EUROPEAN COMMISSION Brussels, 15.10.2019 COM(2019) 487 final AMENDING LETTER No 1 TO THE DRAFT GENERAL BUDGET 2020 Updated estimated needs for agricultural expenditure

















Adjustments related to the legislative proposals included in the Brexit preparedness package of 4 September 2019







Reinforcements of administrative budgets and other updates based on recent developments















Adjustment to the structure of the budget and a technical correction







































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 42 thereof, –the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, as adopted by the Commission on 5 July 2019, The European Commission hereby presents to the European Parliament and to the Council Amending Letter No 1 to the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, for the reasons set out in the explanatory memorandum. CHANGES TO THE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION The changes to the statement of revenue and expenditure by section are available on EUR-Lex ( https://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. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 2. European Agricultural Guarantee Fund 2.1 Overview 2.2 Detailed comments 2.3 Detailed figures by budget line 3. Adjustments related to the legislative proposals included in the Brexit preparedness package of 4 September 2019. 3.1 European Union Solidarity Fund 3.2 Creation of a new budget line in the General Statement of Revenue 4. Other adjustments 4.1 Section I – European Parliament 4.3 Section X – European External Action Service

4.3 Update of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements 5. Technical adjustment and correction 5.1 Innovation Fund 5.2 European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) 6. Summary Table by MFF Heading 1.Introduction Amending Letter No 1 to the draft budget for the year 2020 (AL 1/2020) covers the following: ¾The updating of the estimated needs, assigned revenue and appropriations for agricultural expenditure. In addition to changing market factors, AL 1/2020 also incorporates the impact of decisions in the agricultural sector since the 2020 Draft Budget (DB 2020) was adopted in July 2019, as well as other proposals expected to have a significant effect during the budget year. ¾Adjustments related to the legislative proposals included in the Brexit preparedness package of 4 September 2019. ¾Other adjustments concerning the administrative budgets of the European Parliament and the European External Action Service, and sustainable fisheries partnership agreements. ¾An adjustment to the structure of the budget to accommodate the Innovation Fund. ¾A technical correction (eu-LISA). Overall, the net impact of AL 1/2020 on expenditure in the draft budget 2020 is an increase of EUR 16,4 million in commitment appropriations and a decrease of EUR 5,4 million in payment appropriations. 2.European Agricultural Guarantee Fund 2.1 Overview AL 1/2020 updates estimates for agricultural expenditure based on the most up-to-date economic data and legislative framework. By late September 2019, the Commission has at its disposal a first indication of the level of production for 2019 and the outlook for the agricultural markets as well as actual figures for most of the 2019 budget execution as regards EAGF shared management, which are the basis for the updated estimates of the budgetary needs for 2020. Apart from taking into account market factors, this AL 1/2020 also incorporates the impact of legislative decisions in the agricultural sector since the DB 2020 was drawn up in June 2019, as well as for some that are still under preparation, soon to be adopted. Overall, 2020 EAGF needs (after taking into account EAGF provisions related to 'financial discipline') are now estimated at EUR 44 481,1 million , which is an increase by EUR 304,3 million compared to the DB 2020. This increase is mostly due to additional needs for chapter 05 07 Audit of agricultural expenditure financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) (+EUR 174,3 million) and for chapter 05 03 Direct payments aimed at contributing to farm incomes, limiting farm incomes variability and meeting environment and climate objectives (+EUR 94 million). There are also small modifications for chapter 05 02 Improving the competitiveness of the agricultural sector through interventions in agricultural markets for +EUR 36,0 million. The amount of assigned revenue estimated to be available in 2020 increases from EUR 645,0 million in DB 2020 to EUR 999,0 million (+EUR 354,0 million), more than compensating the additional needs. The update of estimates concerns the amounts originating from clearance of accounts decisions (+EUR 181,0 million) and irregularities (-EUR 7,0 million). Furthermore, AL 1/2020 incorporates an expected carry-over of assigned revenue from 2019 to 2020 for an amount of EUR 280,0 million (expected EAGF 'surplus') , of which EUR 100,0 million were already anticipated in the DB 2020. The estimated surplus does not include unused appropriations (EUR 468,7 million) of the 2019 agricultural crisis reserve, which will not be called on. These unused appropriations will be carried over for reimbursement to farmers subject to the financial discipline in 2020.

