1.

Recommends the following to the Council: (a) not to decrease a Member State’s contribution to the Facility if the Member State has recourse to Article 31(1) of the TEU, as this would undermine the GNI key underlying the financing mechanism and the overall financing of the Facility; (b) to include in the decision a reference to Parliament’s role as discharge authority, as is currently the case with the EDF and therefore for the APF, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the financial regulations applicable to the EDF, with a view to preserving the consistency of the EU’s external action under the Fund and under its other relevant policies in line with Article 18 of the TEU and Article 21(2)(d) of the TEU read in combination with Article 208 of the TFEU; (c) to work on putting in place a mechanism within the European Parliament providing timely access, within strictly defined parameters, to information, including original documents, regarding the EPF annual budget, amending budgets, transfers, action programmes (including during the preparatory phase), implementation of assistance measures (including ad hoc measures), agreements with implementing actors, and reports on the implementation of revenue and expenditure, as well as the annual accounts, the financial statement, the evaluation report and the annual report by the ECA; (d) to agree to include access to all confidential documents in the negotiations for the updated Interinstitutional Agreement between the European Parliament and the Council concerning access of Parliament to sensitive information of the Council in the field of security and defence policy; (e) to ensure that operations, action programmes, ad hoc assistance measures and other operational actions funded by the Facility will not in any way violate or be used to violate the fundamental principles laid down in Article 21 of the TEU or be used to violate international law, in particular international humanitarian and human rights law; (f) to conclude the revision of the Athena mechanism before the end of this year if possible, and to incorporate it seamlessly into the EPF while preserving the mechanism’s operational efficiency and flexibility; (g) to ensure that the efficiency gains and the improved effectiveness offered by a single instrument are preserved when making the necessary adjustments to the proposal; (h) to incorporate the following amendments: — to replace ‘Common Foreign and Security Policy’ by ‘Common Security and Defence Policy’ in recital (4) and Article 1; — to add a new recital (10a) as follows: ‘(10a) Military advice and assistance tasks referred to in Article 43(1) of the TEU may take the form of strengthening the military and defence capacities of third states, regional and international organisations to preserve peace, to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts and to address threats to international security while strictly complying with international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and the criteria of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment, and Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 of 5 May 2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items’; — to add a new recital (10b) as follows: ‘(10b) Conflict prevention and peace-keeping tasks referred to in Article 43 (1) of the TEU may take the form of contributing to the financing of peace support operations led by a regional or international organisation or by third states.’; — to add a new recital (10c) as follows: ‘(10c) Operations supported with EU funding must incorporate UN resolution 1325 on women, peace and security’; — to amend point a) of Article 2 as follows: ‘a) contributing to the financing of missions under the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) having military or defence implications’; — to amend point b) of Article 2 as follows: ‘b) strengthening the military and defence capacities of third states, regional and international organisations to preserve peace, to prevent, manage and resolve conflicts and to address threats to international security and cybersecurity’; — to add a new point 2a to Article 3 as follows: ‘2a. The annual breakdown of the administrative expenditure for this facility that is charged to the Union budget shall be set out in Annex I a (new) for information.’; — to amend point c) of Article 5 as follows: ‘c) “operation” means a military operation established under the Common Security and Defence Policy in accordance with Article 42 of the TEU to fulfil the tasks referred to in Article 43(1) of the TEU having military or defence implications, including a task entrusted to a group of Member States in accordance with Article 44 of the TEU’; — to add a new subparagraph at the end of Article 6 as follows: ‘All civilian aspects, assets or missions under the CFSP and in particular under the CSDP, or parts thereof, shall be exclusively funded from the Union budget.’; — to amend Article 7 as follows: ‘Any Member State, the High Representative or the High Representative with the support of the Commission may submit proposals for Union actions under Title V of the TEU to be financed by the Facility. The High Representative shall inform the European Parliament in a timely manner of any such proposal.’; — to amend paragraph 1 of Article 10 as follows: ‘Consistency between the actions of the Union to be financed under the Facility and other Union actions under its other relevant policies shall be ensured in accordance with Articles 21 (3) and 26 (2) TEU. Actions of the Union to be financed under the Facility shall also be consistent with the objectives of those other Union policies towards third countries and international organisations;)’; — to add a new paragraph 3a to Article 10 as follows: ‘3a. Twice a year the High Representative shall report to the European Parliament on the consistency referred to in paragraph 1.’; — to add a new paragraph 2a to Article 11: ‘2a. The facility shall have a liaison officer to