The European Parliament,

–  having regard to the joint text approved by the Conciliation Committee and the relevant Parliament, Council and Commission statements (14587/2017 – C8‑0416/2017),

–  having regard to the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018, which the Commission adopted on 29 June 2017 (COM(2017)0400),

–  having regard to the position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018, which the Council adopted on 4 September 2017 and forwarded to Parliament on 13 September 2017 (11815/2017 – C8‑0313/2017),

–  having regard to Letter of amendment No 1/2018 to the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018, which the Commission presented on 16 October 2017,

–  having regard to its resolution of 25 October 2017 on the Council position on the draft general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018(1) and to the budget amendments contained therein,

–  having regard to Article 314 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

–  having regard to Article 106a of the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community,

–  having regard to Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of the European Union(2),

–  having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 25 October 2012 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union and repealing Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002(3),

–  having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 1311/2013 of 2 December 2013 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2014-2020(4),

–  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(5),

–  having regard to Rule 90 and Rule 91 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of its delegation to the Conciliation Committee (A8-0359/2017),

1.  Approves the joint text agreed by the Conciliation Committee, which consists of the following documents taken together:

2.  Confirms the joint statements by Parliament, the Council and the Commission annexed to this resolution;

3.  Takes note of the unilateral statements by the Commission and by the Council annexed to this resolution;

4.  Instructs its President to declare that the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018 has been definitively adopted and to arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

5.  Instructs its President to forward this legislative resolution to the Council, the Commission, the other institutions and bodies concerned and the national parliaments.

(1) Texts adopted of that date, P8_TA(2017)0408. (2) OJ L 168, 7.6.2014, p. 105. (3) OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1. (4) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884. (5) OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1.

18.11.2017

FINAL

Budget 2018 – Elements for joint conclusions

These joint conclusions cover the following sections:

1.  Budget 2018

2.  Budget 2017 – Draft Amending Budget 6/2017

3.  Statements

Summary overview

A.  Budget 2018

According to the elements for joint conclusions:

—  The overall level of commitment appropriations in the 2018 budget is set at EUR 160 113,5 million. Overall, this leaves a margin below the MFF ceilings for 2018 of EUR 1 600,3 million in commitment appropriations.

—  The overall level of payment appropriations in the 2018 budget is set at EUR 144 681,0 million.

—  The Flexibility Instrument for 2018 is mobilised in commitment appropriations for an amount of EUR 837,2 million for heading 3 Security and Citizenship.

—  The Global margin for commitments is used at a level of EUR 1 113,7 million for heading 1a Competitiveness for Growth and Jobs and heading 1b Economic, Social and Territorial Cohesion.

—  The decision (EU) 2017/344 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 December 2016 on the mobilisation of the Contingency margin in 2017(1) will be amended to adjust the offsetting profile to decrease the amount offset in heading 5 Administration in 2018 from EUR 570 million to EUR 318 million and correspondingly introduce offsetting of EUR 252 million for the same heading in 2020.

—  The 2018 payment appropriations related to the mobilisation of the Flexibility Instrument in 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2018 are estimated by the Commission at EUR 678,3 million.

B.  Budget 2017

According to the elements for joint conclusions, Draft Amending Budget 6/2017 is accepted as proposed by the Commission.

1.  Budget 2018

1.1.  'Closed' lines

Unless stated otherwise below in these conclusions, all budget lines not amended by either Council or Parliament, and those for which Parliament accepted Council's amendments during their respective reading, are confirmed.

For the other budget lines, the Conciliation Committee has agreed on the conclusions included in sections 1.2 to 1.7 below.

1.2.  Horizontal issues

Decentralised agencies

The EU contribution (in commitment and payment appropriations and the number of posts) for all decentralised agencies are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018 with the exception of:

—  Under heading 3:

o The European Police Office (EUROPOL, budget article 18 02 04) for which 10 additional posts are allocated and commitment and payment appropriations increased by EUR 3 690 000.

o The European Asylum Office (EASO, budget article 18 03 02) for which the commitment and payment appropriations are increased by EUR 5 000 000.

o The European Body for the Enhancement of Judicial Cooperation (EUROJUST, budget article 33 03 04) for which 5 additional posts are allocated and commitment and payment appropriations increased by EUR 1 845 000.

—  Under heading 1a:

o The European GNSS Agency (GSA, budget article 02 05 11) for which 5 additional posts are allocated and commitment and payment appropriations increased by EUR 345 000.

o The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA, budget article 12 02 06) for which the level of commitment and payment appropriations and the number of posts are reduced at the level of the Draft Budget.

Executive agencies

The EU contribution (in commitment and payment appropriations and the number of posts) for executive agencies are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget 2018, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018.

Pilot Projects/Preparatory Actions

A comprehensive package of 87 pilot projects/preparatory actions (PP/PA), for a total amount of EUR 100,0 million in commitment appropriations is agreed as proposed by the Parliament in addition to the preparatory action proposed by the Commission in the Draft budget 2018.

When a pilot project or a preparatory action appears to be covered by an existing legal basis, the Commission may propose the transfer of appropriations to the corresponding legal basis in order to facilitate the implementation of the action.

