opinion parliamentary committee draft, 12 November 2024
On the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council RESTORE - Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1057
Document BUDG-PA-765338 · (COM(2024)0496 – C100147/2024 – 2024/0275(COD))
Committee on Budgets · Rapporteur: Sandra Gómez López
AI:In short
The Committee on Budgets' draft opinion assesses the RESTORE proposal, which amends cohesion policy regulations to support reconstruction after natural disasters. It concludes the proposal is compatible with budgetary rules but raises concerns about funding, payment forecasts, and climate impact.
Position. The Committee on Budgets concludes that the proposal is compatible with Rule 58(3) of the Rules of Procedure, but raises concerns and requests further information.
Key points
- The proposal is budgetary neutral, not modifying existing commitments and staying within 2021-2027 allocations.
- The combined effect of 30% pre-financing, 100% co-financing, and eligibility for completed operations leads to partial frontloading of payments.
- Regrets that cohesion policy is used as an emergency tool, risking long-term objectives; calls for more EUSF resources.
- Notes the Commission proposes EUR 3 000 million in additional ERDF payments for 2025 via amending letter; regrets inconsistency with the Legislative Financial Statement.
- Expects the Commission to update payment needs for 2026 and inform Parliament about RESTORE uptake.
- Requests traceable information on transfers and payment forecasts to make RESTORE's impact identifiable.
- Notes high RAL for Heading 2a at EUR 154 864 million; asks for analysis of RESTORE's impact on EURI.
- Calls for monitoring of payments to avoid exceeding ceilings; frontloading could alleviate pressure.
- Regrets lack of impact assessment on climate spending; re-programming could reduce climate support.
- Fears broad definition of 'natural disaster' could lead to higher payment needs.
- Calls for preventing double financing; support should be additional to other Union programmes.
Who is affected
- Member states affected by natural disasters, who can use flexibility in cohesion policy programmes.
- The Commission, which must provide consistent information and monitor payments.
Figures and deadlines
Written by AI from the full text · every figure comes from the text · ¶ opens the paragraph · 4 Sept 2026 · Report a problem
Full text
Budgetary assessment 24 paragraphs
for the Committee on Employment and Social Affairs and the Committee on Regional Development on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council RESTORE - Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1057
(COM(2024)0496 – C100147/2024 – 2024/0275(COD))
The Committee on Budgets has carried out a budgetary assessment of the proposal under Rule 58 of the Rules of Procedure and has reached the following conclusions:
–having regard to Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2024/2509 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 September 2024 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union,
–having regard to Council Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2020/2093 of 17 December 2020 laying down the multiannual financial framework for the years 2021 to 2027 (MFF Regulation),
–having regard to the Interinstitutional Agreement of 16 December 2020 between the European Parliament, the Council of the European Union and the European Commission on budgetary discipline, on cooperation in budgetary matters and on sound financial management, as well as on new own resources, including a roadmap towards the introduction of new own resources (IIA),
–having regard to Council Regulation (EC) No 2012/2002 of 11 November 2002 establishing the European Union Solidarity Fund,
– having regard to the European Parliament resolution of 8 October 2024 on the proposal for a decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on the mobilisation of the European Union Solidarity Fund to provide assistance to Italy, Slovenia, Austria, Greece and France relating to six natural disasters occurred in 2023,
A. whereas the proposal does not modify existing budgetary commitments and remains within the limits of the overall allocations for the period 2021-2027 and is therefore budgetary neutral;
B. whereas the combined effect of 30 % pre-financing, 100 % co-financing and the eligibility for physically completed or fully implemented operations under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and European Social Fund Plus (ESF+), while taking into account the cap for re-programming of 10 % of the total 2021-2027 allocation, leads to a partial frontloading of payment appropriations, followed by lower payments at a later stage:
| Year | Year | Year | Year | TOTAL MFF 2021-2027 | |||
| 2024 | 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | ||||
| TOTAL operational appropriations | Commitments | (4) | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Payments | (5) | 0.000 | 3 000.000 | 4 003.600 | -7 003.600 | 0.000 | |
