Amending letter No 1/2027

Commission's proposal: Amending Letter No 1 to the draft general budget for the year 2027, COM(2026) 950 – 9 October 2026 

Council's position: 
Parliament's position: 

Amending Letter No 1 (AL 1/2027) to the draft budget for the year 2027 (DB 2027) covers the following elements, as a result of new information available in the meaning of Article 42 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509:

• Update of the needs for the Ukraine Support Loan debt service costs line;
• Update of the estimated needs, assigned revenue and appropriations for agricultural expenditure. In addition to changing market factors, AL 1/2027 also incorporates the impact of decisions in the agricultural sector since the adoption of DB 2027 in July 2026;
• Update of the split between reserve and operational lines for the Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreements (SFPAs), taking into account the new protocols with Seychelles and Mauritius;
• A reinforcement of the emergency measures under the Food Chain strand of the Single Market Programme (SMP), in order to co-finance measures implemented by Member States following a series of outbreaks of animal diseases including Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza and African Swine Fever;
• Reduction in commitment appropriations for the Chips Joint Undertaking due to increase in assigned revenue;
• Redeployment of commitment appropriations within Horizon Europe from the European Institute of Technology (EIT), following the liquidation of the EIT Manufacturing Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC), to reinforce the European Innovation Council;
• Reinforcement of appropriations and staff for Hungary’s participation in enhanced cooperation on the establishment of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO);
• Update of the split between reserve and operational lines for the agile and rapid defence innovation programme (AGILE), following the provisional agreement reached by the co-legislators;
• Reinforcement of commitment and payment appropriations for nuclear safety, radiation protection and safeguards as part of the Chornobyl Pledge. The increase is proposed to be compensated by an equivalent reduction, in commitment and payment appropriations, of the International Nuclear Safety Cooperation – Provisioning of the common provisioning fund line and IPA III — Provisioning of the common provisioning fund budget line;
• Adjustments to heading 7 “European Public Administration”:
  • To incorporate the impact of the higher salary adjustment for 2026 on the administrative expenditure of the institutions and on pensions following updated estimates for purchasing power and inflation, compared to the parameters used when preparing the DB 2027;
  • Reinforcement in commitment and payment appropriations for the European Parliament for ensuring the pension payments under the Voluntary Pension Scheme;
  • Increase in the level of administrative expenditure and adjustment in the establishment plans for the Council and the Commission to prepare for the accession of Montenegro to the Union;
  • A reduction in commitment and payment appropriations for the balancing subsidy to the Translation Centre (CdT), as a result of reduced needs and increase in expected revenues.
• Adjustments to the level of appropriations for some decentralised agencies, linked to the 2026 salary update;
• Further adjustments of several decentralised and executive agencies, as follows:
  • A reinforcement of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to reflect the updated implementation schedule for the One Substance One Assessment (OSOA) package. The additional amounts are proposed to be compensated by an equivalent reduction of the Programme for the Environment and Climate Action (LIFE);
  • A reinforcement of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA), due to the adoption of the Regulation on plants obtained by certain new genomic techniques and their products. The additional amounts are proposed to be compensated by an equivalent reduction of the Single Market Programme;
  • A reinforcement of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to reflect the agreement in the negotiations on the Critical Medicines Act. The additional amounts are proposed to be compensated by an equivalent reduction of the EU4Health Programme;
  • A reinforcement of the European Union Agency for Criminal Justice Cooperation (Eurojust) to cover the agency’s increased salary costs; 
  • Adjustment of the establishment plan of the Research Executive Agency (REA);
  • Adjustment of the establishment plan of the European Maritime Safety Agency (EMSA).