27.10.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 366/169

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having regard to the Commission proposal to the European Parliament and the Council (COM(2015)0514 — C8-0308/2015),

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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 (1), and in particular Article 11 thereof,

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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 (2),

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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 (3), and in particular point 12 thereof,

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having regard to the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016, which the Commission adopted on 24 June 2015 (COM(2015)0300), as amended by Letters of amendment Nos 1/2016 (COM(2015)0317) and 2/2016 (COM(2015)0513),

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having regard to the position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016, which the Council adopted on 4 September 2015 and forwarded to Parliament on 17 September 2015 (11706/2015 — C8-0274/2015),

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having regard to its position on the 2016 draft general budget, adopted on 28 October 2015 (4)

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having regard to the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee on 14 November 2015 (14195/2015 — C8-0353/2015),

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0336/2015),

A.

whereas, after having examined all possibilities for re-allocating commitment appropriations under heading 3 and heading 4, it appears necessary to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument for commitment appropriations;

B.

whereas the Commission had proposed to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument to complement the financing in the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2016 beyond the ceiling of heading 3 by EUR 1 504 million in commitment appropriations to finance measures under the European Agenda on Migration;

C.

whereas, in addition to the final amount of EUR 1 506 million beyond the ceiling of heading 3, the Conciliation Committee convened for the 2016 budget agreed to the proposal from Parliament's delegation for a further mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument by EUR 24 million beyond the ceiling of heading 4, in order to address the external dimension of the challenges posed by the refugee crisis;

D.

whereas the total amount of the Flexibility Instrument for the financial year 2016, which includes the unused amounts from the financial years 2014 and 2015, is therefore fully exhausted;

1.

Notes that the 2016 ceilings for heading 3 and heading 4 do not allow for an adequate financing of urgent measures in the field of migration and refugees;

2.

Agrees therefore with the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 1 530 million in commitment appropriations;

3.

Agrees furthermore to the proposed allocation of the corresponding payment appropriations of EUR 734,2 million in 2016, EUR 654,2 million in 2017, EUR 83 million in 2018 and EUR 58,6 million in 2019;

4.

Reiterates that the mobilisation of this instrument, as provided for in Article 11 of the MFF Regulation, shows, once more, the crucial need for the Union budget to be more flexible; notes that these additional appropriations are only made possible thanks to the carry-over of unused amounts from the Flexibility Instruments of the financial years 2014 and 2015; underlines that no amount will be carried over to the financial year 2017, thus limiting any mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument to its annual ceiling of EUR 471 million (2011 prices);

5.

Reiterates its long-standing view that, without prejudice to the possibility for payment appropriations to be mobilised for specific budget lines through the Flexibility Instrument without prior mobilisations in commitments, payments stemming from commitments previously mobilised through the Flexibility Instrument can only be counted over and above the ceilings;

6.

Approves the decision annexed to this resolution;

7.

Instructs its President to sign the decision with the President of the Council and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

8.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution, including its annex, to the Council and the Commission.