The European Parliament wants to implement additional safeguards on the European Peace Facility when it adopts the report by Hilde Vautmans (ALDE, Belgium) on Thursday 28 March.
This Facility, presented in June 2018 by the Commission (see EUROPE 12040/10), is intended to cover, after 2020, European Union operations and external missions in areas covered by the Common Security and Defence Policy Symposium (CSDP).
In particular, MEPs insist that operations, action programmes, ad hoc measures and “other operational actions” financed by the Facility must in no way violate or serve to violate the principles on which the European Union is founded, such as democracy, human rights, fundamental freedoms, or serve to violate international law, “in particular international humanitarian law”.
Thus, the European Parliament calls for the strengthening of military and defence capabilities to be carried out in accordance with the common position on common rules governing the control of exports of military technology and equipment and the Community regime for the control of exports, transfers, brokering and transit of dual-use goods. The same applies to jointly financed equipment and infrastructure, which must also be sold or transferred in accordance with international law.
MEPs believe that the Facility should also help to strengthen military and defence capabilities in the face of cyber security threats. The Facility should also be carried out in compatibility with the Union's funds, programmes and instruments and consistently with all other aspects of the EU's external action.
The report also calls for greater involvement of the European Parliament, in particular through its participation in the committee responsible for steering the Facility, or by being informed to the fullest extent possible.
In addition, MEPs call for the revision of the Athena mechanism to be completed “by the end of this year, if possible”, and for it to be incorporated harmoniously into the European Peace Facility, while preserving its operational efficiency and flexibility.
The Athena mechanism provides for the financing of the joint costs of EU military operations conducted under the EU’s CSDP. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)