Activities of Fabio Massimo CASTALDO related to 2022/0219(COD)
Plenary speeches (1)
European Defence Industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA) (debate)
Amendments (13)
Amendment 51 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 2 a (new)
Recital 2 a (new)
(2a) Furthermore, the Russian military aggression against Ukraine has placed some Member States in the direct neighbourhood of a war zone, with all the difficulties that the proximity to the war front implies, including accidental civilian casualties in the border area, massive movement of people fleeing the war, organisation of shipment of military and humanitarian aid; at the same time, Southern European Member States are particularly exposed to multifaceted threats and the immediate and long-term negative impacts of instability in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood;
Amendment 71 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 6
Recital 6
(6) Reinforcing the European Defence Technological and Industrial Base should therefore be at the core of those efforts. Indeed difficulties and gaps still exist and the European defence industrial base remains highly fragmented, lacking sufficient; this, in turn, causes inefficiencies in the use of taxpayers money, undermined possibilities to lunch collaborative actions, and reduced inter- operability of products.
Amendment 94 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 13
Recital 13
(13) The Short Term Instrument should offset the complexity and risks associated with such joint actions while allowing economies of scale in the actions undertaken by Member States to reinforce and modernise the European Technological and Industrial Base, increasing thereby the Union’s capacity resilience and security of supply. Incentivizsing common procurement would also result into diminished costs in terms of exploitation, maintenance and withdrawal of the systems; the instrument should ensure the participation of suppliers from all Member States and all type of companies independently from their size, thus guaranteeing a level-playing-field and exploiting the benefits of economies of scale, as well as supporting technological innovation and efficiency in the whole cycle of production of defence equipment.
Amendment 107 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 14 a (new)
Recital 14 a (new)
(14a) The Union has a specific instrument for providing defence equipment to Third Countries, namely the European Peace Facility (EPF). The Union has already provided defence equipment worth 3 billion euro to Ukraine through the EPF, and should continue to channel its support through this specific instrument.
Amendment 109 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15
Recital 15
(15) The Instrument ishould preserve and enhance coherentce with existing collaborative EU defence-related initiatives such as in the European Defence Fund as well as, the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), and generates synergies with other EU programmes.the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD), and the Capability Development Plan (CDP), and generates synergies with other EU programmes, including those that can finance programmes that can foster the cross- fertilisation between the civilian and the military domain despite the fact that they might not be specifically intended for defence-related initiatives The Instrument is fully coherent with the ambition and the findings of the Strategic Compass, with this document that should serve as a basis for the revision of the CDP and, whenever appropriate and with the aim of avoiding unnecessary duplications, it should act in coordination with the goals and priorities of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which remains the cornerstone of European security architecture.
Amendment 116 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 15 a (new)
Recital 15 a (new)
(15a) Member States that participate in the common procurement of defence products under the Instrument should have a right to invite candidate countries, notably Ukraine, Moldova and the Western Balkan countries, as well as associated countries to participate in the action. To this end, the Member States should authorise a procurement agent to enter into an agreement for procuring additional quantities of the defence product with those third countries. Such an agreement would benefit the EDTIB as those countries’ participation would provide better economies of scale and scope, higher demand and interoperability at the technical level, common training, cross-servicing and maintenance, which would provide a foundation for the later inclusion of their defence industries in the EDTIB. It would also strengthen the candidate countries’ defence capabilities for facing the multifaceted threats emanating from all strategic direction.
Amendment 141 #
Proposal for a regulation
Recital 20
Recital 20
(20) Where the Union grant takes the form of financing not linked to costs, the Commission should determine in the work programme the funding conditions for each action, in particular (a) a description of action involving cooperation for common procurement with a view to addressing the most urgent and critical capacity needs, (b) the milestones for the implementation of the action, (c) the rough order of magnitude expected from the common procurement and (d) the maximum Union contribution available; in this regard, In order to boost interoperability among the Armed Forces of EU Member States, financing for common procurement through EDIRPA should be given primarily to those consortia that see the participation of a higher Number of Member States.
