EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 30.9.2015

COM(2015) 485 final

DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET No 7
TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2015

Managing the refugee crisis: immediate budgetary measures under the European Agenda on Migration

Having regard to:

–the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, and in particular Article 314 thereof, in conjunction with the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 106a thereof,

–the Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the Union 1 , and in particular Article 41 thereof,

–the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2015 adopted on 17 December 2014 2 ,

–the amending budget No 1/2015 3 , adopted on 28 April 2015,

–the amending budget No 2/2015 4 , adopted on 7 July 2015,

–the amending budget No 3/2015 5 , adopted on 7 July 2015,

–the amending budget No 4/2015 6 , adopted on 7 July 2015,

–the amending budget No 5/2015 7 , adopted on 7 July 2015,

–the draft amending budget No 6/2015 8 , adopted on 15 July 2015,

The European Commission hereby presents to the European Parliament and to the Council the Draft Amending Budget No 7 to the 2015 budget.

CHANGES TO THE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION

The changes to the statement of revenue and expenditure by section are available on EUR-Lex ( http://eur-lex.europa.eu/budget/www/index-en.htm ). An English version of the changes to this statement is attached for information as a budgetary annex.

TABLE OF CONTENT

1.    Introduction    

2.    Managing the refugee crisis under the European Agenda on Migration    

3.    Proposed Financing in 2015    

3.    Summary table by MFF heading    

1.Introduction

On 23 September 2015, the Commission presented a Communication to the European Parliament, the European Council and the Council – Managing the refugee crisis: immediate operational, budgetary and legal measures under the European Agenda on Migration 9 . This Communication identifies a set of priority actions to be taken within the next six months, including the adaptations which need to be made to the budget for 2015, and the draft budget proposal for 2016.

The purpose of Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 7 for the year 2015, is to introduce the necessary changes for immediate measures in the remaining months of 2015, making use of any possibilities for redeployment of appropriations at this stage of the year, without undermining the implementation of other spending programmes. It includes the following:

–A reinforcement of emergency assistance provided under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF), for a total amount of EUR 100 million in commitment appropriations;

–An increase in the number of establishment plan posts for FRONTEX (+ 60 posts), EASO (+ 30) and EUROPOL (+ 30) to increase their capacity on the ground. The related reinforcement of salary expenditure amounts to EUR 1,3 million in commitment and payment appropriations for the three agencies combined;

–Additional funding for the European Neighbourhood Instrument (EUR 300 million in commitment appropriations), so that the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis ("Madad Fund") can reach at least EUR 500 million.

–An increase in payment apropriations for Humanitarian Aid of EUR 55,7 million through redeployment. A request for the transfer of commitment appropriations for Humanitarian Aid from the Emergency Aid Reserve (EAR) will be made separately, in order to reach EUR 200 million of humanitarian aid for refugees in need.

Reinforcements requested for the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF), the Internal Security Fund (ISF), and Humanitarian Aid in this DAB 7/2015 are partly offset by redeployment of EUR 70,5 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 57,0 milion in payment appropriations currently available in the 2015 budget: notably from the EU Solidarity Fund (EUR 33,7 million in commitment and payment appropriations); from various budget lines in heading 2 (EUR 24,8 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 19,8 million in payment appropriations); and EUR 12,0 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 3,5 million in payment appropriations from the Food and Feed programme.

In addition to redeployment, the reinforcement in commitment appropriations is to be achieved by using the existing margins under the expenditure ceilings of heading 3 (Security and Citizenship, for the full available amount of EUR 23,2 million) and heading 4 (Global Europe, for an amount of EUR 300 million), as well as by mobilising the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 66,1 million to finance emergency measures under AMIF in heading 3. A proposal to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument is presented in parallel with this DAB.

Overall, the additional measures proposed in this draft amending budget lead to a net increase in the level of commitment appropriations in the 2015 budget of EUR 330,7 million. The level of payment appropriations remains unchanged in 2015, as a large part of the payments will be made in 2016.

Additional needs mentioned in the Communication on Managing the refugee crisis, as compared to the Commission's draft budget (DB) proposal for 2016, will be included in an amending letter to the 2016 draft budget, to be presented in mid-October. This amending letter will also include updated estimates for agricultural expenditure.

