The European Parliament adopted by 414 votes to 163, with 90 abstentions, a resolution on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018. It set the overall amount of appropriations for 2018 at: EUR 162 597 930 901 in commitment appropriations; EUR 146 712 004 932 in payment appropriations. Political priorities: Members stressed that Parliament’s reading of the 2018 budget fully reflects the political priorities adopted by an overwhelming majority in its resolution of 15 March 2017 on general guidelines and of 5 July 2017 on a mandate for the trilogue. They recalled that sustainable growth, jobs, in particular youth employment, security and climate change are at the core of those priorities. However, given that the Union continues to face numerous challenges, the necessary financial resources must be deployed from the Union budget, in order to meet the political priorities and allow the Union to deliver concrete answers and effectively respond to those challenges. Union spending should be based on the principle of European added value and should respect the principle of subsidiarity. Proposed cuts: reaffirming its commitment to financing Union policies that enhance jobs and growth in all its regions through investment in research, education, infrastructure, SMEs and employment, in particular youth employment, Parliament failed to understand how the Union can achieve progress in those fields considering the EUR 750 million cuts proposed by the Council under subheading 1a. It decided instead to additionally reinforce research and innovation programmes that have a very high implementation rate and which, due to oversubscription, are faced with a particularly low success rate for applications. It remained committed to its pledges made during the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) negotiations, namely to minimise the impact of EFSI-related cuts on Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) in the framework of the annual budgetary procedure. It proposed to offset those cuts by restoring the original annual profile of those two programmes, in order to allow them to fully accomplish the objectives agreed during the adoption of the relevant legislation. Moreover, Members expressed their political support for the establishment of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) and welcomed the legislative proposal put forward in this regard by the Commission. However, pending a decision on the financing of the ESC and the adoption of the relevant regulation under the ordinary legislative procedure, no financial provision should be entered for this purpose in the 2018 budget. They proposed, therefore, that relevant appropriations and redeployments, entered by the Commission in the Draft Budget 2018 (DB), should be for the moment reversed, as the decision on the 2018 budget should not prejudge in any way the outcome of the legislative negotiations. Strengthening policies: Parliament underlined that the following policies should be enhanced: Competitiveness for growth and jobs, Parliament rejected Council’s unjustified EUR 750 million cuts to subheading 1a, which alone represent almost two thirds of the overall Council cuts in commitments in MFF headings. It stressed that such cuts contradict Council’s own stated political priorities. Parliament decided, therefore, to further reinforce beyond the DB and the pre-EFSI and pre-ESC profiles those programmes that are key to boosting growth and jobs and that reflect widely agreed Union priorities, namely Erasmus+, Horizon 2020 (Marie Curie, European Research Council, SME Instrument), COSME, and EaSI (Progress and Eures). Moreover, it called for a defence research programme with a dedicated budget within the next Multiannual Financial Framework. Members also proposed that increased resources should be allocated in the framework of the 2018 Budget in order to conduct a comprehensive and unbiased assessment of the risk posed by third countries in terms of their strategic deficiencies in the area of anti-money laundering and countering terrorist financing and to establish a list of 'high-risk' jurisdictions. Adequate resources should also be allocated to the European Union Reference Laboratory for alternatives to animal testing (EURL ECVAM) to effectively perform its duties and tasks. As a result, Parliament increased the level of commitment appropriations for subheading 1a above the DB by EUR 143.9 million. Economic, social and territorial cohesion, Parliament disapproved of Council's proposed cuts of EUR 240 million in payments under subheading 1b, including on support lines and reverses them, pending updated forecasts from the Commission. It is especially concerned by the fact that youth unemployment remains at unprecedented levels and recommended reinforcing the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) beyond the level proposed by the Commission for 2018. It proposed bringing the YEI to EUR 600 million in commitments in 2018. Security and citizenship: Members stated that, while at present the peak of the migratory and refugee crisis seems to have decreased, the Commission is urged to continuously monitor the adequacy of allocations under Heading 3 (Security and Citizenship) and make full use of all available instruments under the current MFF to respond in a timely manner to any unforeseen event that might require additional funding. They proposed reinforcing in a limited manner the Asylum Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal Security Fund, as well as the agencies with responsibilities in the field of asylum, such as the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). Overall, Heading 3 is reinforced by EUR 108.8 million in commitment appropriations above the DB. Members are in favour of the creation of a new budget line for a Search and Rescue