The European Parliament rejected by 53 votes to 526, with 82 abstentions, the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Decision (EU) 2019/276 as regards adjustments to the amounts mobilised from the Flexibility Instrument for 2019 to be used for migration, refugee inflows and security threats.
The resolution recalled that on 12 December 2018, the European Parliament and the Council decided to mobilise the flexibility instrument for the financial year 2019 for an amount of EUR 1 164 million:
- EUR 179 million for heading 1a (Competitiveness for Growth and Jobs) to reinforce key competitiveness programmes (namely Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+);
- EUR 985.6 million for heading 3 as proposed by the Commission.
The Commission has proposed draft amending budget No 4/2019 that includes reductions in the level of commitment appropriations for both heading 1a and 3 and therefore reduces the need for the use of the flexibility instrument in 2019.
The Commission therefore proposed to adjust accordingly the amounts mobilised from the flexibility instrument at EUR 1 090 million, of which EUR 160 million for heading 1a and EUR 930 million for heading 3.
The proposed mobilisation decision amends Decision (EU) 2019/276.
Parliament considered that as a result of its position on draft amending budget No 4/2019, the proposed adjustments have become void.