Activities of Marc BOTENGA related to 2022/2079(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on Critical technologies for security and defence: state of play and future challenges
Amendments (21)
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas a strong and a technologically competitive defence sector is crucial for Europe’s security and prosperitysecurity is a comprehensive concept, including economic, environmental and human dimensions, and cannot be attained principally or solely through military means; whereas massive financial and political support for the European defence sector serves primarily the profits and interests of the arms industry and will not increase security but rather amplify armed conflicts;
Amendment 12 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has shown that Europe needs to invest robustly in its defence and security technologiein 2020, European Defence Agency Member States' total defence expenditure already reached 198 billion euros, which is more than China's defence budget that year and three times that of Russia; whereas Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has triggered another important increase in Member States' defence and security spending, including the German government's decision to create a 100-billion euro special fund for its army, potentially putting Germany in the third position worldwide in terms of defence expenditure; whereas such increases in defence spending and subsidies to the arms industry inevitably come to the detriment of social, health and climate investments;
Amendment 22 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital D
Recital D
D. whereas cutting-edge technologies, and in particular fast-evolving digital technologies, are ever more important factors in sustaining and strecan play a role in strengthening security, but also in fighting climate change and advancing public health; whereas funding research and development of disruptive security and defence technologies, such as fully or partially autonomous weapons, risks further fueling thening Europe’s defence industrie arms race by pushing potential opponents towards greater automation of their weapons systems, which could ultimately lead to the introduction of killer robots;
Amendment 27 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E
Recital E
E. whereas at the end of 2019, the European Union had 178 types of weapons, against just 30 in the United States; whereas this fragmentation of Europe’s defence sector and the European defence market leads to inefficient use of economic resources and reduced, excess defence spending and duplication of defence capabilities;
Amendment 30 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital E a (new)
Recital E a (new)
E a. Whereas the European Defence Fund (EDF 2021–2027) has a budget of €8 billion for military research and development; whereas under its two precursor programmes, the Preparatory Action for Defence Research (PADR 2017–2019) and the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP 2019–2020), almost €600 million of European public money was granted to highly lucrative private companies producing and exporting arms and military technologies, as well as private research centres;
Amendment 32 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F
Recital F
F. whereas some criticalcivilian technologies which could be available for use in the defence sector originate in the civilian sectorshould serve civilian purposes; whereas the use of critical technologies by the defence sector should be strictly limited to territorial defence purposes, in line with international law, and cshould qualify for dual use if obstacles were removedbe overseen by public authorities, ethics experts, workers and trade unions;
Amendment 34 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital F a (new)
Recital F a (new)
F a. whereas EU funding of research and innovation activities should comply with stringent ethical principles and relevant national, Union and international legislation, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union and the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and its Supplementary Protocols, the precautionary principle, and international humanitarian law, rules and initiatives relating to ethical raw materials and supply chains, and anti-corruption and anti-money laundering rules and initiatives;
Amendment 36 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital G
Recital G
G. whereas public-led research and innovation involving academia, private enterprise and the public sectortrade unions and workers has the potential to accelerate the development of Europe’s cutting-edge technologies; whereas data silos due to monopolistic intellectual property rights regimes have weakened innovation;
Amendment 49 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WelcomeRejects the Commission’s roadmap for critical technologies for security and defence; emphasises the needpotential for greater involvement of the European Union in coordinating and facilitating the development of security- and defence- relatedcritical technology; underlines that the EU’s global technological competitivenessadvancement is highly dependent on public-led innovation and the ability to deploy new technologies safely and rapidly;
Amendment 55 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recognises the need, highlighted in the roadmap, to identify technologies critical for EU security and defence; stresses that the proposal for a coordinated EU-wide strategic approach on critical technologies for security and defence to be taken from the outset is the right way forwardDeplores the EU's increasing intention to invest in military hardware and advanced technologies, rather than in building or maintaining peace; recalls that according to Article 41.2 of the Treaty on European Union, expenditure arising from operations having military or defence implications shall not be charged to the Union budget;
Amendment 60 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Underlines that the combined social and climate emergencies, as well as the worsening of the security situation in Europe after Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression against Ukraine, demands a stronger and better coordinated effort by the European Union and its Member States to invest in critical security and defence technologies; is concerned that the growing global demand for conventional weapon systems in the context of the war in Ukraine may have a negative effect on investments in the development of new technologieeradicate and prevent the root causes of current and future conflicts by investing in diplomatic, political and civilian approaches involving multilateral fora, thus achieveing greater collective security and an overall reduction of costs for defence; is concerned that the growing global demand for conventional weapon systems in the context of the war in Ukraine may lead to a new global arms race, which would have a negative effect on collective security and on investments in the development of new technologies needed to combat climate change and public health threats;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. WelcomNotes the Commission’s setting up an observatory of critical technologies; calls on the Commission to fully integrate the findings of the observatory in its classified report to Member States on critical technologies and risks associated with strategic dependencies affecting security, space and defence; stresses the need for the Commission to further coordinate and facilitate cooperation between the Member States in order to address the existing technology gaps, reduce duplication and rationalize spending;
