PURPOSE: to amend Decision (EU) 2020/265 as regards adjustments to the amounts mobilised from the Flexibility Instrument for 2020 to be used for migration, refugee inflows and security threats, for immediate measures in the context of the COVID-19 outbreak and for reinforcement of the European Public Prosecutor's Office.

PROPOSED ACT: Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council.

BACKGROUND: the Flexibility Instrument is intended to allow the financing of clearly identified expenditure which could not be financed within the limits of the ceilings available for one or more other headings of the general budget of the Union.

The ceiling on the annual amount available for the Flexibility Instrument is EUR 600 million (2011 prices), as laid down in Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 , increased, where applicable, by lapsed amounts made available.

On 27 November 2019, the European Parliament and the Council adopted Decision (EU) 2020/265 mobilising the Flexibility Instrument to provide the amount of EUR 778 074 489 in commitment appropriations in heading 3 (Security and citizenship) for the financial year 2020 to finance measures in the field of migration, refugees and security.

The draft amending budget No 1/2020 includes an increase of the commitment appropriations for heading 3 by EUR 423.3 million. Of those, EUR 350.0 million for additional expenditure to cope with migration pressures in Greece are covered by the use of the Global Margin for Commitments laid down in Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013. The remaining amount of EUR 73.3 million is not covered by the scope of the Global Margin for Commitments and therefore requires additional mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for 2020. It is also necessary to adjust the indicative payment profile.

CONTENT: this present proposal accompanies DAB No 1/2020 in order to increase accordingly the amounts mobilised from the Flexibility Instrument and to extend the purpose of the mobilisation.

The Commission sets out the indicative payment appropriations corresponding to the updated mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument in 2020 as follows:

2020: EUR 450.7 million; 2021: EUR 342.2 million; 2022: EUR 42.4 million; 2023: EUR 16.1 million;

Total : EUR 851.4 million.

This proposed mobilisation decision shall amend Decision (EU) 2020/265 of 27 November 2019.

The amounts shall be used to finance measures to address the ongoing challenges of migration, refugee inflows and security threats as well as the current sanitary crisis in the European Union resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak and increased needs of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (the Commission proposes an increase of EUR 3.3 million in commitment and payment appropriations to cover the increased costs of staff as well as other IT and security related expenditure not initially foreseen in the budget 2020).

This mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument should be adopted simultaneously with the amendment of the 2020 budget as the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument allows financing of some actions over and above a ceiling in the Multiannual Financial Framework.

In order to ensure coherence with that amendment of the 2020 budget, this Decision should enter into force on the day of its publication.