Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093Show full title

SECTION 2 U.K. Non-thematic special instruments

Article 11 U.K. Single 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 12 U.K. Flexibility 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.