The European Parliament adopted by 576 votes to 3, with 13 abstentions, a resolution on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 3/2022 of the European Union for the financial year 2022 – financing reception costs of people fleeing Ukraine.

As a reminder, the Commission proposes that the Union budget contribute a total amount of EUR 400 million under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) to the financing of the first reception and registration costs of people fleeing Ukraine, following the illegal, unprovoked and unjustified war of aggression being carried out by the Russian Federation against Ukraine since 24 February 2022.

Draft amending budget No 3/2022 is one of the elements being used to reach the proposed EUR 400 million, together with amendments to the AMIF and BMVI Thematic Facility work programmes for 2021-2022 making an amount of EUR 124 million available in the form of emergency assistance under each programme, and with the proposal for a budgetary authority transfer (DEC 11/2022) for a reinforcement of the AMIF by EUR 52.2 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 74 million in payment appropriations.

The net impact of draft amending budget No 3/2022 on expenditure amounts to an increase of EUR 99.8 million in commitment appropriations for the AMIF, and an increase of EUR 176 million in payment appropriations comprised of EUR 76 million for AMIF and EUR 100 million for the BMVI.

Given that it is Parliament’s commitment to activate all available Union budget instruments to continue providing the strongest possible economic and financial support to Ukraine and to the people fleeing the war in Ukraine, it called for increased solidarity between Member States and common measures in the response to the flow of millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine, including the reallocation of refugees. The Commission is urged to use funds destined to cross-border cooperation programmes between Ukraine and Member States for the period 2021-2027 to increase the resilience of communities living at the border in the light of the ongoing refugee crisis.

Moreover, the resolution recalled that Parliament had secured a EUR 1 billion reinforcement of the BMVI in the MFF negotiations to enable the programme to deliver fully on its objectives. However, it strongly regretted that the Commission has opted to reduce the BMVI envelope to offset the reinforcement of the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction by EUR 63 million and Europol by EUR 185 million over the course of the current MFF. Members stands by their position that fresh tasks for agencies require fresh resources and should not come at the expense of existing programmes or agencies.

Members underlined that neither the NGEU Fund, its Recovery and Resilience Fund component, nor the flexibility under the current MFF are sufficient to fully cover the financial needs generated by the war in Ukraine. Given that the economic and social situation in the Union is expected to deteriorate further in the coming months, Member States and the Commission are called on to urgently establish the necessary solidarity and compensation mechanisms .

Parliament is deeply concerned that the MFF is already pushed to its limits and is not fit to continue addressing the multiple internal and external crises in a sustainable manner. It pointed to the need to increase the ceiling of Heading 4 in order to reflect the actual financial needs for the Union’s migration and border management. Therefore, it called on the Commission to conduct an in-depth review of the functioning of the current MFF and proceed with a legislative proposal for a comprehensive revision of the MFF as soon as possible and not later than the first quarter of 2023.

On 22 April 2022, the Commission submitted to the Council draft amending budget (DAB) No 3 to the general budget for 2022 concerning the financing of reception costs of people fleeing Ukraine.

The aim of this proposal is to contribute to the financing, in the Member States, of the first reception and registration costs of people fleeing Ukraine as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

More specifically, DAB strengthens the financing of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI). The additional EUR 99.8 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 76 million in payment appropriations for AMIF and EUR 100 million in payment appropriations for BMVI will help to ensure that people fleeing Ukraine benefit from adequate first reception in one of the Member States.

On 16 May 2022, the Council adopted its position on DAB No 3 to the general budget for 2022 as set out in the technical annex contained in the technical annex to this explanatory memorandum.

On 22 April 2022, the Commission submitted to the Council draft amending budget (DAB) No 3 to the general budget for 2022 concerning the financing of reception costs of people fleeing Ukraine.

The aim of this proposal is to contribute to the financing, in the Member States, of the first reception and registration costs of people fleeing Ukraine as a consequence of the Russian aggression against Ukraine.

More specifically, DAB strengthens the financing of the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI). The additional EUR 99.8 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 76 million in payment appropriations for AMIF and EUR 100 million in payment appropriations for BMVI will help to ensure that people fleeing Ukraine benefit from adequate first reception in one of the Member States.

On 16 May 2022, the Council adopted its position on DAB No 3 to the general budget for 2022 as set out in the technical annex contained in the technical annex to this explanatory memorandum.

PURPOSE: to present the draft amending budget No 3/2022 to provide immediate financial support to EU Member States for the reception of people fleeing Ukraine.

CONTENT: Russian’s invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 led to a mass influx of displaced persons including many children from Ukraine to the EU which has, in turn, put significant pressure on Member States to deal with urgent migration and border management measures and face the related financial needs. Neither the Next Generation EU fund, its Recovery and Resilience Fund component, nor the flexibility under the current 2021-2027 MFF are sufficient to fully cover the financial needs generated by the war in Ukraine.

The Commission proposes that the EU budget contributes to the financing of the first reception and registration costs of people fleeing Ukraine for a total amount of EUR 400 million under the Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) and the Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI).

With a view to providing immediate support to people arriving in the EU, the Commission proposes draft amending budget No 3/2022 to assist EU Member States. In particular, it strengthens the financing of the:

- Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund (AMIF) by EUR 99.8 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 76 million in payment appropriations to ensure that people fleeing Ukraine can benefit from adequate first reception, food, shelter, sanitation, clothing, medicines, family tracing, legal and translation assistance, psycho-social and other specialised services leading to their registration in one of the Member States;

- Border Management and Visa Instrument (BMVI) by EUR 100 million in payment appropriations. Following an amendment to the Work Programmes of the Thematic Facility for 2021-2022, a further amount of EUR 124 million will be made available in the form of Emergency Assistance under the BMVI. This is in particular to provide funding to the Member States bordering Ukraine to allow for the smooth application of procedures at, or near, the external borders, identification, fingerprinting, registration, security checks, medical and vulnerability screening of third country nationals, as well as for immediate reception needs throughout these procedures.

The proposed reinforcements and redeployments in this DAB 3/2022 are expected to be implemented swiftly, with prefinancing rates of emergency assistance of up to 100%.