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Recommends that the Council and the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy: (a) inform and consult Parliament on the review of PESCO, and ensure that Parliament’s views are duly taken into consideration, in line with Article 36 TEU, especially in the context of the current strategic review of the first PESCO phase, which ends in 2020, in order to ensure reinforced accountability, transparency and scrutiny; (b) Stress the importance of pursuing conflict resolution as a priority; (c) implement the Union’s strategic vision and define common threats by, inter alia, implementing the level of ambition defined by the 2016 EU Global Strategy, including through the ongoing work of the Strategic Compass, which needs to be carried out in cooperation with all relevant stakeholders and institutions, and strengthen PESCO’s operational dimension; (d) prepare, as soon as possible, on the basis of the results of the discussion on the Strategic Compass, a fully-fledged EU Security and Defence White Book; take note of the fact that the first results of the Strategic Compass are expected in the first half of 2022; (e) ensure synergy effects and coherence between different EU defence initiatives and operations; (f) encourage the pMS through focused proposals and adequate communication to evolve from a strictly national focus on defence to a stronger European one and to undertake structured efforts to increase the use of a European collaborative approach as a priority, as no individual pMS has the potential to address identified capacity shortfalls alone; encourage pMS and the Member States more generally not to reduce their defence spending in the coming years, and especially not their financial involvement in European cooperative projects; (g) increase the EU’s budgetary ambition for the strengthening of defence capabilities, notably through the sufficient financing of the future EDF and Military Mobility in the upcoming multiannual financial framework (MFF); (h) ensure that PESCO is effectively used as an instrument towards sustainable and efficient EU defence cooperation, improving the defence capabilities of pMS and interoperability as a common goal, especially in terms of availability, interoperability, flexibility and deployability of forces in line with the ambition for greater EU strategic autonomy, while maintaining close cooperation between willing pMS, increasing EU-NATO cooperation as regards EU-NATO members and maintaining close cooperation with other international partners; (i) ensure that the funding of capacities derived from PESCO projects by the EDF is focused on a set of strategic key projects, in line with the priorities of the CDP, in order to maximise its impact; ensure that the selection of PESCO projects is in line with the High Impact Capacity Goals of the CDP; (j) recognise that Parliament, jointly with the Council, exercises legislative and budgetary functions, as well as functions of political control and consultation as laid down in the Treaties; (k) incorporate directly into the PESCO project cycle the link between PESCO and the European Defence Industrial Procurement Programme (EDIDP) and EDF with the aim of contributing more effectively to the achievement of the Union’s ambitions in the area of security and defence; impose the documentation of each project, before selection on the budgetary side; (l) focus PESCO efforts on projects aimed at systematically strengthening military CSDP, (i) which contribute to remedying significant capability shortfalls with a more operational focus, in direct response to the needs of European armed forces engaged in operations, (ii) with a strategic and integrative dimension, such as EUFOR CROC, Military Mobility, Network of Logistic Hubs or CRRT, or (iii) that create additional synergies and effects of scale, where appropriate; (m) focus PESCO on constructive projects with a genuine European strategic dimension, thereby strengthening Europe’s defence industrial and technological base; (n) underline the importance of a small number of strategic projects, in particular strategic enablers (command and control, transport, intelligence), which should be prioritised as they lay down the foundations of a more integrated European defence; (o) take note of the fact that the creation of PESCO in the framework of the Lisbon Treaty was seen as the establishment of an avant-garde of Member States willing to pool resources and capabilities to achieve ambitious common objectives in the field of security and defence; consider the need for the Union to progressively develop a common framework under the responsibility of the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, within which the Member States would conduct their own national defence policy reviews, share results and pool intelligence as a means of establishing the foundation of a genuine European defence; (p) recognise the value, in this regard, of the political guidelines of the Commission regarding defence policy, and in particular regarding the need for bold steps towards a genuine European Defence Union, and for an integrated and comprehensive approach to the EU’s security; take the view that the creation of a new Commission Directorate-General for Defence Industry and Space should serve as a catalyst for enhanced coherence, fair cooperation and integrated coordination in the creation of defence capabilities across the Member States, as well as for strengthening EU military infrastructure and improving the efficiency of EU industry and the internal market; (q) recognise that Parliament should play a prominent role in the scrutiny and supervision of the implementation and evaluation of the CSDP; keep Parliament fully informed and consulted in the context of the current strategic review of the first PESCO phase, which ends in 2020; take the view that increasing defence cooperation among Member States at EU level should go hand in hand with the strengthening of Parliament’s power of scrutiny; (r) strive to ensure that key capabilities such as future key land, sea, air, cyber and other platforms for the armed forces of the Member States be brought under PESCO or at least be closely connected to it, as appropriate, in order (i) to increase the operational readiness of military CSDP, and (ii) to ensure that PESCO efforts are complementary to existing capabilities and are used in a manner that resolves existing shortfalls and offsets overhead expenses; (s) formulate innovative incentives to improve the interoperability and deployment of CSDP missions and operations; (t) increase investment in interconnecting civilian transport infrastructure that is compatible with planning for military mobility; (u) study, as part of the reform of the EU Battlegroup (EU BG) system, whether