EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 24.3.2021 COM(2021) 200 final 2021/0078(BUD) DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET No 2

TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2021 financing the COVID-19 response and including refinements and updates related to the final adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework





































Having regard to: –the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 314 thereof, in conjunction with the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 106a thereof, –Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union (…), and in particular Article 44 thereof, –the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021, as adopted on 18 December 2020, –draft amending budget No°1/2021, adopted on 22 January 2021, The European Commission hereby presents to the European Parliament and to the Council Draft Amending Budget No 2 to the 2021 budget. CHANGES TO THE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION The changes to the general statement of revenue and to the individual section III are available on EUR-Lex ( https://eur-lex.europa.eu/budget/www/index-en.htm ). Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Financing the COVID-19 response 3. Decentralised agencies and EPPO 3.1. European Union Agency for the Space Programme 3.2. European Fisheries Control Agency 3.3. European Public Prosecutor’s Office 4. Executive agencies 4.1. Establishing the 2021-2027 executive agencies

4.2. Impact on appropriations 4.3. Impact on human resources 5. Joint Undertakings 6. REACT-EU 7. Frontloading of the provisioning of the EFSD+ 8. Other adjustments and technical updates 9. EU Solidarity Fund 10. Financing 11. Summary table by MFF heading EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1.Introduction The purpose of Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 2 for the year 2021 is to provide additional funding for the prevention, preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic as proposed in the Commission Communications on the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) Incubator, COVID-19: a common path to safe and sustained re-opening and the Digital Green Certificates, and to provide room under the Emergency Support Instrument for the potential budgetary impact of further European initiatives related to the COVID-19 response. Moreover, the DAB introduces the necessary technical changes to the 2021 budget stemming from the political agreements reached on sectoral legal bases following the adoption of the multiannual financial framework (MFF) in December 2020, as well as some adjustments in relation to the provisioning for the External Action Guarantee. In particular, it covers the following elements: ¾Reinforcement of the Emergency Support Instrument and of the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in the context of the COVID-19 response, for a total amount of EUR 216,2 million in commitment and EUR 208,1 million in payment appropriations. ¾Budgetary neutral adjustments: -resulting from the adoption of the Commission implementing decision of 12 February 2021 establishing the new generation of executive agencies, and the corresponding Commission delegating decisions setting out the major components of the mandate and tasks entrusted to them; -resulting from the adoption of the Commission proposal for a Council Regulation establishing the Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe of 23 February 2021, setting out the major components of the mandate and contribution to EU priorities of the new European partnerships as from 2021; -to the planned amounts from NextGenerationEU (NGEU) for 2021 by programme and budget line, to reflect the impact of the finalisation of the legal bases of the programmes that will benefit from NGEU top-ups including REACT-EU; -to increase the provisioning of the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD+) in 2021 by EUR 700 million in commitment appropriations, to be compensated by a corresponding decrease in later years of the 2021-2027 period;

¾Other adjustments and technical updates: -adjustment of the establishment plans of the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA) and the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), as well as reinforcement of the European Fisheries Control Agency (EFCA) by EUR 2 million and corresponding adjustment of its establishment plan, taking into account the impact of the latest legislative or political developments on their operations for 2021; -a correction to the 2021 level of appropriations of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), following the adoption of EESC budgetary authority transfer DEC1/2020 in 2020, which prefinanced building expenditure originally foreseen for 2021 for an amount of EUR 5,5 million in commitment and payment appropriations. Additionally, taking into account the provisions under Article 10 (1) of the 2014-2020 MFF Regulation, it is proposed to carry-over to the EUSF budget line in 2021 an amount of EUR 47 981 598 in both commitment and payment appropriations, corresponding to the unused portion of 2020 appropriations. Overall, the net impact of this DAB on expenditure in the 2021 budget is an amount of EUR 260 681 598 in commitment and EUR 252 581 598 in payment appropriations. 