Activities of Reinhard BÜTIKOFER related to 2022/2051(INL)
Shadow opinions (1)
OPINION on proposals of the European Parliament for the amendment of the Treaties
Amendments (24)
Amendment 9 #
Draft opinion
Recital A
Recital A
A. whereas the Conference on the Future of Europe served as an unprecedented platform for discussion between citizens and politicians and resulted in concrete proposals that need to be honoured even if they might necessitated Treaty changes; whereas it is important to carefully consider each possible Treaty change and to compare all its potential advantages against a different, more efficient use of current Treaty features including a better implementation at policy or budgetary level;
Amendment 16 #
Draft opinion
Recital B
Recital B
B. whereas the citizens’ panel 4 “EU in the world/ Migration” made several important recommendations in the field of foreign affairs, which are all thus corroborating long long-standing calls of the European Parliament;
Amendment 24 #
Draft opinion
Recital C
Recital C
C. whereas honouringacting on those recommendations wcould make the Union a stronger and more visible global player, would lead to more efficient decision- making and would improve the European Parliament’s scrutiny rights in the field of foreign policy being the only democratically elected institution of the Union;
Amendment 25 #
Draft opinion
Recital C a (new)
Recital C a (new)
C a. whereas there are also options that could improve the Union’s role in foreign affairs without Treaty changes; whereas in July 2022, the Czech Presidency sent a letter to Member States with a list of specific policy areas which could be switched to QMV via specific passerelles; whereas in this respect the Presidency listed 11 concrete areas of foreign affairs (CFSP), and also security and defence (CSDP) related to the Articles 24, 27, 28, 29, 37, 39, 41, 42, and 44 TEU;
Amendment 27 #
Draft opinion
Recital C b (new)
Recital C b (new)
C b. whereas the potential for fast, efficient and effective foreign policy, security and defence action as foreseen by the Lisbon Treaty has only been used and exploited in a very limited way during the past decade due to a lack of political will by Member States; whereas, due to the changing European security environment, it is high time to use all instruments as foreseen by the TEU, in particular as regards CSDP; reminds of Lisbon Treaty features such as a military start-up fund of Article 41(3b), the possibility to form a small group with more ambitious security and defence objectives of Article 44, or to define a truly European capabilities and armaments policy of Article 42(3) which exist since December 2009;
Amendment 30 #
Draft opinion
Recital C c (new)
Recital C c (new)
C c. whereas passerelles could be used immediately to switch from unanimity to QMV in specific policy areas; whereas the current threat to European security requires immediate adaptation of some working methods;
Amendment 35 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. Calls for the main citizens’ recommendations in the field of foreign and security policy, notably the need to switch to more efficient decision-making, through the use of qualified majority voting (QMV) instead of unanimity in particular in specific policy areas such as human rights, and the need to improve the Union’s methods to impose sanctions, to be incorporated in a Treaty change or alternatively via the use of passerelle clauses;
Amendment 47 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Recalls that Article 48(7) and Article 31(3) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) contain passerrelle clauses that can make switching from unanimity to qualified majority voting possible in the area of common foreign and security policy (CFSP) without military implications; calls for a switch to QMV in all decisions in the field of CFSPpriority areas in a year, notably those concerning sanctions and human rights, as the passerelle clauses have never been used due to the lack of political will;
Amendment 53 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 a (new)
Paragraph 2 a (new)
2 a. Urges the Member States, within the Czech Presidency’s efforts, to reach unanimity on using the passerelle clause for introducing QMV on specific foreign affairs and CSDP actions; reminds of the possibilities listed in the Presidency’s questionnaire; believes that the current security situation in Europe requires immediate action and adaptation of the decision-making procedures in CFSP as provided rightfully by the current Treaty;
Amendment 55 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 2 b (new)
Paragraph 2 b (new)
2 b. Urges the Member States to agree immediately on using the passerelle on introducing QMV in particular on sanctions and human rights;
Amendment 57 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
Amendment 67 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 3 a (new)
Paragraph 3 a (new)
3 a. Stresses the need to introduce a role for the Parliament when it comes to the decision of sending military and civilian security missions abroad; believes it would be appropriate to have a plenary debate before the relevant Council decision and to adopt a plenary resolution that would politically authorize that operation including its objectives, means and duration;
Amendment 72 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Underlines the need to strengthen the role of the Vice-President of the Commission/High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and to ensure that the Union speaks with one voice, as requested by the citizens of the Union in the Conference on the Future of Europe; pointcalls outn that his can be done through a Treaty change that would name the Vice-President/High Representative a foreign minister of the Union, would make him or her the main external representative of the Union in international fora and would allow him or her to be present ex-officio in negotiating formats initiated or led by the Member Statese VP/HR and the EEAS to make proposals on how to strengthen coherence and consistency between national foreign policies by Member States and agreed positions at the EU level;
Amendment 80 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 5
Paragraph 5
5. Considers it necessary to broaden the scope of threats defined inurgently develop a solidarity policy strategy and operational implementation measures as regards the mutual defence clause stipulated in Article 42(7) TEU and to include hybrid threats, disinformation campaigns and economic coercion by third countries in that strategy;
Amendment 87 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 6
Paragraph 6
6. Requests the strengthening of the role of Union delegations in the implementation of foreign policy by amending the wording of Article 221 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU);
Amendment 96 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 7