2.    Managing the refugee crisis under the European Agenda on Migration

This section recalls the additional measures proposed so far in the field of migration, notably through the amending budget 5/2015 10 , and the further reinforcement which is required still this year through this draft amending budget and the accompanying proposal to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument.

2.1    Heading 3: Security and Citizenship

2.1.1    Measures proposed in DAB 5/2015

On 13 May the Commission adopted the European Agenda on Migration 11 , which was accompanied by draft amending budget 5/2015 The final adoption of the amending budget on 7 July allowed to:

Triple FRONTEX operations in the Mediterranean (Triton and Poseidon, EUR 26 million);

Double the emergency assistance provided to the most affected Member States under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF, EUR 25 million) and the Internal Security Fund (ISF, EUR 5 million);

Implement an EU-wide resettlement scheme (EUR 25 million);

Reinforce the Regional Development and Protection Programmes for North Africa and the Horn of Africa (EUR 7 million); and

Reinforce the number of posts and related staff expenditure of the three EU agencies most concerned (16 posts for FRONTEX, 4 for EASO and 3 for EUROPOL).

2.1.2    Further reinforcements proposed in DAB 7/2015

Emergency measures

A significant further reinforcement of the emergency assistance under AMIF (EUR 80 million) and ISF (EUR 20 million) is immediately required to support Member States most recently affected and to support the implementation of the hotspots approach. The additional amount of EUR 100 million would serve primarily for:

Meeting requests currently received from Germany, Greece, Croatia and Austria and further requests expected to be received by the end of the year from other Member States recently affected by the influx in particular from Greece, Hungary, , and Bulgaria ;

Allow for a coordinated approach by the Commission with Member States including with Italy and Greece to develop structured emergency requests to address the implementation of the migrant support teams and the relocation schemes, as well as to face the continuous increasing influx of migrants.

Agencies

The EU agencies operating on migration-related areas need to step up their capacities, since they are now being asked to be far more active on the ground than was originally envisaged. The Commission therefore proposes to further increase the human resources of the three key EU agencies with a combined increase of 120 additional establishment plan posts, as follows:

FRONTEX: 60 posts to enable the agency to deal with increased operational activities as well as increased cooperation with other EU agencies as regards the disruption of trafficking networks and deployment of additional liaison officers to third countries. This includes:

oThe reinforcement of joint return operations and return related matters, as well as the deployment of coordination officers to the migration management support groups in the hotspot areas;

oThe increase of the agency's risk analysis capacity on the ground (hot spot operational analysis, management and debriefing, coordination) and in third countries;

oThe increase of its capacity to maintain and enhance communication networks in the context of EUROSUR, including coordination of common surveillance tools;

oDeployment of liaison officers in third countries in the European Neighbourhood.

EASO: 30 posts to reinforce the deployment of additional EASO teams for the joint processing of asylum applications in frontline Member States. This includes:

oSupport of joint processing of asylum applications in Italy and Greece in the hotspots areas for registration, identification, fingerprinting and case preparation of asylum application files;

oCoordination and support of the emergency relocation measures of 160 000 persons (i.e. identification, vulnerability check, pre-departure information);

oSupport to the EU wide resettlement scheme (act as a clearing house and improve structural exchange of information);

oAct as a clearing house for the country of origin information activities including information exchange, further development of country of origin reports and practical guides.

EUROPOL: 30 posts to further strengthen its role in the implementation of the European Council conclusions as regards the disruption of trafficking networks as well to further strengthen efforts to detect and request removal of internet content used by traffickers to attract migrants and refugees. This includes:

oResources to reinforce and expand the EU response in support of the Commission action in the hotspots areas. In Greece this will imply making use of an EU Mobile Investigation Support Team (EMIST) to conduct investigations to dismantle smuggling networks. This new team of Europol specialists and analysts will gather information and act when migrants disembark on the five Greek islands currently affected, using information from the various administrative authorities in the region as well as from national and international investigations;

oThe establishment of a European Migrant Smuggling Centre (EMSC) at Europol, in support of the Mobile Investigation Support Teams (EMIST). The Centre will support frontline Member States by giving training to EMIST staff, personnel, equipment and expertise, and will enhance Europol’s regular support capacities as regards analysis, operational meetings and joint action. Additionally, the EMSC will provide an EU-wide overview of migrant smuggling from a law enforcement perspective, ensuring coordination with national centres. It will also provide expertise on the use of social networks by smugglers and financial investigations;

oThe interaction of Mobile Investigation Support Teams and the Centre at Europol will enhance intelligence and operational knowledge to feed into police and border guard action on the spot.