2.Financing the COVID-19 response 2.1.Overview of additional funding needs Faced with urgent needs related to the COVID-19 response in 2021, in particular to finance preparatory work for digital green certificates, reinforce sequencing through the HERA Incubator, waste-water monitoring and specialised RT-PCR assays, the Commission proposes to use this DAB No 2 to reinforce the Emergency Support Instrument and the EU contribution to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in 2021, for a total amount of EUR 216,2 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 208,1 million in payment appropriations. In parallel, the Commission has proposed a budgetary authority transfer from the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve (SEAR) to address immediate needs for the ESI and ECDC, for an amount of EUR 121,5 million. The breakdown of the amounts between the two budgetary instruments depends on the urgency of obtaining additional funding. In this context, the Commission has also identified some sources of redeployment in the current budget, for an amount of around EUR 7,5 million. Overall, as shown in the table below, this leads to a total additional amount of COVID-related funding in 2021 of EUR 345,2 million. Amounts in EUR million Action SEAR transfer DEC 5/2021 DAB 2/2021 Financing from existing envelopes 2021 Total funding 2021 Digital Green Certificates 31,0 12,0 3,0 46,0 Specialised RT-CPR assays 31,0 34,0 - 65,0 HERA Incubator sequencing 46,0 60,0 4,0 110,0 Passenger Locator Form exchange platform 2,5 - 0,5 3,0 Wastewater monitoring 11,0 10,2 - 21,2 Further emerging needs 100,0 100,0 Total 121,5 216,2 7,5 345,2 The table below shows the additional financing needs for the Emergency Support Instrument and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) in 2021, for the part to be financed through this draft amending budget. EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 06 07 01 Emergency support within the Union 156 200 000 148 100 000 06 10 01 European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) 60 000 000 60 000 000 Total 216 200 000 208 100 000 2.2.Emergency Support Instrument The Emergency Support Instrument (ESI) covers a broad scope of eligible actions. It was activated in 2020 to provide an immediate response to the outbreak of COVID-19, mostly in order to support the health sectors in the Member States and to finance Advance Purchase Agreements (APAs) on behalf of all Member States with vaccine manufacturers. The Commission proposes to reinforce the Emergency Support Instrument in 2021 by a total amount of EUR 231,7 million in commitment appropriations, of which EUR 156,2 million in this draft amending budget. The measures to be channelled through the Emergency Support Instrument would include in particular: ·Preparatory work to establish a common framework for a Digital Green Certificate of individuals’ vaccination, testing and recovery status, so as to put in place an EU level approach to issuing, verifying and accepting interoperable certificates to facilitate free movement during the COVID-19 pandemic; ·Developing, evaluating and adjusting new RT-PCR assays for each new emerging variant before they can be rolled out, while ensuring sufficient sequencing capacity in the Member States, as set out in the Commission Communication on the HERA Incubator; ·Wastewater monitoring, which has proved to be an effective, reliable and inexpensive instrument to identify the presence of a virus. As set out in the Commission Communication on COVID-19: A common path to safe and sustained re-opening , a common approach to establish a systematic surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 and its variants in wastewaters in the EU allows for very early detection, which enables screening among large population groups in order to identify where more detailed analysis is needed; ·Further work in the development of the Passenger Locator Form exchange platform to increase the number of Member States participating, in parallel with establishing a legal basis in EU law for the cross-border exchange of personal data through an implementing act. In the current pilot phase of the project, the exchange platform is technically ready to connect with the digital repositories of three already participating Member States. ·In addition to the funding needs identified at this stage, it is proposed to create room under the Emergency Support Instrument - for an amount of EUR 100 million - for the potential budgetary impact of emerging needs as the pandemic evolves. In this respect, it is important to underline that the dynamically evolving nature of the pandemic requires rapid policy responses that cannot always be foreseen, which will also need to be financed at short notice.

