Amending budget 1/2014: technical adjustments concerning European Investment Fund (EIF), Horizon 2020, Shift2Rail joint undertaking

PURPOSE: presentation of a draft amending budget No 1 for the year 2014 (DAB No 1/2014).

CONTENT: Draft Amending Budget (DAB) No 1 for the year 2014 concerns a number of technical adjustments to the budget structure and remarks, which are necessary to properly implement the 2014 budget in line with the latest legislative decisions and political orientations, including the immediate need to facilitate SMEs access to financing.

The amending budget is budgetary neutral, with no change in the overall level of expenditure.

The main elements included are the following:

• the adjustments needed to implement the proposed European Investment Fund (EIF) capital increase: the Commission proposes to make use of appropriations envisaged for financial instruments under existing programmes within the MFF expenditure heading 1a (Competitiveness for growth and jobs), namely COSME and Horizon 2020, to enhance access to financing for SMEs;
• changes arising from the legal base for Horizon 20204 adopted in December 2013, after the adoption of the 2014 budget (creation of two new budget lines, to the alignment of the budgetary remarks of a number of budget lines and, for some budget lines, a revised labelling);
• the creation of the budget structure for the proposed Shift2Rail joint undertaking to be set up for a period ending on 31 December 2024 under Article 187 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.