REPORT on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 7/2015 of the European Union for the financial year 2015, Managing the refugee crisis: immediate budgetary measures under the European Agenda on Migration

on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 7/2015 of the European Union for the financial year 2015, Managing the refugee crisis: immediate budgetary measures under the European Agenda on Migration

(12511/2015 – C8‑0297/2015 – 2015/2252(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) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002[1], and in particular Article 41 thereof,

–  having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015, as definitively adopted on 17 December 2014[2],

–  having regard to Amending budget No 1/2015, as definitively adopted on 28 April 2015[3],

–  having regard to Amending budgets No 2/2015, No 3/2015, No 4/2015 and No 5/2015 as definitively adopted on 7 July 2015[4],

–  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[5] ,

–  having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2015/623 of 21 April 2015 amending Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020[6],

–  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[7],

–  having regard to Council Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom of 7 June 2007 on the system of the European Communities' own resources[8],

–  having regard to Draft amending budget No 7/2015, which the Commission adopted on 30 September 2015 (COM(2015)0485),

–  having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 7/2015 which the Council adopted on 8 October 2015 and forwarded to Parliament on the following day (12511/2015 - C8-0297/2015),

–  having regard to the Commission communication to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council of 23 September 2015 entitled “Managing the refugee crisis: immediate operational, budgetary and legal measures under the European Agenda on Migration” (COM(2015)0490),

–  having regard to the letter from the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs;

–  having regard to Rules 88 and 91 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0289/2015),

A.  whereas Draft amending budget No 7/2015 aims to reinforce the Union's resources to deal with the current refugee and migrant crisis, thereby addressing current underfunding in both headings 3 and 4;

B.  whereas Draft amending budget No 7/2015 provides a reinforcement of emergency assistance provided under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund for a total amount of EUR 100 million in commitment appropriations while maintaining the necessary resources, and other programmes financed by AMIF;

C.  whereas Draft amending budget No 7/2015 furthermore provides for an increase in the number of posts for FRONTEX, EASO and EUROPOL of 120 in total as well as the related appropriations for salaries until year-end of EUR 1,3 million in commitment and payment appropriations;

D.  whereas Draft amending budget No 7/2015 also provides for additional funding for the European Neighbourhood Instrument for a total amount of EUR 300 million;

E.  whereas Draft amending budget No 7/2015 furthermore increases payment appropriations for Humanitarian Aid for an amount of EUR 55,7 million through redeployment;

F.  whereas Draft amending budget No 7/2015 is accompanied by a proposal for a decision on the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for immediate budgetary measures under the European Agenda on Migration (COM(2015)0486) for an amount of EUR 66,1 million in commitment appropriations;

G.  whereas the increase in the number of refugees and migrants was not foreseeable when adopting the current Multiannual Financial Framework 2014-2020, and it cannot be considered a temporary phenomenon and therefore requires longer term solutions which need to be addressed in the upcoming annual budgetary procedures and the revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework;

1.  Takes note of Draft amending budget No 7/2015, as submitted by the Commission, and of the Council's position thereon;

2.  Welcomes the swift response from the Commission in dealing with the current refugee crisis; reiterates the readiness of the European Parliament to act in due time in accordance with its budgetary responsibilities; points out that the proposed measures have to be coupled with initiatives aimed at addressing the root causes of the migration and refugees crisis;

3.  Is convinced that the Union needs to do more to address the current migration and refugee crisis and to help stabilise countries of origin and assist countries of transit as the proposed measures will certainly not be sufficient, given the overall number of persons seeking protection in the Union; calls on the Commission to present a long-term financial plan to respond to the migration and refugee crisis, including search and rescue operations, and to propose a revision of the Multiannual Financial Framework accordingly;

4.  Welcomes the willingness of all institutions to increase the budget appropriations related to migration and asylum, given the obvious and urgent need, as well as for foreign policy instruments to help address the root causes of the migration and refugee crisis;

5.  Welcomes the commitment of Member States, made during the informal European Council of 23 September 2015, to mobilise EUR 1 billion in response to the humanitarian situation of migrants and refugees; calls on Member States to extend and increase their commitment to provide the necessary funds also in the coming years;

6.  Recalls that this issue needs primarily to be addressed in the 2016 budget and calls on the Council to match its words with the corresponding funding in Conciliation;