to bring it under PESCO in order to increase its operational capacity, modularity and agility, by establishing standing multinational units dedicated to fulfilling military tasks as specified in Article 43 TEU and to enhancing the EU’s ability to conduct crisis management operations, including the most demanding ones such as peace-making, and to use it as a strategic over-the-horizon force; (v) support and promote, where relevant, the grouping of PESCO projects into capability clusters and assess their strategic relevance, keeping in mind the objective of achieving a full-spectrum force package, and concentrate efforts on those that have the highest potential to deliver European strategic autonomy; review the current list of 47 projects and either cluster or cancel projects, at the discretion of pMS, which are making insufficient progress or present insufficient mutually beneficial gain to the EU; (w) promote compliance with the 20 PESCO commitments by establishing a clear and simple definition of compliance benchmarks, and by ensuring that future project proposals address a specific EU Capability Development Priority; ensure that any reviews of project progress are based on clear and transparent criteria including when co-financed in the framework of EDIDP/future EDF; ensure that such criteria serve as indicators for all Member States participating in PESCO projects; ensure that the pMS further increase the quality and the granularity of the information provided in their National Implementation Plans, in which they outline how they intend to meet the 20 PESCO commitments; (x) enhance the coherence of EU defence planning and development tools and initiatives; use the synergies between the PESCO project cycle and other defence capability processes such as the EU headline Goal Process, the CDP and CARD in order to enable more focused, mature, better developed and structured projects to be submitted; make sure the submission cycle enables the synchronised implementation of several European initiatives, including the EDF; (y) encourage pMS to embed CDP into their national defence planning processes with a view to helping them to overcome capability shortcomings; (z) reaffirm the central role of the PESCO secretariat as a single point of contact for all projects and invite the secretariat to carry out regular situation updates on the progress of projects to Parliament as well as for the benefit of all stakeholders, using information collected from the Member State(s) in charge of project coordination; encourage pMS to continue to engage in a more effective dialogue with the PESCO secretariat regarding the review and update of their National Implementation Plans; (aa) call on the pMS to ensure tangible progress in the achievement of the current PESCO projects; (ab) clarify the role of the Political and Security Committee in the PESCO process, which is not provided for by the TEU, and ensure, in this context, the important role played by the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) in the provision of ad hoc military advice to the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy; (ac) involve the EUMC in the work of defining a full-spectrum force package; (ad) examine the establishment of an EU Council on Defence based on the existing Foreign Affairs Council in defence ministers format, which is also the EDA ministerial Steering Board and the PESCO format of EU Defence Ministers, in order to guarantee the prioritisation of resources and effective cooperation and integration among the Member States, as appropriate; (ae) clarify or define the link between the governance of PESCO and that of the EDF and inform Parliament in the ex-post control process when it comes to EDF funding of PESCO projects; (af) consider, as requested by some pMS, changing the cycle of submission of PESCO projects with the aim of increasing the focus and maturity and improving the structure of these projects; (ag) clarify the rules governing third-party participation in PESCO, taking into consideration the importance of EU decision-making autonomy and full reciprocity and understanding that a case-by-case approach is most beneficial for the EU, taking into account (i) the need to prepare and adopt a comprehensive and fundamental document to regulate future cooperation with third-party participation in PESCO projects, and (ii) the fact that the decision-making process regarding the involvement of a third party should be taken at the level of each PESCO project; (ah) encourage ‘future threats’ to be used as the basis of future PESCO project proposals; strengthen partnerships with NATO, the UN, the African Union and beyond; ensure that the involvement and inclusion of SME’s is considered in all relevant aspects of PESCO projects; (ai) ensure that PESCO projects further develop and increase the industrial capacity of pMS in the fields of nanotechnologies, super-computers, artificial intelligence, drone technology, robotics and others, in turn securing European self-reliance and independence from foreign importers in these areas, as well as facilitating the creation of new jobs; (aj) take note of the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the Union does not have enough competence when it comes to healthcare; recognise that in parallel, an EU common defence strategy needs to be established to respond in the event of an attack on the EU’s borders and territories, and that PESCO is a positive step towards this objective; (ak) acknowledge the crucial role played by the European armed forces in addressing the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, both in terms of the management of the health emergency and support to civilian missions and operations, and the fact that they also have a cross-border dimension and solidarity function; see the potential benefits of new ambitious PESCO projects for the development of common European capabilities in this field, expanding on the work of previous projects, notably the Deployable Military Disaster Relief Capability Package and the European Medical Command; (al) call for the Council and the participating Member States to focus on cyber resilience and prepare a collective strategy and procedures to respond to cyber incidents through PESCO projects in order to create a more resilient environment within the Member States; (am) take note of Parliament’s position on the Conference on the Future of Europe as expressed in its resolution of 15 January 2020 (8), namely that security and the role of the EU in the world should be identified among pre-defined but non-exhaustive policy priorities, and recognise that this would be an opportunity to involve citizens in the debate on strengthening PESCO as a way of making progress toward an autonomous common security and defence policy for our Union;