Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin in 2020 to provide emergency assistance to Member States and further reinforce the Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU in response to the COVID-19 outbreak
Date: 2020-04-02
Institutions: Directorate-General for Budget, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, EU aid, EU financial instrument, civil defence, commitment of expenditure, emergency aid, epidemic, financial year, general budget (EU), infectious disease

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 2.4.2020  COM(2020) 172 final  Proposal for a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL on the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin in 2020 to provide emergency assistance to Member States and further reinforce the Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU in response to the COVID-19 outbreak  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

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  20202,  based  on  Article  6  of  the  MFF  Regulation,  the  absolute 
amount of the Contingency Margin for the year 2020 is set at EUR 5 096,8 million. 
The  Commission  submits  today  Draft  Amending  Budget  (DAB)  No 2/20203.  It  includes  an 
overall  increase  of  commitment  appropriations  for  heading  3 Security and Citizenship  of 
EUR 3 000,0  million  to  cover  the  re-activation  of  the  Emergency  Support  Instrument  (ESI) 
within the Union to help Member States tackle the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak 
and to further reinforce the Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU so as to facilitate wider 
stock-piling  and  coordination  of  essential  resource  distribution  across  Europe.  This  increase 
complements other reinforcements that concerned the same heading for an overall amount of 
EUR 423,3 million already proposed by the Commission in DAB No 1/20204.  

Given the absence of room for redeployments under heading 3 and in line with the proposal, 
also submitted today, to amend the MFF Regulation removing the limitations in the scope of 
this instrument5, the Commission proposes in DAB No 2/2020 the use of the Global Margin 
for  Commitments  for 
instrument  of 
EUR 2 042,4 million6. 
In addition DAB No 2/2020 is accompanied by a proposal7 to amend Decision (EU) 2020/265 
on the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument in 20208. This proposal, which increases the 
amount  proposed  to  be  mobilised  by  EUR 316,3 million,  results  in  a  total  mobilisation  of 
EUR 1 094,4 million in 2020 and exhausts the amount available under this special instrument. 

the  full  amount  available  under 

this  special 

Finally,  the  Commission  proposes,  as  a  last  resort,  to  mobilise  the  Contingency  Margin  for 
2020  for  an  amount  of  EUR 714,6 million  to  ensure  the  full  financing  of  commitment 
appropriations related to expenditure under heading 3 in the general budget of the European 
Union for the financial year 2020, over and above the commitment ceiling. 

2. 

JUSTIFICATION OF THE MOBILISATION 

2.1. 

INTRODUCTION  

Emergency  support  may  be  awarded  under  Regulation  (EU)  2016/369  in  the  event  of  an 
ongoing or potential natural or man-made disaster, where the exceptional scale and impact of 
the  disaster  is  such  that  it  gives  rises  to  severe  wide-ranging  humanitarian  consequences  in 

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6 

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OJ L347, 20.12.2013, p.884. 
COM(2019) 310, 15.5.2019. 
COM(2020) 170, 2.4.2020. 
COM(2020) 145, 27.3.2020. 
COM(2020) 174, 2.4.2020. 
This amount takes into the remaining margin from 2019 (EUR 1 316,9 million) made available for 2020 
in  the  “Technical  adjustment  in  respect  of  special  instrument”  adopted  today  by  the  Commission 
(COM(2020) 173, 2.4.2020). 
A  first  proposal  to  amend  this  decision  accompanied  DAB  No 1/2020  but  is  replaced  by  this  second 
one. 
COM(2020) 171, 2.4.2020. 

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one or more Member States and only in exceptional circumstances where no other instrument 
available to Member States and to the Union is sufficient. 

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and the related disease 
(COVID-19) has been characterised by the World Health Organization (WHO) successively 
as a public health emergency of international  concern9  and a  global pandemic10. The public 
health consequences of the outbreak are already severe and wide-ranging in the most affected 
Member States and continue to worsen as more Member States are heavily affected. 
The Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU11 has been reinforced both in DAB Nos 1 and 
2/2020,  the  Coronavirus  Response  Investment  Initiative  to  deploy  European  Structural  and 
Investment Funds12 was launched and other Union instruments are contributing to partly address 
the  public  health  emergency.  However,  the  scale  and  scope  of  the  challenge  requires to address 
effectively the public health related humanitarian consequences of the outbreak within the Union. 

In the light of the above, the Commission proposes to re-activate and amend the Emergency 
Support  Instrument  (ESI)  under  Regulation  (EU)  2016/369  in  respect  of  the  COVID-19 
outbreak13. 

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  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  management14,  the  Commission  has  carried  out  an  analysis  of  the 
possibility  to  reallocate  significant  amounts  within  the  existing  budget.  In  the  2020  budget, 
the Commission already proposed to use in full the unallocated margin under the commitment 
ceiling  of  heading  3.  Moreover,  EUR 778,1 million  has  been  mobilised  from  the  Flexibility 
Instrument in the adopted budget. There is therefore no scope for further redeployment within 
this heading. 