| TOTAL appropriations of an administrative nature financed from the envelope for specific programmes | (6) | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | |
| TOTAL appropriations under HEADING 2a | Commitments | =4+6 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| of the multiannual financial framework | Payments | =5+6 | 0.000 | 3 000.000 | 4 003.600 | -7 003.600 | 0.000 |
C. whereas the budgetary implications of the proposal have not been taken into account in the draft budget for 2025;
Read the rest (12 paragraphs)
D. whereas the amending letter to the 2025 budget includes an increase in payment appropriations in relation to natural disasters for an amount of EUR 3 000 million for the ERDF;
1. Recalls that Parliament has repeatedly called for more resources for the European Union Solidarity Fund (EUSF), in view of the increasing number and intensity of natural disasters and the need to speed-up procedures so that support reaches Member States and regions hit by natural disasters more quickly; notes that the RESTORE proposal provides additional assistance and further flexibility to Member States affected by natural disasters for their cohesion policy programmes 2021-2027 to respond to such disasters; regrets that cohesion policy is again being used as an emergency response tool and maintains that this approach risks undermining its longer-term policy and investment objectives and is a symptom of a lack of flexibility and crisis-response capacity in the EU budget;
2. Notes that the Commission does not expect any implications for the budget for 2024;
3. Notes further that for 2025 the Commission proposes additional payment appropriations for the ERDF of a total of EUR 3 000 million through the amending letter (AL); refers to the estimated payment needs in 2025 of a total amount of EUR 3 000 million in the RESTORE proposal, of which EUR 2 070 million for the ERDF and EUR 930 million for the ESF+; regrets the inconsistency in the figures between the AL and the Legislative Financial Statement and urges the Commission to provide consistent information and rectification, where necessary;
4. Expects the Commission to take into account in its draft budget for 2026 the updated payment needs for the ERDF and the ESF+ following the actual re-programming by Member States and to keep Parliament informed in a timely manner about the evolution of RESTORE uptake in the Member States;
5. Requests that the Commission provide traceable information including information on transfers referred to in Article 26 of Regulation (EU) 2021/1060 to the ERDF and the ESF+ and on payment forecasts for 2021-2027 cohesion policy programmes to make the impact of RESTORE clearly identifiable for the budgetary authority;
6. Notes that the level of RAL (reste à liquider) for Heading 2a remains high at the end of 2023, with an amount of EUR 154 864 million; recalls that the amount equivalent to decommitments on the RAL made since 2021 cumulatively can be made available for the European Union Recovery Instrument (EURI); asks the Commissions to provide further analysis of the impact of RESTORE on the EURI;
7. Notes that payments to 2021-2027 cohesion policy programmes were at a very low level in the first few years of implementation leading to an increase in payment needs in the later years; recalls that this actual payment cycle does not coincide with the more linear payment profile set out in the MFF Regulation and that this situation results in the risk of exceeding payment ceilings in the later years; considers that the frontloading of payments towards 2025 and 2026 could alleviate the pressure on payments; calls on the Commission to closely monitor the evolution of payments and to provide timely information to Parliament in this regard;
8. Notes that support under RESTORE is considered not to alter the contribution of the ERDF and the ESF+ to climate targets as set out in point 16 of the IIA; underlines, however, that re-programming and inclusion of repair and reconstruction measures, particularly with ERDF support, could lead to resources being shifted from interventions with a higher coefficient in calculations of support to climate change objectives to those with lower coefficients, thus potentially reducing the expenditures supporting climate objectives; regrets that the Commission has not made an impact assessment of the proposal on the requirement for climate spending or climate-related classification of spending;
9. Fears that a broad definition of a ‘natural disaster’ could lead to more-than-estimated programme amendments, thus potentially triggering higher than estimated payment needs that have not yet been factored in for the coming years;
10. Highlights the importance of preventing double financing and calls on the Member States and the Commission to ensure that support under RESTORE is in addition to support under Union programmes, including the EUSF;
11. Concludes that the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council RESTORE - Regional Emergency Support to Reconstruction amending Regulation (EU) 2021/1058 and Regulation (EU) 2021/1057 is compatible with the elements referred to in Rule 58(3) of the Rules of Procedure.