27 Amendments of Richard SULÍK related to 2018/0254(COD)

Proposal for a regulation
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 technological and industrial capabilities to respond to security challenges, as well as to foster a competitive, innovative and efficient European defence industry and the creation of a true and integrated European defence market. It proposed in particular to launch a European Defence Fund (the 'Fund') to support investments in joint research and the joint development of defence products and technologies, thus fostering synergies and cost-effectiveness, and to promote the Member States’ joint purchase and maintenance of defence equipment. This Fund would complement national funding already used for this purpose and should act as an incentive for Member States to cooperate and invest more in defence. The Fund would support cooperation during the whole cycle of defence products and technologies.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
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 technological and industrial capabilities to respond to security challenges, as well as to foster a competitive, innovative ~~and~~, efficient European defence industry and to create a more integrated defence market in Europe. It proposed in particular to launch a European Defence Fund (the 'Fund') to support investments in joint research and the joint development of defence products and technologies, thus fostering synergies and cost-effectiveness, and to promote the Member States’ joint purchase and maintenance of defence equipment. This Fund would complement national funding already used for this purpose and should act as an incentive for Member States to cooperate and invest more in defence. The Fund would support cooperation during the whole cycle of defence products and technologies.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 a (new)

(1 a) On 7 June 2017, the Commission adopted a Communication launching the European Defence Fund. A two-step approach was proposed: firstly, to test the approach, initial financing for both research and development has been made available under the 2014-2020 Multi- Annual Financial Framework ('MFF') by the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2018/10921a; secondly, a dedicated Fund would be established under the MFF 2021-2027 scaling up the funding for collaborative research in innovative defence products and technologies and for subsequent stages of the development cycle, including the development of prototypes. There should be a consistent and coherent approach between those two steps. _________________ 1a Regulation (EU) 2018/1092 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 establishing the European Defence Industrial Development Programme aiming at supporting the competitiveness and innovation capacity of the Union's defence industry

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 b (new)

(1 b) The defence sector is characterised by increasing costs of defence equipment and by high R&D costs that limit the launch of new defence programmes and directly impact on the competitiveness and innovation capacity of the EU industry. In view of the cost escalation, of the magnitude of non-recurring R&D expenses and of the small series that can be procured nationally, the development of a new generation of major defence systems and of new defence technologies is increasingly beyond the reach of single EU Member States.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 1 c (new)

(1 c) The situation of the defence sector has been further exacerbated by important cuts in defence budgets across Europe in the past 10 years, affecting in particular R&D and equipment expenditures. Between 2006 and 2013 real defence expenditure levels in the EDA participating Member States were reduced by 12%. Considering that defence R&D is the basis for the development of the future cutting edge defence technologies, such trends are particularly worrying and pose a serious challenge to the capacity to maintain EU’s defence industry competitiveness over the long term.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 3

(3) Following an integrated approach and in order to contribute to the enhancement of the competitiveness and innovation capacity of the Union's defence industry, a European Defence Fund should be established. The Fund should aim at enhancing the competitiveness, innovation, efficiency and autonomy of the Union's defence industry thereby contributing to the Union's strategic autonomy by supporting the cross border cooperation between Member States and between enterprises, research centres, national administrations, international organisations and universities, in the research phase and in the development phase of defence products and technologies. This should also improve the efficiency of the single market in the defence sector which would ultimately mean better value for money for the Member States. To achieve more innovative and interoperable solutions and an open internal market, the Fund should support the cross-border participation of defence small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and middle capitalisation companies (mid-caps).

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 8

(8) The difficulty to agree on consolidated defence capability requirements and common technical specifications or standards hampers cross- border collaboration between Member States and between legal entities based in different Member States. The absence of such requirements, specifications and standards has led to increased fragmentation of the defence sector, technical complexity, delays ~~and~~, inflated costs, unnecessary duplication of capabilities as well as decreased interoperability. The agreement on common technical specifications should be a prerequisite for actions involving a higher level of technological readiness. Activities of Member States leading to common defence capability requirements and supporting studies as well as actions aiming at supporting the creation of a common definition of technical specifications or standards should also be eligible for support by the Fund.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Richard SULÍK

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 9

(9) As the objective of the Fund is to support the competitiveness and innovation of the Union defence industry by leveraging and complementing collaborative defence research and technology activities and ~~de-risking the~~ bearing some of the risk of the development phase of cooperative projects, actions related to the research and development of a defence product or technology should be eligible to benefit from it. This will also apply to the upgrade, including the interoperability thereof, of existing defence products and technologies.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 10

(10) Given that the Fund aims particularly at enhancing cooperation between legal entities and Member States across Europe, an action should be eligible for funding only if it is undertaken by a cooperation of at least three legal entities based in at least three different Member States and/or associated countries. ~~At least three of these legal eligible entities established in at least two different Member States and/or associated countr~~On the top of it, a cooperation might include legal entities from an associated country. Legal eligible entities should not be effectively controlled, directly or indirectly, by the same entity or should not control each other. In order to boost the cooperation between Member States the Fund may support joint pre-commercial procurement .

