EUROPEAN COMMISSION

Brussels, 2.4.2020

COM(2020) 170 final

DRAFT AMENDING BUDGET No 2
TO THE GENERAL BUDGET 2020

Providing emergency support to Member States and further reinforcement of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU to respond to the COVID-19 outbreak

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,

–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 (…) 1 , and in particular Article 44 thereof,

–the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2020, as adopted on 27 November 2019 2 ,

–draft amending budget No°1/20 3 , adopted on 27 March 2020,

The European Commission hereby presents to the European Parliament and to the Council Draft Amending Budget No 2 to the 2020 budget.

CHANGES TO THE STATEMENT OF REVENUE AND EXPENDITURE BY SECTION

The changes to the general statement of revenue and section III are available on EUR-Lex ( https://eur-lex.europa.eu/budget/www/index-en.htm ).

Table of Contents

1.    Introduction    

2.    Providing emergency support to Member States through the re-activation of the Emergency Support Instrument within the Union    

2.1.    Context    

2.2.    Actions to be financed through the ESI    

3.    Further reinforcement of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (within the Union)    

4.    Financing    

5.    Summary table by MFF heading    

EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1.    Introduction

The purpose of Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 2 for the year 2020 is to provide EUR 3 000,0 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 1 530,0 million in payment appropriations under heading 3 Security and Citizenship to finance the provision of emergency support within the Union through the Emergency Support Instrument, which is proposed to be re-activated to help tackle the consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak and to further reinforce the Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU to allow wider stock-piling and coordination of essential resource distribution across Europe 4 .

2.    Providing emergency support to Member States through the re-activation of the Emergency Support Instrument within the Union

2.1.    Context

Given the depth of the crisis following the COVID-19 outbreak as well as the extent and nature of the needs requiring support from the EU budget in the immediate future, the Commission proposes in parallel to this DAB that the Council reactivates and amends Council Regulation 2016/369 on the provision of emergency support within the Union 5 to equip the EU with a broader toolbox commensurate to the large scale of the current COVID-19 pandemic.

The Emergency Support Instrument (ESI) was created in March 2016 and was activated for a period of 3 years to address the emergency situation which had arisen following the massive influx of refugees in Greece. It was designed as a general purpose tool to fight crises within the EU and intervenes only in exceptional circumstances of severe difficulties. It can be mobilised to address any crisis requiring humanitarian aid and covers a broad scope of eligible actions: “Emergency support … may include any of the humanitarian aid actions and may consequently encompass assistance, relief and, where necessary, protection operations to save and preserve life in disasters or in their immediate aftermath” 6 .

The measures foreseen under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (rescEU), the Civil Protection Mechanism, the Coronavirus Response Investment Initiative to deploy European Structural and Investment Funds and other Union instruments are contributing to partly address the public health emergency; however, the scale and scope of the challenge requires to address effectively the public health related humanitarian consequences of the outbreak within the Union. Emergency support provided under the ESI promotes complementarity to and consistency with actions of the affected Member States, as well as synergies with actions financed at EU level under other funds and instruments.

In view of the above, support under the Emergency Support Regulation (No 2016/369) is proposed to be activated and provided with the necessary appropriations as soon as possible. This will allow the Union to deploy measures preventing and mitigating severe consequences in one or more Member States and to address in a coordinated manner the needs related to the COVID-19 disaster, by complementing any assistance provided under other EU instruments.

2.2.    Actions to be financed through the ESI

Given the urgency of the situation and the serious nature of the COVID-19 outbreak related public health crisis in all Member States, the Commission proposes to provide EUR 2 700,0 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 1 380,0 million in payment appropriations to the ESI.

Support may be used to finance inter alia the following actions:

–wider and faster stock-piling and coordination of essential resource distribution across Europe;

–meeting the transport needs for protective gear to be imported from international partners as well as transport across the EU;

–transportation of patients in need to cross-border hospitals which can offer free capacity;

–cross-border cooperation to alleviate the pressure on health systems in the most affected EU regions;

–central procurement and distribution of essential medical supplies to hospitals and emergency supply of protective gear for hospital staff, such as respirators, ventilators, personal protective equipment, reusable masks, medicines, therapeutics and laboratory supplies and disinfectants;

–increasing and converting production capacities of EU enterprises to ensure rapid production and deployment of equipment and material needed to urgently address supplies shortages of essential products and medicines;

–increasing care facilities and resources, including temporary and semi-permanent field hospitals and support for reconverted facilities;

–increasing the production of testing kits and support for acquiring key basic substances;

–boosting the swift development of medication and testing methods;

–developing, purchasing and distributing testing supplies (testing kits, reagents, hardware).