The mobilisation of the remaining amount of the Flexibility Instrument has been proposed in 
DAB  Nos 1  and  2/2020  to  reach  in  total  EUR 1 094,4 million.  The  scope  of  the  Global 
Margin  for  Commitments  is  limited  to  growth  and  employment  and  migration  and  security 
and  cannot  be  mobilised  for  COVID-19  outbreak  measures.  Therefore,  the  Commission 
proposes  today  to  amend  the  MFF  Regulation  to  remove  the  limitation  in  the  scope  of  the 
Global Margin for Commitments15 and immediately to mobilise the full available amount for 
the  Emergency  Support  Instrument  and  a  further  reinforcement  of  rescEU  via  DAB 
No 2/2020.  Since  the  combined  amount  of  the  Global  Margin  for  Commitments  and  the 
Flexibility  instrument  is  insufficient  to  finance  the  proposed  increase  of  commitment 
appropriations, the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin  for 2020  is  the only available  – 

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On 30 January 2020. 
On 11 March 2020. 
Decision No 1313/2013/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 17 December 2013 on a 
Union Civil Protection Mechanism (OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 924). 
Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) No 
1303/2013,  Regulation  (EU)  No  1301/2013  and  Regulation  (EU)  No  508/2014  as  regards  specific 
measures to mobilise investments in the health care systems of the Member States and in other sectors 
of  their  economies  in  response  to  the  COVID-19  outbreak  [Coronavirus  Response  Investment 
Initiative], COM(2020) 113 final, 13.3.2020. 
COM(2020) 175, 2.4.2020. 
OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. 
COM(2020) 174, 2.4.2020. 

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the last resort - instrument to finance the remaining additional expenditure above the ceiling 
of heading 3.  

2.3. 

BUDGETARY IMPACT OF UNFORESEEN CIRCUMSTANCES IN 2020 

The Commission proposes to mobilise EUR 714,6 million through the Contingency Margin to 
cover the additional needs related to the reactivation of the ESI. 

The corresponding payment appropriations will be accommodated within the 2020 ceiling for 
payments (and beyond). There is no need to mobilise the Contingency Margin in payments. 

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. 

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  2020  under  headings  3  and  the  related  offsetting  have  to  respect  the  total 
commitment ceiling for the year 2020, the last year of the current MFF period. 

The Commission proposes to offset the proposed reinforcement of expenditure under heading 
3  against  the  unallocated  margin  available  under  the  expenditure  ceiling  of  heading 
5 Administration. 

After  the  offsetting,  margins  for  a  total  of  EUR 633,7 million  would  still  remain  under  the 
expenditure ceiling of the following headings: 

 

 

 

EUR 514,0 million under heading 2 (Sustainable growth: natural resources); 

EUR 103,4 million under heading 4 (Global Europe); 

EUR 16,2 million under heading 5 (Administration). 

No margin would remain available under the other expenditure ceilings. 

The overall commitment ceiling for the whole MFF would 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 amending budget No 2/2020, 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 2020 to provide emergency assistance 
to Member States and further reinforce the Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU 
in response to the COVID-19 outbreak 

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 management16, and in particular point 14 thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas,  
(1)  Article  13  of  Council  Regulation  (EU,  Euratom)  No 1311/201317  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 Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013, the Commission 
has  calculated  the  absolute  amount  of  this  Contingency  Margin  for  2020  in  its 
Communication of 15 May 2019 on the technical adjustment of the financial framework for 
2020 in line with movements in GNI 18. 

(3)  The  Commission  has  examined  all  other  financial  possibilities  to  react  to  unforeseen 
circumstances  within  the  2020  expenditure  ceiling  for  heading  3 (Security and citizenship) 
laid down in the multiannual financial framework (MFF). The Commission has proposed for 
heading 3 of the MFF in 2020 to use the Global Margin for Commitments for a total amount 
of  2 392 402 163  and  to  mobilise  the  Flexibility  Instrument  for  a  total  amount  of 
EUR 1 094 414 188. The mobilisation of the Contingency Margin is, nevertheless, necessary 
to address the needs stemming from the COVID-19 outbreak by increasing the commitment 
appropriations of heading 3 of the MFF in the general budget of the Union for the financial 
year 2020, over and above the ceiling of this heading, as proposed in Draft Amending Budget 
No 2/202019. 

(4) Having regard to this very particular situation, the last-resort condition set in Article 13(1) 
of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 is fullfilled. 

(5)  This  Decision  should  enter  into  force  on  the  same  day  as  the  amendment  of  the  2020 
budget  given  that  the  Contingency  Margin  allows  the  financing  of  some  actions  over  and 
above the ceiling set for the 2020 budget in the MFF. 

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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). 
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 15 May 2019 on 
the  technical  adjustment  of  the  financial  framework  for  2020  in  line  with  movements  in  GNI 
(COM(2019) 310). 
COM(2020) 170, 2.4.2020. 

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HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: 

Article 1 

For the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2020, the Contingency Margin shall 
be mobilised to provide the amount of EUR 714 558 138 in commitment appropriations over 
and above the commitment ceiling of heading 3 (Security and citizenship) of the multiannual 
financial framework. 

The amount of EUR 714 558 138 referred to in Article 1 shall be offset against the margin of 
the financial year 2020 of heading 5 Administration. 

Article 2 

Article 3 

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

Done at Brussels, 

For the European Parliament 
The President 

For the Council 
The President 

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