Article 2

The Annex to Regulation (EU) 2021/1173 is amended as follows: (1) in Article 3, paragraph 2 is replaced by the following: 2. Any application of a Member State or a third country associated to Horizon Europe or the Digital Europe Programme for membership of the Joint Undertaking shall be addressed to the Governing Board. The candidate countries shall provide a written acceptance of these Statutes, and of any other provisions governing the functioning of the Joint Undertaking. The candidates shall also provide their motivation for requesting membership of the Joint Undertaking and indicate how their national supercomputing or quantum technology strategy is aligned with the Joint Undertaking’s objectives. The Governing Board shall assess the application, taking into account the relevance and the potential added value of the candidate as regards the achievement of the mission and objectives of the Joint Undertaking and may decide to ask for clarifications regarding the candidature before endorsing the application. ; (2) in Article 4(1), point (c) is replaced by the following: (c) the Industrial and Scientific Advisory Board composed of the Research and Innovation Advisory Group, the Infrastructure Advisory Group and the Quantum Technologies Advisory Group. ; (3) in Article 5, the following paragraph is added: 3. For activities under the quantum technologies pillar, the Participating States may decide to use the same representative as for the other pillars of activity, assisted by the appropriate representatives and experts from their relevant competent authorities in the field of quantum technologies, or may appoint an additional representative from their relevant competent authorities in the field of quantum technologies. ; (4) Article 6 is amended as follows: (a) the following paragraphs are inserted: 5a. For the tasks referred to in Article 7(4a), points (a) to (e) and point (g), of these Statutes, the remaining 50 % of the voting rights shall be held by the Participating States that are Member States. For the purpose of this paragraph, decisions of the Governing Board shall be taken by a qualified majority. Qualified majority shall be deemed established if it represents the Union and at least 55 % of the Participating States that are Member States, comprising at least 65 % of the total population of those States. To determine the population, the figures set out in Annex III to Decision 2009/937/EU shall be used. 5b. For the tasks referred to in Article 7(4a), point (f) of these Statutes, and for each AI gigafactory, the voting rights of the Participating States shall be distributed in proportion to their committed financial contributions to that AI gigafactory until either its ownership is transferred or it is sold or decommissioned, or until the contract expired for a pre-agreed guaranteed purchase of access time to the AI gigafactory referred to in Article 12b(5) of this Regulation. For the purpose of this paragraph, decisions of the Governing Board shall be taken by a majority of at least 75 % of all votes, including the votes of the members who are absent. ; (b) in paragraph 6, the first subparagraph is replaced by the following: For the tasks referred to in Article 7(5) to (7) of these Statutes, decisions of the Governing Board shall be taken in two stages. ; (5) Article 7 is amended as follows: (a) the following paragraph is inserted: 4a. The Governing Board shall carry out the following tasks related to the AI gigafactories referred to in Article 12b of this Regulation: (a) discuss and adopt the part of the multiannual strategic programme that is related to the establishment of AI gigafactories referred to in Article 18(1) of these Statutes; (b) discuss and adopt the part of the annual work programme that is related to the establishment of AI gigafactories and the selection of AI gigafactory Consortia and the corresponding expenditure estimates; (c) approve the launch of calls for expression of interest, in accordance with the annual work programme; (d) approve the selection of the AI gigafactory Consortia which will establish and operate the AI gigafactories; (e) determine the conditions of the Union’s access time to the AI gigafactories; (f) make decisions related to the AI gigafactory public governance body; (g) approve framework contracts established by the Joint Undertaking for the provision of essential and high-demand components of AI gigafactories. ; (b) the following paragraph is inserted: 5a. For activities under the quantum technologies pillar, Article 7(5) of these Statutes applies, with the exception of activities related to the acquisition and operation of quantum computers to which Article 7(4) of these Statutes applies. ; (6) Article 10 is amended as follows: (a) paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: 1. The Industrial and Scientific Advisory Board shall be composed of a Research and Innovation Advisory Group, an Infrastructure Advisory Group and a Quantum Technologies Advisory Group. ; (b) the following paragraph is added: 7. The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall consist of no more than twelve members, of which up to six shall be appointed by the Private Members taking into account their commitments to the Joint Undertaking and up to six shall be appointed by the Governing Board, in accordance with Article 7(3), point (k), of these Statutes. The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group may include up to six observers proposed by Participating States and appointed by the Governing Board. ; (7) the following article is inserted: Article 12a Functioning of the Quantum Technologies Advisory Group 1. The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall meet at least twice a year. 2. The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group may appoint working groups where necessary under the overall coordination of one or more members. 3. The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall elect its chair. 4. The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall adopt its rules of procedure, including the nomination of the constituent entities that shall represent the Advisory Group and the duration of their nomination. ; (8) the following article is inserted: Article 14a Tasks of the Quantum Technologies Advisory Group 1. The Quantum Technologies Advisory Group shall: (a) draw up its contribution to the draft multiannual strategic programme in relation to quantum technology activities and related subjects referred to in Article 18 of these Statutes and review it regularly in accordance with the evolution of scientific, industrial and policy demand; (b) organise public consultations open to all public and private stakeholders having an interest in the field of quantum technologies to inform them about, and collect feedback on, the draft multiannual strategic programme and the related draft activities of the quantum technologies part of the work programme for a given year. 2. The contribution to the draft multiannual strategic programme referred to in paragraph 1 shall address: (a) the strategic research, innovation, deployment and infrastructure priorities for the development and uptake of quantum technologies and their integration into the European digital ecosystem, to support the Union’s resilience, strategic autonomy and technological sovereignty; (b) potential international cooperation activities in quantum technologies that add value and are of mutual interest, while ensuring alignment with Union values and security interests; (c) training, education and workforce development priorities for addressing key competences and the skills gap in quantum technologies, including awareness of security-sensitive applications; (d) the acquisition, deployment and operation of quantum infrastructures, including the interconnection and federation with High Performance Computing infrastructures and other digital infrastructures such as quantum communications and quantum sensing; (e) measures for capability building, interoperability, standardisation and security in the field of quantum technologies with specific consideration of dual-use risks and protection of the strategic assets, interests, autonomy or security of the Union. ; (9) Article 16 is replaced by the following: Article 16 Budgetary commitments Budgetary commitments of the Joint Undertaking may be divided into annual instalments. From January 2025, at least 20 % of the cumulative budget of the residual years shall not be covered by annual instalments..