Amendment 168 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
Article 2 – paragraph 1 – point 5 a (new)
(5a) ‘defence products’ mean products awarded in the fields of defence and security, within the meaning of Article 2 of Directive 2009/81/EC, as well as medical supplies and medical support equipment in order to replenish, and, if considered to be necessary in light of the changed security situation, to expand stockpiles depleted as a result of the response to the Russian military aggression against Ukraine; the list set out in the aforementioned Directive has to be interpreted in a broad way in the light of the evolving character of technology, procurement policies and military requirements. For the purpose of this regulation, defence products should also cover products which, although initially designed for civilian use, are later adapted to military purposes;
Amendment 198 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 3 – paragraph 2
Article 3 – paragraph 2
2. The objectives shall be pursued with an emphasis on strengthening and developing the Union defence industrial base to allow it to address in particular the most urgent and critical defence products needs, especiallyincluding those revealed or exacerbated by the response to the Russian aggression against Ukraine, taking into account the work of the Defence Joint Procurement Task Force as well as the need to respond adequately to the multifaceted threats emanating from every strategic direction, taking into account the Joint Communication JOIN(2022) 24 final of the Commission and the High Representative of 18 May 2022 on the Defence Investment Gaps Analysis and Way Forward and the work of the Defence Joint Procurement Task Force this can be achieved through the replenishment of stockpiles and the reinforcement of overall defence capabilities.
Amendment 221 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1 a (new)
Article 5 – paragraph 1 a (new)
The agreement between the participating Member States and the procurement agent referred to in Article 8(2) of this Regulation may authorise the procurement agent to invite and enter into an agreement for procuring additional quantities of the defence product subject to the common procurement with candidate countries. Such additional procurement arrangements shall be without prejudice to the applicable provisions of Union law and any relevant international obligations of the participating Member States. Whenever appropriate, participation to the instrument should also be opened to other third countriues in accordance with the rules and conditions already set out for the participation in PESCO projects.
Amendment 231 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 6 – paragraph 4 a (new)
Article 6 – paragraph 4 a (new)
4a. The level of EU contribution for each action must not exceed the 15 percent of the estimated value of the common procurement and is capped at 15 percent of the amount referred to in Article 4 (1). Furthermore, the EU contribution shall be defined by the following factors: (a) the strategic value of the procured defence equipment and the added value in terms of interoperability; (b) the complexity of the common procurement; (c) the number of Member States, candidate countries, and associated countries to each action, or the expansion of already existing consortia to other Member States, candidate countries, or associated countries.
Amendment 308 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 3
Article 11 – paragraph 3
3. The work programme shall set out the minimum financial size of the joint procurement actions and determine the indicative amount of financial support for actions carried out by the minimum number of Member States as referred to in point c) of Article 7 paragraph 1 as well as incentives for procurement of higher value and inclusion of additional Member States, candidate countries, or associated countries.
Amendment 316 #
Proposal for a regulation
Article 12 – paragraph 2
Article 12 – paragraph 2
2. The report shall build on consultations of Member States and key stakeholders and shall, in particular, assess the progress made towards the achievement of the objectives set out in Article 3. , and shall, in particular, evaluate the contribution of the Instrument to the: (a) creation of new cross-border cooperation between Member States, candidate countries, or associated countries; (b) increased interoperability among EU Member States armed forces; (c) participation of SMEs and mid-caps in the action, as contractors or subcontractors in the supply chain; (d) strengthening of the EDTIB throughout the Union and ensuring a level-playing field for suppliers from all the Member States; (e) replenishment of stockpiles that have been depleted, including as a result of the response to the unprovoked and unjustified military aggression against Ukraine; (f) replacement of obsolete systems, including Soviet era defence legacy systems still in use with Union solutions.