expertexperts representing all Member States on the basis of the award criteria of Article 10.
Amendment 451 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 16 – paragraph 1
Article 16 – paragraph 1
1. The Commission shall be assisted by a committee. That committee shall be a committee within the meaning of Regulation (EU) No 182/2011. The European Defence Agency and NATO shall be invited as observers.