Fund to support Member States in their obligations under international maritime law. The Commission is called upon to present a legislative proposal to set up such an EU Search and Rescue Fund. Global Europe: as the Union’s external action is faced with ever growing funding needs which greatly exceed the current size of Heading 4, Parliament considered that the mobilisation of the Union budget to respond to the migration challenge will continue to require dynamic responses in the coming years. Therefore, Members suggested reversing almost all of the Council’s cuts and reinforcing Heading 4 by EUR 299.7 million above the DB in commitment appropriations. Parliament also expressed grave concern at the rise of instability and uncertainty both within and outside the Union. It insisted on the need for a renewed focus on the Union’s approach to cohesion, integration, peace, sustainable development and human rights. The Commission and the Member States are urged to boost efforts towards further sustaining peace and conflict prevention. In this context, it recalled the worldwide inspiration brought by the Good Friday Agreement while acknowledging the unprecedented challenges and pressures in the aftermath of the United Kingdom 2016 Referendum. Parliament called upon the Commission and Member States to enhance their support for reconciliation to secure peace and stability in Ireland. On administration in general, Parliament considered that Council’s cuts do not reflect the real needs and thus jeopardise the already significantly rationalised administrative expenditure. It suggested restoring the DB for all Commission administrative expenditure, including administrative and research support expenditure in Headings 1 to 4. Decentralised Agencies: Parliament welcomed the inclusion of adequate resources provided for in the 2018 budget to support the European Supervisory Authorities (ESAs). It emphasised, however, that in the interest of a prudent use of their budgets, the ESAs must stick to the tasks and to the mandate assigned to them by the Union legislator. Special instruments: Parliament called for an increase in the Emergency Aid Reserve (EAR) and the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) in light of the most recent and tragic disasters, namely the fires and extreme drought in Portugal and Spain. Members went on to make a series of more specific observations and recommendations under each sub-heading of the budget and each Union institution, in line with their general budgetary views.

The Committee on Budgets adopted the joint report by Siegfried MUREŞAN (EPP, RO) (Section III – Commission) and Richard ASHWORTH (ECR, UK) (other sections) on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018. Political priorities: Members stressed that Parliament’s reading of the 2018 budget fully reflects the political priorities adopted by an overwhelming majority in its resolution of 15 March 2017 on general guidelines and of 5 July 2017 on a mandate for the trilogue. They recalled that sustainable growth, jobs, in particular youth employment, security and climate change are at the core of those priorities. However, given that the Union continues to face numerous challenges, the necessary financial resources must be deployed from the Union budget, in order to meet the political priorities and allow the Union to deliver concrete answers and effectively respond to those challenges. Union spending should be based on the principle of European added value and should respect the principle of subsidiarity. Proposed cuts: Members failed to understand how the Union can achieve progress considering the EUR 750 million cuts proposed by the Council under subheading 1a. They proposed instead to additionally reinforce research and innovation programmes that have a very high implementation rate and which, due to oversubscription, are faced with a particularly low success rate for applications. Members remained committed to its pledges made during the EFSI negotiations, namely to minimise the impact of EFSI-related cuts on Horizon 2020 and the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) in the framework of the annual budgetary procedure. They proposed to offset those cuts by restoring the original annual profile of those two programmes, in order to allow them to fully accomplish the objectives agreed during the adoption of the relevant legislation. Moreover, they expressed their political support for the establishment of the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) and welcomed the legislative proposal put forward in this regard by the Commission. However, pending a decision on the financing of the ESC and the adoption of the relevant regulation under the ordinary legislative procedure, no financial provision should be entered for this purpose in the 2018 budget. They proposed, therefore, that relevant appropriations and redeployments, entered by the Commission in the Draft Budget 2018 (DB), should be for the moment reversed, as the decision on the 2018 budget should not prejudge in any way the outcome of the legislative negotiations. Strengthening policies: concerned by the fact that youth unemployment remains at unprecedented levels, Members recommended reinforcing the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI) beyond the level proposed by the Commission for 2018. They proposed to bring the YEI to EUR 600 million in commitments in 2018. Members stated that, while at present the peak of the migratory and refugee crisis seems to have decreased, the Commission is urged to continuously monitor the adequacy of allocations under Heading 3 (Security and Citizenship) and make full use of all available instruments under the current MFF to respond in a timely manner to any unforeseen event that might require additional funding. They proposed reinforcing