Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the Contingency Margin in 2017

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 2017, the absolute amount of the Contingency Margin for the year 2017 is set at €4,496.8 million.

After having examined all possibilities for financing additional and unforeseen commitment needs, the Commission proposes to mobilise the Contingency Margin for 2017 for an amount of €2,150.6 million so as to complement the commitment appropriations related to expenditure in headings 3 (Security and Citizenship) and 4 (Global Europe) in the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2017, over and above the commitment ceilings of, respectively, €2,578 million and €9,432 million in current prices.

The Commission has carried out an analysis of the possibility to reallocate significant amounts within the existing budget, and proposes to offset the reinforcement of the expenditure ceiling of headings 3 and 4 as follows:
- 2017: €850 million against the unallocated margin available under the expenditure ceiling of heading 2 (Sustainable Growth: Natural Resources) and €514.4 million against the unallocated margin available in heading 5 (Administration).
- 2018: €570 million against the unallocated margin available in heading 5.
- 2019: €216.2 million against the unallocated margin available in heading 5.

This proposal includes an amount of €1,164.4 million for which the Commission had already made a proposal to mobilise the Contingency Margin for heading 3 which accompanied the initial draft budget 2017, and which is now repealed and replaced by the present proposal. This proposal has been preceded by a Commission proposal to mobilise in full the amount of the Flexibility Instrument available for 2017 (€530 million), also for heading 3.

EUR-Lex: COM(2016)678: Follow the progress of this proposal through the decision-making procedure http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/HIS/?uri=COM:2016:678:FIN

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