In the context of the legislative proposal for the Digital Green Certificates, the Commission has identified the possibility to finance an annual amount of EUR 3 million relating to the operation and maintenance of the system from the Digital Europe Programme, once its legal basis will have entered into force. A further amount of EUR 0,5 million for maintenance of the Passenger Locator Form exchange platform has been made available under the Commission prerogative budget line in the Transport area in 2021 (budget item 02 20 04 01). The amount of payment appropriations requested for the Emergency Support Instrument in 2021 (EUR 148,1 million) takes into account the specific payment needs identified in the legislative financial statement for the Commission proposal concerning Digital Green Certificates, of which EUR 8,1 million would occur in 2022. 2.3.European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control The Commission proposes to give the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) a key role in strengthening the capacity of Member States to detect and monitor new variants of SARS-CoV-2 viruses (‘sequencing’). Reaching the target of 5 % of genome sequencing of positive tests in the Member States will help to identify variants, monitor their spread in populations, and screen their impact on transmissibility. Moreover, it is important to step up research and data exchange on variants. ECDC has already set up an emergency framework contract enabling in particular the Member States with limited or no whole genome sequencing capacity to send samples to one or more commercial laboratories contracted by ECDC to do sequencing, for which ECDC has been able to redeploy an amount of EUR 4 million within its current budget. In order to make this capacity more widely available to all Member States, it is proposed to expand ECDC’s framework contract by reinforcing the EU contribution to ECDC in 2021, for a total amount of EUR 106 million in commitment and payment appropriations, of which EUR 60 million in this draft amending budget. The reinforced EU contribution to ECDC will also be used to cover costs related to the transport of viral samples for sequencing, as well as to support capacity building in the Member States, ahead of the creation of the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA). In order to enable ECDC to allocate this substantial amount of funding to the Member States, in full respect of financial rules, it is proposed to reinforce ECDC’s staff by 10 establishment plan posts and five contract agents in 2021, as a frontloading of the 2022 staff increase foreseen for the ECDC in the Health package of 11 November 2020. The estimated salary costs of some EUR 1 million are included in the EUR 60 million requested for ECDC in the draft amending budget. The updated establishment plan of the ECDC is set out in the budgetary annex. 3.Decentralised agencies and EPPO 3.1.European Union Agency for the Space Programme Following the agreement reached by Parliament and Council on the Space programme Regulation in December 2020, a staff increase is proposed for the European Union Agency for the Space Programme (EUSPA), consisting of 41 additional establishment plan posts and 11 Seconded National Experts in 2021, in order to facilitate the implementation of the EU Space programme. The Regulation as agreed by Parliament and Council gives substantial additional tasks to EUSPA, including as regards guaranteeing continuity of service and ensuring security of infrastructure and systems such as Copernicus, Galileo/EGNOS and satellite communications. The related additional budgetary resources will be transferred to EUSPA from the Space programme’s budget lines through a Commission autonomous transfer upon adoption of the Space programme Regulation. The updated establishment plan of the EUSPA is set out in the budgetary annex. 3.2.European Fisheries Control Agency In the aftermath of the UK withdrawal, the EFCA needs to carry out increased control activities, as set out in more detail in a revised legislative financial statement. This increased workload requires four additional establishment plan posts and two contract agents, as well as an increase in the EU contribution to the agency of EUR 2 million. The Commission intends to redeploy a further EUR 2 million from the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF), by means of a Commission autonomous transfer. The additional staff and resources will allow EFCA to charter and deploy up to two additional Offshore Patrol Vessels and aircraft missions in waters adjoining the United Kingdom. The agency will also create a unified information system and a coordination cell to support the implementation of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement. The updated establishment plan of the EFCA is set out in the budgetary annex. 3.3.European Public Prosecutor’s Office The agreement reached on the voted budget 2021 included eight additional establishment plan posts for the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO). Following reconsideration of the needs, it is proposed to update the breakdown by function group and grades of these eight posts in the establishment plan. The updated establishment plan of the EPPO is set out in the budgetary annex. 4.Executive agencies 4.1.Establishing the 2021-2027 executive agencies On 12 February 2021, the Commission adopted the decision establishing the new generation of executive agencies and the corresponding Commission delegating decisions setting out the major components of the mandate and tasks entrusted to them. The effective date of the delegation of tasks to the new generation of executive agencies will be 1 April 2021.

