PURPOSE: presentation of draft amending budget No
1/2017 accompanying the proposal to mobilise the European Union
Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to the United Kingdom, Cyprus
and Portugal.
CONTENT: draft amending budget (DAB) No 1 for the year
2017 covers the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund
(EUSF) for an amount of EUR 71 524 810 in commitment and payment
appropriations.
The mobilisation relates to:
- floods in the United Kingdom,
- drought and fires in Cyprus,
- fires in Portugal.
The Commission services carried out a thorough
examination of the applications in accordance with Council
Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 establishing the EUSF.
The Solidarity Fund aid amounts may not exceed the
estimated total costs of eligible operations for the United
Kingdom, Cyprus and Portugal.
In calculating the total amount of the aid under the
EUSF, the 2.5% was applied in the cases of the United Kingdom and
Portugal as the total direct damage is below their respective major
disaster thresholds.
In the case of Cyprus, the 2.5% was applied up to the
level of its major disaster threshold while the 6% was applied to
the part of the total direct damage above this
threshold.
The Commission proposes to mobilise the European Union
Solidarity Fund for the three cases and to amend the budget 2017 by
increasing budget article 13 06 01 'Assistance to Member States in
the event of a major natural disaster with serious repercussions on
living conditions, the natural environment or the economy' by
EUR 71 524 810 both in commitment and in payment
appropriations.
As the European Union Solidarity Fund is a special
instrument as defined in the MFF regulation, the corresponding
appropriations should be budgeted outside the corresponding MFF
ceilings.
The Commission is confident that the amount of EUR 71
524 810 of payment appropriations can be redeployed within the 2017
budget. However, at this early stage of the implementation, the
Commission is not yet in the position to identify any precise
source. Therefore, the Commission proposes to book in this DAB a
negative reserve of payment appropriations on the budget article 40
03 01 for an amount of EUR 71 524 810.
The Commission will reduce the negative reserve as
soon as possible by means of transfer of appropriations from
other budget items.