The Committee on Budgets adopted the report by Fabienne KELLER (Renew, FR) on the Council position on Draft amending budget No 1/2023 of the European Union for the financial year 2023 – technical adjustments stemming from the political agreements reached on several legislative proposals, including with respect to REPowerEU, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the Union Secure Connectivity programme.
The committee recommended approving the Council's position on draft amending budget 1/2023;
Taking note of draft amending budget 1/2023 presented by the Commission, Members reiterated that, to better respect the prerogatives of the budgetary authority, the Commission should present draft amending budgets for one purpose only and refrain from combining several objectives in a single draft amending budget. The Commission should provide detailed information on the various changes proposed, such as the legislative financial statements, in order to allow the budgetary authority to properly assess the budgetary changes.
Members welcomed the fact that Draft amending budget No 1/2023 reflects the revised legislative financial statement resulting from the decision of the legislator for a more centralised governance model for CBAM. They recognised that a model constitutes a clear example of European added value and acknowledged that it requires a certain level of additional human and budgetary resources. However, Members are concerned that the corresponding appropriations consume parts of the already very scarce remaining unallocated margin under heading 3, which puts the budget lines, including its long-standing priorities such as the LIFE Programme, under that heading in competition and at a disadvantage.
The Commission is called on to make sure that this issue is taken into account in the upcoming proposal for the revision of the MFF and to propose increased resources for the respective heading accordingly.
The report noted the Commission's unilateral statement on the financing of human resources for the CBAM, according to which the Commission will need additional resources. It welcomed the fact that the Union's common interest in ensuring adequate staffing and resources has been accepted by the co-legislators.