Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2012)388 - Multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020 - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2012)388 - Multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2012)388  |
| date | 06-07-2012 |
Following the adoption of its proposal for a Council Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020[1] ("MFF Regulation"), the Commission submitted proposals for all the legislative acts concerning the multiannual programmes for that period. As detailed under point 2 below, two of these proposals imply amendments to the proposal for a MFF Regulation.
It is also necessary to update the multiannual financial framework table included in the annex to the MFF Regulation to take into account the following elements:
(a) Allocations for the Republic of Croatia are to be added to the Commission's proposal for EU-27 based on the Act of Accession signed on 9 December 2011[2].
(b) The availability of new data for regional GDP and national GNI results in changes to the regional and national eligibility under the Union's cohesion policy and therefore in a recalculation of the regional and national allocations.
(c) The most recent macro-economic forecasts and projections should be taken into account to calculate the maximum national allocations for Member States subject to capped cohesion envelopes as well as to express the ceilings of the MFF table for the period 2014-2020 as a percentage of EU-28 GNI.
Proposed amendments to recitals and articles are marked in bold and underlined in the attached Amended Proposal.
On 15 November 2011 the Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down general provisions on the Asylum and Migration Fund and on the instrument for financial support for police cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management[3] ("Horizontal Regulation"), a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Asylum and Migration Fund i, and a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing, as part of the Internal Security Fund, the instrument for financial support for police cooperation, preventing and combating crime, and crisis management[5]. The same day, the Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing, as part of the Internal Security Fund, the instrument for financial support for external borders and visa[6]. The three specific Regulations provide that the provisions of the Horizontal Regulation shall apply to them.
In the Horizontal Regulation the Commission announced that it will amend its proposal for a MFF Regulation to extend the provisions of Article 7 to the programmes implemented under shared management under the Asylum and Migration Fund and Internal Security Fund[7]. This is part of the Commission's endeavour to harmonise rules applicable to shared management. Accordingly, whilst every effort should be made to ensure that the national programmes under both Funds are adopted in 2014, a transfer to subsequent years of allocations not used in 2014 should be possible so as to avoid the loss of related commitment appropriations.
On 6 October 2011, the Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down common provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural and Rural Development Fund and the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund covered by the Common Strategic Framework and laying down general provisions on the European Regional Development Fund, the European Social Fund and the Cohesion Fund and repealing Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 ("CSF Regulation")[8].
Article 21 of the CSF Regulation provides for rules on conditionality linked to the coordination of the Member States' economic policies, including the possible suspension of commitments and payments for programmes supported from the Funds covered by the Common Strategic Framework.
Article 21(8), last paragraph, of that Regulation provides that, when the conditions for lifting a suspension of commitments or payments are met, the Council shall, at the same time, decide, on a proposal of the Commission, to re-budget the suspended commitments in accordance with Article 8 of the Council Regulation laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020.
Consequently, Article 8 (and recital No 7) has to be amended accordingly to allow for the transfer and re-budgeting of suspended commitments.
Article 6 shall apply to decisions related to the lifting of a suspension of appropriations for payments.
Beyond the two above changes stemming from the legislative proposals on multiannual programmes, the Commission also proposes to amend Article 11 of its proposal for a MFF Regulation: For reasons of legal clarity and terminology it proposes to split Article 11 into two Articles, so as to distinguish the case of the accession of a new Member State to the Union from that of the reunification of Cyprus. This requires recital No 7 and Article 9(5) to be amended accordingly.
For clarification purposes, and given the availability of more recent macroeconomic forecasts, some minor amendments are made to recital No 8 and Article 5 of the proposal.
Contents
- BUDGETARY IMPLICATIONS
- 2. LEGAL ELEMENTS OF THE AMENDED PROPOSAL
- 2.1 Article 7
- 2.2 Article 8 (and recital No 7)
- 2.3 Article 11 and new Article 11a (and recital No 7 and Article 9(5))
- 2.4 Amendments to recital No 8 and Article 5
- 3.1 Incorporating the allocations for Croatia in the MFF table
- Additional amounts for Croatia in the MFF 2014-2020
- 3.2 Updating of the ceiling for Smart and Inclusive Growth and the sub-ceiling for Economic, social and territorial cohesion
- 3.3 Updating of the global ceilings for payment appropriations
- 3.4 Updating of the overall annual ceilings for commitments and payments expressed as a percentage of EU-GNI
Country-specific allocations for the Republic of Croatia need to be added to the Commission's proposal for the Structural Funds, the Cohesion Fund, the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development, the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund, the Asylum and Migration Fund and the Internal Security Fund.