As a result of these updates, the Commission proposes to reduce the expenditure estimates for agriculture by –EUR 49,7 million compared to DB 2020. Commitment appropriations of EUR 43 482,1 million, which include EUR 478,0 million for the Reserve for crises in the agricultural sector, are required to cover EAGF needs for 2020. This overall amount remains below the EAGF net sub-ceiling of EUR 43 887,1 million. This means that the financial discipline mechanism will only be applied to establish the agricultural crisis reserve for budget year 2020 . 2.2 Detailed comments 05 02 — Improving competitiveness of the agricultural sector through interventions in agricultural markets (appropriations +EUR 36,0 million) (in million EUR, rounded figures at current prices) Interventions in agricultural markets Draft Budget 2020 Amending Letter

No 1/2020 Draft Budget 2020

(incl. AL 1/2020) Needs 2 644,1 +36,0 2 680,1 -Estimated assigned revenue available in 2020 150,0 0,0 150,0 Appropriations requested 2 494,1 +36,0 2 530,1 Overall, the needs for intervention measures on agricultural markets slightly increase by EUR 36,0 million compared to the DB 2020. As the amount of assigned revenue remains unchanged compared to DB 2020, the appropriations requested in AL 1/2020 increase by the same amount to EUR 2 530,1 million. The most significant modification proposed in AL 1/2020 for market measures concerns the poultry sector (budget item 05 02 15 99) with an increase of EUR 32,0 million, relating to specific exceptional measures to farmers following outbreaks of avian influenza. Furthermore, an increase of EUR 4,0 million is proposed for specific aid for bee-keeping (budget item 05 02 15 06). 05 03 — Direct payments aimed at contributing to farm incomes, limiting farm income variability and meeting environment and climate objectives (appropriations - EUR 260,0 million) (in million EUR, rounded figures at current prices) Direct payments Draft Budget 2020 Amending Letter

No 1/2020 Draft Budget 2020

(incl. AL 1/2020) After financial discipline (including credits for the ‘Reserve for crises in the agricultural sector’) Needs 41 448,0 +94,0 41 542,0 - Estimated assigned revenue available in 2020 495,0 +354,0 849,0 Appropriations requested 40 953,0 -260,0 40 693,0 Compared to DB 2020, appropriations requested for chapter 05 03 are revised downwards by EUR 260,0 million. This change is mostly due to the higher amount of revenue assigned (+EUR 354,0 million) to item 05 03 01 10 Basic payment scheme (BPS). The increase for estimated needs (+EUR 94,0 million) compared to the DB 2020 reflects very high execution in the 2019 budget year that is expected to continue in 2020. There are some variations between budget items for direct payments, reflecting updated needs assessment (see table below). Other agricultural expenditure financed by the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) (appropriations +EUR 174,3 million) Appropriations for budget article 05 07 01 07 Financial corrections in favour of Member States following conformity clearance decisions need to be increased by EUR 176,6 million as a consequence of two Court of Justice rulings (Cases T-459/16 and T-237/17) in favour of Member States on former clearance decisions. Furthermore, there is a small update for budget item 05 07 01 06 Financial corrections in favour of Member States following accounting clearance decisions for an amount of -EUR 2,3 million (see table below). 2.3 Detailed figures by budget line in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations Section III – European Commission 05 02 15 06 Specific aid for bee-keeping +4 000 000 +4 000 000 05 02 15 99 Other measures for pigmeat, poultry, eggs, bee-keeping, other animal products +32 000 000 +32 000 000 Sub-total 05 02 +36 000 000 +36 000 000 05 03 01 02 Single area payment scheme (SAPS) +21 000 000 +21 000 000 05 03 01 07 Redistributive payment +7 000 000 +7 000 000 05 03 01 10 Basic payment scheme (BPS) -325 000 000 -325 000 000 05 03 01 11 Payment for agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and the environment +54 000 000 +54 000 000 05 03 01 13 Payment for young farmers +120 000 000 +120 000 000 05 03 01 99 Other (decoupled direct payments) -7 000 000 -7 000 000 05 03 02 50 POSEI – European Union support programmes +1 000 000 +1 000 000 05 03 02 60 Voluntary coupled support scheme +7 000 000 +7 000 000 05 03 02 61 Small farmers scheme -137 000 000 -137 000 000 05 03 02 99 Other (direct payments) -1 000 000 -1 000 000 Sub-total 05 03 -260 000 000 -260 000 000 05 07 01 06 Expenditure for financial corrections in favour of Member States following decisions on accounting clearance of previous years’ accounts with regard to shared management declared under the EAGGF-Guarantee Section (previous measures) and under the EAGF -2 300 000 -2 300 000 05 07 01 07 Expenditure for financial corrections in favour of Member States following decisions on conformity clearance of previous years’ accounts with regard to shared management declared under the EAGGF-Guarantee Section (previous measures) and under the EAGF +176 600 000 +176 600 000 Sub-total 05 07 +174 300 000 +174 300 000 Total EAGF -49 700 000 -49 700 000 The relevant budget remarks are adjusted in annex. 3.Adjustments related to the legislative proposals included in the Brexit preparedness package of 4 September 2019. 3.1 European Union Solidarity Fund In accordance with Article 4a, paragraph 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002, the DB 2020 includes an amount of EUR 50 million on budget article 13 06 01. This is to ensure the timely availability of budgetary resources in cases where, when submitting an application for a financial contribution from the Fund, a Member State requests the payment of an advance. The Commission proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 in order to provide financial assistance to Member States to cover serious financial burden inflicted on them following a withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union without an agreement introduces a new Article 4b with a higher maximum amount of EUR 100 million for advances. Therefore the Commission proposes to increase of the level of advance payments under the European Union Solidarity Fund by EUR 50 million, and to put that additional amount under reserve pending the adoption of the amendment to the legal base by the European Parliament and the Council. The reserve article is adjusted as presented in the table below, and the budget remarks of articles 13 06 01 and 13 06 02 are amended. in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 40 02 41 Differentiated appropriations (Reserve for budget article 13 06 01 – Assistance to Member States in the event of a major natural disaster with serious repercussions on living conditions, the natural environment or the economy) 50 000 000 50 000 000 Total 50 000 000 50 000 000

