Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council, as regards the re-commitment of the remaining amounts committed to support the implementation of the Council Decisions (EU) 2015/1523 and (EU) 2015/1601 or the allocation thereof to other actions under the national programmes
Date: 2018-10-22
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU migration policy, aid to refugees, external border of the EU, foreign national, fund (EU), illegal migration, integration of migrants, right of asylum, transfer of population

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 22.10.2018  COM(2018) 719 final 2018/0371 (COD)  Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council, as regards the re-commitment of the remaining amounts committed to support the implementation of the Council Decisions (EU) 2015/1523 and (EU) 2015/1601 or the allocation thereof to other actions under the national programmes  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

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CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

To support the implementation of the Council Decisions establishing provisional measures in 
the  area  of  international  protection  for  the  benefit  of  Italy  and  Greece1  and  of  the  Council 
Decision  on  legal  admission  from  Turkey2,  funding  was  committed  to  Member  States' 
national  programmes  under  the  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  (AMIF).  The  two 
Council  Decisions3  have  enabled  the  effective  relocation  of  34,705  applicants  in  need  of 
international  protection  from  Greece  and  Italy  and  the  legal  admission  of  5,345  persons  in 
need  of  international  protection  from  Turkey.  The  timeframe  and  the  applicability  of  these 
decisions have now come to an end.  

Out  of  the  EUR  843  million  committed  in  the  course  of  2016  to  Member  States'  national 
programmes under AMIF, approximately EUR 567 million is still available. According to the 
decommitment rule set out in the Regulation laying down general provisions for the Asylum, 
Migration and Integration Fund4, payments should be made on these commitments by the end 
of  2018,  after  which  the  funding  will  no  longer  be  available  for  Member  States'  use  under 
their Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund national programmes.  

In  the  light  of  discussions  with  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  in  the  course  of 
2018,  the  Commission  proposes  technical  amendments  to  Article  18  of  Regulation  (EU) 
516/20145, to enable Member States to use the remaining committed funds to address Union 
priorities  in  the  area  of  migration,  including  carrying  out  relocation  after  the  end  of  the 
Council  Decisions.  The  proposal  would  also  enlarge  the  target  group  eligible  for  relocation 
under  the  current  AMIF,  namely  the  beneficiaries  of  international  protection,  in  order  to 
include  also  the  transfer  of  applicants  for  international  protection  (as  was  the  case  in  the 
aforementioned Council Decisions).  

With this amendment, Member States will be in the position to  continue showing solidarity 
when  implementing  transfer  decisions  in  practice.  Moreover,  this  proposal  would  provide 
Member  States  with  the  possibility  to  use  this  funding  for  other  actions  defined  in  the 
Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  Regulation,  in  addition  to  relocation  and 
resettlement, when duly  justified in the national  programmes, which will need to be revised 
for  that  purpose6.  The  mid-term  review  of  the  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  has 
confirmed that Member States are confronted with varied and significant needs in the areas of 
asylum, integration and return.  

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6 

Council Decision (EU) 2015/1523 and 2015/1601   
Council Decision (EU) 2016/1754 amending the Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601 
Council Decision (EU) 2015/1523 and 2015/1601   
Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014. 
Regulation  (EU)  No  516/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16  April  2014 
establishing the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, amending Council Decision 2008/381/EC and 
repealing  Decisions  No  573/2007/EC  and  No  575/2007/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council and Council Decision 2007/435/EC (OJ L 150, p.168). 
Other  relevant  actions  could  be  Union  key  priorities  in  the  areas  of  migration  and  asylum  such  as 
strengthening  Member  States'  asylum  systems,  stepping  up  integration  effort,  increasing  returns, 
enhancing  legal  pathways  to  the  Union  replacing  unsafe  and  irregular  ones  as  well  as  strengthening 
cooperation with third countries in these areas.  

