P8_TA(2017)0399

Draft amending budget No 5/2017: financing for the European Fund for Sustainable Development and increasing the Emergency Aid Reserve

European Parliament resolution of 24 October 2017 on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 5/2017 of the European Union for the financial year 2017 providing the financing for the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD) and increasing the Emergency Aid Reserve (EAR) further to the revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework regulation (12441/2017 — C8-0351/2017 — 2017/2135(BUD))

(2018/C 346/49)

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 2017, as adopted on 1 December 2016 (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) (MFF Regulation),

— having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2017/1123 of 20 June 2017 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (4),

— 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 (5),

— having regard to Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of the European Union (6),

— having regard to Draft amending budget No 5/2017, which the Commission adopted on 28 July 2017 (COM(2017)0485),

— having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 5/2017 which the Council adopted on 10 October 2017 and forwarded to Parliament on 11 October 2017 (12441/2017 — C8-0351/2017),

— having regard to Rules 88 and 91 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0301/2017),

A. whereas Draft amending budget No 5/2017 aims to provide for the financing of the European Fund for Sustainable Development (EFSD) further to the adoption of the related legal base, and to reflect in the general budget 2017 the outcome of the mid-term revision of the MFF Regulation as regards the increase in the annual amount of the Emergency Aid Reserve (EAR) from EUR 280 million to EUR 300 million in 2011 prices;

B. whereas Draft amending budget No 5/2017 provides EUR 275 million in commitment and payment appropriations for the EFSD, to be covered in full by a mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument, given the absence of margin under the commitment ceiling of Heading 4 (Global Europe);

C. whereas Draft amending budget No 5/2017 provides, at the same time, for a reduction by the amount of EUR 275 million in payment appropriations for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) under Heading 3 (Security and Citizenship), due to an expected under-implementation caused by a late adoption of the legal bases and a delay in programming;

D. whereas Draft amending budget No 5/2017 also provides for an additional EUR 22,8 million (in current prices) for the EAR in commitment appropriations, reflecting the mid-term revision of the MFF Regulation;

E. whereas Draft amending budget No 5/2017 is accompanied by a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument to provide the financing for the EFSD (COM(2017)0480) in the amount of EUR 275 million in commitment and payment appropriations under Heading 4;

F. whereas, within the 2017 budgetary procedure, the European Parliament and the Council invited the Commission to request the necessary appropriations for the financing of the EFSD in an amending budget as soon as the legal base is adopted, and undertook to process rapidly the draft amending budget for 2017 put forward by the Commission;

1. Takes note of Draft amending budget No 5/2017, as submitted by the Commission;

2. Welcomes the timely adoption and entry into force of the EFSD Regulation (EU) 2017/1601 ( 7 ) and calls for its swift implementation, in full observance of the rules and priorities set by the legislator and with a particular attention to its accountability provisions;

3. Welcomes the fact that the mid-term revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework allows for the financing of the EFSD through an increased Flexibility Instrument, while also increasing the size of the EAR;

4. Deplores the low implementation of the AMIF and the Internal Security Fund (ISF) by the Member States; recalls that a budgetary transfer (DEC 18/2017) already reduces the payment appropriations under Heading 3 (Security and Citizenship) by EUR 284 million, using AMIF and ISF as a source for reinforcements under another heading; calls the Member States to respect their political agreements and to do their utmost within their competences to reflect the importance of this Union priority;

5. Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 5/2017;

6. Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 5/2017 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 51, 28.2.2017.

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

(4) OJ L 163, 24.6.2017, p. 1.

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

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

(7) OJ L 249, 27.9.2017, p. 1.