The European Parliament adopted by 525 votes to 75, with 81 abstentions, a resolution on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 5/2024 of the European Union for the financial year 2024 - adjustment in payment appropriations, update of revenues and other technical updates.

Parliament approved the Council position on Draft amending budget No 5/2024.

As a reminder, the purpose of Draft amending budget No 5/2024 is to make adjustments to expenditure, in particular as regards payment appropriations, and to update revenue for the Union budget:

- in relation to expenditure , Draft amending budget No 5/2024 entails a net increase of EUR 44.5 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 2.95 billion in payment appropriations , owing to the absence of any available margin under Headings 2b, 5 and 7 of the multiannual financial framework (MFF), a further EUR 7.2 million is proposed to be mobilised from the Flexibility Instrument and an additional EUR 68.5 million to be used from compartment (a) of the Single Margin Instrument;

- on the revenue side, Draft amending budget No 5/2024 enters into the 2024 budget definitive fines and penalties paid up to October 2024, totalling EUR 2.82 billion, meaning that additional GNI contributions of EUR 139.9 million are required to meet the payment needs.

Draft amending budget No 5/2024 also introduces new revenue and expenditure budget lines for the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism, under which support will be provided through loans serviced and repaid by future flows of revenue from immobilised Russian sovereign assets.

Parliament welcomed the increased payment needs for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), coupled with those for the Common Agricultural Policy in the Global Transfer, as a sign that programme implementation is gathering pace after a worryingly slow start in the 2021-2027 period.

Members noted that the increased payment needs are almost entirely covered through revenue from fines and penalties, in particular the EUR 2.4 billion competition fine imposed on Google for antitrust infringements.

Stressing the need for long-term sustainable revenue for the Union budget , Parliament urged the the Council and the Member States to adopt those proposals swiftly in order to increase the own resources available to the Union budget. It recalled its long-standing position that fines and fees should be used as supplementary revenue for the Union budget.

Members underlined the importance of sustained financial support to Ukraine in a context where financing under the Ukraine Facility and existing macro-financial assistance (MFA) arrangements falls short of needs.

Parliament took note of the higher-than-budgeted salary adjustment for 2024, which impacts both remuneration and pensions, with a higher-than-forecast number of new pensioners in 2024 further pushing up pension costs. It welcomed the fact that almost all additional costs across institutions have been covered through internal redeployments and that recourse to the Single Margin Instrument is therefore contained.

Members underlined that the salary adjustment also affects decentralised agencies , which have been struggling with inflation above the 2 % deflator by which their annual budgets increase and are particular insofar as staff and operating costs represent a large portion of their outgoings. They reiterated that the current treatment of decentralised agencies’ budgets requires further reflection as part of the Commission’s preparations for the post-2027 MFF.

Parliament took note of the increase in appropriations for European Union Agency for the Operational Management of Large-Scale IT Systems in the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (eu-LISA) to cover rising costs, though is concerned about the corresponding decrease in appropriations for the European Union Asylum Agency (EUAA). It called on the Commission to work closely with both agencies to ensure that they are equipped to perform their tasks in full and absorb the additional appropriations assigned to them.

Members welcomed the additional appropriations for the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) in 2024 in the wake of the June 2024 cyber-attack on the agency. They insisted on the need for lessons to be learnt and for further technical support to be provided to other agencies and institutions by the Cybersecurity Service for the Union entities (CERT-EU), in view of the high cybersecurity threat and in order to ensure that another attack does not compromise any Union agency or institution.

Parliament is deeply concerned by the delays in the set-up phase of the newly established Anti-Money Laundering Authority, in particular in relation to recruitment.

Budgetary text adopted by Parliament

The Council adopted its position on DAB No 5 to the general budget for 2024, as set out in this technical annex .

As a reminder, the draft amending budget (DAB) No 5 to the general budget for 2024 concerns adjustments in payment appropriations, an update of revenues and other technical updates.

Regarding the expenditure side of the budget , the main changes concern the following elements:

(1) an increase of the level of payment appropriations for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for a total amount of EUR 2.9 billion, including in relation to the reprogramming related to the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP);

(2) an update of the needs for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs), taking into account that several agreements and the related protocols will not be concluded in 2024;

(3) an increase of appropriations, linked to the most recent estimates for the update of remuneration , as follows:

(a) under heading 7: an increase for the level of the administrative expenditure for the Committee of the Regions by EUR 1.3 million; an increase for the pensions of all institutions by EUR 67.2 million;

(b) outside heading 7: an increase of the EU contribution to several decentralised agencies by EUR 12.1 million.

(4) an adjustment of the EU contribution to several decentralised agencies linked to implementation or other specific reasons, as follows:

(a) an increase of the EU contribution to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) by EUR 1 million in commitment appropriations to reinforce its cybersecurity;

(b) an increase of the EU contribution to the European Union Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (eu-LISA) by EUR 17 million in commitment appropriations;

(c) a decrease of the commitment appropriations allocated to the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA);

(d) a return of EUR 2.8 million in commitment appropriations and payment appropriations to the LIFE programme. Given the delays in the adoption of the Zero Pollution Package, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the European Environment Agency (EEA) will not need the corresponding appropriations;

(5) the introduction of machine translation has led to significant savings in some operations of the Publication Office, which allow the reduction of the level of commitment appropriations of the relevant budget line.

