Amending letter No 1/2025

Commission's proposal: Amending Letter No 1 to the draft budget for the year 2025,  COM(2024) 651 – 10 October 2024 

Council's position: 
Parliament's position: 

Amending Letter No 1 (AL 1/2025) to the draft budget for the year 2025 (DB 2025) covers the following elements:

• Increase of payment appropriations in relation to the additional flexibilities and support for an indicative amount of EUR 10 billion from cohesion funds to the Member States affected by the natural disasters in Europe;
• Update of the needs for the interest line for NextGenerationEU, against the backdrop of a lower level of NextGenerationEU disbursements until end September 2024 than previously estimated;
• Update of the estimated needs, assigned revenue and appropriations for agricultural expenditure. In addition to changing market factors, AL 1/2025 also incorporates the impact of decisions in the agricultural sector since the DB 2025 was adopted in July 2024, as well as other proposals expected to have a significant effect during the financial year;
• Update of the estimated needs for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs), taking into account the new protocols with the Republic of Cabo Verde (2024-2029) and with the Republic of Guinea-Bissau (2024-2029);
• Adjustments to heading 7 “European Public Administration”:
  • to incorporate the impact of the higher salary adjustment for 2024 on the administrative expenditure of the institutions and on pensions following updated estimates for purchasing power and inflation, compared to the parameters used when preparing the DB 2025;
  • to reinforce the Computer Emergency Response Team for the EU institutions, bodies and agencies (CERT-EU) through the transfer of posts and appropriations from other Institutions, following the agreement on the Cybersecurity Regulation;
  • to incorporate a technical correction to the European Ombudsman section.
• Adjustments to the level of appropriations for administrative expenditure outside of heading 7, including for some decentralised agencies, linked to the 2024 salary update;
• Further adjustments of the EU contribution of several decentralised agencies, as follows:
  • a reinforcement of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) to cater for the proposed introduction of a housing allowance for staff at the lower grades in Luxembourg and to further strengthen the IT independence of the EPPO;
  • an adjustment of the EU contribution to the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) to reinforce its cybersecurity and a reinforcement of the establishment plan with one establishment plan post;
  • an adjustment of the grading in the establishment plans of the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol) and the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust), allowing for suitable promotion and progression of careers;
• Adjustment of the budgetary nomenclature and remarks following the adoption of the proposal for the Ukraine Loan Cooperation Mechanism (ULCM) Regulation;
• Adjustment of the budgetary nomenclature following specific Member States’ requests to transfer resources pursuant to Article 26 of the Common Provisions Regulation (CPR);
• Technical corrections in the relevant budget remarks in relation to references to decommitments made in relation to appropriations made available again in accordance with Article 15(3) of the Financial Regulation;
• Updating the revenue side of the budget as regards the revised UK contribution and adjustment of the budget nomenclature and remarks following the adoption of the proposal for the ULCM.

Overall, the net impact of AL 1/2025 on expenditure in the DB 2025 is a decrease of EUR 303,0 million in commitment appropriations and an increase of EUR 2 657,0 million in payment appropriations.