Introductory text

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on European Union, in particular Article 46(6) thereof,

Having regard to Council Decision (CFSP) 2017/2315 of 11 December 2017 establishing permanent structured cooperation (PESCO) and determining the list of participating Member States^f1,

Having regard to the proposal from the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy,

Whereas:

On 11 December 2017, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2017/2315.

Point (e) of Article 4(2) of Decision (CFSP) 2017/2315 provides that the Council is to establish the list of projects to be developed under permanent structured cooperation (PESCO), reflecting both support for capability development and the provision of substantial support within means and capabilities to common security and defence policy (CSDP) operations and missions.

On 6 March 2018, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2018/340^f2 establishing the list of projects to be developed under PESCO.

On 6 March 2018, the Council adopted a Recommendation^f3 concerning a roadmap for the implementation of PESCO (the ‘Recommendation’).

Paragraph 9 of the Recommendation specified that the Council should update the list of PESCO projects by November 2018 to include the next set of projects, in accordance with the procedure set out in Article 5 of Decision (CFSP) 2017/2315, which provides in particular that the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (the ‘High Representative’) may make a recommendation concerning the identification and evaluation of PESCO projects, on the basis of assessments provided by the PESCO Secretariat, for the Council to take a decision, following military advice by the Military Committee of the European Union (EUMC).

On 25 June 2018, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2018/909^f4 establishing a common set of governance rules for PESCO projects.

On 19 November 2018, the Council adopted Decision (CFSP) 2018/1797^f5 amending and updating Decision (CFSP) 2018/340.

On 14 May 2019, the Council adopted a Recommendation^f6 assessing the progress made by the participating Member States to fulfil commitments undertaken in the framework of permanent structured cooperation (PESCO).

On 30 September 2019, the High Representative made a recommendation to the Council concerning the identification and evaluation of project proposals in the PESCO framework.

On 22 October 2019, the Political and Security Committee agreed on the recommendations contained in the EUMC military advice on the High Representative’s recommendation concerning the identification and evaluation of project proposals in the PESCO framework.

The Council should therefore amend and update Decision (CFSP) 2018/340,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION: