Legal provisions of COM(2018)325 - System of Own Resources of the EU

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dossier COM(2018)325 - System of Own Resources of the EU.
document COM(2018)325 EN
date December 14, 2020

Article 1 - Subject matter

This Decision lays down rules on the allocation of own resources to the Union in order to ensure the financing of the Union’s annual budget.

Article 2 - Categories of own resources and specific methods for their calculation

1. Revenue from the following shall constitute own resources entered in the Union budget:

(a)traditional own resources consisting of levies, premiums, additional or compensatory amounts, additional amounts or factors, Common Customs Tariff duties and other duties established or to be established by the institutions of the Union in respect of trade with third countries, customs duties on products under the expired Treaty establishing the European Coal and Steel Community, as well as contributions and other duties provided for within the framework of the common organisation of the markets in sugar;

(b)the application of a uniform call rate of 0,30 % for all Member States to the total amount of VAT receipts collected in respect of all taxable supplies divided by the weighted average VAT rate calculated for the relevant calendar year as stipulated in Council Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1553/89 (4). For each Member State the VAT base to be taken into account for this purpose shall not exceed 50 % of GNI;

(c)the application of a uniform call rate to the weight of plastic packaging waste generated in each Member State that is not recycled. The uniform call rate shall be EUR 0,80 per kilogram. An annual lump sum reduction for certain Member States as defined in the third subparagraph of paragraph 2 shall apply;

(d)the application of a uniform call rate, to be determined pursuant to the budgetary procedure in the light of the total of all other revenue, to the sum of GNI of all the Member States.

2. For the purposes of point (c) of paragraph 1 of this Article, ‘plastic’ shall mean a polymer within the meaning of point (5) of Article 3 of Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council (5), to which additives or other substances may have been added; ‘packaging waste’ and ‘recycling’ shall have the meaning assigned to those terms in points (2) and (2c) of Article 3 of European Parliament and Council Directive 94/62/EC (6) respectively, and as used in Commission Decision 2005/270/EC (7).

The weight of plastic packaging waste that is not recycled shall be calculated as the difference between the weight of the plastic packaging waste generated in a Member State in a given year and the weight of the plastic packaging waste recycled in that year that is determined pursuant to Directive 94/62/EC.

The following Member States shall be entitled to annual lump sum reductions, expressed in current prices, to be applied to their respective contributions under point (c) of paragraph 1 in the amount of EUR 22 million for Bulgaria, EUR 32,1876 million for Czechia, EUR 4 million for Estonia, EUR 33 million for Greece, EUR 142 million for Spain, EUR 13 million for Croatia, EUR 184,0480 million for Italy, EUR 3 million for Cyprus, EUR 6 million for Latvia, EUR 9 million for Lithuania, EUR 30 million for Hungary, EUR 1,4159 million for Malta, EUR 117 million for Poland, EUR 31,3220 million for Portugal, EUR 60 million for Romania, EUR 6,2797 million for Slovenia and EUR 17 million for Slovakia.

3. For the purposes of point (d) of paragraph 1, the uniform call rate shall apply to the GNI of each Member State.

GNI as referred to in point (d) of paragraph 1 means annual GNI at market prices, as provided by the Commission in application of Regulation (EU) No 549/2013.

4. For the period 2021-2027, the following Member States shall benefit from a gross reduction in their annual GNI-based contributions under point (d) of paragraph 1 in the amount of EUR 565 million for Austria, EUR 377 million for Denmark, EUR 3 671 million for Germany, EUR 1 921 million for the Netherlands and EUR 1 069 million for Sweden. Those amounts shall be measured in 2020 prices and adjusted to current prices by applying the most recent gross domestic product deflator for the Union expressed in euro, as provided by the Commission, which is available when the draft budget is drawn up. Those gross reductions shall be financed by all Member States.

5. If, at the beginning of the financial year, the Union budget has not been adopted, the previous uniform call rates based on GNI shall continue to apply until the entry into force of the new rates.

Article 3 - Own resources ceilings

1. The total amount of own resources allocated to the Union to cover annual appropriations for payments shall not exceed 1,40 % of the sum of all the Member States’ GNIs.

2. The total annual amount of appropriations for commitments entered in the Union budget shall not exceed 1,46 % of the sum of all the Member States’ GNIs.

3. An orderly ratio between appropriations for commitments and appropriations for payments shall be maintained to guarantee their compatibility and to enable the ceiling set in paragraph 1 to be complied with in subsequent years.

