Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council, as regards the decommitment procedure
Date: 2020-07-13
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: civil defence, commitment of expenditure, epidemic, fight against crime, financial aid, financial control, fund (EU), immigration, infectious disease, right of asylum

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 13.7.2020  COM(2020) 309 final 2020/0140 (COD)  Proposal for a REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL amending Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council, as regards the decommitment procedure  
 
EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM 

1. 

• 

CONTEXT OF THE PROPOSAL 

Reasons for and objectives of the proposal 

The direct and indirect effects of the COVID-19 outbreak continue to increase in all Member 
States.  The  current  situation  is  unprecedented  and  requires  measures  to  support  Member 
States in the implementation of the Funds. In this respect, the full use of the N+2 rule should 
be ensured so as to provide Member States with sufficient time for the implementation of their 
allocations and declaration of the expenditure to the Commission. 

More specifically, in order for the decommitment rule (N+2) to take into account the payment 
request covering in full the year N+2 submitted by Member States, it is necessary to align the 
decommitment deadline with the deadline of the submission of the accounts.   

In addition, in order to ensure consistency in the approach to decommitment and to provide 
Member  States  with  an  implementation  period  in  line  with  the  N+2  rule,  it  is  proposed  to 
align the decommitment of the additional allocations provided to the national programmes in 
2018 and 2019 with the rules applicable to the basic allocation of the national programmes.  

• 

Consistency with existing policy provisions in the policy area 

The  proposal  is  consistent  with  the  overall  legal  framework  established  for  the  Asylum, 
Migration  and  Integration  Fund  and  the  Internal  Security  Fund  and  is  limited  to  a  targeted 
amendments of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014.  

• 

Consistency with other Union policies 

The  proposal  is  limited  to  targeted  amendments  of  Regulation  (EU)  No  514/2014  and 
maintains consistency with other Union policies. 

2. 

• 

LEGAL BASIS, SUBSIDIARITY AND PROPORTIONALITY 

Legal basis 

This proposal is based on Articles 78(2), 79(2) and (4), 82(1), 84 and 87(2) of the Treaty on 
the Functioning of the European Union. 

It  aligns  the  deadlines  for  payment  requests  and  decommitment  and  it  adjusts  the  date  of 
commitment  of  the  additional  allocations  in  2018  and  2019,  which  have  been  granted  to 
address  unforeseen  needs  in  the  areas  covered  by  the  Asylum,  Migration  and  Integration 
Funds and the Internal Security Fund.  

• 

Subsidiarity  

This  proposal  aims  to  maximise  the  use  of  the  Funds  in  addressing  the  direct  and  indirect 
effects stemming from the unprecedented public health crisis in the context of the COVID-19 
outbreak.  

• 

Proportionality 

The proposal is a limited and targeted change not going beyond what is necessary to achieve 
the  objective  of  ensuring  that  Member  State  can  make  utmost  use  of  the  allocations  in 
response  to  the  widespread  public  health  crises  which  risks  having  a  detrimental  effect  on 
areas covered by the Funds.  

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Choice of the instrument 

A Regulation is the appropriate instrument to introduce the changes needed to address these 
unprecedented circumstances.  

OF 
3. 
CONSULTATIONS AND IMPACT ASSESSMENTS 

RESULTS 

EX-POST 

EVALUATIONS, 

STAKEHOLDER 

•   

N/A 

• 

Ex-post evaluations/fitness checks of existing legislation 

Stakeholder consultations 

There was  no consultation  of external  stakeholders. However, the proposal  takes account  of 
clarification and advice questions received from national authorities concerning their handling 
of crisis response measures.  

Collection and use of expertise 

•   

N/A 

•   

Impact assessment 

An impact assessment has been carried out to prepare the proposals for Regulation (EU) No 
514/2014.  These  current  limited  and  targeted  changes  do  not  require  a  separate  impact 
assessment. 

Regulatory fitness and simplification 

Fundamental rights 

•   

N/A 

•   

N/A 

4. 

BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS 

The  proposed  modifications  does  not  imply  any  changes  in  the  Multiannual  Financial 
Framework annual ceilings for commitments and payments.  

5. 

• 

OTHER ELEMENTS 

Implementation plans and monitoring, evaluation and reporting arrangements 

The  implementation  of  the  measures  will  be  monitored  in  the  framework  of  the  general 
mechanisms established in Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 applicable to the decommitment. 

