Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin in 2017
Date: 2016-06-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Budget, European Commission
Subjects: EU financial instrument, EU migration policy, aid to refugees, commitment of expenditure, emergency aid, general budget (EU), payment appropriation

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.6.2016  COM(2016) 314 final   Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin in 2017  
 
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

The Council Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down 
the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-20201 (‘MFF Regulation’) allows for 
the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin of up to 0,03 % of Gross National Income for the 
EU-28  to  react  to  unforeseen  circumstances  as  a  last  resort  instrument.  In  the  technical 
adjustment  of  the  MFF  for  20172,  based  on  Article  6  of  the  MFF  Regulation,  the  absolute 
amount of the Contingency Margin for the year 2017 is set at EUR 4 496,8 million. 

In  accordance  with  Article  13  of  the  MFF  Regulation,  and  after  having  examined  all 
possibilities  for  financing  additional  and  unforeseen  commitment  needs,  the  Commission 
proposes to mobilise the Contingency Margin for 2017 for an amount of EUR 1 164,4 million 
so as to complement the commitment appropriations related to expenditure in heading 3 in the 
general  budget  of  the  European  Union  for  the  financial  year  2017,  over  and  above  the 
commitment ceiling of EUR 2 578 million in current prices. 

In accordance with point 14 of 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 management3, the Commission has 
carried out an analysis of the possibility to reallocate significant amounts within the existing 
budget. In accordance with Article 13(3) of the MFF Regulation the Commission proposes to 
offset 
follows: 
EUR 650,0 million against the unallocated margin available under the expenditure ceiling of 
heading  2  and  EUR  514,4  million  against  the  unallocated  margin  available  in  heading  5  in 
2017. 

the  expenditure  ceiling  of  heading  3  as 

reinforcement  of 

the 

This proposal is accompanied by a Commission proposal to mobilise in full the amount of the 
Flexibility Instrument4 available for 2017 (EUR 530 million), also for heading 3. 

2. 

JUSTIFICATION OF THE MOBILISATION 

2.1. 

INTRODUCTION  

The internal dimension of the migration, refugee and security crisis is financed from heading 
3  through  the  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  (AMIF),  the  Internal  Security  Fund 
(ISF) as well as through specialised agencies such as Frontex, EASO, eu-Lisa and Europol. A 
new instrument providing emergency support within the Union was adopted by the Council in 
2016,  which  will  continue  to  offer  in  2017  emergency  support  of  a  humanitarian  nature  in 
response to the current influx of refugees and migrants into the Union.  

The expenditure ceiling of heading 3 in 2017 stands at EUR 2 578 million in current prices. 
The  commitment  appropriations  authorised    for  heading  3  in  the  2016  budget  are 
EUR 4 052 million,  which  required  the  mobilisation  of  all  the  availability  of  the  Flexibility 
Instrument  at  a  level  of  EUR 1 506 million  over  and  above  the  ceiling  of  heading  3,  in 
accordance with Article 11(2) of the MFF Regulation. 

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OJ L347, 20.12.2013, p.884. 
COM(2016) 311, 30.6.2016. 
OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 
COM(2016) 313, 30.6.2016. 

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The Commission proposes the full mobilisation of the EUR 530 million annual ceiling for the 
Flexibility Instrument available in 2017 to increase spending above the expenditure ceiling of 
heading 3. 

However, the budgetary needs for managing the impact of the migration, refugee and security 
crisis  are  expected  to  be  at  least  as  high  in  2017  as  in  2016.  As  a  policy  response,  the 
Commission has proposed a wide range of structural actions in relation with security and the 
management  of  external  borders,  the  reform  of  the  Common  European  Asylum  System, 
integration and return.  

Spending  related  to  migration,  refugees  and  security  under  heading  3  represent  more  than 
70 %  of  total  expenditure  under  the  ceiling.  The  Commission  has  carefully  examined  all 
possibilities  for  redeployment  and  proposes  to  reduce  the  level  of  appropriations  (in 
comparison  with  the  financial  programming)  for  Food  and  Feed  and  the  Civil  Protection 
Mechanism. Nonetheless, the room for manoeuvre is limited by the small size of programmes 
and  new  requirements,  such  as  the  new  emergency  measures  in  plant  health  foreseen  in  the 
Food  and  Feed  Regulation  for  2017.  For  this  reason  it  is  only  possible  to  cover  a  small 
percentage  of  the  additional  needs  related  to  migration  and  refugees  by  a  redeployment  of 
appropriations within heading 3. 

As a consequence the only possible recourse to meet the budgetary needs is the mobilisation 
of the Contingency Margin. Availability of margins in other headings allows its mobilisation 
to be completely offset in 2017.  

The corresponding payment appropriations will be accommodated within the 2017 ceiling for 
payments; there is therefore no need to mobilise the Contingency Margin in payments.  

2.2. 

THE CONTINGENCY MARGIN AS THE LAST RESORT INSTRUMENT 

Article  13(1)  of  the  MFF  Regulation  defines  the  Contingency  Margin  as  a  last  resort 
instrument  to  react  to  unforeseen  circumstances.  In  the  2017  Draft  Budget  (DB),  the 
Commission  proposes  to  fully  use  the  unallocated  margin  under  the  commitment  ceiling  of 
heading 3 after having examined all possibilities for redeployment within the heading.  

