On Wednesday 15 September, the European Parliament approved by a very large majority (652 votes for, 32 against and 11 abstentions) the interinstitutional agreement reached at the beginning of the summer on the ‘Brexit’ adjustment reserve, which will be endowed with an overall budget of €5 billion.
The day before, rapporteur Pascal Arimont (EPP, Belgium) announced the limits of the reserve during an exchange of views in plenary session, indicating that it will only be able to absorb part of the damage caused by the UK leaving the EU.
The co-legislators opted for a single method of allocating funds (see EUROPE 12743/6). The first pre-financing tranche will amount to €1.6 billion in the 30 days following the entry into force of the regulation. The second tranche—€1.2 billion—will be disbursed before 30 April 2022.
Finally, the third tranche of €1.2 billion will be disbursed before 30 April 2023. The amounts mentioned in the regulation remain in 2018 prices, which will smooth out the effects of inflation. The last remaining billion will be disbursed by the European Commission in 2025 on the basis of Member States’ payment claims submitted before September 2024.
The co-legislators explicitly excluded the financial sector from the scope of the reserve. As a result, 7% of the national envelope will have to be devoted to the fisheries sector for those Member States receiving aid of at least €10 million, according to the distribution key agreed by the co-legislators. Criteria have been introduced to support SMEs and local communities.
The Brexit adjustment reserve is expected to enter into force in early October, once adopted by the EU Council (see EUROPE 12771/5). (Original version in French by Pascal Hansens)