3.2 Creation of a new budget line in the General Statement of Revenue The Commission proposal for a Council Regulation on measures concerning the implementation and financing of the general budget of the Union in 2020 in relation to the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the Union lays down rules on the relations between the Union, on the one hand, and the United Kingdom and its beneficiaries on the other, as regards the financing and implementation of the budget in 2020 in the case of a UK withdrawal without an agreement. The proposed contingency framework provides for the possibility that the UK and UK entities maintain, throughout the year 2020, the eligibility to benefit from Union financing for legal commitments entered into before the withdrawal date or between the withdrawal date and the end of 2019, in application of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2019/1197. This is subject to the terms and conditions set out in the proposal. In order to allow the Commission to implement the proposal, in particular to enable it to enter the contribution of the United Kingdom in the general budget, the necessary budgetary structure needs to be created for the 2020 budget. The Commission therefore proposes to create a new budget line in part B of the General Statement of revenue: new Article 3 8 0 intended to receive the UK contribution in relation to the application of the contingency framework. The budget remarks related to the proposed new line are shown in annex. 4.Other adjustments 4.1 Section I – European Parliament The request to increase the establishment plan of the European Parliament (EP) by 89 posts, and to increase the level of administrative appropriations to allow for the creation of additional contract agent positions were not included in the section of the EP of the DB 2020, pending further clarifications on the reasons for the increase. Following further exchanges with the EP, and taking into account the rigorous proposals for the administrative heading of the next multiannual financial framework, it is proposed to include in the DB 2020 the following elements for the European Parliament: ¾89 additional establishment plan posts for the year 2020. These posts are intended for one budget year only, and will be removed from the establishment plan in the 2021 draft budget. These posts are intended to facilitate the continuity of employment of temporary staff in the light of the application of article 29(4) of the Staff Regulations. No additional budgetary appropriations are necessary. The updated establishment plan is set out in the budgetary annex. ¾EUR 13.3 million of appropriations for external staff, corresponding to 155 contract agent positions, as well as the increase in appropriations required to cover salary updates and career progression. With respect to the contract agents, 20 are new positions to be created in the 2020 budget to strengthen security, and are financed on budget line 1 4 0 1 Other staff – security. A further 135 contract agents are to be financed on budget line 1 4 0 0 Other staff – Secretariat and political groups. These contracts are already running, as the staff were recruited in 2019, with financing provided by means of transfers approved by the European Parliament’s Committee on Budgets (Transfers C1/2019 and C7/2019). Combined effect on the EP's section of the draft budget 2020 in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations Section I – European Parliament 1400 Other staff - Secretariat and political groups 8 880 451 8 880 451 1401 Other staff - Security 4 452 138 4 452 138 Total 13 332 589 13 332 589 4.2 Section X – European External Action Service Since the presentation of the DB 2020, two items in the section of the European External Action Service (EEAS) have evolved, and require updating, namely: ¾The NEO building; ¾Adaptation of the staffing of the EU Office in Kosovo. The NEO Building The NEO building project consists of two buildings aiming to replace the Kortenberg building for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) departments. The project is presently ongoing and expected to be achieved by end-2020/beginning-2021.