in a limited manner the Asylum Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal Security Fund, as well as the agencies with responsibilities in the field of asylum, such as the European Asylum Support Office (EASO). Overall, Heading 3 is reinforced by EUR 108.8 million in commitment appropriations above the DB. As regards climate, Members regretted that the Commission has failed to put forward concrete and realistic proposals to achieve the Paris Agreement goals. Therefore, they proposed to increase above the level of the DB for climate-related actions and for the Commission to present all the necessary proposals to reach the goals in the forthcoming draft budgets. As the Union’s external action is faced with ever growing funding needs which greatly exceed the current size of Heading 4, Members considered that the mobilisation of the Union budget to respond to the migration challenge will continue to require dynamic responses in the coming years. Therefore, Members suggested reversing almost all of the Council’s cuts and reinforcing Heading 4 by EUR 299.7 million above the DB in commitment appropriations. On administration in general, Members considered that Council’s cuts do not reflect the real needs and thus jeopardise the already significantly rationalised administrative expenditure. They suggested restoring the DB for all Commission administrative expenditure, including administrative and research support expenditure in Headings 1 to 4. Members set the overall level of appropriations for 2018 at EUR 162 597 930 901 in commitment appropriations and EUR 146 712 004 932 in payment appropriations. Members went on to make a series of observations and recommendations under each sub-heading of the budget and each Union institution, in line with their general budgetary views.

On 4 September 2017, the Council adopted its position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018. The Council provides EUR 158 917.3 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 144 429.56 million in payment appropriations. This represents an increase of 0.63% and 7.39% respectively compared to the 2017 EU budget. The significant increase in payments reflects the fact that the 2014-2020 programmes will be at an advanced stage of implementation.  The total amount of payment appropriations provided for in the Council's position on the DB for 2018 corresponds to 0.92% of the EU gross national income (GNI). A. Principles: when adopting its position, the Council took into account the following principles: work within the framework of the budget guidelines established for the 2018 budget in the Council conclusions adopted on 21 February 2017; follow an approach leading to a budget complying with budgetary discipline and sound financial management, as well as taking duly into account the ongoing economic and budgetary constraints in Member States; provide adequate funding for the European Union's various priorities, determining appropriations on the basis of past and current budget implementation and realistic absorption capacities; foresee the necessary appropriations enabling the smooth implementation of the different programmes in the fifth year of the MFF 2014-2020; provide the appropriations necessary to support the political priorities of the Union, notably enhancing jobs and growth and responding to the challenges in the areas of security and migration; leave adequate margins in commitment appropriations under the ceilings of the headings and sub-headings of the multiannual financial framework, with the exception of (sub-)headings 1b and 3, in order to be able to cope with unforeseen situations; keep payment appropriations under control, resulting in a reduction in payment appropriations in particular under headings 1 and 2. Administrative expenditure: the Council acknowledged the efforts made to reach the -5% staff reduction target. It insisted that a proper assessment of the outcome of the 5% staff reduction exercise be carried out. In order to ensure an appropriate level of administrative expenditure and the proper functioning of the institutions, the Council adopted the following approach: strict control of the administrative expenditure of the institutions, in accordance with the approach followed by the Member States for their respective national civil services; appropriate level for setting the administrative budget of each institution, taking into account their specific, genuine and justified needs. Decentralised agencies: the Council suggested reducing the overall level of contributions from the Union budget by EUR 5 million in commitment and payment appropriations. Agencies which did not fully implement the contributions received from the Union budget in the past and/or for which the absorption capacities could be lower than the forecasts made by the Commission would be affected by those reductions. Payment appropriations: the Council will carefully examine the letter of amendment for agriculture (including information on assigned revenue) in order to appropriately assess the level of resources under heading 2 (Sustainable growth: natural resources) in the 2018 budget. The Council also called on the Commission to: closely scrutinise the implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes and present in a timely manner updated figures concerning the state of affairs and estimates regarding 2018 payment appropriations; ensure the timely presentation of the statement of estimates for 2018, allowing each institution enough time to undertake a detailed technical analysis of the disseminated estimates and to prepare thoroughly its position in accordance with an agreed pragmatic calendar. B. Expenditure by main MFF headings: Heading 1: Smart and inclusive growth: EUR 76 499 million in commitments and EUR 66 415 million in payments, up by 2.1% and 17.5% respectively compared to 2017. 