This package fully respects the ceilings for pilot projects and preparatory actions set in the Financial Regulation.

1.3.  Expenditure headings of the financial framework - commitment appropriations

After taking into account the above conclusions on 'closed' budget lines, agencies and pilot projects and preparatory actions, the Conciliation Committee has agreed on the following:

Heading 1a – Competitiveness for Growth and Jobs

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018 but with the adjustments, agreed by the Conciliation Committee, detailed in the following table:

As a consequence, the agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 22 001,5 million, with no margin left under the expenditure ceiling of heading 1a of EUR 21 239 million, and the use of the Global Margin for Commitments for an amount of EUR 762,5 million.

Heading 1b – Economic, social and territorial Cohesion

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018 but with the adjustment, agreed by the Conciliation Committee, detailed in the following table:

As a consequence, the agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 55 532,2 million, with no margin left under the expenditure ceiling of heading 1b of EUR 55 181 million, and the use of the Global Margin for Commitments for an amount of EUR 351,2 million.

Heading 2 – Sustainable Growth: Natural Resources

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018 but with the adjustments, agreed by the Conciliation Committee, detailed in the following table:

The decrease of commitment appropriations is fully attributed to higher assigned revenue available arising from the EAGF surplus of 31 October 2017 which will cover the full needs of the sector as updated in Amending Letter 1/2018. Among these updated needs, Amending Letter 1/2018 increases the payments for :

—  Young farmers by EUR 34 million (budget item 05 03 01 13),

—  Agricultural practices beneficial for the climate and environment by EUR 95 million (budget item 05 03 01 11),

—  Other measures for pigmeat, poultry, eggs, bee-keeping and other animal products by EUR 60 million (budget item 05 02 15 99)

—  National support programmes for the wine sector by EUR 7 million (budget item 05 02 09 08), and

—  Storage measures for skimmed-milk powder by EUR 2 million (budget item 05 02 12 02).

As a consequence, the agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 59 285,3 million, leaving a margin of EUR 981,7 million under the expenditure ceiling of heading 2.

Heading 3 – Security and Citizenship

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018 but with the adjustments, agreed by the Conciliation Committee, detailed in the following table:

As a consequence, the agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 3 493,2 million, with no margin left under the expenditure ceiling of heading 3, and the mobilisation of EUR 837,2 million through the Flexibility Instrument.

Heading 4 – Global Europe

Commitment appropriations are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018, but with the adjustments, agreed by the Conciliation Committee, detailed in the following table:

As a consequence, the agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 9 568,8 million, leaving a margin of EUR 256,2 million under the expenditure ceiling of heading 4.

Heading 5 – Administration

The number of posts in the establishment plans of the Institutions and the appropriations proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018 are agreed by the Conciliation Committee with the following exceptions:

—  The section of the Parliament for which its reading is approved;

—  The section of the Council for which its reading is approved;

—  The European External Action Service for which EUR 800 000 are allocated to a newly created budget item 2 2 1 4 Strategic Communication Capacity. This is aimed at properly equipping the European External Action Service to cover strategic communication tools, contracting strategic communication expertise, supporting language plurality of strategic communication products and engaging and maintaining a network of counter-disinformation specialists in Member States and neighbouring countries. The budget item 3 0 0 4 Other administrative expenditure is reduced by EUR 800 000 to ensure budget neutrality.

Moreover, the impact in the Budget 2018 of the automatic salary update to be applied from 1 July 2017 is integrated in all sections of the Institutions as follows:

Finally, additional reductions of EUR 5 million were identified across all Institutions for expenditure related to buildings, as follows:

As a consequence, and after taking into account pilot projects and preparatory actions (EUR 3,5 million) proposed under section 1.2 above, the agreed level of commitment appropriations is set at EUR 9 665,5 million, leaving a margin of EUR 362,5 million under the expenditure ceiling of heading 5, after the use of EUR 318,0 million of the margin to offset the mobilisation of the Contingency margin in 2017.

Special instruments: EGF, EAR and EUSF

Commitment appropriations for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF) and for the Emergency Aid Reserve (EAR) are set at the level proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018. The reserve for the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF) is suppressed (budget article 40 02 44).

1.4.  Payment appropriations

The overall level of payment appropriations in the 2018 Budget is set at the level of the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018 with the following adjustments agreed by the Conciliation Committee:

1.  First, account is taken of the agreed level of commitment appropriations for non-differentiated expenditure, for which the level of payment appropriations is equal to the level of commitment appropriations. This includes the additional reduction of agricultural expenditure by -EUR 229,9 million. The combined effect is a decrease of -EUR 255,3 million;

2.  The payment appropriations for all new pilot projects and preparatory actions proposed by the Parliament are set at 50 % of the corresponding commitment appropriations, or at the level proposed by Parliament if lower. In the case of extension of existing pilot projects and preparatory actions the level of payment appropriations is the one defined in the Draft Budget plus 50 % of the corresponding new commitment appropriations, or at the level proposed by Parliament if lower. The combined effect is an increase of EUR 50,0 million;

3.  The adjustments on the following budget lines are agreed as a result of the evolution in commitment appropriations for differentiated expenditure:

4.  Additional reductions in payment appropriations are made on the following budget lines:

1.  The reserve for the European Union Solidarity Fund (budget article 40 02 44) is suppressed (-EUR 88,0 million).

These actions will provide a level of payment appropriations of EUR 144 681,0 million, a reduction of –EUR 582,5 million in comparison with the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018.