The related additional appropriations for the remuneration of new staff (EUR 1,3 million) in the three agencies combined has been calculated on the basis of an average of one month's presence in 2015.

2.2    Heading 4: Global Europe

The conflict in Syria is in its fifth year, with 7,6 million internally displaced people, 12,2 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and 4 million refugees in the neighbouring countries. The influx of refugees from Syria has overwhelmed neighbouring countries, especially Lebanon and Jordan, by putting a strain on their infrastructure and threatening their precarious stability. As the humanitarian and long-term needs of refugees and internally displaced persons are increasing, the volume of international funding is witnessing a downward trend. As of September 2015, only 40 % of the UN appeals for the Syrian refugee crisis are covered, resulting in cutbacks to food and other essential services. This situation, along with the protracted nature of the conflict and diminishing hope to return home, has led thousands of Syrians to set out on a journey to Europe in search of a long-term settlement. So far, more than 330 000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Europe and the number is expected to climb higher by the end of 2015.

In order to tackle this dramatic situation, the Commission proposes to increase the funding of the European Neigbourhood Instrument (ENI) by EUR 300 million in commitment appropriations. The additional appropriations for the ENI will allow for an increase of the EU Regional Trust Fund in response to the Syrian crisis (the "Madad Fund"). The Madad Trust Fund is a flexible and effective instruments to support refugees from Syria. The fund will support projects in various sectors including basic infrastructure, such as water, sanitation, hygiene, waste management, access to services, health, education and support to livelihoods. Projects will be implemented together with different partners, such as UN agencies, agencies from Member States, public authorities and NGOs. Taking account of the time lag for the first disbursements, the related payment appropriations will be requested in an amending letter to the 2016 draft budget.

In addition to the proposed reinforcement of the ENI, and in line with the Commission's Communication of 23 September, the Commission proposes to use EUR 200 million for Humanitarian Aid still in 2015 to cover the most urgent humanitarian needs of displaced people fleeing the conflict in the region. For this purpose, the Commission is requesting separately a EUR 175 million (commitments) transfer (DEC 32/2015) from the Emergency Aid Reserve. Such a transfer, together with EUR 10 million (commitments) from the Humanitarian Aid operational reserve, and the latest EUR 15 million transfer from the Emergency Aid Reserve (DEC 28/2015) add up to an additional EUR 200 million in commitment appropriations available for Humanitarian Aid. EUR 70 million of payment appropriations are to be made available in 2015 for Humanitarian Aid through the redeployments of EUR 55,7 million from reserves and non-differentiated budget lines proposed in the present DAB (see section 3 below), with the balance (EUR 14,3 million) included in the separate transfer request from the Emergency Aid Reserve. The EUR 70 million in payment appropriations will cover the 40% pre-financing to be disbursed to partner agencies in 2015, with the remainder to be paid in 2016.

3.    Proposed Financing in 2015

This section sets out how the further measures for 2015 outlined above are proposed to be financed through a mix of redeployment, use of the existing margins under heading 3 and 4 and the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument.

3.1    Heading 3: Security and Citizenship

Overall, the total reinforcement in commitment appropriations to finance the measures outlined above amounts to EUR 101,3 million, of which EUR 100 million for emergency assistance and EUR 1,3 million for additional staffing of the three agencies. Payment appropriations are requested to cover the cost of additional staff in the three agencies only, whereas the payment appropriations corresponding to the additional actions under AMIF and ISF will be requested in an amending letter to the 2016 draft budget.

