COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy
Date: 2021-06-21
Institutions: Directorate-General for Migration and Home Affairs, European Commission
Subjects: EU migration policy, EU visa policy, Schengen Agreement, external border of the EU, fund (EU)

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 21.6.2021  COM(2021) 331 final 2018/0249 (COD)  COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT  pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union  concerning the position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy  
 
2018/0249 (COD) 

COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION 
TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 

pursuant to Article 294(6) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union 

concerning the 

position of the Council on the adoption of a Regulation of the European Parliament and 
of the Council establishing, as part of the Integrated Border Management Fund, the 
Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy 

1. 

BACKGROUND 

Date of transmission of the proposal to the European Parliament and 
to the Council 
(document COM(2018) 473 final – 2018/0249 COD): 

12 June 2018 

Date  of  the  opinion  of  the  European  Economic  and  Social 
Committee: 

17 October 2018 

Date of the position of the European Parliament, first reading: 

13 March 2019 

Date of adoption of the partial general approach of the Council: 

7 June 2019 

Date of adoption of the general approach of the Council:  

12 October 2020 

Date of the trilogue where provisional agreement was reached: 

10 December 2020 

Date of the adoption of the position of the Council: 

14 June 2021 

2. 

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSAL FROM THE COMMISSION 

This proposal forms part of the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) package 
that the Commission put forward in May 2018. Common measures on the crossing of internal 
borders by persons, on border controls at external borders and the common visa policy ensure 
the achievement of the Union’s aim of free movement within an area of freedom, security and 
justice.  

In  that  light,  the  Commission  proposed  to  establish  the  successor  fund  of  the  2014-2020 
Internal Security Fund by setting up a Border Management and Visa  Instrument (BMVI) as 
part of the Integrated Border Management Fund (IBMF). The other part of the IBMF consists 
of  a  Customs  Control  Equipment  Instrument  (CCEI).  The  Commission  proposal  on  the 
Customs  Control  Equipment  Instrument  was  intended  to  recognise  the  role  of  customs 
authorities in protecting all our borders (sea, air, land and postal hubs), while facilitating trade 
and shielding citizens from dangerous and fake goods. 

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The creation of a dedicated integrated border management fund is a reflection of the fact that 
both border management and internal security are priorities each worthy of dedicated and more 
targeted Union financing instruments.  

The effective protection of the EU’s external borders is crucial to manage the challenges ahead 
and  ensure  the  internal  security.  This  is  also  essential  in  order  to  maintain  a  Schengen  area 
without internal border controls. 

Over the past few years, a number of measures have been introduced to address the immediate 
challenges  and  to  put  in  place  all  the  important  building  blocks  needed  to  ensure  strong  and 
smart borders. 

The  BMVI  will  support  these  ongoing  efforts  and  further  increase  support  to  securing  our 
external borders, focusing on: 

(a)  more support to Member States in securing the EU’s external borders; 

(b) 

(c) 

ensuring  large-scale  IT  systems  used  for  border  management  are  robust  and 
can function seamlessly with one another and with national systems; 

ensuring  the  EU’s  common  visa  policy  adapts  to  evolving  security  concerns, 
challenges linked to migration and new opportunities offered by technological 
developments. 

Funding support should continue to be provided to Member States to build and enhance their 
capacities  in  these  areas  and  to  reinforce  cooperation,  including  with  the  relevant  Union 
agencies.  Moreover,  it  will  help  to  ensure  a  similar  level  of  protection  of  the  borders,  by 
addressing  the  current  differences  between  the  Member  States  due  to  geographical  location 
and differences in capacities and resources available.  

The BMVI will offer greater flexibility compared with the previous programming period, while 
at the same time ensuring that funding is steered towards Union priorities and actions with a 
significant Union added value. New mechanisms for the allocation of funding for shared, direct 
and indirect management will address new challenges and priorities. This includes a so-called 
thematic facility, which offers different options with respect to modes of implementation over 
the programming period. 

3. 

COMMENTS ON THE POSITION OF THE COUNCIL 

The position of the Council as adopted in the first reading fully reflects the agreement reached 
in  the  trilogue  between  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  and  the  Commission,  as 
concluded on 10 December 2020. The main points of this agreement were: 

Budget:  The  financial  envelopes  were  aligned  with  the  amounts  agreed  for  the  2021-2027 
MFF.  EUR  6.2  billion  in  current  prices  under  the  Integrated  Border  Management  Fund  are  
split between the BMVI with EUR 5.2 billion and the CCEI with EUR 1.0 billion. Moreover, 
BMVI  will  benefit  from  an  additional  allocation  of  EUR  1  billion  in  2018  prices,  resulting 
from  the  Programme-specific  adjustment  provided  for  in  Article  5  and  Annex  II  of  the 
Council Regulation  (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093  (i.e. MFF regulation). This  additional EUR 1 
billion, in 2018 prices, will be allocated in full (100%) to the thematic facility. Moreover, the 
Commission’s proposal on the conditionality for receiving additional funding at the mid-term 
review phase was retained. As proposed, a Member State must submit payment applications 
covering at  least  10% of the initial allocation for its programme to  be eligible to  receive an 
additional allocation for its programme in the mid-term review. 