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the  remaining  amounts  committed 

The  proposal  enables  Member  States  to  re-commit  or  transfer  amounts  within  national 
programmes, by means of revisions of the national programme.  The proposal also extends the 
deadline  for  decommitment  of 
the 
implementation  of  the  Council  Decisions  (EU)  2015/1523  and  (EU)  2015/1601  by  a 
maximum of six months, so as to ensure that Member States will have sufficient time to revise 
the national programmes in order to make the changes related to possible re-commitments or 
transfers of funding. To this effect, it is proposed to derogate from Article 50 of Regulation 
(EU)  No  514/20147.  Furthermore,  the  proposal  also  contains  a  provision  extending  the 
deadline for the use of the funding concerned, by two additional years following the approval 
of  the  revisions  of  the  national  programmes  by  the  Commission,  to  give  Member  States 
sufficient  time  to  implement  the  actions  to  which  the  funding  will  be  re-committed  or 
transferred.   

to  support 

In order for the amounts committed to support the implementation of the Council Decisions 
(EU)  2015/1523  and  (EU)  2015/1601  to  remain  available  in  the  Member  States'  national 
programmes  to  support  relocation  and  other  Union's  priorities  in  the  area  of  migration  and 
asylum,  and  for  these  not  to  be  decommitted,  it  is  essential  that  the  proposed  technical 
amendments to Article 18 of Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 are adopted and enter into force 
before the end of 2018.  

• 

Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area 

This  proposal  is  consistent  with  the  Union's  policy  priorities  in  the  areas  of  migration  and 
asylum,  by  enabling  Member  States  to  continue  using  the  remaining  amounts  committed  to 
support  the  implementation  of  the  Council  Decisions  (EU)  2015/1523  and  (EU)  2015/1601 
for Union priorities in the area of migration and asylum, through their national programmes. 

• 

Consistency with other Union policies 

The proposed technical amendment is consistent with other proposals and initiatives adopted 
by  the  European  Commission.  The  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  has  been  an 
important tool to complement the EU actions in the areas of borders and security, in particular 
by  providing  funding  support  to  setting  up  and  running  hotspots.  In  particular,  coordinated 
support from both the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal Security Fund 
has proven to be essential to ensure a smooth handling of cases in the hotspots, including their 
referral  to  the  appropriate  procedures.  Alongside  and  in  coordination  with  the  European 
Social Fund, it has also provided support to the integration of third-country nationals, and has 
complemented the work of EU external funding instruments in implementing of EU policies 
on  external  migration.  The  proposed  amendment  of  the  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration 
Fund will allow further support for actions in these areas.   

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

This proposal amends Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 and is based on Articles 78(2) and 79(2) 
and (4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union which empowers the Union to 
take actions in area of asylum, immigration, management of migration flows, fair treatment of 

7  Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 laying down 
general provisions on the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund and on the instrument for financial support 
for police cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management (OJ L 150, p. 112). 

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third-country nationals residing legally in Member States, combating illegal immigration and 
trafficking in human beings, including through co-operation with third countries.  

These  Articles  constitute  compatible  legal  bases  in  the  light  of  the  position  of  the  United 
Kingdom,  Ireland  and  Denmark  with  regard  to  the  areas  they  cover,  thus  provide  for 
compatible voting rules in the Council. The ordinary legislative procedure applies to each of 
them.  

• 

Subsidiarity  

This  proposal  complies  with  the subsidiarity  principle. Enabling Member States to  continue 
using  the  remaining  amounts  committed  to  support  the  implementation  of  the  Council 
Decisions  (EU)  2015/1523  and  (EU)  2015/1601  for  relocation,  as  well  as,  in  duly  justified 
circumstances, for other actions within their national programmes will lead to a higher added 
value at Union level than Member States acting alone. 

• 

Proportionality 

The proposal is limited to the technical adjustments necessary.  

• 

Choice of the instrument 

Proposed instrument: amendment of the current Regulation.  

Given  the  legal  framework,  it  is  necessary  to  propose  amendments  to  Regulation  (EU)  No 
516/2014 and to derogate from Regulation (EU) No 514/2014. 

