"Security and defense must not remain the weakest links of European integration. We need to listen to the citizens, and 2/3 of them wants more cooperation in the defense field. The failure to provide security to the citizens, will lead to further alienation from the European project and turning to national security solutions", said MEP Tonino Picula in Strasbourg during the plenary debate on the report of the European Defence Union.
Picula worked as a shadow rapporteur in the name of his political group Socialists and Democrats. He invited other MEPs to support the report because the European Parliament must be involved in the process that is under way in other institutions. "The report should send a strong message on the topic which has become a top political issue and the criteria by which people evaluate the credibility of the European project."
Picula emphasized that the European Defence Union is not a parallel structure to NATO, but will be developed in full coordination with NATO as the primary partner and the pillar of European defense. "This report is a contribution of the European Parliament for seeking more effective EU response in the field of defense. Our world is becoming increasingly unstable, uncertain and unpredictable. We need to respond to the growing challenges because they have threatened not only our integrity but also our values, and to achieve this, Member States should cooperate closely.
I remind, all 15 amendments that MEP Picula filed to the report in October, were adopted. Among them ishis amendment that the European Defence Union should strengthen the capacity of Europe to promote security within and beyond its borders, and at the same time allow the Member States in the context of the common security and defense policy, the possibility of autonomous action in cases when NATO is not prepared to act or where the action of EU is more appropriate.
Picula also invites other Member States to implement all the measures for the implementation of Article 42 paragraph 7 so that countries and institutions of the EU could effectively manage the contributions and assistance from other Member States, in order to avoid differences in interpretation like when France for triggered this article after the attack in Paris, for the first time.