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Minimum  funding  percentage:  A  minimum  threshold  of  10%  of  the  resources  to  the 
Member State programmes will be allocated to the specific objective supporting the common 
visa policy to ensure a harmonised approach with regard to the issuance of visas and facilitate 
legitimate  travel,  while  helping  to  prevent  migratory  and  security  risks,  subject  to  the 
possibility of Member States to deviate in duly justified cases. 

Scope of support: The eligible actions listed in Annex III (Scope of Support) of the BMVI 
were agreed to be managed as follows: 

(a)  Annex III remains a non-exhaustive list of actions (‘open list’) for the purposes 

of the programmes drawn up by Member States;  

(b)  Annex III, with the exception of emergency assistance, becomes an exhaustive 
list  of  actions  (‘closed  list’)  for  the  purposes  of  the  thematic  facility’s  work 
programmes.  The  Commission  can  add  actions  to  Annex  III  by  means  of  a 
delegated act. 

Third countries and the external dimension of the Fund: Agreement was reached on the 
basis of the following:  

(a)  Further safeguards included for actions in and in relation to third countries (e.g. 
Member State projects in or in relation to third countries need prior approval of 
the  Commission,  and  eligible  entities  established  in  third  countries  may  only 
receive  funding  if  they  are  part  of  a  consortium  with  at  least  one  entity 
established in a Member State);  

(b)  Provisions included to highlight the internal nature of the Fund and that, while 
actions  in  or  in  relation  to  third  countries  remain  possible,  the  programmes 
must primarily serve internal Union policy. 

Adoption  procedures  for  implementing  acts:  It  was  agreed  that  the  work  programmes  of 
the thematic facility would be adopted by implementing acts under the examination procedure 
(with the ‘no opinion clause’). The faster procedure of directly applicable implementing acts 
was  included  for  emergency  assistance.  The  adoption  of  the  template  for  the  annual 
performance  report  will  be  adopted  through  an  implementing  act  subject  to  the  advisory 
procedure. 

Multi-purpose  equipment:  The  agreement  extends  the  scope  of  multipurpose  use  of 
equipment and ICT systems. They may be used not only for customs control and for maritime 
operations  of  multipurpose  character  but  also  for  achieving  the  objectives  of  the  other  two 
Home Affairs Funds, notably of the Internal Security Fund and of the Asylum, Migration and 
Integration Fund, as long as the primary purpose of those equipment (maximum 30% of the 
total  period  of  use)  and  ICT  systems  are  in  accordance  with  the  Regulation  and  double-
financing is avoided. 

Operating equipment: It was agreed that Member States would be responsible for ensuring 
compliance with the standards established by the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, 
without however  requesting approval from the Agency. 

Search  and  rescue:  The  BMVI  will  provide  support  for  search  and  rescue  operations 
performed in situations which may arise during border surveillance operations at sea. 

Operating  support:  The  percentage  of  the  BMVI  allocation  which  may  go  to  operating 
support was increased to 33 % (from 30 % in the Commission proposal). 

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Visas: It was agreed that assistance is eligible for the issuance of visas with limited territorial 
validity on humanitarian grounds, for reasons of national interest or because of international 
obligations in line with the Union acquis on visas. 

Financing  of  large-scale  IT  systems:  It  was  agreed  to  have  a  closed  list  of  eligible  ICT-
systems and large-scale IT-systems that may receive a higher co-financing rate of 90%. 

Blending: Article 19 that provided for the possibility of blending operations was deleted. 

International  organisations:  New  provisions  on  the  audit  and  control  of  international 
organisation were integrated. 

Performance  indicators:  Result  and  output  indicators  in  Annexes  V  and  VIII  were 
streamlined. 

Retroactivity: Retroactivity provisions were included to take into account that the act would 
not be adopted before the end of 2020. 

Overall,  the  agreement  reached  among  the  co-legislators  preserves  the  objectives  of  the 
Commission’s  original  proposal,  although  the  agreed  position  offers  slightly  less  flexibility 
and less simplification than what  was initially proposed. The agreement  maintains the same 
level  of  ambition  as  the  initial  proposal  and  provides  a  workable  legal  base  for  the 
implementation of the Instrument’s objectives.  

The Commission  signalled in  the political  trilogues  concluded on 10 December 2020 that it 
could  accept  elements  agreed  between  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Council  for  the 
purpose of a final agreement. 

4. 

CONCLUSION 

The Commission accepts the position taken by the Council. 

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