Given  the  full  mobilisation  of  the  flexibility  instrument  in  the  DB  2017  (EUR 530 million), 
the  mobilisation  of  the  Contingency  Margin  for  2017  at  a  level  of  EUR 1 164,4 million  is 
therefore the only available instrument to address the gap between the level of the expenditure 
ceiling of heading 3 in 2017 and the additional unforeseen needs estimated for 2017.  

2.3. 

BUDGETARY IMPACT OF UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES IN 2017 

Although  the  migration,  refugee  and  security  crisis  began  in  2015,  its  impact  and 
consequences  are  still  evolving  on  a  day-to-day  basis.  Political  decisions  in  third  countries 
about  the  acceptance  of  refugees  on  their  territory  and  the  opening  and  closure  of  borders 
make it very hard to foresee the long-term evolution in this field. The changing character  and 
unpredictability of the crisis justifies the use of the Contingency Margin as the last resort tool 
for  addressing  the  unforeseen  consequences  of  the  migration,  refugee  and  security  crisis  on 
the expenditure needs in heading 3. 

3. 

OFFSETTING  THE  CONTINGENCY  MARGIN  AGAINST  THE  MFF 
CEILINGS  

Article  13(3)  of  the  MFF  Regulation  requires  that  amounts  made  available  through  the 
mobilisation  of  the  Contingency  Margin  shall  be  fully  offset  against  the  margins  for  the 
current or future financial years. 

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According  to  Article  13(4)  of  the  MFF  Regulation,  the  amounts  offset  shall  not  be  further 
mobilised  in  the  context  of  the  MFF  so  that  the  total  ceilings  of  commitment  and  payment 
appropriations  laid  down  in  the  MFF  for  the  current  and  future  financial  years  shall  not  be 
exceeded.  Consequently,  the  mobilisation  of  the  Contingency  Margin  for  commitment 
appropriations  in  2017  under  heading  3  and  the  related  offsetting  have  to  respect  the  total 
commitment ceiling for the years 2017 to 2020.  

As sufficient margins are available under the 2017 expenditure ceilings of  heading 2 and 5, 
the  Commission  proposes  to  make  the  offsetting  fully  in  2017  in  order  not  to  prejudge  the 
needs in commitment appropriations of the years 2018-2020. The amount offset in heading 2 
will  be  EUR 650,0 million,  leaving  a  margin  of  EUR 639,3 million  in  2017.  The  rest  of  the 
offsetting (EUR 514,4 million) is made against the margin of heading 5, leaving a margin of 
EUR 81,9 million in 2017. The overall commitment ceiling for 2017 and for the whole MFF 
will remain unchanged. 

4. 

ADDITIONAL ELEMENTS  

The European Parliament and the Council are reminded that the publication of this Decision 
in the Official Journal of the European Union shall not intervene later than the publication of 
the budget 2017 of the European Union, in accordance with the last sentence of article 13(1) 
of the MFF Regulation. 

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Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin in 2017 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, 

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  management1,  and  in  particular  the  second 
paragraph of point 14, thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas,  
(1) Article 13 of Council Regulation N° 1311/20132 has established a Contingency Margin of 
up to 0,03 % of the Gross National Income of the Union,  

(2)  In  accordance  with  Article  6  of  this  Regulation,  the  Commission  has  calculated  the 
absolute amount of this Contingency Margin for 20173, 

(3) After having examined all other financial possibilities to react to unforeseen circumstances 
within the 2017 expenditure ceiling for heading 3, and after having proposed to mobilise the 
Flexibility Instrument for heading 3 for the full amount of EUR 530 million available in 2017, 
the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin is necessary to address the needs stemming from 
the  migration,  refugee  and  security  crisis  by  increasing  the  commitment  appropriations  of 
heading 3 in the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2017, above the 
ceiling of this heading, 

(4) Having regard to this very particular situation, the last-resort condition in Article 13(1) of 
Regulation (EU, Euratom) N° 1311/2013 is fullfilled, 

(5)  In  order  to  minimise  the  time  taken  to  mobilise  the  Contingency  margin,  the  Decision 
should apply from 1 January 2017, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

For the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2017, the Contingency Margin shall 
be mobilised to  provide EUR 1 164,4 million in commitment appropriations over and above 
the commitment ceiling of heading 3 (Security and Citizenship) of the multiannual financial 
framework. 

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OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 
OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884. 
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 30 June 2016 on 
the  technical  adjustment  of  the  financial  framework  for  2017  in  line  with  movements  in  GNI 
(COM(2016) 311, 30.6.2016). 

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Article 2 

The EUR 1 164,4 million in commitments appropriations mobilised through the Contingency 
Margin  for  the  financial  year  2017  shall  be  offset  against  the  margins  of  the  following 
headings in 2017: 

(a) 
(b) 

heading 2 (Sustainable Growth - Natural Resources) : EUR 650,0 million, 
heading 5 (Administration) : EUR 514,4 million. 

This decision shall enter into force on the day of its publication in the Official Journal of the 
European Union. 

Article 3 

It shall apply from 1 January 2017. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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