In the Amending Letter No 1 to the Draft General Budget 2021, the Commission explained why, at that point in time, it had to base the assumptions relating to the amounts to be delegated to the executive agencies on the envelopes of the spending programmes set in the European Council agreement of July 2020. Given the uncertainty surrounding the allocation of these credits, the budgetary remarks on the support lines of the executive agencies in the Amending Letter did not yet include any estimates of expenditure. The voted budget 2021 confirmed the assumptions for the executive agencies as set out in the Amending Letter. However, the political agreement on the 2021-2027 MFF of 10 November 2020 included a significant increase in the budget of a series of programmes, which are partly or fully delegated to executive agencies. This concerns in particular Erasmus+, Horizon Europe, EU4Health, Creative Europe, as well as the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values programme. The corresponding impact of increased budgets to be delegated to the executive agencies was reflected in the documents which the Commission submitted to the Committee on Executive Agencies (“CEA package”) in December 2020. Since then, two further developments have had a relatively minor impact on the delegation of tasks to the executive agencies. First, the political agreement reached on 11 December 2020 on the internal budgetary allocation of Horizon Europe has modified the breakdown of appropriations and staff for the agencies implementing the programme, so as to reflect the related workload, without a net overall impact. Second, the Commission Decisions of 12 February 2021 reflect that the delegation of tasks will now effectively take place on 1 April 2021, as opposed to the previously expected date of 1 January 2021. The delayed recruitment of additional staff in 2021 creates a saving in relation to the executive agencies of some EUR 8,3 million, which reduces the need to reinforce the running costs of the executive agencies through this draft amending budget accordingly. 4.2.Impact on appropriations As set out above, the envelopes of appropriations to be delegated to the executive agencies in the 2021-2027 period have increased overall as compared to the assumptions used in the Amending Letter, also considering the delay in the start of the corresponding operations, with a corresponding impact on the workload and resources needs in the executive agencies in 2021. The table below shows the necessary increase of support expenditure for the 2021-2027 programmes by executive agency. The total amount of EUR 3 538 850 is broken down in more detail in the budgetary annex. Together with the amounts on the administrative support lines relating to the ongoing implementation “legacy” of the 2014-2020 programmes delegated to the executive agencies, this represents an 1 % increase overall in the running costs of the executive agencies. The impact on commitment and payment appropriations is as follows: ·European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency Amounts in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 01 01 01 74 European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency — Contribution from Horizon Europe 9 967 9 967 02 01 40 74 European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency — Contribution from the renewable energy financing mechanism -91 425 -91 425 08 01 03 74 European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency — Contribution from the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund -7 038 -7 038 09 01 01 74 European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency — Contribution from the Programme for Environment and Climate Action (LIFE) -183 656 -183 656 Total -272 152 -272 152 ·European Education and Culture Executive Agency Amounts in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 07 01 02 75 European Education and Culture Executive Agency — Contribution from Erasmus -889 025 -889 025 07 01 04 75 European Education and Culture Executive Agency — Contribution from Creative Europe 881 865 881 865 07 01 05 75 European Education and Culture Executive Agency — Contribution from Rights and Values 2 582 865 2 582 865 Total 2 575 705 2 575 705 ·European Health and Digital Executive Agency Amounts in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 01 01 01 73 European Health and Digital Executive Agency — Contribution from Horizon Europe -1 801 754 -1 801 754 02 01 23 73 European Health and Digital Executive Agency — Contribution from the Connecting Europe Facility — Digital -318 317 -318 317 02 01 30 73 European Health and Digital Executive Agency — Contribution from the Digital Europe Programme -63 623 -63 623 03 01 01 73 European Health and Digital Executive Agency — Contribution from the Single Market Programme (incl. SMEs) -219 379 -219 379 06 01 05 73 European Health and Digital Executive Agency — Contribution from the EU4Health Programme 4 508 102 4 508 102 Total 2 105 209 2 105 209 ·European Innovation and SMEs Executive Agency Amounts in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 01 01 01 76 European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency — Contribution from Horizon Europe -1 151 442 -1 151 442 03 01 01 76 European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency — Contribution from the Single Market Programme (incl. SMEs) -107 515 -107 515 05 01 01 76 European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency — Contribution from