• 

Detailed explanation of the specific provisions of the proposal 

It  is  proposed  to  amend  Regulation  (EU)  No  514/2014  to  ensure  that  all  payment  requests 
covering the year N+2 submitted by Member State within the regulatory deadlines set out in 
Art. 44 of Regulation 514/2014 are taken into account when calculating the decommitment. In 
addition,  it  is  proposed  to  amend  Regulation  (EU)  No  514/2014  to  ensure  that  the 
implementation period of the amounts corresponding to additional allocations to the national 
programmes  provided  in  2018  and  2019  is  aligned  with  the  implementation  period  of  the 
initial  allocation.  Both  amendments  ensure  consistency  between  provisions  and  are  without 
prejudice to the N+2 decommitment rule.  

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2020/0140 (COD) 

Proposal for a 

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL 

amending Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 of the European Parliament and the Council, as 
regards the decommitment procedure 

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), Article 79(2) and (4), Article 82(1), Article 84 and Article 87(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Economic and Social Committee1, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions2,  

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure, 

Whereas: 

(1)  Member States have been affected by the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic in 
an  unprecedented  manner.  It  affects  migration,  security  and  border  management  in 
Member  States,  which  in  turn  aggravates  the  serious  liquidity  shortages  Member 
States  are  facing  due  to  the  sudden  and  important  increase  in  public  investments 
needed  in  many  sectors.  This  has  created  an  exceptional  situation  which  should  be 
addressed with specific measures. 

(2) 

It  is  necessary  to  provide  additional  flexibility  to  Member  States  to  enable  them  to 
respond  to  this unprecedented crisis  by enhancing the possibility to  make full  use of 
the  available  implementation  period  up  until  the  closure  of  programmes  by  31 
December 2023. In order to respond to this need, the deadlines for decommitment and 
submission  of  requests  for  payment  of  the  annual  balance  should  be  aligned.  The 
regulatory  deadline  for  requests  for  payment  of  the  annual  balance  is  15  February, 
whereas  the  initially  foreseen  decommitment  deadline  was  31  December  of  the 
preceding year. By aligning both deadlines to 15 February, the request for payment of 
the annual balance submitted by the Member State on 15 February will be taken into 
consideration for the purpose of the decommitment exercise.  

(3) 

In  order  to  ensure  that  Member  States  can  make  full  use  of  additional  allocations 
granted  in  2018  and  2019,  the  year  of  the  budget  commitment  should  be  adjusted. 
Those additional allocations were included in the European Union’s general budget for 
the  financial  years  2018  and  20193  and  subsequently  committed  to  the  national 
programmes as referred to in Article 14 of the Regulation (EU) No 514/2014.   

1 
2 
3 

OJ C , , p. . 
OJ C , , p. .LS  
OJ L 57 p. 317 and OJ L 67 p.318. 

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(4) 

In  order  to  provide  Member  States  with  legal  certainty  about  the  decommitment 
deadline  this  Regulation  should  enter  into  force  on  the  day  following  that  of  its 
publication in the Official Journal of the European Union. 

(5) 

Regulation (EU) No 514/2014 should therefore be amended accordingly, 

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION: 

Article 1 

In Article 50 of Regulation (EU) No 514/2014, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: 

"1. National programmes shall be submitted to a decommitment procedure established on the 
basis  that  amounts  linked  to  a  commitment  which  are  not  covered  by  the  initial  and  annual 
pre-ﬁnancing  referred  to  in  Article  35  and  a  request  for  payment  by  the  deadline  set  out  in 
paragraph  1  of  Article  44  in  the  year  following  the  second  year  of  the  budget  commitment 
shall be decommitted. For the purpose of the decommitment, the Commission shall calculate 
the  amount  by  adding  one  sixth  of  the  annual  budget  commitment  related  to  the  2014  total 
amount contribution to each of the 2015-20 budget commitments.  

In  respect  of  amounts  corresponding  to  the  additional  allocations  assigned  to  the  national 
programmes in the year 2018, the year of the budget commitment shall be 2019. In respect of 
amounts  corresponding  to  the  additional  allocations  assigned  to  the  national  programmes  in 
the year 2019, the year of the budget commitment shall be 2020. ”  

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

Article 2 

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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