MOTION FOR A EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 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

(09095/2022 – C9?0182/2022 – 2022/0126(BUD))

The European Parliament,

– having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

– having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

– having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012[1], and in particular Article 44 thereof,

– having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022, as definitively adopted on 24 November 2021[2],

– having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021-2027[3] (‘MFF Regulation’),

– having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources[4],

– having regard to Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053 of 14 December 2020 on the system of own resources of the European Union and repealing Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom[5],

– having regard to Draft amending budget No 3/2022, which the Commission adopted on 22 April 2022 (COM(2022)0262),

– having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 3/2022 which the Council adopted on 16 May 2022 and forwarded to Parliament on the same day (09095/2022 – C9- 0182/2022),

– having regard to Rules 94 and 96 of its Rules of Procedure,

– having regard to the letter from the Committee on Foreign Affairs,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A9-0181/2022),

A. whereas 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;

B. whereas 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;

C.  whereas 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;

1. Welcomes Draft amending budget No 3/2022 as submitted by the Commission;

2. Recalls 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; reiterates the need for solidarity between Member States and common measures  in the response to the flow of millions of refugees fleeing Ukraine, including the reallocation of refugees; underlines the importance of continuing support to the Republic of Moldova for the transfer of persons to Member States in the context of the Solidarity Platform; urges in particular the Commission to programme and 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;

3. Recalls 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; strongly regrets 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 MFF; stands by its position that fresh tasks for agencies require fresh resources and should not come at the expense of existing programmes or agencies;

4. Underlines that neither the NGEU 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; expects moreover that the economic and social situation in the Union will deteriorate further in the coming months and calls on the Member States and the Commission to urgently establish the necessary solidarity and compensation mechanisms;

5. 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; points, in particular, 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, calls 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 MFF revision as soon as possible and not later than the first quarter of 2023; expects such a revision to take into account the long-term implications of the war in Ukraine and the emergency measures taken;

6. Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 3/2022;

7. Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 2/2022 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

8. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.