The ammunition plan submitted by the EU Commission have an accelerated path. The Eu Parliament has overwhelmingly accepted the Popolari’s proposal to include the Asap program in the so-called procedure “Fast Lane”: 518 votes in favour, 59 against and 31 abstentions. Among those who spoke out against the Italian MPs was the M5s. However, the pro-democracy party said it was “strongly opposed to the use of any source of funding from Pnrr and Cohesion Fund resources. The issue was also raised during the Eurochamber debate: “There is no obligation on the part of the Member States to use the cohesion and recovery funds” to increase defense production, said the EU Commissioner for the Internal Market. Thierry Breton. “If some countries want to use them, they can do that. The known aggressor is Russia, and the war is also an industrial and productive capacity war. The more we increase our arms production, “the more credible we will be, and our credibility will also be an ingredient for peace,” he argued.
Due to the preferential track, the analysis times of the parliamentary commissions for the dossier will be reduced and the final vote of the MEPs could already take place at the mini-plenary session scheduled for May 31 in Brussels. In particular, the text is now in the hands of the Industry Commission of the Eurochamber. The President of the same body Cristian Silviu Busoi, announced its intention to convene a first meeting of the assigned shadow rapporteurs from each political group shortly. The possible vote in plenary at the end of May will then pave the way for negotiations with the member states. The EU Commission intends to reach a final agreement by mid-July.
Among those who voted against, there are 5 stars. “The ASAP (‘Ammunition Production Support Act’) regulation gives a very clear direction,” wrote M5’s MEP Sabrina Pignedoli in a note, “but at the same time incomprehensible. How to prepare a path to peace in Ukraine by investing in weapons? In the European Parliament, we reject the call for an accelerated procedure to speed up the approval times of the plan to divert funds from the social sector to the production of arms and ammunition from the European Union budget: a procedure that eliminates transparency and democratic legitimacy as it precludes any kind of confrontation about the measure. The priority at this moment must be the search for peace and the triumph of diplomacy, while the intention here seems more to be the reestablishment of a war economy. This is not the Europe we want.” MEP Mario Furore took the floor in the Chamber: “Today we are all gathered here to talk about the future of Europe there can be no future without a present of peace. European diplomatic action is needed to end the war in Ukraine immediately. Peace is created through dialogue and not through arms, which, moreover, should not be financed with European funds.”
The MEP, although voting in favour, released a note condemning the use of Pnrr funds for munitions: “We will take action to make the necessary changes to the text to ensure that the implementation of the program does not go through.” unacceptable deviations is diverted from the goals Pnrr funds that have already been allocated to European funds of vital importance to the EU and our country. And for this reason we call on the Italian government to work in the Council to defend this position towards the other Member States in view of the negotiations.” And they concluded: “The aim of our group has been and always will be support Ukraine in their effort to defend themselves against the illegitimate aggression of the Russian Federation and to continue to insist on the resumption of all international diplomatic measures in order to reach a ceasefire as soon as possible,” the deputies conclude.