1a) Competitiveness for growth and jobs: the amount is set at EUR 21 091 million in commitments, a decrease of 1.04% compared to 2017. The sub-heading is characterised by the following elements: establish the level of commitment appropriations, targeting a total reduction of EUR 750 million in the appropriations requested in the DB 2018; set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the DB 2018 by a total amount of EUR 190 million in the appropriations requested in the DB 2018. The reductions envisaged would involve a number of specific budget lines in the following areas: large infrastructure projects (-EUR 98.64 million in commitments and -EUR 30.88 million in payments); common strategic framework for research and innovation (-EUR 504.43 million in commitments and -EUR 120.37 million in payments); employment and social innovation (-EUR 9.82 million in commitments and -EUR 0.1 million in payments); Customs 2020 and Fiscalis 2020 programmes (-EUR 4.25 million in commitments and -EUR 2.07 million in payments); Connection Europe facility (-EUR 111.56 million in commitments and -EUR 23.05 million in payments); actions financed under the prerogatives of the Commission (-EUR 13.31 million in commitments and -EUR 8.00 million in payments); other actions and programmes (-EUR 7.49 million in commitments and –EUR 5.02 million euros in payments). The margin available under sub-heading 1a would be EUR 806.05 million. 1b) Economic, social and territorial cohesion: the Council provided EUR 55 407 million in commitments, an increase of 3.4% compared to 2017. Other main features of this sub-heading include: maintain the level of commitment appropriations as requested in the DB 2018; set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the DB 2018 by a total amount of -EUR 240 million, in particular for 2014-2020 programmes, notably: Transition regions (-EUR 55.00 million), Competitiveness (More developed regions) (-EUR 85.00 million), Outermost and sparsely populated regions (-EUR 5 million), European territorial cooperation (-EUR 90.50 million) and Technical assistance and innovative actions (-EUR 4.50 million). The margin available under sub-heading 1b would be EUR 6.45 million. Heading 2: Sustainable growth: natural resources: EUR 59 278 million in commitments. This is an increase of 1.18% to 2017. The heading is characterised by the following elements: reduce the level of commitment appropriations requested in the DB 2018 by EUR 275.01 million; set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the DB 2018 by a total amount of -EUR 271.01 million. Reductions would be made as regards administrative support, operational technical assistance and operational lines under: the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (-EUR -269.36 million in commitments and -EUR 265.36 million in payments); the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (-EUR 0.76 million in commitments and –EUR 0.76 million in payments); the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, partnership agreements in the field of sustainable fisheries and compulsory contributions to regional fisheries management organisations and other international organisations (-EUR 4.32 million in commitments and –EUR 4.32 million in payments); the LIFE programme (-EUR 0.15 million in commitments and –EUR 0.15 million in payments). The margin available under heading 2 would be EUR 988.48 million. Heading 3: Security and citizenship: the amount of this heading is set at EUR 3 442 million in appropriations and sees an increase of 19.65% compared to the 2017 budget. This heading is characterised by the following: establish the level of commitment appropriations with a total reduction of EUR 30.82 million of the appropriations requested in the DB 2018 on a number of budget lines concerning administrative support expenditure (-EUR 0.80 million) and operational expenditure for new programmes (-EUR 25.94 million); set the level of payment appropriations, including a total reduction of -EUR 19.56 million of the appropriations requested in the DB 2018 on a number of budget lines concerning administrative support expenditure (-EUR 0.80 million) and operational expenditure (-EUR 14.68 million). The margin available under heading 3 would be equal to zero. The Flexibility Instrument is mobilised for an amount of EUR 786.24 million in commitment appropriations. Heading 4: Global Europe: the Council lays down an amount of EUR 9 503 million in commitments, a decrease of 6.49% compared to 2017. It also decided to: establish the level of commitment appropriations, targeting a total reduction by -EUR 90 million in the appropriations requested in the DB 2018 on a number of specific budget lines: set the level of payment appropriations, reducing the appropriations requested in the DB 2018 by a total amount of -EUR 20 million, of which: -EUR 7.79 million in the Instrument for Pre-accession assistance; -EUR 1.91 million in the European Neighbourhood Instrument; -EUR 8.02 million in the Development Cooperation Instrument. The margin available under heading 4 would be EUR 321.95 million. Heading 5: Administrative expenditure: the administrative expenditure amounts to EUR 9 627 million, a decrease of 2.51% compared to 2017. As regards staff levels, the Council accepted the establishment plans as proposed by the Commission in the DB for 2018. The margin available under heading 5 would be EUR 148.58 million. Special instruments: the Council maintained the appropriations entered in the DB for 2018 for the Emergency Aid Reserve and the European Union Globalisation Adjustment Fund. Moreover, it did not include any amount in the reserve for the European Union Solidarity Fund (-EUR 524.0 million in commitment appropriations, -EUR 200.0 million in payment appropriations).