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 23

(23) The promotion of innovation and technological development in the Union defence industry should take place in a manner coherent with the security and defence interests of the Union. Accordingly, the action's contribution to those interests and to the defence research and capability priorities commonly agreed by Member States should serve as an award criterion. Within the Union, common defence research and capability shortfalls are identified in the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) framework notably through Overarching Strategic Research Agenda and the Capability Development Plan. Other Union processes such as the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence and the Permanent Structured Cooperation will support the implementation of relevant priorities through identifying and taking forward opportunities for enhanced cooperation with a view to fulfilling the EU level of ambition on security and defence. ~~Where appropriate, r~~Regional and international priorities, including those in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation context, mayust also be taken into account if they are in line with Union priorities and do not prevent any Member State or an associated country from participating, while also taking into account that unnecessary duplication should be avoided.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 38 a (new)

(38 a) The European Court of Auditors shall also consider value for money of projects financed by the Fund. The Commission must take these audits into account without undue delay.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Recital 39

(39) Third countries which are members of the European ~~Economic Area (EEA) may parti~~Free Trade Associpat~~e in Union programmes in the framework of the cooperation established under the EEA agreement, which provides for the implementation of the programmes by a decision under that agreement~~ion (EFTA) and the United Kingdom may participate in Union programmes. A specific provision should be introduced ~~in this Regulation~~ to grant the necessary rights for and access to the authorising officer responsible, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) as well as the European Court of Auditors to comprehensively exert their respective competences.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Richard SULÍK

Proposal for a regulation
Article 5 – paragraph 1

The Fund shall be open to the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) members ~~which are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), in accordance with the conditions laid down in the EEA agreement~~and to the United Kingdom.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 7 – paragraph 5

5. Actions which are not ethically acceptable ~~may~~shall be rejected or terminated at any time.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point a

(a) ~~the control over the applicant will not be exercised in a manner that restricts in any way its~~ it is not exclusively controlled by third countries or by entities estabili~~ty to perform and complete the action~~shed in third countries;

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 2 – point c a (new)

(c a) all other relevant information about the infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources to be used in the action.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 3

3. All infrastructure, facilities, assets and resources used in actions financed under the Fund shall be located on the territory of the Union or associated countries. Furthermore, when performing an eligible action, beneficiaries and their subcontractors shall cooperate only with legal entities established in the Union or in an associated country and not exclusively controlled by non-associated third countries or non- associated third country entities.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 10 – paragraph 4 a (new)

4 a. Where appropriate, and in order to achieve the objectives of the Programme, beneficiaries may cooperate with entities located in third countries, and especially if those have a relevant expertise for the action financed. However, the undertakings that cooperate with beneficiaries shall not be located in third countries that are not identified in the work programme.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 11 – paragraph 4

4. Unless otherwise provided for in the work programme referred to in Article 27, the action shall be undertaken in a cooperation of at least three legal entities which are established in at least three different Member States ~~and/or associated countries. At least three of these eligible entities established in at least two Member States and/or associated countries shall not, during the whole imp~~. On the top of it, a cooperation might include legal entities from associated countries. Legal eligiblem entaiti~~on of the action,~~es shall not be effectively controlled, directly or indirectly, by the same entity~~, and~~ or shall not control each other.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 27 – paragraph 1 a (new)

1 a. The work programme shall set out in detail the categories of projects to be funded under the Programme and their direct relation to the objectives set out in Article 3.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 27 – paragraph 1 b (new)

1 b. The work programme shall ensure that a credible proportion of the overall budget will benefit actions enabling the cross-border participation of SMEs, possibly on the basis of a specific project category focusing on SMEs cross-border participation.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 29 – paragraph 2

2. Independent experts shall be Union's citizens identified and selected on the basis of open and transparent calls for expressions of interest addressed to relevant organisations such as Ministries of Defence and subordinated agencies, research institutes, universities, business associations or enterprises of the defence sector with a view to establishing a list of experts. By derogation from Article [237] of the Financial Regulation, this list shall not be made public.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 29 – paragraph 2 a (new)

2 a. The Commission should ensure that its relevant rules on avoiding conflicts of interest are applied strictly.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 29 – paragraph 2 b (new)

2 b. The Commission should endeavour to ensure that the experts are drawn from as broad a range of Member States as possible.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO

Proposal for a regulation
Article 32 – paragraph 4

4. The Commission shall ~~communicate the conclusions of the evaluations~~send the evaluations as referred to in paragraph 2 and 3, accompanied by its observations, to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions.

2018/10/11
Committee: IMCO