Draft amending budget No 2/2025: update of revenue (own resources) and adjustments to expenditure
PURPOSE: presentation of draft amending budget (PBR) No. 2 for the 2025 financial year.
CONTENT: Draft Amending Budget (PBR) No. 2 for the 2025 financial year updates both the revenue and expenditure sections of the budget.
1) As regards the expenditure side, PBR No. 2/2025 includes the following specific elements:
Increase in payment appropriations for the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD)
The implementation of the CAP Strategic Plans for the period 2023-2027 is accelerating, compensating for under-implementation in the early years of this programming period. The Commission estimates additional payment needs at EUR 1.78 billion in 2025, in addition to the voted budget appropriations.
Similarly, the pace of submission of expenditure declarations for the 2014-2022 EAFRD programmes exceeded expectations in the first half of 2025, and this acceleration is expected to continue throughout the year. A deficit of EUR 1.73 billion is expected at the end of the year.
Adjustments to programmes in commitments in headings 1, 3 and 4 of the MFF
Under heading 1, the Customs programme is to be reinforced with EUR 60 million in commitment appropriations to enable the implementation of new policy initiatives in the area of centralised customs systems, in particular with regard to e-commerce and the preparation of the customs data hub.
Furthermore, in heading 3, it is necessary to reinforce the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) by EUR 8.35 million in commitment appropriations, following the Commission's proposal on the simplification of the CBAM, in connection with IT investments aimed at carrying out the simplification measures proposed by the Commission in February 2025.
These reinforcements will be offset by an equivalent reduction in commitment appropriations for the instrument relating to customs control equipment in heading 4.
Reinforcement of the Economic and Monetary Union budget line
This reinforcement is due to the additional needs related to the preparations for Bulgaria's accession to the euro area. These appropriations will be used to co-finance euro related communication activities. In order to cover this new exceptional expenditure, a reinforcement of EUR 3.3 million in commitment appropriations is necessary, while a reinforcement of EUR 1 million in payment appropriations is also requested to cover the pre-financing paid to Bulgaria in 2025.
Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA)
A frontloading from 2026 to 2025 of a number of posts in the establishment plan of the Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) to allow this newly created agency to start recruitments without impact on the level of the contribution from the EU budget. The Commission proposes to frontload 30 establishment plan posts which were allocated to AMLA for 2026, and for which the Authority has already established a reserve list of suitable candidates.
Overall, the net impact of DAB 2/2025 on expenditure amounts to an increase of EUR 3.3 million in commitment appropriations and EUR 3 515 million in payment appropriations.
Given the absence of margins and room for redeployment under sub-heading 2b of the multiannual financial framework, the Commission proposes to mobilise the Flexibility Instrument for an amount of EUR 3.34 million in commitment appropriations for sub-heading 2b, in order to reinforce the EMU budget line.
The 2025 payment appropriations related to the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument in the years 2022 to 2025 are estimated at EUR 1 399.81 million.
2) As regards the revenue side, the updated own resources forecasts for the 2025 budget agreed by the Advisory Committee on Own Resources (ACOR) on 26 May 2025. The adjustments of the revenue side of the budget are required to update the estimates for Traditional Own Resources (TOR) as well as for the own resources based on the Value Added Tax (VAT), the non-recycled Plastic Packaging Waste (PPW) and Gross National Income (GNI), taking into account the Spring economic forecasts.
Regarding the United Kingdom's contribution, the update results in a slightly lower United Kingdom contribution than the estimate in the 2025 Budget, mainly due to the reported amounts for contingent liabilities, net financial corrections and fines. It is therefore proposed to update the estimate introduced in the 2025 budget accordingly. Overall, this will reduce the estimated United Kingdom contribution to the budget 2025 by EUR 25 million resulting from the decrease of EUR 28 million in general revenue and the increase of EUR 3 million in assigned revenues.
As regards fines and periodic penalty payments , it is proposed to increase the initial forecast of EUR 101 million in the 2025 budget by EUR 291 million, bringing it to a total of EUR 392 million.