PURPOSE: Presentation of the Commission's Draft Budget (DB) for 2018 (all sections). BACKGROUND: The 2018 draft budget is in line with the annual evolution foreseen in the multiannual financial framework (MFF). It focuses on the challenge of migration, both within and outside the EU. The 2018 budget will be the fifth of the current MFF. The budget is proposed in the context of the mid-term review of the MFF formally adopted by the Council. The Commission should also use the budget under the 'Agriculture' heading to allocate additional funding for security and migration. The budget in a few figures: the draft budget for 2018 (including special instruments) is as follows: ·         the overall ceiling for commitment appropriations (CAs) amounts to EUR 160.6 billion, corresponding to 1.02% of GNI, and represents an increase of EUR 2 213.9 million compared to the 2017 budget. The resulting total margin under the ceiling of the commitments of the MFF amounts to EUR 1.1 billion; ·         the ceiling on payment appropriations (PAs) amounts to EUR 145.4 billion, which corresponds to 0.92% of GNI, i.e. an increase of 8.1% in the amounts compared with 2017, due to the structural programmes And EU investment for the period 2014-2020 that will reach their cruising speed, after a slow start. The remaining margin under the MFF payments ceiling for 2018 is EUR 10.4 billion. The main budgetary priorities for the year are as follows: - employment and investment: The European Strategic Investment Fund (ESIF) aims to support employment and boost growth through the more intelligent use of existing and new financial resources in order to capitalise on private investment. It has already mobilised EUR 194 billion of investment to date. In 2018, the Commission proposes to allocate an additional EUR 2 billion to the ESIF guarantee fund. In general, EUR 55.4 billion will be allocated to the Structural and Investment Funds for regions and Member States and around EUR 59.6 billion for farmers and rural development. The promotion of sustainable development will also guide the actions covered by the EU budget outside the Union, which will be considerably strengthened as regards neighbouring countries. The new European Sustainable Development Fund should therefore mobilise additional funds, particularly from the private sector; - new prospects for young people: the Erasmus + programme will increase to EUR 2.3 billion, an increase of 9.5% compared to the 2017 budget. By the end of 2016, around 1.6 million young people had benefited from actions under the Youth Employment Initiative. This initiative has helped to reduce the youth unemployment rate in most Member States. However, given that unemployment rates are still higher than pre-financial crisis levels, it is necessary to continue efforts at EU level and to provide assistance. To this end, an additional EUR 1.2 billion should be allocated to the initiative for the period 2017-2020 of which EUR 233 million is included in the 2018 draft budget and EUR 500 million in an amending budget for 2017, proposed in parallel. In addition, the European Solidarity Corps, which aims to offer young people voluntary, internship and employment offers for periods of 2 to 12 months, to promote solidarity within society throughout Europe. This initiative will have its own budget and a legal basis to allow 100 000 Europeans to participate by 2020, for a total amount of EUR 342 million for the period 2018-2020, of which EUR 89 million in 2018; -increasing security within and outside the EU: given that migration and security remain top priorities, the Commission plans to continue funding a wide range of related actions within the European Union such as the provision of humanitarian aid, the strengthening of the management of external borders and the support of the Member States most affected. The EUR 4.1 billion allocated for this purpose in the draft budget for 2018 in the areas of migration and security covers the EU's overall allocation for migration and security to an unprecedented amount of EUR 22 billion for the period 2015-2018. Additional funds will also be available to combat the root causes of migration externally, including by providing assistance to third countries facing large migratory flows, such as Lebanon and Jordan. The draft budget also includes the commitments made for this region at the Brussels conference on aid for the future of Syria in April 2017 totalling EUR 560 million. In the area of security, EU funding will focus on preventive security measures, in particular in the field of organised crime, including enhanced coordination and cooperation