the European Parliament. In addition, the Deputy Secretary General for CSDP and Crisis Response shall have annual exchange of views with the relevant parliamentary body in order to provide regular briefings.’; — to amend paragraph 1 of Article 12 as follows: ‘A Facility Committee (hereafter “the Committee”) composed of one representative of each participating Member State is established. Representatives of the European External Action Service (EEAS) and of the Commission shall be invited to attend the meetings of the Committee without taking part in its votes. Representatives of the European Defence Agency (EDA) may be invited to attend Committee meetings for items under discussion that relate to the EDA’s area of activity, without taking part in or being present at its votes. Representatives of the European Parliament may be invited to attend the Committee meetings without taking part in or being present at its votes.’; — to amend paragraph 8 of Article 13 as follows: ‘8. The administrator shall ensure continuity of his/her functions through the administrative structure of the competent military EEAS structures referred to in Article 9.’; — to add a new paragraph 8a. to Article 13 as follows: ‘8a. The administrator shall be involved in briefing the European Parliament.’; — to add a new paragraph 8a. to Article 16 as follows: ‘8a. The operation commanders shall be involved in briefing the European Parliament.’; — to amend paragraph 1 of Article 34 as follows: ‘The administrator shall propose to the Committee the appointment of an internal auditor of the Facility, and at least one deputy internal auditor, for a period of four years, renewable up to a total period not exceeding 8 years. Internal auditors must have the necessary professional qualifications and offer sufficient guarantees of security, objectivity and independence. The internal auditor may not be either the authorising officer or the accounting officer; he or she may not take part in the preparation of financial statements.’; — to amend paragraph 4 of Article 47 as follows: ‘4. The final destination of equipment and infrastructure financed in common shall be approved by the Committee, taking into account operational needs, human rights, security and diversion risk assessment as regards certified end-use and end-users, and financial criteria. The final destination may be as follows: (i) in the case of infrastructure, be sold or transferred through the Facility to the host country, a Member State or a third party; (ii) in the case of equipment, be sold through the Facility to a Member State, the host country or a third party, or be stored and maintained by the Facility, a Member State or such a third party, for use in a subsequent operation.’; — to amend paragraph 6 of Article 47 as follows: ‘6. Sale or transfer to the host country or a third party should be in accordance with international law, including the relevant human rights provisions and the “do no harm” principles, and with the relevant security rules in force and strictly comply with the criteria of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment, and Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 of 5 May 2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items’; — to amend paragraph 1 of Article 48 as follows: ‘The High Representative may submit to the Council a concept for a possible Action Programme or a possible ad hoc assistance measure. The High Representative shall inform the European Parliament about any such Concept.’; — to amend paragraph 1 of Article 49 as follows: ‘Action Programmes shall be approved by the Council on a proposal from the High Representative. The European Parliament shall be informed of the approved Action Programmes once adopted by the Council.’; — to amend paragraph 3 of Article 50 as follows: ‘Where a request falls outside the existing Action Programmes, the Council may approve an ad hoc assistance measure on a proposal from the High Representative. The European Parliament shall be informed of the approved ad hoc assistance measures once adopted by the Council;’; — to add a new point fa) to Article 52, paragraph 2 as follows: ‘fa) A detailed list of equipment funded under the Facility shall be made available;’; — to amend point b) of Article 53, paragraph 1, as follows: ‘b) delivered effectively to the armed forces of the third state concerned provided that compliance with the criteria of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment, and Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 of 5 May 2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items has been assessed;’; — to amend point d) of Article 53, paragraph 1, as follows: ‘d) used in accordance with Union policies, with due regard for international law, notably concerning human rights, and end-user certificates, in particular clauses on retransfers;’; — to amend point e) of Article 53, paragraph 1 as follows: ‘e) managed in compliance with any restriction or limitation on their use, sale or transfer decided by the Council or by the Committee, and in accordance with the relevant end-user certificates, the criteria of Council Common Position 2008/944/CFSP of 8 December 2008 defining common rules governing control of exports of military technology and equipment, and Council Regulation (EC) No 428/2009 of 5 May 2009 setting up a Community regime for the control of exports, transfer, brokering and transit of dual-use items;’; — to amend paragraph 1 of Article 54 as follows: ‘Any implementing actor entrusted with the implementation of expenditure financed through the Facility shall respect the principles of sound financial management and transparency, shall have undertaken the necessary risk assessments and end-use checks, and shall have due regard for EU fundamental values and international law, notably concerning human rights and the “do no harm” principles. Any such implementing actor shall be submitted to a prior risk assessment to gauge the possible human rights and governance risks.’;