Overall, the net impact of this DAB on expenditure amounts to an increase of EUR 44.5 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 2 954.8 million in payment appropriations.

On the revenue side , this DAB incorporates EUR 2 815 million of definitive fines and penalty payments paid until 30 September 2024.

As a result, the overall impact on the revenue side is a net increase in the GNI contributions of EUR 139.9 million .

Council position on draft budget

PURPOSE: to present Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No. 5 to the General Budget 2024 - adjustment in payment appropriations, update of revenues and other technical updates.

CONTENT: the main purpose of DAB 5 for the year 2024 is to update both the expenditure and revenue side of the budget.

Expenditure side

The proposed changes on the expenditure side of the budget concern the following elements:

- increased needs in payment appropriations for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for a total amount of EUR 2.9 billion, including in relation to the reprogramming related to the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP);

- sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) : as several of these agreements were still subject to negotiations when the budget 2024 was established, an amount of EUR 49.9 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 25.8 million in payment appropriations remains available in the form of reserves to cover for the agreements and protocols with regard to fisheries between the Union and the governments of specific partner third countries that are not yet adopted;

- increased appropriations relating to the most recent estimates for the update of remuneration, as follows: (a) heading 7 : an increase for the level of the administrative expenditure for the Committee of the Regions by EUR 1.3 million; an increase for the pensions of all institutions by EUR 67.2 million, also due to a higher number of pension beneficiaries; (b) outside heading 7 : an increase of the EU contribution to several decentralised agencies by EUR 12.1 million;

- an adjustment of the EU contribution to several decentralised agencies linked to implementation or other specific reasons, as follows: (i) an increase of the EU contribution to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) by EUR 1 million in commitment appropriations to reinforce its cybersecurity, offset against a reduction of the Internal Security Fund (ISF); (ii) an increase of the EU contribution to the European Union Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (eu-LISA) by EUR 17 million in commitment appropriations; (iii) a decrease of the commitment appropriations allocated to the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) due to the revised needs for the appropriations in the first year of its set-up, following delays in the recruitments; (iv) a return of EUR 2.8 million in commitment and payment appropriations to the LIFE programme.

Revenue side

On the revenue side, this DAB incorporates EUR 2 815 million of definitive fines and penalty payments paid until 30 September 2024. As a result, the overall impact on the revenue side is a net increase in the GNI contributions of EUR 139.9 million.

Financing

Overall, the net impact of this DAB 5/2024 is an increase of EUR 44.5 million in commitment appropriations and of EUR 2 954.8 million in payment appropriations under the 2024 budget.

Commission draft budget

PURPOSE: to present Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No. 5 to the General Budget 2024 - adjustment in payment appropriations, update of revenues and other technical updates.

CONTENT: the main purpose of DAB 5 for the year 2024 is to update both the expenditure and revenue side of the budget.

Expenditure side

The proposed changes on the expenditure side of the budget concern the following elements:

- increased needs in payment appropriations for the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) for a total amount of EUR 2.9 billion, including in relation to the reprogramming related to the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP);

- sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs) : as several of these agreements were still subject to negotiations when the budget 2024 was established, an amount of EUR 49.9 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 25.8 million in payment appropriations remains available in the form of reserves to cover for the agreements and protocols with regard to fisheries between the Union and the governments of specific partner third countries that are not yet adopted;

- increased appropriations relating to the most recent estimates for the update of remuneration, as follows: (a) heading 7 : an increase for the level of the administrative expenditure for the Committee of the Regions by EUR 1.3 million; an increase for the pensions of all institutions by EUR 67.2 million, also due to a higher number of pension beneficiaries; (b) outside heading 7 : an increase of the EU contribution to several decentralised agencies by EUR 12.1 million;

- an adjustment of the EU contribution to several decentralised agencies linked to implementation or other specific reasons, as follows: (i) an increase of the EU contribution to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) by EUR 1 million in commitment appropriations to reinforce its cybersecurity, offset against a reduction of the Internal Security Fund (ISF); (ii) an increase of the EU contribution to the European Union Agency for the operational management of large-scale IT systems in the area of freedom, security and justice (eu-LISA) by EUR 17 million in commitment appropriations; (iii) a decrease of the commitment appropriations allocated to the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) due to the revised needs for the appropriations in the first year of its set-up, following delays in the recruitments; (iv) a return of EUR 2.8 million in commitment and payment appropriations to the LIFE programme.

Revenue side

On the revenue side, this DAB incorporates EUR 2 815 million of definitive fines and penalty payments paid until 30 September 2024. As a result, the overall impact on the revenue side is a net increase in the GNI contributions of EUR 139.9 million.

Financing

Overall, the net impact of this DAB 5/2024 is an increase of EUR 44.5 million in commitment appropriations and of EUR 2 954.8 million in payment appropriations under the 2024 budget.

Commission draft budget