However, during the execution of the renovation and fitting-out works, the EEAS realised that the necessary technical performance level in the fields of physical security and secured communications could not be met within the budget previously estimated. The increases are linked to the need to protect the working environment against intrusions and eavesdropping, in conformity with the security rules established by the Council and by the Member States. The level of necessary protection measures evolves in accordance with technological progress and in line with the estimated threat levels. This means that many of the solutions previously applied, on which the original cost estimate was based, are no longer sufficient. A project update presenting the changes and the resulting additional cost was therefore submitted to the European Parliament and the Council and was approved by their respective budget committees on September 3 and 13, 2019. The additional cost for these security-related measures would amount to EUR 5.0 million on the EEAS' budget item 2 0 0 2. However, through reprioritisation and planned redeployment, the additional amount requested for 2020 can be reduced to EUR 2.8 million. Adaptation of the Staffing of the EU Office in Kosovo As a result of the 2015/2016 Strategic Review of the EULEX mission, a number of Monitoring, Mentoring and Advice tasks were transferred from EULEX to the EU Office in Kosovo in June 2018. A budget to finance 12 staff members in the Office was therefore granted to the EEAS by the European Parliament and the Council, compensated by larger cuts in the EULEX organisation. Additional budget to finance three further posts was made available to the EEAS as from January 2019, bringing the total number of posts for transition tasks to 15. The 2019 EEAS budget was also amended to transform three cost-free Seconded National Experts (SNE) posts into co-financed status, in order to attract more interest and potential candidates from the Member States. However, this change has not proven enough to attract sufficient interest and so far, only two SNE positions out of the total six have been filled. Given this situation and based on an assessment of needs in the Office, the EEAS intends to transform one of these unused SNE posts into two local agent positions. This transformation is not expected to entail any additional costs for the EEAS but could possibly, depending on the experience of the agents recruited, produce some small savings over time. Combined effect on the EEAS ' section of the draft budget 2019 in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations Section X – European External Action Service 2 0 0 2 Fitting out and security works 2 786 000 2 786 000 Total 2 786 000 2 786 000 4.3 Update of the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements As foreseen in point C of Part II of the Interinstitutional Agreement (IIA), the Commission has examined the most recent information available concerning Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) and reviewed the expected needs for 2020 on the basis of the developments in the negotiation processes with the third countries involved. On the basis of this review, the Commission proposes to move commitment appropriations for an amount of EUR 16,9 million and payment appropriations for an amount of EUR 14,9 million from the reserve (40 02 41) to the operational line (11 03 01 Establishing a governance framework for fishing activities carried out by Union fishing vessels in third country waters). This budgetary-neutral transfer relates to the Fisheries Agreements with the Republic of Cape Verde, the Republic of the Gambia and the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, for which the agreements and related protocols have meanwhile been signed and have entered into provisional application. The details by budget line are presented in the table below and the relevant budget remarks are adjusted in annex. in EUR Budget line Name Commitment appropriations Payment appropriations 11 03 01 Establishing a governance framework for fishing activities carried out by Union fishing vessels in third country waters +16 900 000 +14 900 000 40 02 41 Differentiated appropriations (Reserve for budget article 11 03 01) -16 900 000 -14 900 000 Total 0 0 5.Technical adjustment and correction 5.1 Innovation Fund The Innovation Fund was set up by Directive (EU) 2018/410 of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Directive 2003/87/EC establishing a system for greenhouse gas emission allowances trading within the Union. It supports innovation in low-carbon technologies and processes in certain economic sectors. In accordance with the provisions of Article 10a, paragraph 8, of the Emissions Trading System (ETS) Directive 2003/87/EC, the Innovation Fund is fully financed by the receipts from auctioning a certain amount of allowances to emit one tonne of carbon dioxide (equivalent during a specific period) under the ETS. According to Article 16, paragraph 1 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856 of 26 February 2019 supplementing Directive 2003/87/EC with regard to the operation of the Innovation Fund, the Commission shall implement the Innovation Fund in direct management or indirect management in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Financial Regulation. According to Article 19, paragraph 3 of Regulation (EU) 2019/856, for all implementation tasks carried out by the Commission, including through an EU executive agency, the revenue of the Innovation Fund shall constitute external assigned revenue for the EU budget within the meaning of paragraphs 1 and 5 of Article 21 of the Financial Regulation. The Innovation Fund expenditure, including the administrative cost, would be fully financed by the external assigned revenue generated by the auctioning of the emissions allowances and unspent amounts from the previous NER300 programme. To allow the Commission to start implementing the Fund, in particular in view of a first call for project proposals to be launched by mid-2020, the necessary budgetary structure needs to be created in the 2020 budget. The Commission therefore proposes to create three new budget lines: one in the the Statement of Revenue of the Commission section, Article 6 3 7 intended to receive the external assigned revenue; two in the Statement of Expenditure of the Commission section, Article 34 03 01 and Item 34 01 06 01, intended to cover the operational and administrative expenditure (fully covered by external assigned revenue) which is needed for the implementation of the Innovation Fund by the Commission in accordance with Article 4 of Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2019/856.