the programme Interregional Innovation Investments -138 303 -138 303 Total -1 397 260 -1 397 260 ·European Research Council Executive Agency Amounts in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 01 01 01 71 European Research Council Executive Agency — Contribution from Horizon Europe 302 000 302 000 Total 302 000 302 000 ·European Research Executive Agency Amounts in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 01 01 01 72 European Research Executive Agency — Contribution from Horizon Europe 631 865 631 865 20 03 14 72 European Research Executive Agency — Contribution for the implementation of the research programme for coal and steel and non-research programmes -406 337 -406 337 Total 225 528 225 528 The net increase in the running costs of the executive agencies of EUR 3 538 850 is fully offset by a corresponding net decrease of administrative and/or operational appropriations for the programmes which they will implement. The impact on commitment and payment appropriations is as follows:

Amounts in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 01 01 01 03 Other management expenditure for "Horizon Europe" — Indirect research 2 009 364 2 009 364 02 01 30 01 Support expenditure for the "Digital Europe Programme" 63 623 63 623 02 03 03 01 Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) — Digital 318 317 318 317 02 20 04 02 Support activities for the European energy policy and internal energy market 91 425 91 425 03 01 01 01 Support expenditure for the "Single Market Programme (incl. SMEs)" -102 485 -102 485 03 02 04 01 Ensuring high level of consumer protection and product safety 210 000 210 000 03 02 06 Contributing to a high level of health and welfare for humans, animals and plants 219 379 219 379 05 02 01 ERDF — Operational expenditure 138 303 138 303 06 06 01 EU4Health Programme -4 508 102 -4 508 102 07 01 02 01 Support expenditure for "Erasmus+" 889 025 889 025 07 05 01 Culture -308 653 -308 653 07 05 02 Media -573 212 -573 212 07 06 02 Promote citizens engagement and participation in the democratic life of the Union -2 582 865 -2 582 865 08 01 03 01 Support expenditure for the "European Maritime and Fisheries Fund" 7 038 7 038 09 01 01 01 Support expenditure for the "Programme for Environment and Climate Action (LIFE)" 183 656 183 656 20 01 02 01 Remuneration and allowances — Headquarters and representation offices 406 337 406 337 Total -3 538 850 -3 538 850 Additionally, NGEU proceeds for an amount of EUR 6 901 457 are allocated to the support lines of three executive agencies (the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency and the European Health and Digital Executive Agency) to cover the administrative cost for the implementation of the NGEU contribution under Horizon Europe in 2021. The budgetary annex also shows the updated budgetary remarks of the administrative support lines of the relevant executive agencies to reflect the additional “NextGenerationEU” (“NGEU”) appropriations for Horizon Europe, as set out in the documents submitted to the Committee on Executive Agencies in December 2020. 4.3.Impact on human resources Regulation No 58/2003 requires that any delegation of tasks to an executive agency should be cost efficient and consistent with the principle of sound financial management. As set out above, compared to the assumptions used in the voted budget 2021, the executive agencies will have to manage larger envelopes of operational appropriations effectively. Including staff for implementation tasks related to NGEU appropriations, this implies a further 26 temporary agents posts and 79 contract agents positions, i.e. 105 Full-time equivalents (FTE) in the executive agencies in 2021. To ensure budget neutrality with regard to administrative expenditure over the 2021-2027 period as a whole, as a result of delegating additional tasks of programme management related to the 2021-2027 MFF, the Commission will reduce its human resources to offset the additional staff in the executive agencies. Similarly, expenditure related to posts ‘frozen’ in the Commission establishment plans to take account of secondments to the executive agencies will also be reduced accordingly. The table below shows the way in which the Commission proposes to offset the additional human resources in the executive agencies, for the 2021-2027 period as a whole and specifically for 2021: Offsetting of the increased human resources in the executive agencies Human resources (FTE) 2021 Human resources (FTE) 2021-2027 Increase in human resources of six executive agencies stemming from further delegation compared to the authorised level in 2020 +445 +679 Reduction of human resources under heading 7 resulting from delegating tasks currently managed by the Commission -31 -58 Reduction of human resources under other headings resulting from delegating tasks currently managed by the Commission -139 -368 In 2021 the Commission will take account of the impact of the delegation of tasks to executive agencies as follows: ·Heading 7 – European Public Administration: -20 posts will be offset from the Commission’s establishment plan, by freezing 16 posts to cater for additional secondments from the Commission to executive agencies and by reducing four posts. In addition, 11 contract agents will be reduced from the headcount of external staff paid under the Global Envelope. -The 2021 budget for salaries of the operating establishment plan already reflects the impact of the delegation package, since the corresponding reduction was already