Changes from plenary report to adopted text

 The section of the European Economic and Social Committee for which one post is added to the establishment plan and the level of commitment and payment appropriations increased by EUR 70 000;

 The section of the European Committee of the Regions for which one post is added to the establishment plan and the level of commitment and payment appropriations increased by EUR 70 000;

 The section of the European Data Protection Supervisor for which four posts are added to the establishment plan and the level of commitment and payment appropriations increased by EUR 280 000;

 The section of the European External Action Service (EEAS) for which the level of commitment and payment appropriations increased by EUR 10 000 000.

The overall adjustment results in an increase of EUR 10,8 million of heading 7.

Section 2 – European Council and Council

Section 4 – Court of Justice

Section 6 – European Economic and Social Committee

Section 7 – European Committee of the Regions

Section 9 – European Data Protection Supervisor

Section 10 - European External Action Service

Also, the proposed - budgetary neutral – changes to the level of appropriations by budget lines for which amendments have been introduced by the European Parliament to its own section are approved, as follows:

Section 1 – European Parliament

As a consequence, the agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 12 845,0 million, with no margin left under the expenditure the ceiling of heading 7 and the mobilisation of the Single Margin Instrument for an amount of EUR 721,0 million in accordance with Article 11(1)(a) of the MFF Regulation.

Thematic special instruments: EGF, ESR, EAR and BAR

Commitment appropriations for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund for Displaced Workers (EGF), the European Solidarity Reserve (ESR), the Emergency Aid Reserve (EAR) and the Brexit Adjustment Reserve (BAR) are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget.

1.4. Payment appropriations

The overall level of payment appropriations in the 2025 budget is set at the level of the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2025 with the following adjustments agreed by the Conciliation Committee:

1. The agreed level of commitment appropriations for non-differentiated expenditure (headings 1 to 6), for which the level of payment appropriations is equal to the level of commitment appropriations, is taken into account. This applies to the overall reduction for the EAGF by EUR 201,1 million. Taking into account also the adjustment to the Union contribution to decentralised agencies, the combined effect is a decrease of EUR 194,1 million;

2. The adjustment under heading 7 resulting in an increase of EUR 10,8 million;

3. The payment appropriations for all new pilot projects and preparatory actions proposed by the Parliament are set at 25% of the corresponding commitment appropriations, or at the level proposed by Parliament, if lower. In the case of extension of existing pilot projects and preparatory actions, the level of payment appropriations is the level defined in the Draft Budget as amended by the Amending letter 1/2025 plus 25% of the corresponding new commitment appropriations, or at the level proposed by Parliament, if lower. The combined effect is an increase of EUR 26,1 million;

4. The adjustments to differentiated expenditure budget lines, for which the combined effect is an increase of EUR 25,5 million.

The adjustments, resulting in an overall decrease of EUR 131,7 million, are set out in the following table:

Overall, this results in a level of payment appropriations of EUR 155 209,3 million, which represents a decrease of EUR 131,7 million in comparison with the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2025.

1.5. Reserves

Compared to the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2025, the amount of EUR 3 billion in payment appropriations for 2025 in relation to the additional flexibilities and support from cohesion funds to the Member States affected by the natural disasters in Europe (Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction RESTORE proposals) is entered into reserve.

1.6. Budget remarks

The text of budget remarks corresponds to the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2025 with the following adjustments proposed in the letter of executability and agreed by the Conciliation Committee:

 Budget lines for which amendments have been introduced by the European Parliament to its own section are approved without modifications.

 PP 08 25 01 — Observatory of Land Grabbing Practices in the EU

Amend heading as follows:

EU observatory for agricultural land, control and access to farmland

 In accordance with Article 15.3 of the Financial Regulation, the Conciliation Committee agrees to make commitment appropriations available again on the budget line 01 02 01 01 — European Research Council. Budget remarks will be adjusted accordingly:

This is with the understanding that amendments introduced by the European Parliament or the Council cannot modify or extend the scope of an existing legal base, or impinge on the administrative autonomy of the institutions, and that the action can be covered by available resources.

1.7. Budget nomenclature

The budget nomenclature proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2025, is agreed, with the inclusion of the new pilot projects and preparatory actions. The Conciliation Committee also agrees to split the budget line 15 03 01 Reform and Growth Facility for Western Balkans – Operational expenditure in 6 distinct budget lines, per country, as follows:

 15 03 01 01 Albania

 15 03 01 02 Bosnia and Herzegovina

 15 03 01 03 Kosovo

 15 03 01 04 Montenegro

 15 03 01 05 North Macedonia

 15 03 01 06 Serbia

The corresponding budget remark will be introduced accordingly, as follows: “This appropriation is intended to cover the operational expenditure and financial support related to actions carried out under the framework of the Reform and Growth Facility for the Western Balkans for Albania / Bosnia and Herzegovina / Kosovo / Montenegro / North Macedonia / Serbia in line with Article 6 of REGULATION (EU) 2024/1449.”

3. Statements

3.1. Joint statement by the European Parliament and the Council on payment appropriations

The European Parliament and the Council call on the Commission to continue closely and actively monitoring during the year 2025 the implementation of the programmes of the current and previous MFFs (particularly in sub-heading 2a and Rural Development), also linked to the implementation of Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction (RESTORE) in line with the final legal set up and the uptake by Member States. To that end, the European Parliament and the Council invite the Commission to present, in a timely manner, updated figures concerning the state of affairs and estimates regarding 2025 payment appropriations. If the figures show that the appropriations entered in the 2025 budget are insufficient to cover the needs, the European Parliament and the Council invite the Commission to present as soon as possible an appropriate solution, inter alia a draft amending budget, with a view to allowing the European Parliament and the Council to take any necessary decisions as soon as possible without undue delay for justified needs. Where applicable, the European Parliament and the Council will take into account the urgency of the matter, shortening the eight-week period for a decision if deemed necessary. The same applies mutatis mutandis if the figures show that the appropriations entered in the 2025 budget are higher than needed.

3.2. Joint statement by the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on releasing the payments linked to the RESTORE proposals in the 2025 budget

The European Parliament, the Council and the Commission take note of the ongoing discussions on the Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction (RESTORE) proposals to provide additional assistance to Member States affected by recent natural disasters. Pending the adoption of the legal base the payments linked to these proposals included in the amending letter (EUR 3 billion) are included in the adopted budget as a provision and will be released when the RESTORE proposals are adopted in line with Article 49(1) of the Financial Regulation.