The European Parliament adopted, by 560 votes to 36 with 27 abstentions, a resolution on the Council's position on Draft amending budget No 1/2023 of the European Union for the financial year 2023 - technical adjustments stemming from political agreements reached on several legislative proposals, including with respect to REPowerEU, the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism and the Union Secure Connectivity programme.
Parliament approved the Council's position on draft amending budget 1/2023.
Draft amending budget No 1/2023 also entails adjustments to the Union contribution or staff numbers of various agencies to take account of changes in their mandates and to the establishment plan of the Health and Digital Executive Agency and an increase in the level of appropriations of the European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) to finance legal fees following an increase of litigation cases relating to the application of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR);
Parliament reiterated that to better respect the prerogatives of the budgetary authority, the Commission should (i) present draft amending budgets for one purpose only and refrain from combining several objectives in a single draft amending budget; (ii) 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 carbon border adjustment mechanism. However, they 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. The Commission is called on to make sure that this issue is taken into account in the upcoming proposal for the revision of the multiannual financial framework and to propose increased resources for the respective heading accordingly.
Parliament took note of the Commission’s unilateral statement on the financing of human resources for CBAM, according to which the Commission will require additional resources. It welcomed the fact that the common Union interest of ensuring adequate staffing and resources was accepted by the co-legislators.
Lastly, Members stressed the importance of ensuring the correct and consistent application of the RGPD and welcomed the proposal to increase appropriations for the EDPS's.