7.  Urges therefore the Council to agree from the outset on an adequate 2016 budget, including for headings 3 and 4, which will provide sufficient appropriations to manage the current refugee and migration crisis;

8.  Reminds the Commission and the Council of the recent agreement for a payment plan aimed at putting the Union budget back on a sustainable track; notes that the Commission did not propose any additional overall payment appropriations in the 2015 budget but reverted to the redeployment of already existing resources; stresses that this could increase the burden on payment appropriations in 2016 which may not be sufficient to meet the actual needs of financial programmes across headings;

9.  Expects therefore the Commission to come forward in its Amending Letter 2/2016 with an adequate increase in payment appropriations which corresponds to the commitments undertaken;

10.  Stresses that, should additional reinforcements be needed in the course of the current year to address the migration and refugee crisis, the Parliament will be ready to accept a further mobilisation of the flexibility provisions provided for in the Multiannual Financial Framework;

11.  Welcomes the additional 120 establishment plan posts for agencies and expects this decision to also impact the 2016 budget as well as the budgets for the following years; urges the Commission to provide updated and consolidated information about the agencies' needs before budgetary Conciliation; calls on the Commission to propose a medium-term and long-term strategy for the justice and home affairs agencies' actions: objectives, missions, coordination, development of hot spots and financial resources;

12.  Affirms its willingness to adopt Draft amending budget No 7/2015 as presented by the Commission as quickly as possible, given the urgency of the situation; points out that due to the urgency of the situation the Parliament had limited time in shaping its position on this amending budget;

13.  Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 7/2015;

14.  Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 7/2015 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

15.  Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the Court of Auditors and the national parliaments.

LETTER FROM THE Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs

The Chairman

IPOL-COM-LIBE D (2015) 46319

Mr. Jean ARTHUIS

Chair of the Committee on Budgets

WIC M02024

Strasbourg

Subject:   Opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs on the draft amending budget No.7 to the general budget 2015 and on the proposal to mobilise the flexibility instrument in response to the migration situation (COM(2015) 485 and COM(2015) 486)

Dear Mr Arthuis,

The Committee of Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs welcomes the draft amending budget No.7 to the general budget 2015 "on Managing the refugee crisis: immediate budgetary measures under the European Agenda on Migration" (COM(2015) 485) and the proposal for a decision "on the Mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for immediate budgetary measures under the European Agenda on Migration" (COM(2015) 486).

These proposals foresee the reinforcement of the emergency assistance provided under the Asylum, Integration and Migration Fund (AMIF) by EUR 80 million and the Internal Security Fund (ISF) Borders by EUR 20 million. Furthermore the proposals provide for 120 additional posts to increase the capacity of three agencies: 60 posts for Frontex, 30 for EASO and 30 for Europol for 2015. Further reinforcement is foreseen for a number of external measures as well (additional funding in commitments for the European Neighbourhood Instrument and additional payments for humanitarian aid).

The Committee welcomes the further reinforcement of the emergency funding of the AMIF and ISF funds of the current 2015 budget to finance requests received from several Member States. Member States in which currently high numbers of migrants arrive should indeed be able to benefit from such assistance as an expression of solidarity among the EU Member States in accordance with Article 80 TFEU.

The Committee also welcomes the additional staff for Frontex, EASO and Europol. It has since long deplored the understaffing of the agencies constantly called to assume additional tasks. With regard to EASO the Committee, however, believes that the agency should get even more staff than now proposed by the Commission. EASO is tasked to assume a key role in the implementation of the Common European Asylum System. The latest political developments have clearly demonstrated that much still remains to be done in this regard.

The Committee agrees that the proposals of the Commission need to be dealt with urgently to allow for the funding and the additional staff to become available still during 2015. At the same time the Committee urges the Commission to start preparing for a review of the relevant legal provisions, especially the AMIF fund, as well as the multiannual financial framework for the year 2014-2020.

Yours sincerely,

Claude MORAES

RESULT OF FINAL VOTE IN COMMITTEE RESPONSIBLE

• [1]  OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1.
• [2]  OJ L 69, 13.3.2015, p. 1.
• [3]  OJ L 190, 17.7.2015, p. 1.
• [4]  OJ L 261, 7.10.2015.
• [5]  OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884.
• [6]  OJ L 103, 22.4.2015, p. 1.
• [7]  OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1
• [8]  OJ L 163, 23.6.2007, p. 17.