The European Parliament,

–  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 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(1), and in particular and in particular Articles 18(3) and 41 thereof,

–  having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2018, as definitively adopted on 30 November 2017(2),

–  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(3) (MFF Regulation),

–  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(4),

–  having regard to Council Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom of 26 May 2014 on the system of own resources of the European Union(5),

–  having regard to Draft amending budget No 3/2018, which the Commission adopted on 23 May 2018 (COM(2018)0310),

–  having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 3/2018 which the Council adopted on 22 June 2018 and forwarded to Parliament on 25 June 2018 (09713/2018 – C8‑0302/2018),

–  having regard to the letter from the Committee on Foreign Affairs,

–  having regard to Rules 88 and 91 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A8-0246/2018),

A.  whereas the Commission amended on 14 March 2018 its decision on the Facility for Refugees (FRT) in Turkey in order to allocate an additional EUR 3 billion (a ‘second tranche’) to the FRT, in line with the EU-Turkey Statement of 18 March 2016;

B.  whereas Draft amending budget No 3/2018 aims to add EUR 500 million in commitment appropriations to the 2018 Union budget as the 2018 Union contribution to the second tranche, in addition to the EUR 50 million financed from the existing Humanitarian Aid budgetary envelope in 2018;

C.  whereas the Commission proposes to use the Global Margin for Commitments, in accordance with Article 14 of the MFF Regulation, to finance EUR 243,8 million which cannot be covered solely by the unallocated margin under Heading 4, under which it is proposed to contribute EUR 256,2 million ;

D.  whereas the Commission has proposed to fund a further EUR 1,45 billion under the 2019 draft budget as the Union budget contribution to the FRT;

E.  whereas Parliament has consistently stressed its support for the continuation of the FRT while emphasising that, as one of the two arms of the budgetary authority, it must be fully associated with the decision-making process relating to the extension of the FRT, inter alia to avoid the repetition of the procedure of its setting-up; whereas no negotiations on the financing of the second tranche of the FRT have so far taken place between Parliament and the Council; whereas it would have been advisable that the discussions on the financing of the second tranche take place within the conciliation on the 2018 Union budget;

1.  Takes note of Draft amending budget No 3/2018 as submitted by the Commission, which is devoted solely to the financing of the 2018 Union budget contribution to the FRT, for an amount of EUR 500 million in commitment appropriations, and of the Council´s position thereon;

2.  Strongly deplores the discrepancy between the absence of Parliament’s involvement in the adoption of the decisions on the setting-up and on the prolongation of the FRT on the one hand, and its role as budgetary authority in the financing of the FRT from the Union budget on the other hand;

3.  Regrets that the Commission did not include the 2018 financing of the FRT in its 2018 draft budget at any stage of the 2018 budgetary procedure; believes that such inclusion would have been an opportunity for the two arms of the budgetary authority to discuss the financing of the whole second tranche of the FRT, as the positions of Parliament and of the Council diverge on the scale of the Union budget contribution;

4.  Insists that the Commission reinforces the monitoring of the use of FRT and that it reports regularly and in adequate detail to the budgetary authority on the compatibility of the actions financed with the underlying legal basis in general and the types of action listed, in particular, in Article 3(2) of Commission Decision establishing the FRT;

5.  Notes that the purpose of Draft amending budget No 3/2018 is primarily to allow for the schooling of refugee children in Turkey to continue seamlessly;

6.  Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 3/2018;

7.  Underlines that this decision is without prejudice to its position on the remaining part of the financing of the second tranche of the FRT; stresses that, irrespective of the Council’s deliberations on the prolongation of the FRT, Parliament will fully retain its prerogatives through the 2019 budgetary procedure;

8.  Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 3/2018 has been definitively adopted and arrange for its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union;

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

(1) OJ L 298, 26.10.2012, p. 1. (2) OJ L 57, 28.02.2018. (3) OJ L 347, 20.12.2013, p. 884. (4) OJ C 373, 20.12.2013, p. 1. (5) OJ L 168, 7.6.2014, p. 105.