4. Where amendments to Regulation (EU) No 549/2013 result in significant changes in the level of GNI, the Commission shall recalculate the ceilings set out in paragraphs 1 and 2 as temporarily increased in accordance with Article 6 on the basis of the following formula:


where:

‘x %’ is the own resources ceiling for appropriations for payments;

‘y %’ is the own resources ceiling for appropriations for commitments;

‘t’ is the latest full year for which the data defined by Regulation (EU) 2019/516 (8) is available,

‘ESA’ is the European system of national and regional accounts in the Union.

Article 4 - Use of funds borrowed on capital markets

The Union shall not use funds borrowed on capital markets for the financing of operational expenditure.

Article 5 - Extraordinary and temporary additional means to address the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis

1. For the sole purpose of addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis through the Council Regulation establishing a European Union Recovery Instrument and the sectoral legislation referred to therein:

(a)the Commission shall be empowered to borrow funds on capital markets on behalf of the Union up to EUR 750 000 million in 2018 prices. The borrowing operations shall be carried out in euro;

(b)up to EUR 360 000 million in 2018 prices of the funds borrowed may be used for providing loans and, by way of derogation from Article 4, up to EUR 390 000 million in 2018 prices of the funds borrowed may be used for expenditure.

The amount referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph shall be adjusted on the basis of a fixed deflator of 2 % per year. Each year the Commission shall communicate to the European Parliament and the Council the amount as adjusted.

The Commission shall manage the borrowing referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph so that no new net borrowing takes place after 2026.

2. The repayment of the principal of the funds borrowed to be used for expenditure as referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article and the related interest due shall be borne by the Union budget. The budgetary commitments may be broken down over several years into annual instalments in accordance with Article 112(2) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council (9).

The repayment of the funds referred to in point (a) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be scheduled, in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, so as to ensure the steady and predictable reduction of liabilities. Repayments of the principal of the funds shall start before the end of the MFF 2021-2027 period, with a minimum amount, insofar as amounts not used for interest payments due under the borrowing referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article allow it, with due regard to the procedure set out in Article 314 TFEU. All liabilities incurred by the exceptional and temporary empowerment of the Commission to borrow funds referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article shall be fully repaid at the latest by 31 December 2058.

The amounts due by the Union in a given year for the repayment of the principal of the funds referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph shall not exceed 7,5 % of the maximum amount to be used for expenditure referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1.

3. The Commission shall establish the necessary arrangements for the administration of the borrowing operations. The Commission shall regularly and comprehensively inform the European Parliament and the Council about all aspects of its debt management strategy. The Commission shall establish an issuance calendar containing the expected issuance dates and volumes for the forthcoming year as well as a plan setting out the expected principal and interest payments, and communicate it to the European Parliament and the Council. The Commission shall update that calendar regularly.

Article 6 - Extraordinary and temporary increase in the own resources ceilings for the allocation of the resources necessary for addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis

The ceilings set out in Article 3(1) and (2) shall each be temporarily increased by 0,6 percentage points for the sole purpose of covering all liabilities of the Union resulting from the borrowing referred to in Article 5 until all such liabilities have ceased to exist, and at the latest by 31 December 2058.

The increase in the own resources ceilings shall not be used to cover any other liabilities of the Union.

Article 7 - Universality principle

The revenue referred to in Article 2 shall be used without distinction to finance all expenditure entered in the Union’s annual budget.

Article 8 - Carry-over of surplus

Any surplus of the Union’s revenue over total actual expenditure during a financial year shall be carried over to the following financial year.

Article 9 - Collecting own resources and making them available to the Commission

1. The own resources referred to in point (a) of Article 2(1) shall be collected by the Member States in accordance with the national provisions imposed by law, regulation or administrative action. Member States shall, where appropriate, adapt those provisions to meet the requirements of Union rules.

The Commission shall examine the relevant national provisions communicated to it by Member States, transmit to Member States the adjustments it deems necessary in order to ensure that they comply with Union rules and report, if necessary, to the European Parliament and the Council.

2. Member States shall retain, by way of collection costs, 25 % of the amounts referred to in point (a) of Article 2(1).

3. Member States shall make the own resources provided for in Article 2(1) of this Decision available to the Commission, in accordance with regulations adopted under Article 322(2) TFEU.

4. Without prejudice to Article 14(2) of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014 (10), if the authorised appropriations entered in the Union budget are not sufficient for the Union to comply with its obligations resulting from the borrowing referred to in Article 5 of this Decision and the Commission cannot generate the necessary liquidity by activating other measures provided for by the financial arrangements applying to such borrowing in time to ensure compliance with the Union’s obligations, including through active cash management and, if necessary, through a recourse to short-term financing on capital markets consistent with the conditions and limits set out in point (a) of the first subparagraph of Article 5(1) and Article 5(2) of this Decision, the Member States, as the Commission’s last resort, shall make the resources necessary for that purpose available to the Commission. In such cases, paragraphs 5 to 9 of this Article shall apply by way of derogation from Article 14(3) and from the first subparagraph of Article 14(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014.

