What changed

10.2.2026

P10_TA(2026)0059

PROVISIONAL AGREEMENT RESULTING FROM INTERINSTITUTIONAL NEGOTIATIONS

Increased efficiency of the External Action Guarantee

Subject: Proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2021/947 as regards increased efficiency of the External Action Guarantee

Committee on Foreign Affairs, Committee on Development

(COM(2025)0262 – C100107/2025 – 2025/0262(COD))

PE776.794

The interinstitutional negotiations on the aforementioned proposal for a regulation have led to a compromise. In accordance with Rule 75(4) of the Rules of Procedure, the provisional agreement reproduced below is submitted to the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Development for decision by way of a single vote.

European Parliament legislative resolution of 10 March 2026 on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2021/947 as regards increased efficiency of the External Action Guarantee (COM(2025)0262 – C10-0107/2025 – 2025/0262(COD))

ANNEX

(Ordinary legislative procedure: first reading)

2025/0262 (COD)

– having regard to the Commission proposal to Parliament and the Council (COM(2025)0262),

Proposal for a

– having regard to Article 294(2) and Articles 209 and 212 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, pursuant to which the Commission submitted the proposal to Parliament (C100107/2025),

REGULATION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

– having regard to Article 294(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

on amending Regulation (EU) 2021/947 as regards increased efficiency of the External Action Guarantee

– having regard to the provisional agreement approved by the committees responsible under Rule 75(4) of its Rules of Procedure and the undertaking given by the Council representative by letter of 4 February 2026 to approve Parliament’s position, in accordance with Article 294(4) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

– having regard to Rule 60 of its Rules of Procedure,

Having– having regard to the Treatyjoint ondeliberations of the FunctioningCommittee ofon Foreign Affairs and the EuropeanCommittee Union,on andDevelopment inunder particularRule Articles59 209of andthe 212Rules thereof,of Procedure,

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission,

– having regard to the report of the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on Development (A10-0221/2025),

After transmission of the draft legislative act to the national parliaments,

1. Adopts its position at first reading hereinafter set out;

Acting in accordance with the ordinary legislative procedure,

2. Calls on the Commission to refer the matter to Parliament again if it replaces, substantially amends or intends to substantially amend its proposal;

Whereas:

3. Instructs its President to forward its position to the Council, the Commission and the national parliaments.

(-1) The Union’s external financing instruments, including the EFSD+, continue to be guided by the objectives and principles of the Union’s external action, as laid down in Article 3(5) and Articles 8 and 21 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and Article 208 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Measures to enhance the efficiency of the External Action Guarantee should be pursued in a manner fully consistent with those objectives and principles, while ensuring alignment between Union policies and partner countries' own priorities.

P10_TC1-COD(2025)0262

(1) The global geopolitical and geoeconomic context requires that the Union reaffirms its commitment to establish mutually beneficial partnerships with partner countries, including to consolidate democratic institutions, strengthen regional stability and security, address migration challenges, foster human development, diversify supply chains, uphold the rules-based international order and address the consequences of Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine.

Position of the European Parliament adopted at first reading on 10 March 2026 with a view to the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2026/… of the European Parliament and of the Council amending Regulation (EU) 2021/947 as regards increased efficiency of the External Action Guarantee

(1a) The Union and its Member States collectively remain the world’s largest providers of official development assistance, therefore their strategic ambitions and actions require strong visibility. As part of the Team Europe approach, the Union’s and Member States’ international cooperation policies should complement each other to improve the effectiveness, impact and value added of their collective assistance and contribute to strengthening awareness and the visibility of the Union's and its Member States' actions in partner countries.

(As an agreement was reached between Parliament and Council, Parliament's position corresponds to the final legislative act, Regulation (EU) 2026/995.)

(2) The Draghi report recommends ensuring a greater involvement of the private sector and to reduce excessive external dependencies by securing supply of raw materials, clean energy, sustainable transport fuels, and clean tech from across the world, thereby upgrading and leveraging the Global Gateway as well as the growth plans for the enlargement countries and the comprehensive partnerships with the Neighbourhood, which require additional resources.