3. 
OF 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

RESULTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

STAKEHOLDER 

• 

Stakeholder consultations 

Informal  consultations  have  taken  place  with  the  relevant  Committee  of  the  European 
Parliament  and  the  relevant  Council  working  group.  This  has  indicated  a  consensus  on  the 
need for the technical adjustments set out in this proposal. 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The purpose of the proposed technical amendment is to ensure that the amounts committed in 
2016  to  support  the  implementation  of  the  Council  Decisions  (EU)  2015/1523  and  (EU) 
2015/1601  remain  available  to  the  Member  States  in  their  national  programmes  for  the 
financing  of  relocation,  and,  if  duly  justified  in  the  framework  of  a  revision  of  the  national 
programme,  other  actions  in  the  field  of  migration  and  asylum.  No  additional  funding  from 
the Union budget is therefore necessary for the implementation of the proposed amendments 
to Regulation (EU) No 516/2014. 

5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

This  proposal  has  no  consequences  for  the  existing  monitoring,  evaluation  and  reporting 
arrangements of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund Regulation, which will continue 
to apply. 

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• 

Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal 

The first objective of this proposal is to enable the use of the remaining amounts, which have 
been  committed  under  the  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  to  support  the 
implementation  of  the  Council  Decisions  (EU)  2015/1523  and  (EU)  2015/1601,  to  promote 
EU  priorities  in  the  areas  of  migration  and  asylum,  including  relocation.  This  would  be 
possible  for  an  extended  period  of  two  years  following  the  revision  of  the  national 
programmes  by  the  Commission,  and  would  also  allow  the  use  of  these  funds  for  purposes 
other than relocation, through revisions of Member States' national programmes. At the same 
time, it would also extend the scope of the target group of persons eligible for relocation to 
provide Member States with more flexibility in implementing solidarity measures. 

Therefore, the proposal amends Article 18 of Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 by inserting the 
words 'applicant for or' before the words 'beneficiary of international protection'.  

Secondly,  the  proposal  amends  Article  18  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  516/2014  by  making  it 
possible to  re-commit the  amounts committed to  support the implementation  of the Council 
Decisions  (EU)  2015/1523  and  (EU)  2015/1601  for  relocation  or  to  transfer  them  to  other 
actions  defined in  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration Regulation  and based on the Member 
States'  needs.  This  should  be  duly  justified  in  a  revision  of  the  national  programme,  to  be 
approved by the Commission. Such transfers or re-commitments should be done only once, in 
view of the principle of sound financial management and respect for the decommitment rule 
as set out in Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014. 

Thirdly, the proposal inserts a provision in Article 18 of Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 which 
revises the decommitment rule set out in Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 so that 
the  remaining  amounts  committed  to  support  the  implementation  of  the  Council  Decisions 
(EU) 2015/1523 and (EU) 2015/1601 can be used for an additional period of two years. For 
that purpose, the proposed provision states that the amounts concerned will be considered to 
have been committed in the year of the revision of the national programme that approves the 
re-commitment of these amounts or their transfer to other actions in the national programme. 

Finally, the proposal extends the deadline for the automatic decommitment of amounts by a 
period  of  six  months.  This  provision  derogates  from  the  first  paragraph  of  Article  50  of 
Regulation  (EU)  No  514/2014  and  is  necessary  in  order  for  Member  States  and  the 
Commission  to  complete  the  procedure  for  the  revision  of  the  national  programmes,  as 
referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014. 

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2018/0371 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council, as 
regards the re-commitment of the remaining amounts committed to support the 
implementation of the Council Decisions (EU) 2015/1523 and (EU) 2015/1601 or the 
allocation thereof to other actions under the national programmes 

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European  Union,  and  in  particular 
Article 78(2) and 79(2) and (4) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

The  purpose  of  this  Regulation  is  to  enable  the  re-commitment  of  the  remaining 
amounts  committed  to  support  the  implementation  of  the  Council  Decisions  (EU) 
2015/1523 and (EU) 2015/1601 provided for under Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 of 
the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council8  or  the  allocation  of  them  to  other  actions 
under the national programmes in line with Union priorities and Member States' needs 
in the areas of migration and asylum. 

