18 EU home affairs budget for 2014-20
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(33393)
17284/11
COM(11) 749
(b)
(33398)
17306/11
SEC(11) 1358
+ ADD 1
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Commission Communication: Building and open and secure Europe: the home budget for 2014-20
Commission Staff Working Paper: Impact assessment
Commission Staff Working Paper: Summary of impact assessment
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| Legal base | —
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| Document originated | (Both) 15 November 2011
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| Deposited in Parliament | (Both) 25 November 2011
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| Department | Home Office
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| Basis of consideration | EM of 29 November 2011
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| Previous Committee Report | None
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| Discussion in Council | 13 December 2011
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| Committee's assessment | Politically important
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| Committee's decision | Cleared
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The documents
18.1 The Commission Communication — document (a) —
and accompanying Staff Working Paper — document (b) —
set out the context for the funding of EU home affairs policies
under the next Multiannual Financial Framework ("MFF")
from 2014-20 as well as the resources to be made available from
the EU budget. The Commission proposes to simplify the existing
EU funding framework by establishing two Funds — the Asylum
and Migration Fund and the Internal Security Fund. The Communication
describes the legal architecture for the two Funds, the budget
proposed for each one, the policy areas they will cover, and the
principles governing the programming and management of the Funds.
THE LEGAL ARCHITECTURE FOR THE FUNDS
18.2 The Commission says that four Regulations will be needed
to establish the two Funds. These will comprise:
- a single, horizontal Regulation establishing general provisions
on the programming, management and control of both Funds and a
common Committee;
- a Regulation establishing the Asylum and Migration
Fund, and setting out the resources available and the objectives
of EU funding; and
- two Regulations which together establish the
Internal Security Fund; the first setting out the resources available
and the objectives of EU funding for police cooperation, action
to prevent and combat crime, and crisis management; the second
covering the common visa policy and management of the EU's external
borders.
18.3 The division of the Internal Security Fund into
two parts with two separate funding instruments is intended to
take account of the "variable geometry" governing participation
in Schengen and the various opt-in and opt-out Protocols annexed
to the EU Treaties.[127]
THE COMMISSION'S BUDGET PROPOSALS
18.4 The Commission proposes an overall budget of
€10,911 million for the period 2014-20, broken down as follows:
- Asylum and Migration Fund —
€3,869 million;
- Internal Security Fund — €4,648 million;
- Existing large-scale IT systems managed by the
EU's newly established IT Agency — €822 million; and
- EU Agencies (Europol, Frontex, the European Asylum
Support Office, the European Police College and the European Monitoring
Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction) — €1,572 million.[128]
18.5 The Commission acknowledges that the sum proposed
represents "a considerable increase" on the funding
available under the current financial framework covering 2007-13
(€6,449 million). It believes that the EU budget is a key
tool for tackling the challenges presented by migration flows
and security threats and "offers value added both by addressing
the unbalanced calls on different Member States in a Union without
internal borders; and by financing cross-border actions more efficiently
than is possible at purely national level."[129]
THE ASYLUM AND MIGRATION FUND
18.6 The Asylum and Migration Fund would replace
the European Refugee Fund, the European Fund for the Integration
of Third Country Nationals and the European Return Fund and provide
financial support for the following measures:
- the further development of
the Common European Asylum System;
- the establishment of an EU Resettlement Programme
to support the resettlement within EU Member States of refugees
from outside the EU, as well as the relocation within the EU of
individuals recognised as being in need of international protection—the
Programme would have a dedicated budget of €560 million to
provide lump sum payments to Member States willing to accept resettled
or relocated refugees/beneficiaries of international protection;
- the implementation of strategies for the integration
of legally resident third country nationals;
- return and reintegration measures; and
- strengthening the capacity of third countries
to readmit their own nationals or other third country nationals
who have transited their territory; and the implementation of
measures within the framework of Mobility Partnerships.
18.7 The Fund would also include an emergency reserve
to ensure that financial resources could be released quickly in
response to a migration-related crisis.
THE INTERNAL SECURITY FUND
18.8 The Internal Security Fund would replace the
External Borders Fund as well as two EU Programmes — ISEC
(Programme for the Prevention of and Fight against Crime) and
CIPS (Programme for the Prevention, Preparedness and Consequence
Management of Terrorism and other Security-related risks). It
would provide financial support for the following measures:
- police and law enforcement
cooperation, crime prevention and measures to tackle serious cross-border
crime;
- crisis management and the protection of critical
infrastructure;
- the development of common tools, including interoperable
IT systems and secure communications channels;
- the establishment of a Cybercrime Centre;
- innovative projects to develop practical applications
for EU-funded security research;
- the establishment of a European Terrorist Finance
Tracking System;
- measures to tackle radicalisation and recruitment
and to support victims of terrorism;
- cooperation with third countries on trafficking
in human beings, drugs and weapons, organised crime, and the prevention
of terrorism, as well as on the strengthening of their border
surveillance and management capabilities;
- operating support for Member States responsible
for securing the EU's external borders;
- the further development of an integrated external
border management system;
- consular cooperation on the issuing of visas
and other elements of the Schengen acquis; and
- an emergency response mechanism.
LARGE-SCALE IT SYSTEMS
18.9 The proposed Internal Security Fund includes
a specific programme with a budget of €1.1 billion for the
development of future IT systems, notably an Entry/Exit System
and Registered Traveller Programme, although their development
is subject to formal approval by the Council and European Parliament.
The Commission also proposes a specific budget allocation of €822
million for the newly established IT Agency responsible for managing
the Schengen Information System (SIS II), the Visa Information
System (VIS) and Eurodac.
