The Nordic Countries and the European Security and Defence Policy

402 THE NORDIC COUNTRIES AND THE ESDPdeclaration under Article III-300(1), secondsubparagraph, shall not be obliged to contributeto the financing thereof.3. The Council shall adopt a European decisionestablishing the specific procedures forguaranteeing rapid access to appropriations inthe Union budget for urgent financing of initiativesin the framework of the common foreignand security policy, and in particular forpreparatory activities for the tasks referred toin Article I-41(1) and Article III-309. It shallact after consulting the European Parliament.Preparatory activities for the tasks referredto in Article I-41(1) and Article III-309 whichare not charged to the Union budget shall befinanced by a start-up fund made up of MemberStates’ contributions.The Council shall adopt by a qualifiedmajority, on a proposal from the Union Ministerfor Foreign Affairs, European decisionsestablishing:(a) the procedures for setting up and financingthe start-up fund, in particular theamounts allocated to the fund;(b) the procedures for administering thestart-up fund;(c) the financial control procedures.When the task planned in accordance withArticle I-41(1) and Article III-309 cannot becharged to the Union budget, the Council shallauthorise the Union Minister for ForeignAffairs to use the fund. The Union Ministerfor Foreign Affairs shall report to the Councilon the implementation of this remit.Chapter VIII. Implementation of thesolidarity clauseArticle III-3291. Should a Member State be the object of aterrorist attack or the victim of a natural orman-made disaster, the other Member Statesshall assist it at the request of its politicalauthorities. To that end, the Member Statesshall coordinate between themselves in theCouncil.2. The arrangements for the implementationby the Union of the solidarity clause referredto in Article I-43 shall be defined by a Europeandecision adopted by the Council actingon a joint proposal by the Commission and theUnion Minister for Foreign Affairs. TheCouncil shall act in accordance with ArticleIII-300(1) where this decision has defenceimplications. The European Parliament shallbe informed.For the purposes of this paragraph andwithout prejudice to Article III-344, the Councilshall be assisted by the Political and SecurityCommittee with the support of the structuresdeveloped in the context of the commonsecurity and defence policy and by the Committeereferred to in Article III-261; the twocommittees shall, if necessary, submit jointopinions.3. The European Council shall regularlyassess the threats facing the Union in order toenable the Union and its Member States totake effective action.Title VI. The functioning of the unionChapter III. Enhanced cooperationArticle III-4192. The request of the Member States whichwish to establish enhanced cooperationbetween themselves within the framework ofthe common foreign and security policy shallbe addressed to the Council. It shall be forwardedto the Union Minister for ForeignAffairs, who shall give an opinion on whetherthe enhanced cooperation proposed is consistentwith the Union’s common foreign andsecurity policy, and to the Commission, whichshall give its opinion in particular on whetherthe enhanced cooperation proposed is consistentwith other Union policies. It shall also beforwarded to the European Parliament forinformation.Authorisation to proceed with enhancedcooperation shall be granted by a Europeandecision of the Council acting unanimously.Article III-4221. Where a provision of the Constitution whichmay be applied in the context of enhancedcooperation stipulates that the Council shallact unanimously, the Council, acting unanimouslyin accordance with the arrangementslaid down in Article I-44(3), may adopt aEuropean decision stipulating that it will actby a qualified majority.2. Where a provision of the Constitutionwhich may be applied in the context of