Introductory text

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

Having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 2 December 2013 between the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management^f1, and in particular the second paragraph of point 14 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

Whereas,

Article 13 of Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013^f2 has established a Contingency Margin of up to 0,03 % of the Gross National Income of the Union.

In accordance with Article 6 of that Regulation, the Commission has calculated the absolute amount of the Contingency Margin for 2017^f3.

After having examined all other financial possibilities to react to unforeseen circumstances within the 2017 commitment ceilings for headings 3 (Security and citizenship) and 4 (Global Europe) of the multiannual financial framework, and having regard to the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument for the full amount of EUR 530 million available in 2017, it appears necessary to mobilise the Contingency Margin to address the needs stemming from the migration, refugee and security crisis, by increasing the commitment appropriations in the general budget of the Union for the financial year 2017, over and above the ceilings of headings 3 and 4 of the multiannual financial framework.

Having regard to this very particular situation, the last-resort condition in Article 13(1) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 is fulfilled.

In order to minimise the time taken to mobilise the Contingency Margin, this Decision should apply from the beginning of the financial year 2017,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION: