Amending budget 6/2018: reduction of payment and commitment appropriations in line with updated forecasts of expenditure and update of revenue (own resources)

The European Parliament adopted by 612 votes to 25, with 27 abstentions, a resolution on the Council's position on Draft amending budget No 6/2018 of the European Union for the financial year 2018: Reduction of payment and commitment appropriations in line with updated forecasts of expenditure and update of revenue (own resources).

Parliament approved the Council’s position on Draft amending budget No 6/2018 which aims to aims to update both the expenditure and the revenue sides of the budget to take account of the latest developments.

Expenditure side

Draft amending budget No 6/2018 reduces commitment and payment appropriations for budget lines by EUR 48.7 million and EUR 4.7 million respectively in headings 1a “Competitiveness for growth and employment” and 2 “Sustainable growth - natural resources”.

Parliament welcomed the fact that implementation of 2014-2020 programmes is finally reaching cruising speed and results in only a minor adjustment to the expenditure side compared to the very significant amending budgets adopted in 2016 and 2017. It encouraged the Commission and the Member States to make up for the major delays accumulated in the last three years.

Revenue side

Draft amending budget No 6/2018 concerns a revision of the forecasts for traditional own resources (customs duties and contributions in the sugar sector) and value added tax (VAT) and gross national income (GNI) bases, and a revision of the budget entry for the corresponding UK corrections and their financing.

Parliament took note of the technical process of rebalancing own resources made necessary by the revision of the forecasts for traditional own resources and VAT and by the updates of the UK correction.