Brussels, 17/02/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 17 February, the Council confirmed the agreement in principle on revising the EU's multiannual financial framework (MFF) 2014-2020, to authorise the transfer of €21.1 billion of commitment appropriations not used in 2014 (see EUROPE 11253).
The revision of the MFF regulation allows the transfer of €16.5 billion to 2015, €4.5 billion to 2016 and the remaining €100 million to 2017. These commitments remained unused in 2014 due to the late adoption of 300 of the 645 EU programmes. Commitments are legal promises to spend money on activities whose implementation can extend over several financial years.
The programmes concerned are supported by the structural funds, the cohesion fund, the European agricultural fund for rural development, the European maritime and fisheries fund, the asylum, migration and integration fund and the internal security fund.
In a statement, the Commission says that it is not proposing any revision of payment ceilings as it believes that payments on the re-jigged commitments can be managed within current ceilings, given the MFF regulation's existing provisions in terms of flexibility (particularly the overall margin for payments which ensures that no existing payment ceilings margin is lost).
Four countries worried
During discussions, some countries were critical that the proposal seeks to transfer most of the funding to 2015. These countries wanted to see the transfers spread over a longer timescale so as to allow time for the money to be spent. In a statement, Croatia, Italy, Romania and Spain state that the need to support investment should be taken fully into account in the proposal to amend the MFF regulation. The decision not to spread the commitments equally over several further subsequent years could present a serious threat to achieving that objective, these countries argue. They believe that everything has to be done to address problems likely to result from an erratic financial profile, which could lead to unused commitments over the period from 2014 to 2020. Were this likely to be the case, Croatia, Italy, Romania and Spain argue that the Commission should propose appropriate measures, including legislative proposals, to remedy the situation.
Italy is the country most affected by the transfer (€4.1 billion of €6.2 billion funding), followed by Spain (€3.4 billion of €5.6 billion) and Romania (€3.1 billion of €4 billion). The regulation revising the MFF will be formally adopted by the Council once the European Parliament has given its assent.
The proposal for revision of the MFF is accompanied by a draft amending budget (No 2/2015) setting out the corresponding increases in commitment appropriations (worth €16.5 billion in total) in the 2015 budget. The decision on the draft amending budget will be made jointly by the European Parliament and the Council. (Lionel Changeur)