19 Amendments of Geoffrey VAN ORDEN related to 2012/2318(INI)
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas different maritime zones have become interconnected, thus influencing each other and maritime flows elsewhere, with overfishing and environmental degradation being increasingly prevalent across the globe, whether due to the impact of critical maritime projects, such as the construction of canals or port infrastructure opening new competing routes, or to local and proxy conflicts, piracy and organised crime operating in lawless zones, causing maritime bottlenecks and diversions; whereas this increasingly changing reality has highlighted the need for the EU to develop partnerships in order to fight the causes of instability and look for sustainable holistic solutions; whereas instability in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Somalia in the Horn of Africa is one of the most telling examples of this complexity and has motivated the creation of the EU's first ever naval operation, EUNAVFOR Atalanta, within the f, providing an opportunity for the EU to develop a CSDP role with a naval operation, EUNAVFOR Atalanta, to take on part of the UN World Food Programmework of the CSDP (WFP) vessel escort role previously undertaken by NATO's Operations Allied Provider and Allied Protector;
Amendment 35 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital H
Recital H
Amendment 51 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes, however, that the justification for a European Maritime Security Strategy is needed to ensure an integrated and comprehensive approach, focusing specifically on thethe comprehensive approach; this seeks to focus on the full range of threats, risks, challenges and opportunities present at sea; that an EMSS, while apparently grounded in European values and principles, mustambitiously seeks to develop synergies and joint responses mobilising all relevant institutions and actors, both civilian and military, as if the EU uniquely is engaged in such matters; that the EMSS shouldpurports to identify all potential threats, from conventional security threats to those posed by natural disasters and climate change, from threats affecting the protection of vital marine resources to the security of maritime infrastructure and trade flows; that it must also identify the specific means and, in order to justify EU acquisition of the full range of capabilities needed to address allevery conceivable challenges, including intelligence, surveillance and patrolling, search and rescue, sealift, evacuation of EU and other nationals from crisis zones, enforcing embargoes, and assistance to any CSDP- led missions and operations;
Amendment 63 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. HighlightWelcomes the fact that an integrated maritime approach such as this, which combines civilian instruments and military tools and encompasses both internal and external aspects of security, is already taking shape at national level in some Member States, and should therefore be reinforced at Union level; stresses the role that can and should be played by maritime nations in fostering positive regional maritime integration; stresses that regional maritime integration initiatives can and should lead to the pooling and sharing of critical naval assets in order to meet the EU's capacity needs;
Amendment 70 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Notes that direct and indirect risks to the security of the EUEU Member States are currently posed by non-conventional threats and actors intending to proliferate terrorism and weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the southern neighbourhood and further into the African continent, taking advantage of difficulties in enforcing the law in maritime zones, coastal areas and in general resulting from state failure, state fragility or lack of state control; notes that these threats and actors dangerously interact with organised criminal networks which engage in human trafficking and other illicit activities, such as trafficking in drugs and arms, including small arms and light weapons and WMD components, thereby worsening political and humanitarian crises, obstructing social and economic development, democracy and the rule of law, fuelling deprivation and causing migration, internal displacement of people and immense human suffering;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Stresses that the Mediterranean is home to a number of regional conflicts involving maritime border disputes and therefore urges the EU to commit itself to avoiding the further escalation of conflict around the Mediterranean, which willrisk amplifying existing threats, such as the consequences of the civil war in Syria and the impact on its maritime zone and on that of neighbouring countries, the political instability and lack of governance capacities in Libya, Egypt, and Tunisia, the knock-on effect in neighbouring Morocco and Algeria, which are still at odds over the Western Sahara conflict and directly affected by the escalation of the conflict in Mali and the Sahel region; further alerts to the danger stemming from the interconnectedness of the crises in the Mediterranean and the instability and conflict in the Middle East, the Sahel, the Horn of Africa, West Africa and Sub- Saharan Africa, all of which represent security threats to our nations unless robust border controls are instituted and a more rigorous approach is taken to immigration;
Amendment 110 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Points out that instability, terrorism and criminality off the West African coast are deeply linked to instability in the Sahel region as a whole; urges the EU, therefore, in the context of the CSDP civilian mission EUCAP Sahel Niger, to integrate counter-terrorism efforts in the Sahel region in a regional and comprehensive strategy to fight threats at sea off the West African coast, in particular in the Gulf of Guinea; in this connection, calls on the EU to ensure coordination between the two CSDP missions in the region – EUCAP Sahel Niger and EUTM Mali –, as well as with the efforts on the mainland and those at sea, in order to fight terrorism and other organised crime in the region;
Amendment 114 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Calls on the HR/VP to map EU Member States' and ACP partners' facilitiEU Member States to fulfil their obligations to the NATO Alliance, which has already has access to bases in strategic locations – such as the Lajes Air Base in the Azores, Portugal, and the Cape Verde islands – which may be usedenable the Alliance to develop specific naval and air operations to counter proliferation, terrorism, piracy and organised crime in the Gulf of Guinea and wider South Atlantic Ocean, in a three-way partnership involving transatlantic cooperation with the US, Canada, Brazil and other Latin American countries as well as EU-African Union cooperationinvolving all transatlantic allies;
