What changed between the draft committee report and the plenary report

Added:2. Additionally, financial resources for Ukraine mobilised through article 6 (2) of Regulation (EU) 202X/XXXX [Global Europe] from the Ukraine Reserve in accordance with Article 6 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 202X/XXXX [MFF Regulation] may be used, where appropriate, to provide for Union support to Ukraine under this Regulation.

Added:3. Appropriations may be entered in the Union budget beyond 2034 to cover the expenses necessary and to enable the management of actions not completed by the end of the Instrument.

Added:4. The financial envelope referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, the financial resources referred to in paragraph 2 of this Article and the amounts of additional resources referred to in Article 3 may also be used for technical and administrative assistance for the implementation of the Instrument, such as preparatory, monitoring, control, audit and evaluation activities, corporate information technology systems and platforms, information, visibility and communication activities, including corporate communication on the political priorities of the Union and all other technical and administrative assistance or staff-related expenses incurred by the Commission for the management of the Instrument.

Added:5. For the Instrument’s external component, the rules and procedures concerning carry overs, annual instalments, repayments, revenue and recoveries from financial instruments financed under this Instrument or its predecessors, and surpluses from the budgetary guarantees and loans provisioned under this Instrument or its predecessors, laid down in Article 22 of Regulation (EU) 202X/XXXX [Global Europe] shall apply to the implementation of this Regulation.

Added:Article 3a (new)

Added:Consistency, synergies and complementarity

Added:The implementation of this Regulation shall ensure consistency, synergies and complementarity with other Programmes of Union external action, other relevant Union policies and legislative acts such as Directives 2009/71/Euratom, 2011/70/Euratom and 2013/59/Euratom, Union goals and values and Programmes such as the Euratom research and training programme, and policy coherence for development.

Added:Article 4

Added:Additional resources

Added:Member States, Union institutions, bodies and agencies, partner countries, international organisations, international financial institutions, or other public or private third parties, may make additional financial or non-financial contributions to the Instrument. The origin, purpose and conditions of such contributions shall be transparent. The additional financial contributions shall constitute external assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(2), points (a), (d), or (e) or Article 21(5) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

Added:Article 5

Added:Alternative, combined and cumulative funding

Added:1. The Instrument shall be implemented in synergy with other Community and Union programmes. An action that has received a Community and a Union contribution from another programme may also receive a contribution. The rules of the relevant Union programme shall apply to the corresponding contribution, or a single set of rules may be applied to all contributions and a single legal commitment may be concluded. If the Union contribution is based on eligible costs, the cumulative support from the Union budget shall not exceed the total eligible costs of the action and may be calculated on a pro-rata basis in accordance with the conditions for support.

Added:2. Award procedures under the Instrument may be jointly conducted under direct or indirect management with Member States, Union institutions, bodies and agencies, partner countries, international organisations, international financial institutions, or other public or private third parties (‘partners to the joint award procedure’), provided the protection of the financial interests of the Union is ensured. Such procedures shall be subject to a single set of rules and lead to the conclusion of single legal commitments. For that purpose, the partners to the joint award procedure may make resources available to the Instrument in accordance with Article [4] of this Regulation, or the partners may be entrusted with the implementation of the award procedure, where applicable in accordance with Article 62(1), point (c), of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509. In joint award procedures, representatives of the partners to the joint award procedure may also be members of the evaluation committee referred to in Article 153(3) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509.

Added:Article 6

Added:Implementation and forms of Union funding

Added:1. The Instrument shall be implemented in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, under direct management or in indirect management with entities referred to in Article 62(1), point (c) of that Regulation.

Added:2. Union funding may be provided in any form in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, in particular grants, prizes, procurement, non-financial donations, budgetary guarantees, financial instruments and blending operations.

Added:Article 6a (new)

Added:Transparency and dissemination of information

Added:The Commission shall ensure full transparency in the implementation of the Instrument, on the allocation of funds under the Instrument and on nuclear safety measures supported by the Instrument. The Commission shall ensure that relevant information is regularly made available to the European Parliament.

Added:Third countries cooperating under this Instrument shall ensure that relevant information on nuclear safety measures supported by the Instrument, as well as on nuclear safety standards more generally, is made available to the public, with particular attention to local authorities, populations, workers and stakeholders near nuclear installations. This includes ensuring that competent regulatory authorities and licence holders provide information within their respective responsibilities, in line with applicable legislation and international instruments, without prejudice to overriding interests such as security.

Added:CHAPTER II

Added:IMPLEMENTATION OF THE INSTRUMENT’S DIFFERENT COMPONENTS

Added:Section 1: Specific provisions for the implementation of the Instrument’s external component

Added:Article 7

Added:Policy framework

Added:The policies, as set out in association agreements, partnership and cooperation agreements, including nuclear cooperation agreements, multilateral agreements, legally non-binding instruments, such as memoranda of understanding, declarations and other agreements that establish a relationship between the Union and/or the Community and its partner countries, as well as European Council conclusions and Council conclusions, European Parliament resolutions, summit declarations, conclusions of high-level meetings with partner countries, strategies and communications from the Commission and joint communications from the Commission and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, shall constitute the overall policy framework for the implementation of the Instrument.

Added:Article 8

Added:Implementation and eligibility in alignment with Global Europe

Added:1. Unless otherwise specified in this Regulation, Union financing for the Instrument’s external component shall be implemented in accordance with this Regulation, Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509, and as appropriate Chapter II and Chapter III of Title II of Regulation (EU) 202X/XXXX [Global Europe] with the exception of Articles 19, 20(2) and (3) and 26 of that Regulation. The eligibility rules set out in Articles 20(1) and (4) to (12) of Regulation (EU) 202X/XXXX [Global Europe] shall apply to all actions financed under the external component.

