EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 2.4.2020 COM(2020) 170 final DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET No 2

TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2020



Providing emergency support to Member States and further reinforcement of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak



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 2020, as adopted on 27 November 2019, –draft amending budget No°1/20, adopted on 27 March 2020, The European Commission hereby presents to the European Parliament and to the Council Draft Amending Budget No 2 to the 2020 budget. CHANGES TO THE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION The changes to the general statement of revenue and section III are available on EUR-Lex ( https://eur-lex.europa.eu/budget/www/index-en.htm ). Table of Contents 1. Introduction 2. Providing emergency support to Member States through the re-activation of the Emergency Support Instrument within the Union 2.1. Context 2.2. Actions to be financed through the ESI 3. Further reinforcement of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (within the Union) 4. Financing 5. Summary table by MFF heading

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 1. Introduction The purpose of Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 2 for the year 2020 is to provide EUR 3 000,0 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 1 530,0 million in payment appropriations under heading 3 Security and Citizenship to finance the provision of emergency support within the Union through the Emergency Support Instrument, which is proposed to be re-activated to help tackle the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak and to further reinforce the Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU to allow wider stock-piling and coordination of essential resource distribution across Europe . 2. Providing emergency support to Member States through the re-activation of the Emergency Support Instrument within the Union 2.1. Context Given the depth of the crisis following the COVID-19 outbreak as well as the extent and nature of the needs requiring support from the EU budget in the immediate future, the Commission proposes in parallel to this DAB that the Council reactivates and amends Council Regulation 2016/369 on the provision of emergency support within the Union to equip the EU with a broader toolbox commensurate to the large scale of the current COVID-19 pandemic. The Emergency Support Instrument (ESI) was created in March 2016 and was activated for a period of 3 years to address the emergency situation which had arisen following the massive influx of refugees in Greece. It was designed as a general purpose tool to fight crises within the EU and intervenes only in exceptional circumstances of severe difficulties. It can be mobilised to address any crisis requiring humanitarian aid and covers a broad scope of eligible actions: “Emergency support … may include any of the humanitarian aid actions and may consequently encompass assistance, relief and, where necessary, protection operations to save and preserve life in disasters or in their immediate aftermath” . The measures foreseen under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU), the Civil Protection Mechanism, the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to deploy European Structural and Investment Funds and other Union instruments are contributing to partly address the public health emergency; however, the scale and scope of the challenge requires to address effectively the public health related humanitarian consequences of the outbreak within the Union. Emergency support provided under the ESI promotes complementarity to and consistency with actions of the affected Member States, as well as synergies with actions financed at EU level under other funds and instruments. In view of the above, support under the Emergency Support Regulation (No 2016/369) is proposed to be activated and provided with the necessary appropriations as soon as possible. This will allow the Union to deploy measures preventing and mitigating severe consequences in one or more Member States and to address in a coordinated manner the needs related to the COVID-19 disaster, by complementing any assistance provided under other EU instruments. 2.2. Actions to be financed through the ESI Given the urgency of the situation and the serious nature of the COVID-19 outbreak related public health crisis in all Member States, the Commission proposes to provide EUR 2 700,0 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 1 380,0 million in payment appropriations to the ESI. Support may be used to finance inter alia the following actions: –wider and faster stock-piling and coordination of essential resource distribution across Europe; –meeting the transport needs for protective gear to be imported from international partners as well as transport across the EU; –transportation of patients in need to cross-border hospitals which can offer free capacity; –cross-border cooperation to alleviate the pressure on health systems in the most affected EU regions; –central procurement and distribution of essential medical supplies to hospitals and emergency supply of protective gear for hospital staff, such as respirators, ventilators, personal protective equipment, reusable masks, medicines, therapeutics and laboratory supplies and disinfectants; –increasing and converting production capacities of EU enterprises to ensure rapid production and deployment of equipment and material needed to urgently address supplies shortages of essential products and medicines; –increasing care facilities and resources, including temporary and semi-permanent field hospitals and support for reconverted facilities; –increasing the production of testing kits and support for acquiring key basic substances;