The table below shows the distribution of the requested reinforcements in commitment and payment appropriations across five budget lines under heading 3:

The budgetary annex sets out the breakdown across function groups and grades of the additional posts in the establishment plans of the three agencies concerned.

3.2    Heading 4: Global Europe

The table below shows the distribution of the reinforcements in commitment and payment appropriations under heading 4 requested in this DAB:

3.3    Redeployment, use of the margins and mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument

The Commission carefully examined the possibilities of redeployment of appropriations within the 2015 budget, both for commitments and payments, and identified the following sources for redeployment:

3.3.1    European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) and European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF)

No EAFRD-related applications have been submitted by Member States for Multi-regional Assistance (MRA) under the Technical Assistance Platform (TAP) in the call for applications which closed on 31 July 2015. Furthermore, the commitment appropriations required for the Evaluation Helpdesk under the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD) are lower than originally planned.

For the EAGF, a number of audit missions initially foreseen for 2015 have been rescheduled and the number of actions implemented under the external communication plan has been lower than planned.

Therefore, EUR 7,4 million commitment appropriations and EUR 0,9 million payment appropriations are proposed for redeployment.

3.3.2    European Maritime and Fisheries Fund (EMFF)

The late adoption of the legal basis has delayed the implementation of operational expenditure of the EMFF under direct management.

Delays and extensions of the duration for a number of actions, including the creation of Advisory Councils, signature of contracts and organisation of conferences and events mean that EUR 1,7 million in commitment appropriations can be released for budget lines concerning differentiated expenditure under direct management.

For the same reasons, the budget for the administrative and support expenditure (budget item 11 01 04 01) and the contribution to the executive agency for Small-and Medium-sized Entreprises (budget item 11 01 06 01) can be reduced. Both budget lines concern non-differentiated expenditure, with the corresponding EUR 0,3 million becoming available in commitment and payment appropriations.

3.3.3    Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements

After detailed analysis of the status of negotiations linked to the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements and the evaluation of the possible dates of entry into force, EUR 13,7 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 18,6 million in payment appropriations can be released from the reserve and are available for redeployment.

Furthermore, fees requested by some international organisations were lower than originally estimated, thus freeing EUR 1,7 million in commitment appropriations from budget article 11 03 02.

3.3.4    Food and Feed Safety, Animal Health and Welfare, and Plant Health

An amount of EUR 2,4 million in commitment appropriations can be made available from budget article 17 04 02 Ensuring timely detection of harmful organisms for plants and their eradication. This is due to the lower than foreseen requests from Member States with regard to the measures to prevent the damages caused by the Xylella Fastidiosa bacterium.

Furthermore, EUR 9,6 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 3,5 million in payment appropriations can be made available from budget article 17 04 04 Fund for emergency measures related to animal and plant health. This Fund covers the Union contribution to allow fast eradication of serious infectious animal diseases and fight against plant pest and diseases. Due to the favourable animal and plant health situation during 2015, the Member States' requests are lower than originally estimated.

3.3.5    European Union Solidarity Fund

No applications for the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) are currently pending. Based on the current information on natural disasters and due to the timing of processing any unexpected applications to come still in 2015, the remaining balance of EUR 33,7 million in commitment and payment appropriations of the 2015 EUSF advances can be made available for redeployment.

After taking into account all the above redeployments and the necessary reinforcements, the Commission proposes to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 66,1 million in heading 3 (Security and Citizenship), after having exhausted the available margin (EUR 23,2 million), to finance the emergency measures under AMIF and ISF. The mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument is proposed in a separate act.

The margin available under the expenditure ceiling of heading 4 (Global Europe) is sufficient to cover the additional commitment appropriations for the European Neighbourhood Instrument.

3.Summary table by MFF heading

(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.

(4)  OJ L XX, XX.XX.2015.

(5)  OJ L XX, XX.XX.2015.

(6)  OJ L XX, XX.XX.2015.

(7)  OJ L XX, XX.XX.2015.

(8)  COM(2015) 351 final of 15.07.2015.

(9)  COM(2015) 490, 23.9.2015.

(10)  COM(2015) 241, 13.5.2015.

(11)  COM(2015) 240, 13.5.2015.