5. Subject to the second subparagraph of Article 14(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014, the Commission may call on the Member States to provisionally provide the difference between the overall assets and the cash resource requirements, in proportion (‘pro rata’) to the estimated budget revenue of each of them. The Commission shall announce such calls to Member States duly in advance. The Commission will establish a structured dialogue with national debt management offices and treasuries in respect of its issuance and repayment schedules.

If a Member State fails, in full or in part, to honour a call on time, or if it notifies the Commission that it will not be able to honour a call, in order to cover for the part corresponding to the Member State concerned, the Commission shall provisionally have the right to make additional calls on the other Member States. Such calls shall be pro rata to the estimated budget revenue of each of the other Member States. The Member State which failed to honour a call shall remain liable to honour it.

6. The maximum total annual amount of cash resources that may be called from a Member State under paragraph 5 shall in all circumstances be limited to its GNI-based relative share in the extraordinary and temporary increase in the own resources ceiling as referred to in Article 6. For this purpose, the GNI-based relative share shall be calculated as the share in the total GNI of the Union, as resulting from the respective column in the revenue part of the last adopted annual Union budget.

7. Any provision of cash resources pursuant to paragraphs 5 and 6 shall be compensated without delay in line with the applicable legal framework for the Union budget.

8. The expenditure covered by the amounts of cash resources provisionally provided by Member States in accordance with paragraph 5 shall be entered in the Union budget without delay in order to ensure that the related revenue is taken into account as early as possible for the purpose of crediting own resources to accounts by the Member States in accordance with the relevant provisions of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014.

9. On an annual basis, the application of paragraph 5 shall not lead to calling cash resources in excess of the own resources ceilings referred to in Article 3 as increased in accordance with Article 6.

Article 10 - Implementing measures

The Council shall lay down implementing measures in accordance with the procedure set out in the fourth paragraph of Article 311 TFEU as regards the following elements of the system of own resources of the Union:

(a)the procedure for calculating and budgeting the annual budgetary balance as set out in Article 8;

(b)the provisions and arrangements necessary for controlling and supervising the collection of the own resources referred to in Article 2(1) and any relevant reporting requirements.

Article 11 - Final and transitional provisions

1. Subject to paragraph 2, Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom is repealed. Any references to Council Decision 70/243/ECSC, EEC, Euratom (11), to Council Decision 85/257/EEC, Euratom (12), to Council Decision 88/376/EEC, Euratom (13), to Council Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom (14), to Council Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom (15), to Council Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom (16) or to Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom shall be construed as references to this Decision; references to the repealed Decision shall be read in accordance with the correlation table in the Annex to this Decision.

2. Articles 2, 4 and 5 of Decision 94/728/EC, Euratom, Articles 2, 4 and 5 of Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom, Articles 2, 4 and 5 of Decision 2007/436/EC, Euratom and Articles 2, 4 and 5 of Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom shall continue to apply to the calculation and adjustment of revenue accruing from the application of the rate of call to the VAT base determined in a uniform manner and limited to between 50 % and 55 % of the GNP or GNI of each Member State, depending on the relevant year, to the calculation of the correction of budgetary imbalances granted to the United Kingdom in the years 1995 to 2020 and to the calculation of the financing of the corrections granted to the United Kingdom by other Members States.

3. Member States shall continue to retain, by way of collection costs, 10 % of the amounts referred to in point (a) of Article 2(1) which should have been made available by the Member States before 28 February 2001 in accordance with the applicable Union rules.

4. Member States shall continue to retain, by way of collection costs, 25 % of the amounts referred to in point (a) of Article 2(1) which should have been made available by the Member States between 1 March 2001 and 28 February 2014 in accordance with the applicable Union rules.

5. Member States shall continue to retain, by way of collection costs, 20 % of the amounts referred to in point (a) of Article 2(1) which should have been made available by the Member States between 1 March 2014 and 28 February 2021 in accordance with the applicable Union rules.

6. For the purposes of this Decision, all monetary amounts shall be expressed in euro.

Article 12 - Entry into force

The Secretary-General of the Council shall notify the Member States of this Decision.

Member States shall notify the Secretary-General of the Council without delay of the completion of the procedures for the adoption of this Decision in accordance with their respective constitutional requirements.

This Decision shall enter into force on the first day of the first month following receipt of the last of the notifications referred to in the second paragraph.

It shall apply from 1 January 2021.

Article 13 - Addressees

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.