11.8.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 265/170

—

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 Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (4) (MFF Regulation),

—

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 (5),

—

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 (6),

—

having regard to Draft amending budget No 5/2015, which the Commission adopted on 13 May 2015 (COM(2015)0241),

—

having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 5/2015 which the Council adopted on 19 June 2015 and forwarded to Parliament on the same day (09768/2015 — C8-0163/2015),

—

having regard to its resolution of 29 April 2015 on the latest tragedies in the Mediterranean and EU migration and asylum policies (7),

—

having regard to the Commission communication of 13 May 2015 entitled ‘A European Agenda on Migration’(COM(2015)0240),

—

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

—

having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets and the opinion of the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (A8-0212/2015),

A.

whereas Draft amending budget No 5/2015 aims to reinforce the Union's resources to manage migration and refugee flows, following recent tragedies in the Mediterranean and the increase in the dimension of migratory flows;

B.

whereas the increase in commitment appropriations amounts to EUR 75 722 000;

C.

whereas the increase in payment appropriations amounting to EUR 69 652 000 is fully redeployed from the Galileo programme, leaving the overall level of payment appropriations in the 2015 budget unchanged;

D.

whereas the increase proposed for the European Agency for the Management of Operational Cooperation at the External Borders (FRONTEX) amounts to a total of EUR 26,8 million in both commitment and payment appropriations, partially stemming from additional appropriations through Draft amending budget No 5/2015 and partially from redeployment within Chapter 18 02 (Internal Security) due to the closure of old files under the External Borders Fund;

E.

whereas the financial burden related to the emergency has so far fallen mainly on the national budgets of the southern coastal states of the Union;

F.

whereas in light of the macroeconomic forecast for the medium term and of the opposing demographic trends within the Union and in the neighbouring areas, particularly in West and Central Africa, the increase in migration to Europe cannot be considered to be a temporary phenomenon;

G.

whereas Draft amending budget No 5/2015 also increases the staffing level of 3 agencies, namely 16 additional posts for FRONTEX, 4 posts for the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and 3 posts for the European Police Office (Europol);

H.

whereas, if migration flows are not managed in an effective and timely manner, they may lead to considerable costs in other policy areas;

1.

Takes note of Draft amending budget No 5/2015, as submitted by the Commission, and of the Council's position thereon;

2.

Welcomes the willingness of all institutions to increase the budget appropriations related to migration and asylum, given the obvious and urgent need;

3.

Recalls that in its reading of the 2015 budget in October 2014, Parliament had already called for substantially higher appropriations on these budget lines and additional staff for the agencies concerned;

4.

Regrets however the limited amount of the increases proposed in Draft amending budget No 5/2015, which do not correspond to the actual needs given the ongoing and probably worsening crisis in the Mediterranean, the growing risk of an increase in refugees from Ukraine and the necessity to address migratory challenges in general; underlines however the need for a strict control on the destination of those funds and consequently more transparency when it comes to contract and subcontract procedures, taking into account the various investigations concerning several abuses discovered in Member States;

5.

Regrets the divisions which have emerged between Member States in the Council on the Commission proposal contained in the ‘European Agenda on Migration’; recalls that, due to the nature of the migration phenomenon, the emergency can be more effectively handled at Union level;

6.

Considers that the relevant agencies should not be subject to reduction or redeployment of staff; considers that those agencies must allocate their staff appropriately with the aim of meeting their increasing responsibilities;

7.

Stresses that, given the large number of arrivals on the Union’s southern shores, the increasing role EASO has to play in the management of asylum, and the clear call for support in frontloading reception conditions, the proposal to increase EASO staff by only 4 is clearly insufficient; therefore requests appropriate EASO staffing and budget for 2016 in order to allow EASO to effectively fulfil its tasks and operations;

8.

Believes that the budgetary impact and the additional tasks of the measures presented as part of the EU Agenda on Migration and the EU Agenda on Security with regard to Europol should be assessed in detail by the Commission to allow the European Parliament and the Council to properly adjust Europol’s budgetary and staff needs; stresses the role of Europol in cross-border support for Member States and in information exchange; underlines the need to ensure an appropriate budget and level of staffing for Europol for 2016, in order to allow it to effectively fulfil its tasks and operations;

9.

Asks the Commission to carry out, in the context of the mid-term review of the Multiannual Financial Framework, an evaluation, as precisely as possible, of the needs of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund until 2020; asks the Commission to make a proposal for an adequate increase and, as it occurs, an adjusted distribution of funding between the different programs and methods of implementation of the Fund, following the revision of the financial perspectives;

10.

Expresses its intention to modify the budget nomenclature of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund in the interests of transparency and better control of the allocation of the annual appropriations between programs and means of implementation of the Fund, as specified in Regulation (EU) No 516/2014 (8);

11.

Notes furthermore that Draft amending budget No 5/2015 does not foresee additional overall payment appropriations in the 2015 budget, but only reverts once more to the redeployment of already existing resources;

12.

Insists that the redeployment from Galileo needs to be duly compensated for in the 2016 budget;

13.

Affirms nevertheless its willingness to adopt Draft amending budget No 5/2015 as soon as possible as presented by the Commission, given the urgency of the situation;

14.

Approves therefore the Council position on Draft amending budget No 5/2015;

15.

Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 5/2015 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

16.

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

a.

EUR 2 392 million for national programs (Article 19);

b.

EUR 360 million for specific actions listed in Annex II (Article 16), the resettlement programs (Article 17), the transfers (Article 18);

c.

EUR 385 million for the action of the Union (Article 20), emergency aid (Article 21), the European Migration Network (Article 22), technical assistance (Article 23).