Council Decision (CFSP) 2021/2073 of 25 November 2021 in support of enhancing the operational effectiveness of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) through satellite imagery

1 For the purpose of giving immediate and practical application to certain elements of the EU Strategy, the Union shall support the project of the OPCW to enhance its operational effectiveness through satellite imagery and imagery analysis provided by SatCen with the following objectives: expanding the OPCW’s capacity to support OPCW-mandated activities (the Declaration Assessment Team (DAT), the Fact Finding Mission (FFM), the Investigation and Identification Team (IIT), etc) through imagery analysis as a source of evidentiary substantiation or corroboration of findings, and utilising targeted imagery analysis for areas of interest (sites, routes, etc) in planning for OPCW-mandated missions (incidents of alleged use (IAUs), challenge inspections (CIs), technical assistance visits (TAVs), etc) in order to increase security and confidence in verification accuracy.

2 In the context of paragraph 1, the Union-supported activities of the project of the OPCW, which are in compliance with the measures set out in Chapter III of the EU Strategy, shall be the following: enabling the OPCW, through imagery capacity, to conduct appropriate oversight effectively and provide requisite reporting to the OPCW policymaking organs (Executive Council and Conference of the States Parties), and enabling the OPCW, through imagery capacity, to conduct verification activities accurately, effectively and safely and provide requested assistance to States Parties.

3 The project referred to in paragraph 1 concerns the provision of, inter alia, situation-awareness products related to the security of the FFM, including the status of the road network, through the delivery to the OPCW of SatCen satellite imagery products.

4 A detailed description of the Union-supported activities referred to in paragraph 2 is set out in the project document in the Annex.

1 The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (‘the HR’) shall be responsible for the implementation of this Decision.

2 Technical implementation of the project referred to in Article 1 shall be carried out by the OPCW Technical Secretariat (‘the Technical Secretariat’). It shall perform that task under the responsibility and the control of the HR. For that purpose, the HR shall enter into the necessary arrangements with the Technical Secretariat.

1 The financial reference amount for the implementation of the project referred to in Article 1 shall be EUR 1593353,22.

2 The expenditure financed by the amount set out in paragraph 1 shall be managed in accordance with the procedures and rules applicable to the general budget of the Union.

3 The Commission shall supervise the proper management of the expenditure referred to in paragraph 2. For that purpose, it shall conclude the necessary agreement with the Technical Secretariat. That agreement shall stipulate that the Technical Secretariat is to ensure visibility of the Union contribution, commensurate with its size, and specify measures to facilitate the development of synergies and to avoid the duplication of activities.

4 The Commission shall endeavour to conclude the agreement referred to in paragraph 3 as soon as possible after the entry into force of this Decision. It shall inform the Council of any difficulties in that process and of the date of conclusion of the agreement.

The HR shall report to the Council on the implementation of this Decision on the basis of regular reports prepared by the Technical Secretariat. The HR reports shall form the basis for the evaluation carried out by the Council. The Commission shall provide information on the financial aspects of the project referred to in Article 1.

1 This Decision shall enter into force on the date of its adoption.

2 This Decision shall expire 48 months after the date of conclusion of the agreement referred to in Article 3(3). However, it shall expire six months after its entry into force if that agreement has not been concluded by that time.