According to a Presidency document on the draft EU Council Decision on the ‘General conditions under which Third States could exceptionally be invited to participate in individual Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) projects’ (see EUROPE 12513/20), dated 25 June, entities may not participate in PESCO projects until 2023.
“Entities may only be involved in the implementation of PESCO projects after 31 December 2022 on the basis of contracts concluded or procurement procedures launched before that date”, says the document obtained by EUROPE.
Furthermore, entities established or having their executive management structures in a non-Member State which has not been invited to participate in a PESCO project before 31 December 2020, may only become involved in the implementation of such projects after that date if authorised by the countries participating in PESCO.
The document also clarifies that the participation of non-Member States in a PESCO project will not imply that entities from those countries will necessarily have access to the European Defence Industrial Development Programme (EDIDP) or other relevant EU instruments.
See the document: https://bit.ly/2AwZGoU (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)