The  Commission  committed  funding  to  Member  States'  national  programmes  under 
the  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  to  support  the  implementation  of  the 
Council Decisions (EU) 2015/15239 and (EU) 2015/160110. Decision (EU) 2015/1601 
was  amended  by  Council  Decision  (EU)  2016/175411.  Those  Decisions  have  now 
ceased to apply. 

(3) 

Part of the funding allocated under the Decisions (EU) 2015/1523 and (EU) 2015/1601 
in 2016 remains available in the Member States' national programmes. 

(4)  Member  States  should  have  the  possibility  to  use  the  above-mentioned  amounts  to 
continue implementing relocation by re-committing the amounts to the same action in 
the  national  programmes.  In  addition,  it  should  be  possible,  duly  justified  in  the 

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Regulation  (EU)  No  516/2014  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council  of  16  April  2014 
establishing the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund, amending Council Decision 2008/381/EC and 
repealing  Decisions  No  573/2007/EC  and  No  575/2007/EC  of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the 
Council and Council Decision 2007/435/EC (OJ L 150, 20.5.2014, p. 168). 
Council Decision (EU) 2015/1523 of 14 September 2015 establishing provisional measures in the area 
of international protection for the benefit of Italy and of Greece (OJ L 239, 15.9.2015, p. 146). 
Council Decision (EU) 2015/1601 of 22 September 2015 establishing provisional measures in the area 
of international protection for the benefit of Italy and Greece (OJ L 248, 24.9.2015, p. 80).  
Council  Decision  (EU)  2016/1754  of  29  September  2016  amending  Decision  (EU)  2015/1601 
establishing  provisional  measures  in  the  area  of  international  protection  for  the  benefit  of  Italy  and 
Greece (OJ L 268, 1.10.2016, p. 82). 

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revision  of  Member  States'  national  programmes,  to  use  this  funding  also  to  address 
other  challenges  in  the  area  of  migration  and  asylum,  in  line  with  the  Asylum, 
Migration  and  Integration  Fund  Regulation.  Member  States'  needs  in  these  areas 
remain  significant.  Re-commitments  of  the  above-mentioned  amounts  to  the  same 
action,  or  their  transfer  to  other  actions  under  the  national  programme  should  be 
possible only once and with the approval of the Commission.  

(5) 

The target group eligible for relocation should be expanded to give more flexibility to 
Member States in carrying out relocations.  

(6)  Member States and the Commission should have sufficient time to revise the national 
programmes  to  accommodate  the  relevant  changes  that  this  amending  Regulation 
foresees. Therefore, a derogation from Article 50(1) of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 
of  the  European  Parliament  and  of  the  Council12  should  be  applied  to  the  remaining 
amounts  committed  to  support  the  implementation  of  the  Council  Decisions  (EU) 
2015/1523 and (EU) 2015/1601 prolonging the deadline for the decommitment by six 
months  in  view  of  completing  the  procedure  for  the  revision  of  the  national 
programmes, as referred to in Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014. 

(7)  Member  States  should  also  have  sufficient  time  to  use  the  amounts  re-committed  to 
the  same  action  or  transferred  to  other  actions  prior  to  the  decommitment  of  these 
amounts.  Therefore,  when  such  re-commitments  or  transfers  of  amounts  under  the 
national programme are approved by the Commission, the amounts concerned should 
be  considered  to  have  been  committed  in  the  year  of  the  revision  of  the  national 
programme that approves the re-commitment or the transfer concerned.  

(8) 

(9) 

(10) 

This  amending  Regulation  does  not  affect  the  funding  available  under  Article  17  of 
Regulation (EU) No 516/2014. 

[In  accordance  with  Article  3  of  Protocol  No  21  on  the  position  of  the  United 
Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed 
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union, those Member States have notified their wish to take part in the adoption and 
application of this Regulation] 

OR 

[In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United 
Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed 
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union,  and  without  prejudice  to  Article  4  of  that  Protocol,  those  Member  States  are 
not taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and are not bound by it or subject to 
its application.] 