PROGRAMMING AND MANAGEMENT OF THE FUNDS
18.10 The Commission indicates that the bulk of funding
would be subject to "shared management" by the Commission
and each Member State, based on the following elements:
- an initial high-level policy
dialogue with each Member State to consider how EU funding would
be used to achieve EU home affairs policy objectives;
- the development of national
multiannual programmes, identifying specific objectives and targets
to be achieved through the use of EU funding, and financial plans
showing how the resources allocated to each Member State would
be spent over the next seven-year funding period;
- annual reports by Member States on progress made
in implementing their national programmes and financial plans;
- a mid-term review in 2017 to assess progress
and to allocate new resources for the remaining three years; and
- simplified management and control systems at
Member State level.
18.11 Each Member State would receive a basic allocation,
"calculated on the basis of objective criteria and Member
States' needs."[130]
The basis allocation would be supplemented by an additional flexible
amount which would reflect each Member State's "willingness
to finance in its national programme actions that respond to specific
EU priorities."[131]
Funding would be allocated in two stages; the first tranche during
the policy dialogue at the start of the next MFF (in 2014); the
second tranche following the mid-term review in 2017.[132]
18.12 EU funding for so-called "EU actions"
— for example, funding for third countries, technical assistance,
studies and events, the development of new IT systems, support
for networks such as the European Migration Network, and emergency
actions—would continue to be managed by the Commission or
EU agencies.
18.13 The Commission believes that the simplification
and streamlining of EU home affairs funding instruments should
ensure a more integrated approach to spending on migration and
security while also creating synergies and economies of scale.
The Government's view
18.14 The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Crime
and Security (James Brokenshire) notes that the budget proposed
by the Commission represents an increase of almost 40% compared
with funding for the period 2007-13. He continues:
"The Government's starting point is that
home affairs funding should not be allocated additional funds
in the next MFF. The Government opposes the large-scale increases
in spending proposed by the Commission and will be seeking a substantial
reduction in the proposed 10.9 billion Euro (£9.52 billion)
allocation set out in the Communication and accompanying Impact
Assessments. This is in line with the overall Government position
on the next MFF, where the Government believes that national efforts
to ensure long-term public finance sustainability must not be
undermined by unaffordable growth in EU spending in the next Financial
Perspective.
"The Government
believes that we need to cut spending from areas which add little
value, most importantly to realise savings, but also to free up
resources to support the EU's priorities and seek efficiencies
in the management of funding programmes and Agencies. To that
end, increasing the funding share of any EU programme within the
remit of JHA activity should be done through reprioritisation
from other programmes within the same policy area. The Government
also believes that administrative processes should be simplified,
and evaluations of completed projects shared with EU Member States."[133]
18.15 The Government supports simplification of the
existing funding structures for home affairs through the creation
of two Funds (instead of the existing six) as well as the establishment
of a common regulatory framework which should help to streamline
working practices and reduce administrative burdens.
18.16 The Government welcomes the creation an EU
Internal Security Fund but suggests that EU funding to address
migration pressures should be achieved "through the
reprioritisation of existing resources, drawing
on those areas which have been historically underspent and seeking
efficiencies in administration costs" and should focus on
practical support for countries most affected by migratory pressure,
the return of those without a need for protection, and the control
of illegal immigration through the strengthening of the EU's external
borders.[134]
18.17 The Government indicates that the introduction
of a shared management mechanism for expenditure relating to police
cooperation, crime prevention and crisis management would be a
new development which will require careful consideration when
deciding whether or not the UK should participate in the non-borders
element of the Internal Security Fund. The Government also expresses
some concern that the processes proposed by the Commission (high-level
policy dialogue followed by the drafting of multiannual national
programmes) may lead to implementation difficulties in the first
year of funding.
18.18 The Government supports the focus on the external
dimension of EU home affairs policy, whilst emphasising the need
to avoid any duplication of funding priorities already contained
in that part of the EU budget dealing with the EU as a Global
Player. The Government welcomes the inclusion in both of the proposed
new Funds of a flexible emergency response mechanism. It also
acknowledges the valuable practical support that EU Agencies may
provide, but adds that their involvement in implementing specific
operational tasks should not lead to an expansion of their powers.
18.19 Finally, the Minister notes that the Commission
will present its Communication to the Justice and Home Affairs
Council on 13 December. He expects negotiations on the proposed
new Funds to continue during 2012 and adds that they will only
be concluded once the overall Multiannual Financial Framework
for 2014-20 has been agreed towards the end of 2012 or early in
2013.
Conclusion
18.20 The Communication provides a broad overview
of the EU's policy and spending priorities in the home affairs
field for 2014-20. We note the Government's concern as regards
the size of the budget proposed and the scale of the increase
in relation to existing EU expenditure. As, however, the detailed
rules on how the Asylum and Migration Fund and Internal Security
Fund are to be implemented, as well as the total EU resources
proposed for each Fund, are set out in an accompanying package
of four draft Regulations, all of which are subject to scrutiny,
we are content to release the Communication and accompanying Commission
Staff Working Paper from scrutiny.
127 See Protocol 19 on Schengen; Protocol 21 on the
UK's and Ireland's opt-in; and Protocol 22 on the Danish opt-out.
Back
128
The current conversion rate is £1 = 1.1685 Euro. Back
129
See p. 3, para 1.3 of the Communication. Back
130
See p. 10, para 3.1.1 of the Communication. Back
131
See p. 10, para 3.1.1 of the Communication. Back
132
The distribution of EU funding for resettlement and/or relocation
of beneficiaries of international protection would be based on
a biennial pledging exercise. Back
133
See paras 25 and 26 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum.
Back
134
See para 28 of the Minister's Explanatory Memorandum. Back
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