On the proposal for a Council Decision amending Decision (EU) 2021/1764 on the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories with the European Union including relations between the European Union on the one hand, and Greenland and the Kingdom of Denmark on the other

6.Recalls the proposal for a regulation establishing a budget expenditure tracking and performance framework and other horizontal rules for the Union programmes and activities (the ‘Performance Regulation’), which establishes a single streamlined list for performance indicators and monitoring and evaluation provisions, some of which are relevant for the implementation of Decision (EU) 2021/1764; underlines that any change in the architecture, objectives and eligible actions under the decision will need to be appropriately reflected in Annex I to the Performance Regulation, as part of the process of amending and negotiating that regulation; points out that, while sectoral legislation can supplement the Performance Regulation, for instance as regards programme evaluations, it should remain consistent with the provisions of the regulation;

7.Deplores the lack of a sufficiently detailed indicative budgetary nomenclature proposed in the Legislative Financial and Digital Statement; considers that this will hamper oversight and the budgetary authority’s ability to steer accurately policy priorities in the annual budgetary procedure; expresses concerns that an overly aggregated budgetary architecture would increase the Commission’s discretion in transferring and reallocating resources without a decision from the budgetary authority, and would severely limit parliamentary oversight; recommends, therefore, a more detailed nomenclature that properly reflects the decision’s objectives and structure and enhances transparency, accountability and parliamentary control; recalls that the budgetary nomenclature must be established in line with Article 47(2) of the Financial Regulation, which provides that each title must correspond to a policy area and each chapter, as a rule, to a programme or an activity, in line with the principles of specification, sound financial management and transparency; insists, therefore, on the need to introduce specific OCT thematic and geographical budget lines to enhance oversight by the budgetary authority and transparency in the allocation of funds;

8.Takes note that the proposal envisages the possibility to provide loans and budgetary guarantees to OCTs through the Global Europe programme or the European Competitiveness Fund’s InvestEU instrument; stresses that the budgetary implications of such borrowing and lending operations must be clearly identified, transparently presented and carefully monitored throughout the next MFF period, and that these operations should be used strategically to leverage limited budgetary resources and maximise sustainable development and resilience; underlines, in particular, that their potential impact on the MFF headroom or other guarantees must be fully assessed and duly taken into account; insists that all decisions related to such operations must fully respect the powers of the co-legislators and the prerogatives of the budgetary authority; underlines that the appropriate provisioning for loans and budgetary guarantees must be constituted from the OCT programme;

9.Takes note of the proposed complementarity between the OCT programme and other programmes such as the Global Europe programme and the European Competitiveness Fund; stresses that the allocation of appropriations under heading 3 should appropriately reflect the institutional link between OCTs and the Union, notably considering the funding granted to third countries under the Global Europe programme, in particular in the regions covered by the partnership with African, Caribbean and Pacific countries; stresses, furthermore, that better coordination of the Union’s external resources would help to strengthen the coherence of the Union’s external action and the role of OCTs as strategic outposts; stresses that enhanced complementarity between instruments must not come at the expense of traceability of expenditure or the prerogatives of the budgetary authority; underlines that the contribution from other programmes must be explicitly identifiable at all stages of the budgetary cycle, notably through detailed budgetary nomenclature; stresses that enhanced complementarity between programmes must not lead to disproportionate complexity for beneficiaries; calls for greater coherence, accessibility and clarity of Union funding in order to facilitate uptake and maximise the impact of investments; stresses, in this regard, that any such contribution must be duly reflected in the Programme Performance Statement; considers, furthermore, that the strengthening of administrative and implementing capacities of OCTs is vital; stresses that reflows from financial instruments provisioned by the OCT programme should remain available within the same programme;

10.Stresses that the use of external assigned revenue under the OCT programme must be clearly circumscribed, fully transparent and subject to effective parliamentary scrutiny; takes note, in that regard, of the provisions relating to additional financial contributions from Member States, third countries and other donors; underlines that, should the lead committee consider amending provisions relating to external assigned revenue, this should be done in coordination with the Committee on Budgets and the other committees in order to ensure a consistent approach; recognises that contributions by third parties, including from the private sector, can be beneficial to the OCT programme; emphasises that such contributions must be implemented in accordance with the Financial Regulation, in particular with regard to independence and impartiality.