2022 general budget: all sections

The European Commission presents to the European Parliament and to the Council Amending Letter No 1 to the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2022.

Overall, the net impact of AL 1/2022 on expenditure in the DB 2022 is an increase of EUR 1 243.3 million in commitment appropriations and an increase of EUR 1 231.7 million in payment appropriations.

The main adjustments and updates covered by this AL concern, inter alia, the following:

Pre-financing of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve

The AL introduces the 2022 appropriations of around EUR 1.3 billion for the pre-financing of the Brexit Adjustment Reserve.

Humanitarian support to refugees and reinforced pre-accession assistance instrument

In Draft Amending Budget (DAB) 5/2021, the Commission proposed to provide continued support to the most vulnerable of the around 3.7 million refugees from the Syria conflict and beyond in Turkey. Concretely, a total amount of EUR 325 million in commitment appropriations is necessary to ensure the continuation of humanitarian support to refugees in Turkey by extending the coverage of the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) support.

Based on a detailed assessment of payment needs in 2022, the Commission estimates that an amount of EUR 265 million in payment appropriations is necessary in 2022 to cover the additional humanitarian aid actions proposed in 2021, namely the extension of the Emergency Social Safety Net (ESSN) programme.

Moreover, through this amending letter, the Commission proposes to make partial use of the remaining unallocated margin in heading 6, for an amount of EUR 71 million in commitment appropriations, leaving EUR 33 million in commitment appropriations available for unforeseen needs in 2022. These EUR 71 million will complement the EUR 120 million to be committed from the programmed amounts under Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) in 2022, notably for migration management and border protection, and other socio-economic actions.

European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF)

The estimated needs, assigned revenue and appropriations for agricultural expenditure have been updated and are now estimated at EUR 40 919.9 million, which is an increase by EUR 70 million compared to the DB 2022. The Commission proposes to increase the expenditure estimates for agriculture by EUR 70 million compared to the DB 2022. Commitment appropriations of EUR 40 368.9 million, which include EUR 497.3 million for the Reserve for crises in the agricultural sector, are required to cover EAGF needs for 2022.

Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements

The Commission proposes an additional amount of EUR 10.9 million in commitment appropriations to fulfil contractual obligations following agreements signed with Cook Islands, Mauritania and Gabon. As for payment appropriations, the available credits amount to EUR 139.3 million. Considering the payment needs of EUR 160.7 million to cover existing protocols and also taking into account the agreements signed with Cook Islands, Mauritania and Gabon, the overall payment needs exceed the available budget by EUR 21.4 million.

Digital Europe Programme

Due to delays in the adoption of the work programmes implementing the Digital Europe Programme, several calls for proposals have been postponed to late 2022. Consequently, the level of payment appropriations included in the DB 2022 can be decreased by EUR 216 million.

IPA III contribution to Erasmus+

An IPA III contribution to Erasmus+ of EUR 3.7 million was originally allocated for support to Bologna activities to be programmed through the IPA Committee comitology, of which EUR 2.2 million in 2022 and EUR 1.5 million in 2025. However, because of the delay in the adoption of the IPA III basis act and the state of play on the negotiations of the international dimension of the Erasmus+ programme, it will not be possible to use the amount of EUR 2.2 million in 2022 as planned. This  amount will be reprogrammed for other activities under IPA. These changes affect the DB 2022 as well as the financial programming for the amount planned in 2025.

Transfer of net assets of the European Coal and Steel Community

According to Withdrawal Agreement, the Union is liable to the United Kingdom for its share in the net assets of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) in liquidation on 31 December 2020, amounting to EUR 183 282 282. The related reimbursements are made in five equal annual instalments of EUR 36 656 456 from 2021 to 2025.