Considerations on COM(2018)322 - Multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027

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dossier COM(2018)322 - Multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027.
document COM(2018)322 EN
date May  3, 2018
 
(1) Taking into account the need for an adequate level of predictability for preparing and implementing medium-term investments, the duration of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) should be set at seven years starting on 1 January 2021.

(2) The annual ceilings on commitments appropriations by category of expenditure and the annual ceilings on payment appropriations established by the MFF must respect the applicable ceilings for commitments and own resources, which are set in accordance with the Council Decision on the system of own resources of the European Union adopted in accordance with the third paragraph of Article 311 TFEU.

(3) If it is necessary to mobilise the guarantees given under the general budget of the Union for financial assistance to Member States authorised in accordance with Article 208(1)] of Regulation No EU [xxx/201x] of the European Parliament and of the Council 17 ('the Financial Regulation'), the necessary amount should be mobilised over and above the ceilings of the commitments and payments appropriations of the MFF, while respecting the own resources ceiling.

(4) The MFF should not take account of budget items financed by assigned revenue within the meaning of the Financial Regulation.

(5) The MFF should be laid down in 2018 prices. The rules for annual technical adjustments to the MFF to recalculate the ceilings and margins available should also be laid down.

(6) Specific and maximum possible flexibility should be implemented to allow the Union to fulfil its obligations in compliance with Article 323 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU).

(7) The following special instruments are necessary to allow the Union to react to specified unforeseen circumstances, or to allow the financing of clearly identified expenditure which cannot be financed within the limits of the ceilings available for one or more headings as laid down in the MFF in order to allow the budget procedure to run smoothly: the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, the European Union Solidarity Fund, the Emergency Aid Reserve, the Global Margin for Commitments (Union Reserve), the Flexibility Instrument and the Contingency Margin. The Emergency Aid Reserve is not aimed at addressing the consequences of market related crises affecting the agricultural production or distribution. Specific provision should therefore be made for the possibility to enter commitment and corresponding payment appropriations into the budget over and above the ceilings set out in the MFF where it is necessary to use special instruments.

(8) The national envelopes for cohesion policy are established on the basis of the statistical data and forecasts used for the May 2018 Commission proposal for this Regulation. Given the forecasting uncertainties, and the impact for the capped Member States, it is necessary to carry out during the period of the MFF a review comparing the forecasted and actual statistical data, and in the case of significant differences to provide for an adjustment of the national envelopes for the Member States concerned and of the relevant MFF ceilings.

(9) Rules should be laid down for other situations that may require the MFF to be adjusted. Those adjustments may be related to the delayed adoption of new rules or programmes under shared management, or to measures linked to sound economic governance or to the protection of the Union’s budget in the case of generalised deficiencies as regards the rule of law in the Member States adopted in accordance with the relevant basic acts.

(10) It is necessary to carry-out a review of the functioning of the MFF at mid-term of its implementation. The results of this review should be taken into account in any revision of this Regulation for the remaining years of the MFF.

(11) It is necessary to provide for a revision of the MFF in the event of revision of the Treaties, of the reunification of Cyprus or of the enlargement of the Union, as well as in the light of the implementation of the budget.

(12) This Regulation may also need to be revised in relation to unforeseen circumstances that cannot be dealt with within the ceilings set out in the MFF. It is therefore necessary to provide for revision of the MFF in such cases.

(13) Specific rules are also necessary for dealing with large scale infrastructure projects whose lifetime extends well beyond the period set for the MFF. It is necessary to establish maximum amounts for the contributions from the general budget of the Union to those projects, thereby ensuring that they do not have any impact on other projects financed from that budget.

(14) It is necessary to provide for general rules on interinstitutional cooperation in the budgetary procedure.

(15) The Commission should present a proposal for a new multiannual financial framework before 1 July 2025, to enable the institutions to adopt it sufficiently in advance of the start of the subsequent multiannual financial framework. In accordance with Article 312(4) TFEU the ceilings corresponding to the last year set out in this Regulation are to continue to apply in the event that a new financial framework is not adopted before the end of the term of the MFF laid down in this Regulation.