Amendment 117 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 29
Paragraph 29
29. Highlights the recent but reversible success achieved by EUNAVFOR Atalanta in curbing the occurrence of pirate attacks in the Western Indian Ocean and in enhancing the credibility of the CSDP; notes that Operation Atalanta is the first ever CSDP naval mission and that it should constitute a basis for the further development and implementation of the maritime dimension of the CDSP, taking stock of its successes, its shortcomings and lessons learned; commends the EU's coordinating role and the cooperative environment between Atalanta and other security partners in the region, suCommends the maritime industry's work on Best Management Practices, including the use of Private Armed Security Guards (PASGs) on board ships, and notes their success in reducing ships' vulnerability to attack which has NATO's operation Ocean Shield, as well as the navies of some regional emerging powers; the same is true for the cooperation with other EU actors, such as the SatCen and EMSA, particularly in the field of satellite vessel imagery interpretation, even when there are no formal arrangements underpinning such coopbeen the single most useful contribution to combating piracy; also highlights the recent but reversible success achieved by the proliferation of internation; calls on the EU to formalise the bridging among existing EU tools and bodies, such as that developed among Atalanta, EMSA and SatCen, so as to avoid duplication of tasks, resources and expertise and to reap the clear operational benefits of such synergiesal maritime effort in helping to curb the occurrence of pirate attacks in the Western Indian Ocean;
Amendment 119 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 30
Paragraph 30
30. Stresses that the time-honoured comprehensive approach concept, which in this particular case stems from theis used as justification for the EU's ambitious Strategic Framework Strategy for the Horn of Africa, is evident in the combination of the three ongoing CSDP missions in the region (EUNAVFOR Atalanta, EU Training Mission in Somalia and EUCAP Nestor), flanked by political engagement and development policies; welcomnotes the activation of the EU Operations Centre, with the aim of facilitating the coordination and strengthening the synergies among these missions, which represents a significant further step in the development of CSDP; points out that this example of complementarity and coordination shonotes that a permanent EU OHQ would be a financially and militarily wastefuld inspire other suchitiative at ac tions where CSDP missions and operations are engaged in response to a multifaceted pme of diminishing defence budgets and would duplicate the roblem; notes that a permanent General HQ for CSDP could only further enhance the integration of any naval component in CSDP missions and operations of NATO's SHAPE headquarters in which all EU Member States have, at some stage, been involved;
Amendment 131 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 34
Paragraph 34
34. Calls on the HR/VPMember States to identify the risks to peace and the security of maritime flows and open access that European ships, commercial interests and citizens may face if tension and armed conflict were to escalate in the East and the South China Seas; calls also as a matter of urgency for identification of the means and capabilities, particularly naval capabilities, that the EU may eventually need to deploy in the region, in order to evacuate EU and other nationals, preserve and defend its interests and international legality and participate in any international endeavours to deter brinkmanship, contain aggression and guarantee the security and safety of navigation in the East and the South China seas, as well as in the Strait of Malacca;
Amendment 136 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 36
Paragraph 36
36. Strongly bBelieves that the financial crisis should be seen as an opportunity to implement the ‘Pooling and Sharing’ initire are many ways in which opportunities for further collaborativeon in the field of maritime capability generation in a truly European manner, which is the only way to guarantee that Europe is able and fit to meet global security challengcan be taken forward but that none of these require EU involvement; notes that political declarations on the principle of pooling and sharing do not replace either the investments needed to procure military capabilities or the political will to deploy such capabilities;
Amendment 137 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 37
Paragraph 37
Amendment 142 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 39
Paragraph 39
Amendment 149 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 41
Paragraph 41
41. Recalls the need for the consolidation of an EU-based and EU-funded technological base in the field of defence, including naval construction and equipment production capabilities; recalls, in light of the current economic and financial crisis, that the inception of, and support for, capable, self- sustainable European defence industries means the creation of jobs and growth; calls for a more qualitative dialogue with industrial stakeholders, as the development of naval capacities entails many years of commitment; stresses the need for EU Member States and the industry to rationalise and harmonise standards to ensure European operational compatibility in the field of maritime and naval capabilities, including communication systems and technology;
Amendment 151 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 44
Paragraph 44
Amendment 157 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 46
Paragraph 46
46. Given that EU and NATO membersour nations each have only one set of naval forces, calls for greater strategic coordination between the two organisations on maritime security; is of the view that the future EU Maritime Security Strategy should be independent of, yet complementary to, that of the Alliance in order to help tackle a maximum number of the abovementioned challenges while ensuring optimal use of the limited maritime assets; welcomes the positive results arising from the co- location of the two organisations' Operational Headquarters at Northwood;and that EU generates no additional military capability, believes that ithe EU should focus on the clear added value stemming from its comprehensive approach to dealing with multifaceted challenges, as demonstrated in the case of the diplomatic, financial and judicial follow-up to Atalanta's effective fight against piracyinstead focus improving its civil capabilities, which might actually give useful added value;
Amendment 159 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 50
Paragraph 50