Council of theEuropean Union
Brussels, 14 December 2020
(OR. en)
14018/20
Interinstitutional File:
2018/0136(COD)
CODEC 1336
CADREFIN 449
RESPR 81
POLGEN 227
FIN 955
NOTE
Subject:

Draft Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on a
general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget- Adoption of the Council's position at first reading and of the statement ofthe Council's reasons= Outcome of the written procedure completed on 14 December 2020

The written procedure opened by CM 4742/20 of 11 December 2020 was completed by CM
5358/20 of 14 December 2020.
All delegations voted in favour of, except for Hungary and Poland that voted against the adoption of
the Council’s position at first reading on the above mentioned Regulation and the statement of theCouncil's reasons, as set out in documents ST 9980/20 and 9980/20 ADD 1.
All delegations agreed to approve the draft Joint Statement as set out in Annex 1 to ST 13051/20.
The required qualified majority has been reached. Therefore, the above position of the Council atfirst reading and the statement of the Council's reasons are adopted and the accompanying Joint
statement is approved.
The Joint Statement, the statements by the Commission and the statement by Hungary are
reproduced in the Annex to this note.

14018/20

EE/psc
GIP.2

1EN

The above statements will be included in the summary of acts adopted by the written procedure asstatements to be entered in the Council minutes, in accordance with the third subparagraph ofArticle 12(1) of the Council's Rules of Procedure.

14018/20

EE/pscGIP.2

2EN

Annex: information and statements
Explanation by Hungary of its vote
The European Council conclusions of 10-11 December 2020 and the related statements by theCommission and the Council addressed the political and some of the legal concerns of Hungary as
regards the interpretation and application of the draft Regulation on a general regime ofconditionality for the protection of the Union budget. Nevertheless, serious legal concerns remain as
to the conformity of the draft Regulation with EU law that compel Hungary to vote against theCouncil’s position in first reading on the draft Regulation. Hungary reserves its right under Article
263 TFEU.

Statement by Hungary
The full implementation in good faith of the European Council conclusions and the related
statements by the Commission on the interpretation and application of the regulation on a generalregime of conditionality for the protection of the Union budget pertains to Hungary's vital national
interests and is a precondition of Hungary's consent to any legislative act related to the multiannual
financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027, including Next Generation EU.

Statement by the Commission
The Commission takes note of the European Council’s conclusions of 10-11 December 2020 withregard to the draft Regulation on a general regime of conditionality for the protection of the Union
budget. It confirms the European Council’s understanding that the Commission, in the applicationof the Regulation, is committed to the elements referred to in paragraph 2 of the conclusions of 1011 December 2020 to the extent that they fall within the remit of its responsibilities, in accordancewith the Treaties.

14018/20

EE/psc
GIP.2

3ENDraft Joint Statement by the Council, the European Parliament and the Commission
Without prejudice to the Commission's right of initiative, the European Parliament, the Council andCommission agree to consider including the content of this Regulation into Regulation (EU,Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 (the "FinancialRegulation") upon its next revision.

Statement by the Commission
The Commission agrees to consider accompanying the report to the European Parliament and theCouncil on the application of this Regulation by appropriate proposals where necessary.

14018/20

EE/psc
GIP.2

4EN