Added:2. Where Union support is provided in the form of a budgetary guarantee or a financial instrument, including where combined with non-repayable support in a blending operation, it shall be exclusively provided through the Global Europe delivery mechanism and implemented in accordance with the applicable rules of the Global Europe delivery mechanism through agreements concluded for that type of support under the Global Europe delivery mechanisms.

Added:3. Union support in the form of a budgetary guarantee shall be provided within the maximum amount of the budgetary guarantee established by the Global Europe Regulation.

Added:4. Where the Instrument makes use of the Global Europe delivery mechanism, it shall provide the provisioning for the budgetary guarantee and the financing to financial instruments, including when combined with non-repayable support in the form of a blending operation.

Added:Article 9

Added:Euratom loans

Added:1. Union support to Ukraine in the form of loans under Council Decision 77/270/Euratom shall be provided within the maximum amount referred to in Article 6 (2), second sub-paragraph of Regulation (EU) 202X/XXXX [Global Europe]. The provisions of the Article 24 (3), last paragraph of Regulation (EU) 202X/XXXX [Global Europe] shall apply to loans to Ukraine under Council Decision 77/270/Euratom.

Added:2. The provisioning rate for Union support in the form of loans to Armenia under Council Decision 77/270/Euratom shall be the provisioning rate set out in Article 24 of Regulation (EU) 202X/XXXX [Global Europe].

Added:Article 9a

Added:Strategic framework for international safety cooperation

Added:1. The Commission shall strengthen the strategic framework for international nuclear safety cooperation by developing and subsequently maintaining an up-to-date and comprehensive strategy; such a strategy should be adopted by the end of 2027 at the latest, in order to guide the cooperation actions under the Instrument.

Added:That strategy shall identify the areas of greatest added value of Union action, taking into account initiatives by other relevant stakeholders. It shall also set out the objectives to be achieved, including, where appropriate, quantifiable targets, the tools to be used, and the stakeholders involved, as well as the arrangements for their coordination.

Added:2. The Commission shall, in particular:

Added:(a) reinforce the selection of cooperation actions on the basis of predefined and relevant criteria, including the urgency and magnitude of the nuclear safety risk addressed, the added value of Union action, the maturity of the proposed action, the expected sustainability of results, the benefits for the Union’s industrial base and the geopolitical context in which support is to be provided; that selection process shall be appropriately documented;

Added:(b) where actions concern revenue-generating nuclear facilities, including nuclear power plants, assess the beneficiary’s capacity to finance its own safety programmes and consider, where appropriate, whether financing through loans or other repayable forms of support would be more suitable;

Added:(c) where actions concern the operation and safety of nuclear power plants, due consideration shall be given in the selection of implementing entities to Union organisations with a demonstrated track record in the safe and sustainable long-term operation in the nuclear field, in accordance with the highest international safety standards.

Added:Article 10

Added:Multiannual indicative programmes

Added:1. The implementation of the Instrument’s external component shall be carried out through multiannual indicative programmes adopted by means of implementing acts in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 17(3). Such multiannual indicative programmes shall:

Added:(a) aim to provide a coherent framework for cooperation between the Community and partner countries or regions concerned, in a manner consistent with the overall purpose and scope, objectives, principles and policy of the Community and based on the policy framework referred to in Article 7 of this Regulation;

Added:(b) constitute a general basis for the nuclear safety cooperation under the Instrument and set out the Community’s goals for cooperation, having regard to the needs of the countries concerned, the Community’s priorities, the international situation and the activities of the partner countries concerned;

Added:(c) indicate the added value of the cooperation referred to in point (b) and how to avoid overlapping other programmes and initiatives, in particular those of international organisations pursuing similar objectives and those of other major donors;

Added:(d) set out the geographic and policy priorities selected for Union financing, the specific objectives, the expected outcomes and, where appropriate, the indicative financial allocations and the methods of implementation.

Added:(e) be based on dialogue with the partner countries or regions which involves relevant stakeholders, especially the governmental and regulatory authorities and the organisations designated by them, as well as, where appropriate, on consultations with the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (‘ENSREG’) established by Commission Decision 2007/530/Euratom.

Added:(ea) establish, from the outset, appropriate mitigating measures to minimise delays and cost overruns during the implementation of the programme and its actions. Those measures shall include upfront cost estimates, performance incentives in contractual arrangements and sufficient pledges from other donors where multi-donor funding mechanisms are involved;

Added:(eb) provide for a strong monitoring mechanism of Union-funded nuclear safety actions, including through information collection on the actual use of outputs following the completion of actions, the compliance of the beneficiary with sound financial management obligations, the systematic inclusion of outcome indicators aligned with the objectives of the actions and capable of capturing their effects on nuclear safety and, where necessary, on-the-spot visits.

Added:2. The multiannual indicative programmes may be reviewed on an ad hoc basis as necessary for their effective implementation, in particular where there are substantive changes in the policy framework referred to in Article 6 or following a situation of crisis or post-crisis. The examination procedure referred to in Article 17(3) shall also apply to reviews, which have the effect of significantly amending the content of the multiannual indicative programme.

Added:Article 10a (new)

Added:Coordination with third countries and international organisations

Added:The Commission shall coordinate its cooperation with third countries and with international organisations pursuing similar objectives, in particular the IAEA and the OECD through the Nuclear Energy Agency. This coordination will enable the Community and the organisations concerned to avoid any duplication of actions and funding in relation to third countries. The Commission shall also involve the competent authorities of Member States and Union operators in the fulfilment of its task.