Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin in 2016

Council Regulation (EU, EURATOM) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 (‘MFF Regulation’) allows for the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin of up to 0.03% of Gross National Income for the EU-28 to react to unforeseen circumstances as a last resort instrument. In the technical adjustment of the MFF for 2016, based on Article 6 of the MFF Regulation, the absolute amount of the Contingency Margin for the year 2016 is set at €4,438.2 million.

In accordance with Article 13 of the MFF Regulation, and after having examined all possibilities for financing additional and unforeseen commitment needs, the Commission proposes to mobilise the Contingency Margin for 2016 for an amount of €240.1 million so as to complement the commitment appropriations related to expenditure in heading 3 'Security and citizenship' in the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2016, over and above the commitment ceilings of €2,546 million in current prices.

This proposal complements Decision (EU) 2016/253 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 November 2015 to mobilise in full the amount of the Flexibility Instrument available for 2017 (€520 million), 2016 (€510 million) and 2015 (€500 million) in order to cover the cost of immediate budgetary mesures to address the refugee crisis.

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)624: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:624:FIN

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