Activities of Arnaud DANJEAN related to 2020/2003(INI)
Shadow reports (1)
REPORT on Arms export: implementation of Common Position 2008/944/CFSP
Amendments (29)
Amendment 4 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 7
Citation 7
— having regard to the updated Common Military List of the European Union, adopted by the Council on 187 February 20207, OJ C 95, 12.3.20197, _________________ 7p. 1.
Amendment 5 #
Motion for a resolution
Citation 14
Citation 14
— having regard to the Commission proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council of 13 June 2018 establishing the European Defence Fund (EDF) (COM(2018)0476) and to the common understanding reached between the co-legislators during negotiations,
Amendment 23 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A a (new)
Recital A a (new)
Aa. whereas the Council’s common position of 8 December 2008 is an essential instrument for enhanced cooperation and the closer alignment of Member States’ export policies;
Amendment 29 #
Motion for a resolution
Recital A b (new)
Recital A b (new)
Ab. whereas arms exports are essential when it comes to strengthening the industrial and technological base of the European defence industry, which is primarily committed to ensuring the protection and security of the EU Member States while contributing to CFSP implementation;
Amendment 43 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1
1. WNotes that the common position provides for a transparency procedure involving the publication of annual European Union reports on arms exports; welcomes the publication of the 20th and 21st annual reports; deplores the late publication of information about exports during 2017 and 2018;
Amendment 53 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 2
Paragraph 2
2. Notes that ten Member States made full submissions to the 20th annual report, and eleven to the 21st; deplores the fact that two of the main exporting countries – Germany and the UK – did not make full submissions;
Amendment 61 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 3
Paragraph 3
3. Deplores the factAcknowledges that Member States use verymay be forced to use different information in order to generate data on the value of licences, which renders the annual report considerably less usable as a comparativ; points out that Article 8 of the common position requires the dnata set and serves to diminish its transparency and accountability before citizens and parliaments; urges France, in particular, to refrain from submitting data on the value of licences at pre-contract stage and broad values for global licences, which undermines the comparability of the reportional authorities to fully comply with their transparency obligations and provide detailed information to the EEAS and to other Member States each year regarding licences issued and consignments delivered;
Amendment 69 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 4
Paragraph 4
4. Notes that the countries of the Middle East and North Africa, a region of several armed conflicts, remain the foremost regional destination for exports according to the last two annual reports; is concerned that this regional focus undermines the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) and specific EU action aimed at regional peace and stability;
Amendment 107 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 8
Paragraph 8
8. Notes with concern the growing divergences between the arms export policies and practices of the Member States and the failure to introduce new instruments to promote convergence towards the strict application of EU rules in this area;
Amendment 125 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 10
Paragraph 10
10. Notes that since the adoption of the legally binding Common Position in 2008, the Member States have stepped up their arms exports monitoring; an increasing number of weapon systems produced in Europe are made up of components from multiple European countries and involve bi- or multilateral cooperation for technological, industrial and political reasons;
Amendment 134 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 12
Paragraph 12
12. Notes that most Member States have not outlined a policy regulating the transfer of weapons components to another Member State which would ensure that any export to third countries from the Member State of assembly is consistent with the export policy of the Member State providing the components; regards this as particularly problematic in the context of the increasing divergences between licensing practices across the EU; observes that Directive 2009/43/EC on intra-Community transfers has proven ill- equipped to achieve the stated goal of setting high common standards for exports to third countries;
Amendment 144 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 13
Paragraph 13
13. Observes a trend whereby the diverging exportthat the arms policies of theeach Member States are increasingly considered as obstacles to cooperation projects, which is giving rise to a multitude of bilateral and specific agreements on weapon systems that allow for exports to third countries based on the least restrictive standards, rather than a joint, EU-wide approach may hamper cooperation projects;
Amendment 154 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14
Paragraph 14
14. Stresses that bilateral and multilateral agreements may further reduce convergence at EU level and that the failure to regulate exports uniformly between the Member States and the lack of convergence in export decisions to third countries may have a negative impact on human rights and international law, generate market distortions, and hinder industrial strategic planning, economies of scale and a level playing field;
Amendment 162 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 4
Subheading 4
Amendment 163 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 14 a (new)
Paragraph 14 a (new)
14a. Stresses that the development of suitable equipment is an important means of underpinning the industrial and technological foundations of the European defence sector, which should be used as an instrument for the implementation of enhanced CFSP; recalls that, under the EU Global Strategy, ‘a sustainable, innovative and competitive European defence industry is essential for Europe’s strategic autonomy and for a credible CSDP’;
Amendment 167 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 15
Paragraph 15
15. Notes that EU fundinitiatives such as the Preparatory Action on Defence Research (PADR), the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) and the European Defence Fund (EDF), initiatives such as the Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO), the Coordinated Annual Review on Defence (CARD) and the European Peace Facility (EPF), legislation such as the intra- Community transfers and defence procurement directives of 2009, and the creation of administrative capacities such as the Commission Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS) are heralding an increasing Europeanisationlping to enhance cooperation for the purposes of arms production and capability development at European level;
