The changes to the statement of expenditure of section III are available on EUR-Lex ( http://eur-lex.europa.eu/budget/www/index-en.htm ). An English version of the changes to this statement is attached for information as a budgetary annex.

CHANGES TO THE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION

The European Commission hereby presents to the European Parliament and to the Council Draft Amending Budget No 2 to the 2019 budget.

–the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2019, as adopted on 12 December 2018,

–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 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,

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.Introduction

Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 2/2019 is intended to provide an additional EUR 100 million of commitment appropriations to Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ as decided by the European Parliament and the Council in their agreement on the budget 2019. No reinforcement in payment appropriations is proposed.

2.Reinforcement of Horizon 2020 and Erasmus +

2.1. Context

In their final agreement on the budget 2019, the European Parliament and the Council agreed “to budget EUR 100 million in an amending budget in 2019 to reinforce H2020 and Erasmus”. They invited the Commission to “present this amending budget, which will not contain any other elements, as soon as the technical adjustment of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2020 including the calculation of the Global margin for commitments is completed in the spring of 2019.”

The technical adjustment having now been adopted, the Commission proposes to amend the budget 2019 to reflect the above-mentioned agreement.

2.2. Reinforcement of Horizon 2020

Horizon 2020, the flagship programme to support research and innovation, has set an ambitious goal for its contribution to the climate target of the EU budget. Whilst the expenditure for climate change shows a considerable increase compared to the 7th Framework Programme for Research Funding 2007-2013 (FP7), specific measures should be reinforced with the aim of approaching the target of 35 % of the overall Horizon 2020 budget devoted to climate-related research activities. It is therefore proposed to allocate an additional EUR 80 million to activities and projects in that area, more specifically for transport-related research and Future Emerging Technologies under the European Innovation Council (EIC) Pilot:

-The Commission proposes to allocate an additional EUR 34,6 million to Horizon 2020 budget item 08 02 03 04 — Achieving a European transport system that is resource-efficient, environmentally friendly, safe and seamless to reinforce the 2019 actions against climate change, in particular batteries, Green Vehicles and Greening Aviation.

-The Commission proposes to allocate an additional EUR 45,4 million to Horizon 2020 budget item 08 02 01 02 — Strengthening research in future and emerging technologies to increase the amount for the “Breakthrough zero-emissions energy generation for full decarbonisation" and “Energy and climate change related technologies” topics. The action will mainly support the multidisciplinary exploration of new directions for clean, compact and low-cost power generation, targeting stand-alone, mobile or portable uses in specific contexts. It will select projects that pave the way to radically new fully-decarbonised technologies as a means of limiting the effect of the energy sector on climate change.

2.3. Reinforcement of Erasmus+

Erasmus+ is the EU's programme supporting education, training, youth and sport in Europe. The programme will provide opportunities for over 4 million Europeans to study, train, and gain experience abroad over the 2014-20 period.

The Commission proposes to allocate an additional EUR 20 million to Eramus+ budget item 15 02 01 01 — Promoting excellence and cooperation in the European education and training area and its relevance to the labour market. The allocation would reinforce EU funding support for core mobility activities of the programme, in particular in the field of higher education and vocational education and training, as well as for centres of vocational excellence. It will also reinforce European Universities, a recent action developed in the framework of the European Education Area by 2025.

2.4. Financing

Given the absence of margin under the commitments ceiling of heading 1a Competitiveness for growth and jobs in the general budget 2019, the reinforcement in commitment appropriations of Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ will be financed from the Global Margin for Commitments.

The Commission considers that the payment appropriations for these two programmes in the 2019 budget do not need to be increased at this stage.





3.Summary table by MFF heading