EN Official Journal of the European Union C 224/210

P8_TA(2016)0468

Draft amending budget No 4/2016: Update of appropriations to reflect the latest developments on migration and security issues, reduction of payment and commitment appropriations

European Parliament resolution of 1 December 2016 on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 4/2016 of the European Union for the financial year 2016: Update of appropriations to reflect the latest developments on migration and security issues, reduction of payment and commitment appropriations as a result of the Global Transfer, extension of EFSI, modification of the staff establishment plan of Frontex and update of revenue appropriations (Own resources) (13583/2016 — C8-0459/2016 — 2016/2257(BUD))

(2018/C 224/47)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

— having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

— having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 (1), and in particular Article 41 thereof,

— having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016, as definitively adopted on 25 November 2015 (2),

— having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (3),

— having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management (4),

— having regard to Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of the European Union (5),

— having regard to Draft amending budget No 4/2016, which the Commission adopted on 30 September 2016 (COM(2016)0623),

— having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 4/2016 which the Council adopted on 8 November 2016 and forwarded to Parliament on the same day (13583/2016 — C8-0459/2016),

— having regard to the letter from the Committee on Regional Development,

— having regard to the letter from the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs,

— having regard to Rule 88 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0350/2016),

A. whereas Draft amending budget No 4/2016 (DAB 4/2016) decreases the level of payment appropriations by EUR 7 284,3 million, mostly in budget lines under subheading 1b Economic, social and territorial cohesion, and therefore reduces national contributions accordingly;

B. whereas DAB 4/2016 increases the level of commitment appropriations under heading 3 Security and Citizenship by EUR 50 million for the emergency support instrument within the Union, EUR 130 million for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), and EUR 70 million for the Internal Security Fund (ISF), thus requiring the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin for a total amount of EUR 240,1 million, after taking into account a redeployment of EUR 9,9 million;

C. whereas DAB 4/2016 frontloads the provisioning of the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) with a redeployment of EUR 73,9 million in commitment appropriations from the energy strand of the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF-Energy), to be compensated in 2018;

D. whereas DAB 4/2016 amends the establishment plan of Frontex in view of the entry into force of Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council (6);

E. whereas, with a reduction of EUR 14,7 million across several budget lines under heading 2 Sustainable Growth: natural resources, the net impact of DAB 4/2016 on the expenditure side of the 2016 budget is an increase of EUR 225,4 million in commitment appropriations;

F. whereas, on the revenue side, DAB 4/2016 also includes adjustments linked to the revision of the forecast of Traditional Own Resources (i.e. customs duties and sugar sector levies), value-added tax (VAT) and gross national income (GNI) bases, and the budgeting of the relevant UK corrections and their financing;

1. Expresses serious concerns over the payment surplus of EUR 7 284,3 million, which is the result of major delays in the implementation of EU programmes under shared management and paves the way for an important accumulation of payment requests towards the end of the current MFF; recalls the Commission’s conclusion that, according to the present forecasts, updated payment needs until 2020 can only be accommodated with the current ceilings if the Global Margin for Payments is fully used (and, as a precautionary measure, removed of its annual caps) and if payments for special instruments are counted over and above the ceilings; calls, therefore, for a definitive and unequivocal settlement of the latter issue as part of the MFF revision;

2. Agrees with the reinforcements in heading 3 via the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin, as well as the frontloading of the reinforcement of the Frontex establishment plan; welcomes in particular the partial replenishment of the AMIF, but is concerned by the fact that, despite a high rate of budgetary execution based on Member States’ national programmes, only a few relocations of refugees have actually taken place to date;

3. Agrees with the frontloading of EFSI provided the redeployment from CEF is duly compensated in 2018; clarifies that this frontloading does not pre-empt the final financing plan of the new proposal for a prolongation of EFSI which is to be decided in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure;

4. Notes with concern the expected shortfall of revenues, estimated at EUR 1,8 billion, due to the depreciation of the British Pound against the Euro; takes note of the Commission’s intention to use the revenues provided by additional fines in order to cover that shortfall;

5. Approves the Council position on Draft Amending budget No 4/2016;

6. Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 4/2016 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

7. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Court of Auditors and the national parliaments.

(1) OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.

(2) OJ L 48, 24.2.2016.

(3) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884.

(4) OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1.

(5) OJ L 168, 7.6.2014, p. 105.

(6) Regulation (EU) 2016/1624 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 September 2016 on the European Border and Coast Guard and amending Regulation (EU) 2016/399 of the European Parliament and of the Council and repealing Regulation (EC) No 863/2007 of the European Parliament and of the Council, Council Regulation (EC) No 2007/2004 and Council Decision 2005/267/EC (OJ L 251, 16.9.2016, p. 1).