included in Amending Letter 1/2021. The corresponding administrative appropriations of the Global Envelope will now be reduced by EUR 0,45 million. ·Indirect Research: -72 posts will be offset from the Commission’s indirect research establishment plan, by freezing 48 posts to cater for additional secondments from the Commission to executive agencies and by reducing 24 posts. In addition, 57 contract agents will be reduced from the headcount of external staff paid under indirect research. Moreover, linked to the previous delegation package, 2 frozen posts on research will be freed, and hence reduced from the establishment plan. -The corresponding appropriations intended for the salaries of these officials and external staff on the relevant budget lines of indirect research will be reduced by EUR 6,9 million and EUR 2,4 million respectively, by means of Commission autonomous transfers. ·Direct Research: -10 posts will be reduced from the Commission’s direct research establishment plan, for which the necessary offsetting for the delegation package will be completed in 2022. The modified establishment plans are set out in the budgetary annex. 5. Joint Undertakings

Further to the Commission proposal of 23 February 2021 to create the new generation of Joint Undertakings under Horizon Europe, it is proposed to create the corresponding budget lines under the relevant clusters of Pillar II of Horizon Europe (i.e. budget item 01 02 02 XX), as follows: ocluster 1 “Health” will finance the Innovative Health Initiative Joint Undertaking and the Global Health European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership Programme 3 (EDCTP3) Joint Undertaking; ocluster 4 “Digital, Industry and Space” will finance the Key Digital Technologies Joint Undertaking and the Smart Networks and Services Joint Undertaking. This is in addition to the High-Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC), for which a budget line already exists; ocluster 5 “Climate, Energy and Mobility” will finance the Single European Sky ATM Research 3 Joint Undertaking, the Clean Aviation Joint Undertaking, the Europe's Rail Joint Undertaking and the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking; and ocluster 6 “Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment” will finance the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking. The relevant budget lines are set out in the budgetary annex. The appropriations corresponding to the Union contribution to these new bodies for 2021 will remain on the budget lines of the relevant clusters and will be transferred autonomously as soon as the proposal for the establishment of the Joint Undertakings is adopted by the Council. 6.REACT-EU Further to the adoption of the REACT-EU Regulation on 23 December 2020, it is proposed to create two new budget items related to NextGenerationEU, as follows: ·New budget item 07 02 07 01 - YEI — Operational expenditure — Financing under REACT-EU ·New budget item 05 02 05 03 – ETC — Operational expenditure — Financing under REACT-EU 7.Frontloading of the provisioning of the EFSD+ Following the delays in the adoption of the legal basis of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument (NDICI) and the consequent need to complete the programming and project cycles, as compared to the voted budget 2021, the Commission proposes to increase the provisioning of the EFSD+ on budget item 14 02 01 70 ‘NDICI - Provisioning of the Common Provisioning Fund’ by EUR 700 million in commitment appropriations, and accordingly decrease the geographic budget lines for Africa, Asia and The Americas, which contribute to the EFSD+. The level of payment appropriations remains unchanged. This adjustment will allow the Africa, Asia and the Americas and the Caribbean geographic budget lines to: ·reduce the level of commitment appropriations in the first years of the MFF, and consequently increase them for later years, thereby sequencing better the appropriations with the programming and project cycle to be performed after the entering into force of the NDICI legal base; ·present a stable level of commitment appropriations on the above geographic budget lines from one year to another, as was the case under the previous MFF and for the European Development Fund (EDF). Compared to the voted budget 2021, the impact in commitment appriopriations is as follows: Amounts in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations 14 02 01 70 NDICI — Provisioning of the common provisioning fund 700 000 000 14 02 01 20 West Africa -206 429 300 14 02 01 21 East and Central Africa -149 226 000 14 02 01 22 Southern Africa and Indian Ocean -141 764 700 14 02 01 30 Middle East and Central Asia -60 046 350 14 02 01 31 South and East Asia -69 595 890 14 02 01 32 The Pacific -15 047 760 14 02 01 40 The Americas -33 981 430 14 02 01 41 The Carribean -23 908 570 Total 0 8.Other adjustments and technical updates ·The budgetary remarks are proposed to be updated to reflect the political agreements reached on sectoral legal bases following the adoption of the MFF. The corresponding modifications are provided in the budgetary annex. ·Under heading 7 “European Public Administration”, following the adoption of the budgetary transfer of appropriations EESC DEC 1/2020 to prefinance costs relating to the refurbishment of the VMA building in 2020, it is proposed to reduce the level of appropriations for rent and lease payments of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) in 2021 by an amount of EUR 5 500 000.