Amendment 177 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 16
Paragraph 16
16. Underlines the fact that the interinstitutional agreement on the establishment of the EDF authorises the Commission to assess whether the transfer of ownership or the granting of an exclusive licence of EDF-co-funded military technology contravenes the security and defence interests of the EU and its Member States or the objectives of the fund as set out in Article 3 of the proposed regulation; notes that this new legislation establishes a specific type of controlevaluation function for the Commission with regard to a specific category of exports of military technology to third countries, without prejudice to the competence of the EU Member State export control authorities to grant the necessary authorisation;
Amendment 183 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 17
Paragraph 17
17. Notes that the international commitments given by European partners extend to the supply of information regarding their national control schemes and arms transfers; notes that under the EPF, Member States and the European External Action Service (EEAS) will work ontowards a number of objectives, including the creatingon of an EU-level system for arms transfers to third countries;
Amendment 193 #
Motion for a resolution
Subheading 5
Subheading 5
Implementing the Common Position in the light of Europeanisedenhanced European cooperation in the field of arms production
Amendment 203 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 18
Paragraph 18
18. Notes that the lack of convergence of national arms export policies and decision- making is becoming increasingly untenable in the context of the prevailing Europeanisationn the context of enhanced European cooperation in the field of arms production and the stated ambitions and plans to increase this further;
Amendment 208 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 19 – introductory part
Paragraph 19 – introductory part
19. BelievNotes that theenhanced Europeanisation of arms production needs to go hand in hand with cooperation regarding arms production is being accompanied by increased transparency; believes that there is still room for improvement in this area, particularly as regards the quality and uniformity of the data submitted by Member States; calls onwelcomes the efforts of the COARM group, in particular the guide to implementation of the Common Position by the Member States in terms of cooperation, coordination and convergence; underlines the efforts of Member States to support the work of COARM in promoting exchanges of best practice; recommends to the Working Party on Conventional Arms Exports (COARM):
Amendment 227 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 20
Paragraph 20
20. Welcomes the decision to transform the annual report into an interactive and searchable online database and expects it to be up and running before publication of the export data for 2019; calls on the EEAS to inform Parliament about the precise date on which this database will go online; urges COARM to chose a solution that enables data to be exported in a structured format;
Amendment 233 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 – introductory part
Paragraph 21 – introductory part
21. Calls on COARM to work towards amending Article 7 of the Common Position, by calling for anpersevere with its efforts to introduce a notification and exchange hub for Member States to share policy information regarding exports to third countries and their decisions to reject applications for the necessary licences; recalls that the decision on whether or not to issue export authorisation remains the sole responsibility of each Member State in accordance with the criteria set out in the common position; Recommends that COARM improved exchanges of ‘relevant information, including information on denial notifications and arms export policies’ and other ‘measures to further increase convergence’; stresses the need,points out that information exchange must be compatible with the national laws and administrative procedures in each country; proposes to this end:
Amendment 240 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 – point a
Paragraph 21 – point a
Amendment 255 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 21 – point c
Paragraph 21 – point c
(c) to undertake a jointshare assessments of country situations or potential export recipients in the light of the principles and criteria of the Common Position within the framework of the CFSP and in consultation with external stakeholders, including Parliament;
Amendment 259 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 22
Paragraph 22
22. Believes that the EU institutions should organise peer reviews with a view to encouraging authorities to sharecontinue to share experiences and best practices on the collection and processing of data, fostering a better understanding of different national approaches, identifying differences as regards the interpretation of the eight criteria, and discussing ways to improve harmonisation;
Amendment 269 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 23
Paragraph 23
23. Strongly believes that a much higher level of convergence as regards the strict applicationassessment of the criteria will strengthen human rights, international law and the CFSP, and bolster the EU’s strategic security interests and strategic autonomy;
Amendment 287 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 25
Paragraph 25
25. Believes that the increasing Europeanisationenhanced European cooperation in the field of arms production, together with the recent Council conclusions on convergence in arms exports and the establishment of the EPF should be complemented by a mechanism for EU-level monitoring and control based on strict compliance with the eight criteriare conducive to the thorough and coordinated evaluation of arms exports;
Amendment 299 #
Motion for a resolution
Paragraph 26
Paragraph 26
26. Considers that regular consultations with national parliaments, arms export control authorities, industry associations and civil society are centralonducive to meaningful transparency; calls on COARM to enhanccontinue dialogue with civil society and consultations with Parliament and arms export control authorities; encourages civil society and academia to exercise independent scrutiny of the arms trade and calls on the Member States and the EEAS to support such activities, including by financial means;