The Commission will ensure full coordination so that actions financed under the ESI complement other existing instruments such as rescEU or the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) in certain areas (for instance in reception facilities for migrants). The deployment will be adapted to the development of the outbreak and coordinated with measures undertaken by Member States to maximise impact.

3.    Further reinforcement of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (within the Union)

As part of the EU’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak, UCPM facilitates cooperation between Member States. In addition to the joint procurement and as a further safety net, the Commission has adopted a new Implementing Act under UPCM/rescEU in order to support Member States in purchasing some of the needed equipment (including therapeutics, medical equipment, Personal Protective Equipment, laboratory supplies), thus increasing the volume, complimenting and widening the scope of priority items purchased through the joint procurement. The rescEU direct grant will provide 100 % financing from the EU budget, which includes full financing for development of the these capacities and full financing of deployment. The equipment purchased will be hosted by one or more Member States, while decision-making is organised at EU level, providing emergency supplies over and beyond the national stocks. It will be available to all Member States and will be used in case of insufficient national capacity.

As announced with the Draft Amending Budget No 1/2020 7 , the Commission redeployed EUR 10,0 million in commitment appropriations to support COVID-19 medical countermeasures and equipment from within the existing UCPM/rescEU budget for 2020 (prevention and preparedness within the Union) and proposed a reinforcement of EUR 70,0 million in commitment and EUR 40,0 million in payment appropriations.

In view of the rapid development of the crisis and the associated needs in the Member States, the scale of our stock-piling efforts needs to be further reinforced. rescEU can contribute to wider stock-piling, coordination and distribution of essential medical supplies in high demand to hospitals, including protective gear for hospital staff (masks, goggles, overalls, nano-materials for medical use, disinfectants), ventilators (both invasive and non-invasive ventilators) needed for an effective response. Stocks are to be used to dispatch at short notice necessary medical equipment successively to those MS and regions experiencing outbreaks and epidemic peaks in infections, making an efficient and effective use of reusable equipment where it is most needed.

A further reinforcement of EUR 300,0 million in commitment and EUR 150,0 million in payment appropriations are therefore proposed.

The reinforced rescEU and the re-activated ESI will be complementary and will ensure the most efficient provision of the needed medical equipment.

4.    Financing

Given the absence of margins and room for redeployment under heading 3 of the multiannual financial framework (MFF), the Commission proposes to mobilise the following special instruments for the total amount of EUR 3 000,0 million:

·The remaining Global Margin for Commitments for an amount of EUR 2 042,4 million 8 . An amendment of the MFF Regulation removing the limitations in the scope of this instrument is proposed in parallel to this Amending budget 9 ;

·The Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 243,0 million 10 ; and

·The Contingency Margin for the balance (EUR 714,6 million) with a corresponding offset against the margin available in 2020 under heading 5 Administration 11 .

5.    Summary table by MFF heading

(1)      OJ L 193, 30.7.2018.

(2)      OJ L 57, 27.2.2020.

(3)      COM(2020) 145, 27.3.2020.

(4)      On top of the reinforcement (EUR 80,0 million, out of which EUR 10,0 million by redeployment within the Union Civil Protection Mechanism) included in DAB No 1/2020 (COM(2020) 145, 27.3.2020).

(5)      COM(2020) 175, 2.4.2020.

(6)      Council Regulation 2016/369 Art 3(2)

(7)      COM(2020) 145 final, 27.3.2020.

(8)    This amount takes into the remaining margin from 2019 (EUR 1 316,9 million) made available for 2020 in the “Technical adjustment in respect of special instrument” COM(2020) 173, 2.4.2020.

(9)    COM(2020) 174, 2.4.2020. This amendment of Regulation No 1311/2013 should enter into force at the latest on the same day as the final adoption of this DAB.

(10)      COM(2020) 171, 2.4.2020.

(11)      COM(2020) 172, 2.4.2020.