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 challenges of migration, refugee inflows and security threats
Date: 2018-11-30
Institutions: Directorate-General for Budget, European Commission
Subjects: EU expenditure, EU financing, EU migration policy, European security, aid to refugees, budget appropriation, commitment of expenditure, general budget (EU), migratory movement, refugee

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 30.11.2018 COM(2018) 901 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 challenges of migration, refugee inflows and security threats  
 
 
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  Security  and 
Citizenship  (heading  3),  the  Commission  proposes  to  mobilise  the  Flexibility  Instrument  in 
2019. The annual amount available in 2019 is EUR 600 million (2011 prices) corresponding 
to  EUR 703 million  in  current  prices.  Moreover,  EUR 520 million  is  available  from  the 
unused 2018 portion.  

This mobilisation concerns an amount of EUR 985,6 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.  Together  with  the  initial  draft  budget 
2019, the Commission made a proposal  to  mobilise the Flexibility  Instrument3 for the same 
purpose. This first mobilisation, which also included EUR 38,1 million to be mobilised above 
the  ceiling  of  heading  1b  to  provide  financing  of  the  extention  of  the  Structural  Reforms 
Support  Programme  was  repealed  by  a  second  proposal4  which  accompanied  the  amending 
letter 1/20195 adopted by the Commission on 16 October 2018.  

In  the  absence  of  agreement  of  the  Conciliation  Committee  on  the  budget  2019  during  the 
period of twenty-one days foreseen in Article 314 §6 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the 
European Union (TFEU), which ended on 19 November 2018, the Commission submits today 
a second draft budget for 20196, in accordance with Article 314 §8 of the TFEU. The present 
proposal to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument accompanies this second DB and repeals and 
replaces the second proposal made on 16 October 2018. 

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 

2019 

2020 

2021 

2022 

2023 

Total 

(in million EUR, at current prices) 

Payment appropriations related to the mobilisation of the flexibility 
instrument in 2019 

496,7 

198,8 

118,5 

119,3 

52,3 

985,6 

1 
2 
3 
4 
5 
6 

OJ L347, 20.12.2013, p.884. 
OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 
COM(2018) 280, 23.5.2018. 
COM(2018) 708, 16.10.2018. 
COM(2018) 709, 16.10.2018. 
COM(2018) 900, 30.11.2018. 

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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 challenges of migration, refugee inflows and security 
threats 

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 management7, and in particular point 12 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas,  

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

(6) 

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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. 

The  ceiling  on  the  annual  amount  available  for  the  Flexibility  Instrument  is 
EUR 600 000 000  (2011  prices),  as  laid  down  in  Article  11  of  Council  Regulation 
(EU, Euratom) No 1311/20138, increased, where applicable by lapsed amounts made 
available in accordance with the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 of that Article.  

In order to address the ongoing challenges of migration, refugee inflows and security 
threats,  it  is  necessary  to  mobilise  significant  additional  amounts  to  finance  such 
measures as a matter of urgency. 

Having  examined  all  possibilities  for  reallocating  appropriations  under 
the 
expenditure  ceilings  of  heading  3  (Security  and  citizenship),  it  is  necessary  to 
mobilise  the  Flexibility  Instrument  to  supplement  the  financing  available  in  the 
general budget of the Union for the financial year 2019 beyond the ceiling of heading 
3 by the amount of EUR 985 629 138 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. 

In  order  to  allow  for  rapid  use  of  the  funds,  this  Decision  should  apply  from  the 
beginning of the financial year 2019. 

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  2019,  the  Flexibility 
Instrument  shall  be  mobilised  to  provide  the  amount  of  EUR 985 629 138  in 
commitment appropriations in heading 3 (Security and Citizenship). 

The amount referred to in the first subparagraph shall be used to finance measures to address 
the ongoing challenges of migration, refugee inflows and security threats. 

(2) 

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

(a)  EUR 496 697 300 in 2019; 

(b)  EUR 198 761 656 in 2020; 

(c)  EUR 118 520 503 in 2021; 

(d)  EUR 119 297 639 in 2022; 

(e)  EUR 52 352 040 in 2023. 

The specific amounts of payment appropriations 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 2019. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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