1.5.  Reserve

There are no reserves in addition to those of the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018, except for budget item 22 02 03 01 Support to Turkey — Political reforms and related progressive alignment with the Union acquis for which EUR 70 000 000 in commitment appropriations and EUR 35 000 000 in payment appropriations are placed in reserve pending the fulfilment of the following condition:

"Amount to be released when Turkey makes measurable sufficient improvements in the fields of rule of law, democracy, human rights and press freedom, according to the annual report of the Commission."

The budget remark of budget item 22 02 03 01 is modified accordingly.

1.6.  Budget remarks

Unless otherwise specifically addressed in previous paragraphs, amendments introduced by the European Parliament or the Council to the text of budget remarks are agreed, with the exception of those on budget lines listed in the two following tables:

—  Budget lines for which the amendments introduced by the European Parliament are approved with the modification proposed by the Commission in its Executability Letter.

—  Budget lines for which the respective budget remark as proposed in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018 and the EAGF update, are approved.

This is with the understanding that amendments introduced by the European Parliament or the Council cannot modify or extend the scope of an existing legal base, or impinge on the administrative autonomy of institutions, and that the action can be covered by available resources.

1.7.  New budget lines

The budget nomenclature proposed by the Commission in the Draft Budget, as amended by Amending Letter 1/2018, is agreed with the inclusion of:

—  the new pilot projects and preparatory actions, proposed under section 1.2 above; and

—  the new budget item 2 2 1 4 within the section of the European External Action Service, proposed under 1.3 above.

2.  Budget 2017

Draft Amending Budget (DAB) 6/2017 is approved as proposed by the Commission.

3.  Statements

3.1.  Joint statement by the European Parliament, Council and Commission on the payment appropriations

The European Parliament and the Council recall the need to ensure, in the light of implementation, an orderly progression of payments in relation to the appropriations for commitments so as to avoid any abnormal level of unpaid invoices at year-end.

The European Parliament and the Council calls on the Commission to continue monitoring closely and actively the implementation of the 2014-2020 programmes. To that end, they invite the Commission to present in a timely manner, updated figures concerning the state of implementation and estimates regarding payment appropriations requirements in 2018.

The Council and the European Parliament will take any necessary decisions in due time for duly justified needs to prevent the accumulation of an excessive amount of unpaid bills and to ensure that payment claims are duly reimbursed.

3.2.  Joint statement by the European Parliament, Council(4) and Commission on the Youth Employment Initiative

The Parliament, the Council and the Commission recall that reducing unemployment and, in particular, youth unemployment, remains a high and shared political priority, and to this end they reaffirm their determination to make the best possible use of budgetary resources available to tackle it, and in particular through the Youth Employment Initiative.

Therefore, they welcome the increase of the amount allocated to this initiative in 2018. However, it is not only essential to provide for an adequate financing in the EU budget, but also to put in place, at the same time, the right procedures to implement them effectively.

In this regard, an effective cooperation between the Parliament, the Council and the Commission is needed to ensure the highest possible impact of the measures adopted.

Therefore, the Council and the European Parliament undertake to consider as a matter of priority the modification in the Common Provisions Regulation required by the adoption of the 2018 budget.

The Commission shall facilitate the swift approval of the changes in the programmes to implement the YEI.

3.3.  Unilateral statement by the Commission on the Youth Employment Initiative

Reducing youth unemployment remains a high political priority. The Commission undertakes to monitor closely the implementation trend of the Youth Employment Initiative (YEI). Should the trend of this initiative accelerate and should the absorption capacity allow for an increase, the Commission will propose an increase of the YEI funding through an amending budget to be financed by the Global margin for commitments in accordance with Article 14 of the MFF Regulation.

In that case, the Commission expects the Council and the European Parliament to process rapidly any such draft amending budget.

3.4.  Unilateral statement by the Council on the 5 % staff reduction

The Council recalls that the target year for the full implementation of the 5 % reduction of staff was 2017. However, as not all institutions, bodies and agencies have met the reduction target, the Council urges continued efforts in 2018 in order to fulfil the agreement.

It is essential that the 5 % staff reduction target is implemented by all institutions, bodies and agencies, and monitored until it is fully achieved. With that in mind, the Council invites the Commission to continue to assess the outcome of the exercise in order to draw lessons for the future.

(1) OJ L 50, 28.2.2017, p. 57. (2) This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244(1999) and the International Court of Justice opinion on Kosovo’s declaration of independence. (3) This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1244(1999) and the International Court of Justice opinion on Kosovo’s declaration of independence. (4) The United Kingdom does not support this statement