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) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012(1), and in particular Article 44 thereof,

–  having regard to the general budget of the European Union for the financial year 2021, as definitively adopted on 18 December 2020(2),

–  having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027(3) (MFF Regulation),

–  having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources(4),

–  having regard to Council Decision (EU, Euratom) 2020/2053, Euratom of 14 December 2020 on the system of own resources of the European Union(5),

–  having regard to Draft amending budget No 2/2021, which the Commission adopted on 24 March 2021 (COM(2021)0200),

–  having regard to the position on Draft amending budget No 2/2021 which the Council adopted on 23 April 2021 and forwarded to Parliament on 26 April 2021 (08145/2021 – C9‑0155/2021),

–  having regard to Rule 94 and 96 of its Rules of Procedure,

–  having regard to the report of the Committee on Budgets (A9-0160/2021),

A.  whereas the purpose of the Commission proposal is principally twofold: on one hand, to provide additional funding for the prevention, preparedness and response to the COVID-19 pandemic, safe and sustained re-opening and potential impact of further European initiatives related to the COVID-19 response; on the other hand, to introduce technical changes stemming from the political agreements on sectoral legal bases following the adoption of the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) in December 2020, as well as adjustments in relation to the provisioning of the External Action Guarantee; moreover, it proposes to carry over the amount of EUR 47 981 598 from the unused 2020 allocation of the EU Solidarity Fund (EUSF) directly to the EUSF operational budget line and to operate other adjustments and technical updates;

B.  whereas the net effect of the proposal on expenditure in the 2021 budget is an amount of EUR 260 681 598 in commitment and EUR 252 581 598 in payment appropriations;

C.  whereas Parliament has repeatedly considered that a draft amending budget should follow one purpose only;

1.  Takes note of Draft amending budget No 2/2021 as submitted by the Commission;

2.  Stresses its full support for a robust Union response to the COVID-19 pandemic; reiterates its view that no effort should be spared, including through all available possibilities under the Union budget and the Financial Regulation, to fight the pandemic and pave the way for a safe and sustained recovery in Europe;

3.  Regrets that the Commission decided, in spite of Parliament’s insistence, to present together elements related to the COVID-19 pandemic with the part related to the alignment with the MFF programmes’ legal bases which could and should have been treated separately; reiterates that, to better respect the prerogative of the budgetary authority, the Commission should present a draft amending budget for one purpose only and refrain from combining several purposes in one draft amending budget;

4.  Insists that the adoption of the Draft amending budget 2/2021, allowing, notably, the start of preparatory work to establish a common framework for a Digital Green Certificate, does not prejudge in any way the outcome of the negotiations between Parliament and the Council on the Green digital certificate Regulation;

5.  Considers that the Commission has not followed up properly on the result of the negotiations of the Neighbourhood, Development and International Cooperation Instrument - Global Europe when it comes to the budget nomenclature for geographic programmes in Asia; asks the Commission to present a new draft amending budget reflecting the agreed texts of the sectoral legal bases; in line with its guidelines for the 2022 budget, insists that such a harmonisation could and should be carried out ahead of the 2022 budgetary procedure;

6.   Asks the Commission to provide the two arms of the budgetary authority with comprehensive information about the planned autonomous transfers, carried in accordance with Article 30 of the Financial Regulation, aimed at adjusting the 2021 budget in relation with the political agreements on MFF sectoral legal bases on top of the Draft amending budget No 2/2021, including their amounts when available;

7.  Approves the Council position on Draft amending budget No 2/2021;

8.  Instructs its President to declare that Amending budget No 1/2021 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 and the national parliaments.

(1) OJ L 193, 30.7.2018, p. 1. (2) OJ L 433 I, 22.12.2020, p. 23. (3) OJ L 433 I , 22.12.2020, p. 11. (4) OJ L 433 I , 22.12.2020, p. 28. (5) OJ L 424, 15.12.2020, p. 1.