Amendment 73 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Notes that the there is a risk of dependency for the supply of critical materials and of overstretched supply chains that may affect the EU’s capability to stay competitive in the field of critical technologies for security and defence, in a context of increasing global economic interdependence, a certain degree of dependency for the supply of critical materials is inevitable; takes the view that sourcing of critical raw materials, technologies and components from third countries in the field of critical technologies should be based on fair trade, equal partnerships and co- operation for mutual benefit; calls on the Commission to take the lead with a special research programme on new materials for critical technologies so as to minimise the EU’s dependency on third countriepolluting industries for raw materials;
Amendment 83 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. WelcomeRejects the creation of an EU defence innovation scheme and the ongoing work with various tools relating to defence and new and dual-use technologies in order to help innovative start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises overcome high technological, administrative, regulatory and market entry hurdles; calls on the Commission to encourage Member States, as the end users, to fully utilise cross-border innovation networks; regrets the excessive influence of industrial lobby groups on EU policy; notes in this regard that nine of the 16 representatives in the Group of Personalities on Defence Research, set up by the European Commission (EC) in 2015, were affiliated with arms companies, arms research institutes and an arms industry lobby organisation;
Amendment 85 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 6 a (new)
Paragraph 6 a (new)
6 a. Calls for a ban on autonomous weapons systems, regardless of their degree of automation, to be enshrined in international law through the Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) or a newly drafted instrument; calls on the Commission to ensure that the Union does not finance research and development activities related to such weapons;
Amendment 89 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Acknowledges the need for close coordination with like-minded partners such as the United States and NATO; welcomes the commitment by the Commission and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR) to exploring EU-US cooperation in the context of the EU-US Trade and Technology Council; welcomes the Commission’s and the VP/HR’s commitment to exploring mutually agreed and beneficial interactions between the EU’s and NATO’s initiatives focused on new technologiesooperation with a variety of partners; calls on the Commission and the VP/HR to explore mutually agreed and beneficial interactions between the EU’s and third countries' initiatives focused on new technologies, in particular in the context of cooperative security, disarmament, crisis management, public health and the fight against climate change;
Amendment 95 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Is concerned about the lackduplication of investments in new, disruptive technologies in the defence industrdefence technologies; takes the view that investment in the defence industry should not take precedence over responding to social needs and the climate emergency; calls on the Commission to establish the necessary cooperative tools and measures to encourage the defence industry to rationalize invest morement in technological innovation in critical technologies for security and defence, in addition to producing existing weapon system and to convert excess weapon production capacities guaranteeing quality jobs;
Amendment 103 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. Stresses the need for closer cooperation between the Member States on capability development to boost innovation in critical technologies for security and defence; calls on the relevant EU bodies to act as catalysts and accelerators to encourage the Member States to coordinate their capability development programmIs concerned that ever-increasing public funding for the defence sector could fuel the global arms race and contribute to the development of controversial arms and technologies;.
Amendment 115 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 11
Paragraph 11
11. Highlights the need for close public-led cooperation between theinvolving various stakeholders such as workers, trade unions, academia and the public and private sectors in order to utilise best practices in security and defencecritical technologies; calls on the Commission to examine the potential of using ‘multiple helix’ models for innovationnsure that any funding of new products or technologies results in proportionate public ownership of intellectual property rights for the Union or for the Member States involved;
Amendment 121 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Is concerned about the insufficient level of financing for defence from the EU funds; recalls the fact that the European Defence Fund budget was cut by approximately 40 % relative to the Commission’s proposal for the multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2021-2027Recalls that the European Defence Fund budget of 8 billion euros means an increase in the funding for military R&D by a massive 1250% from one budgetary cycle to another ; is concerned about this level of financing for defence from the EU funds, which diverts an increasing share of the Union's budget from other priorities, such as healthcare, education and other social needs; calls on the Commission to explore existing funding schemes and alternatives to increase thrationalize funding for critical technologies for security and defence under the current MFF, thus allowing the EU to increase its investment in health and climate research;
Amendment 130 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Emphasises the need for betterto strictly regulate and limit dual use of existing civilian technologies, as well as dual-use innovation in the field of critical technologies for security and defence; stresses the need for better knowledge sharing networks for existing and new technologies so as to enable potential end users and investors to make better use of technologies already on the market or invest in high-potential emerging technologieswarns against the militarization of civilian research, development and innovation programmes such as Horizon Europe;