Amending budget 1/2021: financing the COVID-19 response and including refinements and updates related to the final adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework

The European Parliament adopted by 660 votes to 32, with 4 abstentions, a resolution on the Council position on draft amending budget No 2/2021 of the European Union for the financial year 2021 to finance the COVID-19 response and including refinements and updates related to the final adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework.

Parliament took note of the draft amending budget (DAB) No 2/2021 presented by the Commission, which has a twofold purpose:

1) to provide additional funding for the prevention, preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, safe and sustained re-opening and potential impact of further European initiatives related to the COVID-19 response;

2) to introduce technical changes stemming from the political agreements on sectoral legal bases following the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in December 2020, as well as adjustments in relation to the provisioning of the External Action Guarantee.

Overall, the net effect of the proposal on expenditure in the 2021 budget is an amount of EUR 260 681 598 in commitment and EUR 252 581 598 in payment appropriations.

Parliament gave its full support to a robust Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic. It reiterated its view that no effort should be spared, including through all available possibilities under the EU budget and the Financial Regulation, to fight the pandemic and pave the way for a safe and sustained recovery in Europe.

However, Members recalled that to better respect the prerogatives of the budgetary authority, the Commission should present a draft amending budget for one purpose only and refrain from combining several purposes in one draft amending budget. They stressed that the adoption of draft amending budget No 2/2021, allowing in particular the start of the preparatory work to establish a common framework for a Digital Green Certificate, does not prejudge in any way the outcome of the negotiations between Parliament and the Council on the Green digital certificate Regulation.

The Commission is also invited to present a new draft amending budget that reflects the texts of the sectoral legal bases that have been agreed following the negotiations of the Neighbourhood, Development Cooperation and International Cooperation Instrument - Global Europe as regards the budgetary nomenclature of the geographical programmes in Asia.