CHAPTER 3SPECIAL INSTRUMENTS
SECTION 1Thematic special instruments
Article 8European Globalisation Adjustment Fund
1
The European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, the objectives and scope of which are set out in Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund, shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 186 million (in 2018 prices).
2
The appropriations for the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund shall be entered in the general budget of the Union as a provision.
Article 9Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve
1
The Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve may be used to finance:
a
assistance to respond to emergency situations resulting from major disasters that are covered by the European Union Solidarity Fund, the objectives and scope of which are set out in Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/20026; and
b
rapid responses to specific emergency needs within the Union or in third countries following events which could not be foreseen when the budget was established, in particular for emergency responses and support operations following natural disasters not covered by point (a), man-made disasters, humanitarian crises in cases of large-scale public health, veterinary or phytosanitary threats, as well as in situations of particular pressure at the Union’s external borders resulting from migratory flows, where circumstances so require.
2
The Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve shall not exceed a maximum annual amount of EUR 1 200 million (in 2018 prices). Any portion of the annual amount not used in year n may be used up to year n+1. The portion of the annual amount stemming from the previous year shall be drawn on first. Any portion of the annual amount from year n which is not used in year n+1 shall lapse.
3
The appropriations for the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve shall be entered in the general budget of the Union as a provision.
4
On 1 October of each year, at least one quarter of the annual amount referred to in paragraph 2 shall remain available in order to cover needs arising until the end of that year.
Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, the following maximum percentages of the overall amount available until 1 September of each year may be mobilised:
50 % for assistance under point (a) of paragraph 1; the amount resulting from that calculation shall be reduced by any amount mobilised in the previous year in application of paragraph 5,
35 % for assistance to third countries under point (b) of paragraph 1,
15 % for assistance within the Union under point (b) of paragraph 1.
Without prejudice to the first subparagraph, as of 1 September of each year, the remaining part of the amount available may be used for any assistance referred to in the second subparagraph to cover needs arising until the end of that year.
5
In exceptional cases and if the remaining financial resources available in the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve are not sufficient to cover the amounts considered necessary for assistance under point (a) of paragraph 1 in the year of occurrence of a disaster as referred to in that point, the Commission may propose that the difference be financed through the annual amounts available for the Solidarity and Emergency Aid Reserve in the following year, up to a maximum amount of EUR 400 million (in 2018 prices).
Article 10Brexit Adjustment Reserve
1
A Brexit Adjustment Reserve shall provide assistance to counter unforeseen and adverse consequences in Member States and sectors that are worst affected by the withdrawal of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland from the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community, subject to and in accordance with the conditions set out in the relevant instrument.
2
The Brexit Adjustment Reserve shall not exceed an amount of EUR 5 000 million (in 2018 prices).
3
The appropriations for the Brexit Adjustment Reserve shall be entered into the general budget of the Union as a provision.
SECTION 2Non-thematic special instruments
Article 11Single Margin Instrument
1
The Single Margin Instrument shall comprise:
a
as of 2022, amounts corresponding to margins left available below the MFF ceilings for commitment appropriations of year n-1 to be made available over and above the MFF ceilings for commitment appropriations for the years 2022 to 2027;
b
as of 2022, amounts equivalent to the difference between the executed payments and the MFF payment ceiling of year n-1 to adjust upwards the payment ceiling for the years 2022 to 2027; and
c
additional amounts which may be made available over and above the MFF ceilings in a given year for commitment or payment appropriations, or both, as the case may be, provided that they are fully offset against the margins in one or more MFF headings for the current or future financial years as regards commitment appropriations and are fully offset against the margins under the payment ceiling for future financial years as regards payment appropriations.
Amounts may only be mobilised under point (c) of the first subparagraph if the amounts available pursuant to points (a) and (b) of that subparagraph, as applicable, are insufficient, and in any case as a last resort to react to unforeseen circumstances.
Recourse to point (c) of the first subparagraph shall not result in exceeding the total amounts of the MFF ceilings for commitment and payment appropriations for the current financial year and future financial years. Any amounts offset in accordance with that point shall therefore not be further mobilised in the context of the MFF.
2
Recourse to the Single Margin Instrument under points (a) and (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall not exceed, in any given year, a total of:
a
0,04 % of the gross national income of the Union in commitment appropriations, as calculated in the annual technical adjustment of the MFF referred to in Article 4;
b
0,03 % of the gross national income of the Union in payment appropriations, as calculated in the annual technical adjustment of the MFF referred to in Article 4.
Recourse to the Single Margin Instrument in any given year shall be consistent with the own resources ceilings set out in the Own Resources Decision.
3
The annual adjustments referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall not exceed the following maximum amounts (in 2018 prices) for the years 2025 to 2027 as compared to the original payment ceiling of the relevant years:
2025 – EUR 8 000 million,
2026 – EUR 13 000 million,
2027 – EUR 15 000 million.
Amounts referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 5(2) shall be in addition to the maximum amounts referred to in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.
Any upward adjustment shall be fully offset by a corresponding reduction of the payment ceiling for year n-1.
4
Amounts referred to in points (a) and (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article may be mobilised by the European Parliament and the Council in the framework of the budgetary procedure provided for in Article 314 TFEU to allow the financing of expenditure which could not be financed within the limits of the relevant MFF ceilings available in a given year.
The upward adjustment referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 of this Article shall be carried out by the Commission, starting in 2022, as part of the technical adjustment referred to in Article 4.
Article 12Flexibility Instrument
1
The Flexibility Instrument may be used for the financing, for a given financial year, of specific unforeseen expenditure in commitment appropriations and corresponding payment appropriations that cannot be financed within the limits of the ceilings available for one or more other headings. The ceiling for the annual amount available for the Flexibility Instrument shall be EUR 915 million (in 2018 prices).
2
The unused portion of the annual amount of the Flexibility Instrument may be used up to year n+2. Any portion of the annual amount stemming from previous years shall be used first, in order of age. Any portion of the annual amount from year n which is not used by year n+2 shall lapse.