between national law enforcement agencies, improving the security of the Union's external borders and supporting Member States in combating terrorism and cybercrime. In addition, in 2017, the Commission launched a preparatory action for defence-funded research work financed by the Union. A total of EUR 90 million is envisaged in the budget for the period 2017-2019 to finance collaborative research in innovative technologies and products in the field of defence. MAIN FEATURES OF THE BUDGET BY HEADING: the following presentation is structured according to the budget headings set out in the 2014-2020 financial framework: Heading 1: Smart and inclusive growth: this budget heading is divided into two sub-headings: ·         1.a Competitiveness for growth and employment: Commitment appropriations for this sub-heading amount to EUR 21.841 billion. This amount is up by 2.5% compared to the 2017 budget, mainly due to increases in support of the Common Strategic Framework for Research and Innovation, the European Interconnection Mechanism and Erasmus +. There remains a margin of EUR 56.1 million, after recourse to the overall margin for commitments, of EUR 658.4 million. Payment appropriations increase by 3.9% to EUR 20 billion; ·         1.b Economic, social and territorial cohesion: commitment appropriations increase by 2.4% to EUR 55.408 billion, leaving a margin of EUR 6.5 million. In line with the political agreement reached on the MFF mid-term review, an amount of EUR 233 million is proposed for the Youth Employment Initiative in 2018. Payment appropriations for the heading as a whole have increased by 25.7% compared to the budget for 2017 rising to EUR 46.763 billion; Heading 2: Sustainable Growth: Natural Resources: Commitment appropriations amounting to EUR 59.553 billion are proposed for this heading, an increase of 1.7% compared to 2017. The level of expenditure leaves a margin of EUR 713.5 million below the ceiling. Payment appropriations amount to EUR 56.36 billion, an increase of 2.6% compared to 2017. The financing of market-related expenditure and direct payments amounted to EUR 43.5 billion in commitment appropriations and EUR 43.47 billion in payment appropriations. Heading 3: Security and citizenship: given the scale of the challenges, the Commission proposes to continue to make a major effort in 2018 to finance migration and security-related expenditure in Heading 3. The level of commitment appropriations amounted to EUR 3.473 billion, i.e. EUR 817 million above the ceiling. There is therefore no margin under this heading, which will require the mobilisation of the flexibility instrument, the envelope of which has been increased as part of the MFF mid-term review, in order to cover all the needs of heading 3 in 2018 (EUR 817 million). Payment appropriations amount to EUR 2.964 billion. The level of commitments and payments is lower (-18.9% for commitments and -21.7% for payments) than for the 2017 budget, which was very high, due to the need for an urgent response to migration. Heading 4: Europe in the world: commitments amounting to EUR 9,593 billion are envisaged. By 2017, the Commission had mobilised EUR 730 million under the contingency margin in favour of this heading. For 2018, it is proposed to leave a margin of EUR 232 million to cover new needs that might still arise, such as the possible extension of the refugee facility in Turkey, for the Commission will perhaps need to submit a letter of amendment to the draft budget or an amending budget. The commitment appropriations for 2018 therefore correspond to a decrease of EUR -569.1 million, or -5.6%, compared with the budget for 2017. The level of payment appropriations, amounting to EUR 8.951 billion, is down -5.6%, reflecting the absence of any arrears of outstanding commitments under this heading; Heading 5: Administration (expenditure of the European institutions and staff): Commitment and payment appropriations for heading 5, 'Administration', including all institutions, including European pensions and schools, have each increased by 3.1% with commitments amounting to EUR 9.682 billion. The draft budget includes adjustments made by the Commission to ensure a better match between the draft estimates of expenditure for the Court of Justice, the European Economic and Social Committee and the European Committee of the Regions. The margin under the ceiling of heading 5 amounts to EUR 663.6 million, of which EUR 570 million compensate for the recourse in the 2017 budget to the contingency margin for expenditure under heading 3 relating to migration. The margin for 2018 still available amounts to EUR 93.6 million.