Paragraph 7
7. Stresses the importance of reinforcing the Parliament’s scrutiny rights in the foreign policy field, notably by strengthening the wordingimplementation of Article 36 TEU concerning the consultation of the European Parliament on the main aspects and strategic choices in the field of CFSP and common security and defence policy; calls for changing Article 218 TFEU to require the European Parliament’s authorisation to open negotiations and adopt negotiating directives, as well as the European Parliament’s consent for all international agreements and before decisions on the provisional application of international agreements are taken; recalls the proven value of parliamentary diplomacy; suggests therefore introducing provisions for involvement of the European Parliament on equal footing with the Council in the implementation of international agreements in Article 218(9) TFEU; calls for more involvement of the European Parliament in the Team Europe approach;
Amendment 100 #
8. Calls for inclusion of the principle of “strategic autonomy” into the list of objectives to be achieved through the Union’s foreign and security policy enshrined in Article 21 TEUReminds that the EU will become an effective diplomatic and security actor based on strong action and that the EU will increase its strategic sovereignty only via concrete measures, policies, budgets and commitments;
Amendment 109 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 9
Paragraph 9
9. CRecalls for the introduction of provisions in Articles 42 and 46 TEU enabling the joint procurement of defence equipment and other security-related spending from the budget of the Union as well as the establishment of joint military units and command structures; that Article 42(3) TEU lays the foundations for a European capabilities and armaments policy which should, inter alia, include joint procurement; stresses that due to the threats to European security, there is an urgent need to set up a holistic European capabilities policy without any further delay; urges the Member States to pool parts of their increasing national defence budgets at EU level and to urgently establish another off-budget financial facility that addresses the entire life-cycle of military capabilities at EU level from collaborative R&D and joint procurement to joint maintenance, training and security of supply; reminds in this respect paragraph 1(m) of its recommendation of 8 June 2022 on the EU’s Foreign, Security and Defence Policy after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine;
Amendment 124 #
Draft opinion
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
Amendment 351 #
Paragraph 21
21. Calls for the promotion of military cooperation and the establishment of a defence union including permanently stationed European military units, aultinational military units and a common European permanent rapid deployment capacity, under the operational command of the Union; proposes that the operational cost of joint procurement and the development of armaments be financed by the Union through a dedicated budget via the pooling of Member States’ contributions under parliamentary co-decision and scrutiny and proposes that the competences of the European Defence Agency be adjusted accordingly; notes that clauses with regard to national traditions of neutrality and NATO membership would not be affected by these changes;
Amendment 459 #
Annex to the motion for a resolution Treaty on European Union – Article 21 – paragraph 2 – point a
(a) safeguard its values, fundamental interests, security, strategic sovereignty and solidarity, independence and integrity;
Amendment 463 #
Annex to the motion for a resolution Treaty on European Union – Article 42 – paragraph 1
1. The common security and defence policy shall be an integral part of the common foreign and security policy. It shall enable the Union to defend citizens and Member States against threats. It shall provide the Union with an operational capacity drawing on civilian and military assets. The Union may use them on missions outside the Union for peace- keeping, conflict prevention and strengthening international security in accordance with the principles of the United Nations Charter. The operformance of these tasks shall be undertaken using capabilities provided by the Member Statesational cost of the common security and defence policy, including the operational cost of the procurement and development of armaments, shall be financed by the Union through a dedicated budget via the pooling of Member States’ contributions at Union level, in respect of which the European Parliament is a co-legislator and exercises full scrutiny, also as regards the implementation of the common security and defence policy.
Amendment 466 #
Annex to the motion for a resolution Treaty on European Union – Article 42 – paragraph 3
3. Member States shall makeThe Union shall establish a Defence Union with civilian and military capabilities available to the Union for the implementation of the common security and defence policy, to contribute to the objectives defined by the Council with the objective of promoting military cooperation between Member States at Union level. This includes permanently- stationed joint European multinational military units and a common European permanent rapid deployment capacity, under the operational command of the Union. Member States may provide additional capabilities. Those Member States which together establish multinational forces may also make them available to the common security and defence policy. The Union and the Member States shall undertake progressively to improve their military capabilities, in particular through military cooperation at Union level. The Agency in the field of defence capabilities development, research, acquisition and armaments (hereinafter referred to as "the European Defence Agency") shall identify operational requirements, shall promoteimplement measures to satisfy those requirements, shall contribute to identifying and, where appropriimprove interoperability, shall procure armaments on behalf of the Union and its Member States, implementingshall take any measure needed to strengthen the industrial and technological base of the defence sector, shall participate in defining a European capabilities and armaments policy, and shall assist the Council in evaluatinge the improvement of military capabilities.
Amendment 469 #
Annex to the motion for a resolution Treaty on European Union – Article 42 –paragraph 4 a – subparagraph 1 a (new)
Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, the Council may adopt decisions creating military missions or operations under the common security and defence policy with an executive mandate by consensus, after obtaining the consent of the European Parliament acting by a majority of its component members and in accordance with the respective constitutional requirements of Member States.