Recital (47)

Given the potentially significant impact of the EDPCIs for the competitiveness and the industrial readiness of the EDTIB, the Programme should support the consortia of participating Member States and associated countries in their deployment. Such financial support from the Programme should be limited to activities undertaken by those consortia which are related to the common procurement of defence products, accelerating the adjustment to structural changes of the production capacity of defence products as well as related supporting activities, the industrial development of new defence products or the upgrading of existing ones, and the development and procurement of necessary infrastructure. Given the particular scale of those projects, which requires an unprecedented level of cooperation and coordination among Member States and industry, and taking into account the financial risks for the participating Member States and associated countries, Union funding should be able to cover, by derogation from Article 193(1) of the Financial Regulation, up to 100 % of the eligible costs. That is without prejudice to the possibility of certain EDPCI activities to be financially supported under other actions, provided they meet the conditions set for those actions and have not received funding under other Union programmes, in line with the Financial Regulation. Participating Member States should ensure that EDPCI activities comply with the objectives of the Programme, including where there is no Union financial support. To facilitate the monitoring of compliance with those objectives, Member States participating in an EDPCI should transmit to the Commission, on an annual basis, a joint report on the implementation of the EDPCI activities. The Council, upon a proposal from the Commission, should be able to amend the implementing acts identifying EDPCIs, including by removing EDPCIs from the list. Member States participating in an EDPCI will be able, for the purposes of carrying out activities necessary to its implementation, to rely on the expertise and the administrative capacity of the EDA or international organisations such as the Organisation for Joint Armament Cooperation (OCCAR) and the NATO Support and Procurement Agency (NSPA).