Brussels, 23/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - Adopting three reports on Tuesday 23 June by Eider Gardiazabal Rubial (S&D, Spain) on draft amending budgets for 2015, the European Parliament's budgets committee endorsed a rise in appropriations to deal with migratory pressure in the EU (see EUROPE 11340 on the Council of Ministers' position on the draft amending budgets).
For Draft Amending Budget No. 5/2015, the budgets committee says that the €69.6 million increase in payment appropriations all comes from the redeployment of appropriations from the Galileo programme, and therefore leaves the overall amount of payment appropriations in the 2015 budget unchanged. It says that the proposed increase for Frontex, the European agency for the management of operational cooperation at external borders, amounts to €26.8 million in terms of both commitment and payment appropriations. Draft Amending Budget No. 5/2015 also foresees an increase in staffing at three agencies: 16 extra posts for Frontex, 4 for the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and 3 for the European Police Office (Europol).
An amount of €89 million in commitment appropriations and €76.6 million in payment appropriations is foreseen to finance additional need for measures to deal with migration. Since some of this can be financed from unused budget allocations, the real financial burden is €75.8 million in commitment appropriations and there is no need to foresee fresh cash.
Surplus. The budgets committee adopted its negotiating position on Draft Amending Budget No. 3 for the EU's general budget for 2015 on budgeting of the 2014 surplus of €1.4 billion. The budgeting of this surplus will lead to a reduction in the overall contribution provided by the member states.
Solidarity. The budgets committee gave the go-ahead to Draft Amending Budget No. 4 for the EU's general budget for 2015 on intervention by the EU Solidarity Fund for a total of €66.5 million in commitment and payment appropriations. The objective is to provide aid to Romania, Bulgaria and Italy following severe flooding that occurred between April and November 2014.
The European Parliament will vote on these Draft Amending Budgets at the plenary in Strasbourg that begins on 6 July. (Lionel Changeur)