PURPOSE: to amend Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Regulation.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.

BACKGROUND: the COVID-19 outbreak and the associated public health and economic crisis, which require extraordinary measures to be taken, have put great pressure on the available financial resources within and outside the multiannual financial framework (MFF) ceilings.

In order for the Union to be able to finance an appropriate response to the COVID-19 outbreak and the associated public health and economic crisis, it is necessary to modify the purpose for which the available appropriations under the Global Margin for Commitments can be used, insofar as it refers to growth and employment, in particular youth employment, and to migration and security measures.

This draft Regulation is directly linked to financing included in amending budget No 2 to the general budget of the Union for 2020 in the framework of which the Global Margin for Commitments is mobilised to finance measures in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak.

It should also be noted that in order to provide urgent financing, it was considered appropriate to provide for a derogation from the eight-week period referred to in Article 4 of Protocol No 1 on the role of national parliaments in the European Union. This period refers to elapse of time between a draft legislative act being made available to national Parliaments and the date when it is placed on a provisional agenda for the Council for its adoption or for adoption of a position under a legislative procedure.

CONTENT: the Council proposes that Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 (MFF Regulation) should therefore be amended to stipulate that the commitment appropriations may be entered in the budget over and above the ceilings of the relevant headings laid down in the MFF where it is necessary to use the resources from the Emergency Aid Reserve, the European Union Solidarity Fund, the Flexibility Instrument, the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, the Contingency Margin, the specific flexibility to tackle youth unemployment and strengthen research and the Global Margin for Commitments.

Margins left available below the MFF ceilings for commitment appropriations shall constitute a Global Margin for Commitments, to be made available over and above the ceilings established in the MFF for the years 2016 to 2020.

PURPOSE: to amend Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020.

PROPOSED ACT: Council Regulation.

ROLE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT: Council may adopt the act only if Parliament has given its consent to the act.

BACKGROUND: the COVID-19 outbreak and the associated public health crisis, which require extraordinary measures to be taken, has put great pressure on the available financial resources within and outside the MFF ceilings.

In order to help Member States meet all these challenges and respond to the impact of the outbreak, the Commission proposed a wide range of measures in the Covid-19 Response Investment Initiative . It also proposed to reinforce the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism/rescEU to coordinate joint procurement and increase the stock of medicines, personal protective equipment and medical products, to repatriate European citizens stranded outside the EU.

This requires the mobilisation of special instruments as there are no available margins or scope for redeployment in heading 3 of the multiannual financial framework (MFF). The availability of special instruments for 2020 is presented in the technical adjustment of the MFF for 2020.

In order for the Union to be able to finance an appropriate response to the COVID-19 outbreak and the associated public health and economic crisis under the Emergency Support Instrument, it is proposed to modify the purpose for which the available appropriations under Global margin for commitments can be used, insofar as it refers to growth and employment, in particular youth employment, and for migration and security measures.

CONTENT: given that this is the last year of the 2014-2020 MFF and the European Union is facing an unprecedented health and economic crisis, the Commission proposes to amend the MFF Regulation in order to remove the limitations in the scope of the Global Margin for Commitments so as to allow the full financing of the EUR 3 billion for the Covid-19 outbreak response proposed in draft amending budget No 2/2020 presented separately.

The Commission proposes to delete the references to “youth and employment”, and “for migration and security measures” from the wording of the relevant Articles.