Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument to finance immediate budgetary measures to address the on-going migration, refugee and security crisis
Date: 2016-06-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Budget, European Commission
Subjects: EU financial instrument, EU migration policy, aid to refugees, commitment of expenditure, general budget (EU), payment appropriation

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.6.2016  COM(2016) 313 final   Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument to finance immediate budgetary measures to address the on-going migration, refugee and security crisis  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

The Council Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down 
the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-20201 allows for the mobilisation of 
the Flexibility Instrument to allow the financing of clearly identified expenditure which could 
not  be  financed  within  the  limits  of  the  ceilings  available  for  one  or  more  headings  of  the 
multiannual financial framework. 

In  accordance  with  Article  11  of  Council  Regulation  No  1311/2013  and  point  12  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 management2, after having examined all possibilities for re-allocating 
appropriations and exhausted any unallocated margin under the expenditure heading Security 
and Citizenship (heading 3), the Commission proposes to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument 
in  2017,  for  which  the  ceiling  on  the  annual  amount  available  is  EUR  471  million  (2011 
prices) corresponding to EUR 530 million in current prices. 

This mobilisation concerns an amount of EUR 530,0 million beyond the ceiling of heading 3 
of the multiannual financial framework, and is intended to finance support for measures for 
managing the migration, refugee and security crisis. 

The  indicative  payment  appropriations  corresponding  to  the  proposed  mobilisation  of  the 
Flexibility  Instrument  have  been  calculated  on  the  basis  of  the  rules  applicable  to  pre-
financing, clearance of pre-financing and final payments for the various types of measures to 
be financed, and are presented in the table below: 

Year 

2017 

2018 

2019 

2020 

Total 

(in million EUR, at current prices) 

Payment appropriations related to the mobilisation of the flexibility 
instrument for measures for managing the refugee crisis in 2017 

238.3 

91.0 

141.9 

58.8 

530,0 

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2 

OJ L347, 20.12.2013, p.884. 
OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 

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Proposal for a 

DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

on the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument to finance immediate budgetary 
measures to address the on-going migration, refugee and security crisis 

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 point 12 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas,  

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

The  Flexibility  instrument  is  intended  to  allow  the  financing  of  clearly  identified 
expenditure  which  could  not  be  financed  within  the  limits  of  the  ceilings  available 
for one or more other headings. 
As laid down in Article 11 of Council Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1311/20132 
there  is  a  ceiling  on  the  annual  amount  available  for  the  Flexibility  instrument  of 
EUR 471 million (2011 prices). 

Due to the urgent needs, it is necessary to mobilise significant additional amounts to 
finance measures to alleviate the ongoing migration, refugee and security crisis. 

Having  examined  all  possibilities  for  reallocating  appropriations  under 
the 
expenditure ceiling for heading 3 (Security and citizenship), it appears necessary to 
mobilise  the  Flexibility  Instrument  to  complement  the  financing  in  the  general 
budget  of  the  European  Union  for  the  financial  year  2017,  beyond  the  ceilings  of 
heading  3  by  the  amount  of  EUR 530,0 million  to  finance  measures  in  the  field  of 
migration, refugees and security. 

On  the  basis  of  the  expected  payment  profile,  the  payment  appropriations 
corresponding to the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument should be distributed 
over  several  financial  years  and  are  estimated  at  EUR 238.3 million  in  2017, 
EUR 91.0 million  in  2018,  EUR 141.9 million  in  2019  and  EUR 58.8 million  in 
2020. 

(6) 

In  order  to  minimise  the  time  taken  to  mobilise  the  Flexibility  Instrument,  this 
decision should apply from 1 January 2017. 

1 
2 

OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 
Council Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual 
financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884). 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

(1) 

For  the  general  budget  of  the  Union  for  the  financial  year  2017,  the  Flexibility 
Instrument  shall  be  mobilised  to  provide  the  amount  of  EUR 530,0 million  in  
commitment appropriations in heading 3 (Security and Citizenship). 

That amount shall be used to finance measures for managing the ongoing migration, refugee 
and security crisis. 

(2) 

On  the  basis  of  the  expected  payment  profile,  the  payment  appropriations 
corresponding to the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument will be as follows: 

(a)  EUR 238.3 million in 2017; 

(b)  EUR91.0 million in 2018; 

(c)  EUR 141.9 million in 2019; 

(d)  EUR 58.8 million in 2020. 

The specific amounts for each financial year shall be authorised in accordance with the annual 
budgetary procedure. 

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

Article 2 

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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