Amending letter No 1/2023

Additional measures to address the consequences of the Russian War in Ukraine
Union Civil Protection Mechanism reinforcement
Updated estimated needs for agricultural expenditure
Other adjustments and technical updates

Amending Letter No 1 (AL 1/2023) to the draft budget for the year 2023 (DB 2023) covers the following elements:

• A reinforcement of humanitarian aid, as an urgent response to the consequences of the Russian war in Ukraine, including for the resulting food crisis. In the absence of a margin in heading 6 (Neighbourhood and the World), this requires mobilising the Flexibility Instrument;
• Frontloading of Erasmus+ to support pupils, students and teachers fleeing Ukraine, combining the use of the full remaining margin in sub-heading 2b (Resilience and Values) and the Flexibility Instrument;
• A reinforcement of the interest line for NextGenerationEU, against the backdrop of rising interest costs on the markets, mobilising part of the Single Margin Instrument;
• Funding for the European defence industry Reinforcement through common Procurement Act (EDIRPA), combining the use of the full remaining margin in heading 5 (Security and Defence) and the Flexibility Instrument;
• Frontloading and reinforcement of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) to cover the lease of helicopters and light planes for summer 2024 and to accelerate the procurement of the permanent rescEU aerial fleet, which requires mobilising the Flexibility Instrument;
• Update of the estimated needs, assigned revenue and appropriations for agricultural expenditure. In addition to changing market factors, AL 1/2023 also incorporates the impact of decisions in the agricultural sector since the DB 2023 was adopted in July 2022, as well as other proposals expected to have a significant effect during the financial year;
• Update of the estimated needs for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs), taking into account the entry into force of a new protocol with Mauritius;
• An increase of the level of payment appropriations to reflect the impact of the FAST-CARE proposal on payment needs for Cohesion in 2023;
• Adjustments to the level of appropriations and/or staff of the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the European Environment Agency (EEA), the European Union Agency for Law Enforcement Training (CEPOL) and the European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) taking into account the latest legislative or political developments on their operations for 2023;
• Adjustments in relation to the financing of external staff members from administrative support lines of programmes, notably to take account of increasing workload;
• Adjustments to the heading 7 “European Public Administration”, notably in relation to the impact of the lower salary adjustment for 2022 on administrative expenditure and pensions following updated estimates on inflation and purchasing power compared to the parameters used when preparing the DB 2023. In addition, CERT-EU is proposed to be reinforced by a transfer from other Institutions;
• Adjustments to the budgetary nomenclature and the budget remarks in particular following the legislative procedure for the REPowerEU proposals.

Overall, the net impact of AL 1/2023 on expenditure in the DB 2023 is an increase of EUR 758,3 million in commitment appropriations and an increase of EUR 2 394,9 million in payment appropriations.