These allocations are calculated on the basis of the same methodology applied for the EU-27, subject to the transitional provisions laid down in the Act of Accession.
Accordingly, for the Structural Funds and the Cohesion Fund, the amounts calculated on the basis of the proposed allocation method for the period 2014-2020 are subject to a twofold adjustment:
– A phasing-in schedule of 70% for the year 2014 and 90% for the year 2015;
– The allocations for 2014 and 2015 should amount to respectively 2.33 times and 3 times the 2013 allocation insofar as the limits of the new acquis allow (i.e. the capping rate of 2.5% of national GDP cannot be breached).
As regards the CAP:
– For market measures the allocation is calculated on the full application of the acquis, subject to the special conditions laid down in the Act of Accession for the wine sector;
– For direct payments, the same 10 year phasing-in schedule is applied to the applicable level of such payments in the EU-15 as was the case for the Member States which acceded on 1 May 2004 and 1 January 2007;
– For rural development, the allocation is based on the same methodology which the Commission applied for the overall amounts for EU-27. The Act of Accession does not foresee a phasing-in period.
As regards the EMFF, the allocation is subject to the same twofold adjustment for the years 2014-2015 (phasing-in and multiplicator) as is the case for the structural and cohesion funds.
Croatia participates fully in the Asylum and Migration Fund as of 2014. It receives a special Schengen allocation for the year 2014 and consequently shall not benefit from the external borders and visa strand of the Internal Security Fund for that year.
Furthermore, Croatia shall receive a temporary 'cash-flow facility' to improve its net budgetary position for the year 2014.
Besides benefitting from these pre-allocated amounts, Croatia shall also fully participate in all other internal policies. Therefore all the non pre-allocated envelopes need to be adjusted accordingly. The same approach as for the 2013 amounts for the closure of the Accession negotiations has been applied – i.e. the amounts are calculated in proportion to the share of Croatia in the GDP and the population of EU-27, resulting in an increase of all the proposed non pre-allocated envelopes by 0.62%[9].
Heading 5 would need to be updated to take account of the additional administrative expenditure requirements resulting from the accession of Croatia. With Croatia's accession and to manage the enlarged Union, additional resources will be needed mainly for linguistic, legal and programme management tasks. For the Commission alone the net reinforcement needed will amount to 384 additional full time equivalent units, mostly in the form of posts to be added to the establishment plan with their phasing in to be completed by 2014. The other Institutions will need additional resources mainly for linguistic and legal expenditure, equipment and operating expenditure, communication activities and IT management tasks, requiring a net reinforcement of some 274 additional full time equivalent units mostly in the form of posts. Those additional posts will also facilitate the integration of Croatian nationals to ensure geographical balance. The additional cost over the period 2014-2020 for all institutions is estimated at EUR 536 million (2011 prices).
Finally, the impact of these additional commitments needs to be added to the annual global payment ceilings on the basis of the same payment schedules used for the EU-27.
The resulting additional amounts are summarised in the table below. The proposed ceilings for EU-27 need to be adjusted accordingly.
3.2 Updating of the ceiling for Smart and Inclusive Growth and the sub-ceiling for Economic, social and territorial cohesion
The cohesion allocations in the Commission proposals were based on the latest available data when the proposals were adopted, i.e. the average regional GDP for the years 2006 to 2008, regional education and labour market data for the years 2007-2009, the average GNI for the years 2007 to 2009, as well as the Spring 2011 macro-economic forecast and accompanying medium term projections.
Following the publication of regional GDP data for 2009, regional education and labour market data for 2010, and of GNI data for 2010, these proposals now need to be updated: The three-year average determining eligibility shifts to 2007-2009 for regional GDP and to 2008-2010 for GNI. Furthermore, the maximum envelopes for those Member States subject to a cap of 2.5% of national GDP are now calculated on the basis of the Spring 2012 forecast and updated medium-term projections.
This results in the following changes to the overall allocation for the EU-27:
The annual global ceilings for payments need to be updated on the basis of the most recent information available:
– The budget execution for the year 2011
– The adopted budget for the year 2012
– The draft budget for the year 2013 and the accompanying revised payment schedules
3.4 Updating of the overall annual ceilings for commitments and payments expressed as a percentage of EU-GNI
Finally, the overall annual ceilings for commitments and payments of the MFF table, as modified under sections 3.1 and 3.2 above, need to be expressed in terms of a percentage of EU-28 GNI, calculated on the basis of the Commission's Spring 2012 macro-economic forecast and updated medium-term projections.