OR 

(10) 

[In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United 
Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed 
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union, and without prejudice to Article 4 of that Protocol, the United Kingdom is not 

12 

Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 April 2014 laying 
down  general  provisions  on  the  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration  Fund  and  on  the  instrument  for 
financial support for police cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management (OJ L 
150, 20.5.2014, p. 112). 

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taking part in the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its 
application. 

(10a)  In accordance with Article 3 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United Kingdom 
and  Ireland  in  respect  of  the  area  of  freedom,  security  and  justice,  annexed  to  the 
Treaty  on  European  Union  and  to  the  Treaty  on  the  Functioning  of  the  European 
Union, Ireland has notified (, by letter of ...,) its wish to take part in the adoption and 
application of this Regulation.] 

OR  

(10) 

[In  accordance  with  Article  3  of  Protocol  No  21  on  the  position  of  the  United 
Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed 
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union, the United Kingdom has notified (, by letter of ...,) its wish to take part in the 
adoption and application of this Regulation. 

(10a)  In accordance with Articles 1 and 2 of Protocol No 21 on the position of the United 
Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice, annexed 
to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European 
Union, and without prejudice to Article 4 of that Protocol, Ireland is not taking part in 
the adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application.] 

(11) 

(12) 

In  accordance  with  Articles  1  and  2  of  the  Protocol  (No  22)  on  the  position  of 
Denmark,  annexed  to  the  TEU  and  to  the  TFEU,  Denmark  is  not  taking  part  in  the 
adoption of this Regulation and is not bound by it or subject to its application. 

In  view  of  the  need  to  avoid  decommitment  of  the  remaining  funding  committed  to 
support  the  implementation  of  the  Council  Decisions  (EU)  2015/1523  and  (EU) 
2015/1601 this Regulation should enter into force on the day of its publication in the 
Official Journal. 

(13)  Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 should therefore be amended, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Amendments to Article 18 of Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 

Article 1 

Article 18 is amended as follows: 

'Article 18 

(1) 

In paragraph 1, the words "beneficiary of international protection" are replaced 
by  the  words  "applicant  for  international  protection  or  beneficiary  of 
international protection"; 

(2)  Paragraph 3 is replaced by the following:  

"3.  The  additional  amounts  referred  to  in  paragraph  1  of  this  Article  shall  be 
allocated  to  the  Member  States  for  the  first  time  in  the  individual  financing 
decisions  approving  their  national  programme  in  accordance  with  the 
procedure laid down in Article 14 of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 and later in 
a  financing  decision  to  be  annexed  to  the  decision  approving  their  national 

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programme.  Re-commitments  of  those  amounts  to  the  same  action  under  the 
national  programme  or  transfers  thereof  to  other  actions  under  the  national 
programme  shall  be  possible  where  duly  justified  in  the  revision  of  the 
respective  national  programme.  An  amount  may  only  be  re-committed  or 
transferred once. The Commission shall approve the re-commitment or transfer 
through the revision of the national programme."; 

(3)  The following paragraphs are inserted:  

"3a.  For the purpose of Article 50(1) of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014, where 
amounts  stemming  from  the  provisional  measures  established  by 
Decisions (EU) No 2015/1523 and (EU) No 2015/1601 are re-committed 
to the same action under the national programme or transferred to other 
actions  under  the  national  programme  in  accordance  with  paragraph  3, 
the amounts concerned shall be considered to have been committed in the 
year  of  the  revision  of  the  national  programme  that  approves  the  re-
commitment or transfer in question. 

3b.  By  way  of  derogation  from  Article  50(1)  of  Regulation  (EU)  No 
514/2014, the deadline for the decommitment of the amounts referred to 
in paragraph 3a shall be prolonged by a period of six months."; 

(4) 

In  paragraph  4,  the  words  "beneficiaries  of  international  protection"'  are 
replaced by the words  "applicants  for international  protection or beneficiaries 
of international protection".  

Article 2 

Entry into force 

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

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in the Member States in 
accordance with the Treaties. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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