Draft amending budget No 10/2020: Increase of payment appropriations and other adjustments to expenditure and revenue

Committee on Budgets

European Parliament resolution of 15 December 2020 on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 10/2020 of the European Union for the financial year 2020 - Increase of payment appropriations in line with updated forecasts of expenditure and other adjustments to expenditure and revenue (13643/2020 – C9-0395/2020 – 2020/0298(BUD))

The European Parliament,

–having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

–having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012, and in particular Article 44 thereof,

–having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, as definitively adopted on 27 November 2019,

–having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (MFF Regulation),

–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 management,

–having regard to Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of the European Union,

–having regard to Draft amending budget No 10/2020, which the Commission adopted on 9 October 2020 (COM(2020)0962),

–having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 10/2020 which the Council adopted on 8 December 2020 and forwarded to Parliament on 9 December 2020 (13643/2020 – C90395/2020),

–having regard to Rules 94 and 96 of its Rules of Procedure,

–having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A9-0252/2020),

A.whereas the purpose of Draft amending budget No 10/2020 is to increase the level of payment appropriations in line with the updated forecast and after having taken into account the redeployments proposed in the "Global transfer" (DEC 16/2020), to adjust the revenue side to incorporate the impact of exchange rate differences and additional fines collected, and to budget further more limited expenditure adjustments concerning the level of appropriations of the European Agriculture Guarantee Fund (EAGF) and some decentralised agencies (ESMA, EIOPA, EBA and ELA),

B.whereas Draft amending budget No 10/2020 proposes an overall increase in payment appropriations of EUR 1 569,3 million concerning headings 1a 'Competitiveness for Growth and Jobs', 1b 'Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion', 2 'Sustainable Growth – Natural Resources' and 4 'Global Europe',

C.whereas payment appropriations of EUR 93,8 million will help honour the obligations of the Loan Guarantee Facility within COSME to support SMEs hit by economic consequences of the COVID-19 crisis,

D.whereas EUR 750 million in additional payment appropriations under EAFRD will in particular finance lump-sum payments to provide relief to farmers and small and medium sized agri-businesses affected by the COVID-19 crisis,

E.whereas payment appropriations of EUR 586 million will support the Global EU response to help partner countries via the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA II), the European Neighbourhood Instrument (ENI) and the Development Cooperation Instrument (DCI),

F.whereas the careful review of the budget implementation of decentralised agencies has identified savings, which contribute to reducing payment appropriations by EUR 9,1 million,

G.whereas fines and penalty payments of EUR 128 million cashed until the end of September 2020 have helped to reduce the own resources contributions from Member States to the Union budget,

H.whereas the overall proposed impact of Draft amending budget No 10/2020 on the revenue side is a decrease of EUR 588 million in other revenue rebalanced by a corresponding increase in GNI contributions,

1.Takes note of Draft amending budget No 10/2020 as submitted by the Commission, which is devoted, in the context of the COVID-19 crisis, to providing EUR 1 569,3 million in additional payment appropriations after having taken into account the redeployments proposed in the "Global transfer", to adjust the revenue side and to budget further more limited expenditure adjustments;

2.Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 10/2020;

3.Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 9/2020 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

4.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.