(3) ▌

(4) An important Union financing instrument to deliver on the Global Gateway objectives and the strategic investments is the European Fund for Sustainable Development Plus (EFSD+), and notably its budgetary guarantee, a component of the External Action Guarantee established by Regulation (EU) 2021/947 of the European Parliament and of the Council. Efficiency gains on the External Action Guarantee would allow funding EU external action priorities, including possibly scaling up the Global Gateway, while adopting a differentiated context-specific approach to partner countries, especially those identified as experiencing fragility or conflict, LDCs and heavily indebted poor countries.

(4a) Taking into account risks of foreign influence and competing initiatives, in implementing the EFSD+, attention should be paid to ensuring that the Union provides support under the EAG only to operations that comply with EU values and interests and ensure a level playing field and fair competition for EU companies.

(5) EFSD+ has met a very high demand from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and other development financial institutions (DFIs), as confirmed by the evaluation of the External Financing Instruments for the 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 Multiannual Financial Frameworks.

(6) The guarantee cover of EFSD+ could be increased until 2027 with surpluses from the European Sustainable Development Fund (EFSD) and by using more efficiently the Union guarantee by reducing its EU liability under the EIB’s exclusive dedicated investment window for operations with sovereign counterparts and non-commercial sub-sovereign counterparts from 65 % to 60 %. The latter would only come into effect after amending the corresponding guarantee agreement between the Commission and the EIB. The assignment of surpluses from legacy instruments to the benefit of EFSD+ is without prejudice to the negotiations on the post-2027 multiannual financial framework.

(7) Assigning the EFSD guarantee surpluses to the EFSD+ provisioning as from 31 December 2024 requires a derogation from Article 216(4), point (a), of the Financial Regulation.

(7a) In the interest of a balanced and inclusive external action that reflects the Union’s broader geopolitical commitments, the assignment of EFSD guarantee surpluses to the EFSD+ provisioning should be made in compliance with the balance across all eligible regions, as enshrined in the financial geographic envelopes set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/947, and in particular with the minimum amounts referred to in point (a) of Article 6(2) of that Regulation.

(8) Allowing the use of resources of the EFSD+ guarantee to pay guarantee calls on the EFSD guarantee as from 31 December 2024 requires a derogation from Article 214(6) of the Financial Regulation.

(9) The capacity of the EIB, the EBRD and the DFIs to efficiently implement additional resources should be increased by the simplification of the framework for blending operations, the consolidation of guarantee and technical assistance agreements with the same implementing partner and the reduction of the financial reporting from a quarterly frequency to a semi-annual one. Simplification is essential to mobilise private investment at scale, increase the leverage effect of Union funds and create a predictable environment for private partners willing to co-invest in sustainable development.

(10) In addition, in terms of simplification, the obligation of implementing partners to audit the information on individual operations under guarantee agreements that they must provide in their annual reporting to the Commission, which is not required by the Financial Regulation, shall be removed.

(10a) Efficiency and simplification should be accompanied by appropriate transparency and accountability, in line with the Commission’s reporting obligations under Article 41(7) of Regulation (EU) 2021/947 towards the budgetary authority, including clear information about the performance of EFSD and EFSD+, on the leveraging of the funds, the fund allocation to programmes and projects, total surpluses and deficits identified, the origin of any surpluses and the amounts proposed for reallocation. The Commission should provide clear and regular reporting on the additionality of EFSD+ operations, including evidence that supported portfolios carry a higher risk profile than comparable normal investment activities of implementing partners.

(11) Since the objectives of this Regulation, namely to enhance the Unions engagement with its partner countries and reduce its excessive external dependencies, cannot be sufficiently achieved by the Member States, but can be better achieved at Union level, the Union may adopt measures in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity as set out in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union. In accordance with the principle of proportionality as set out in that Article, this Regulation does not go beyond what is necessary to achieve those objectives,

HAVE ADOPTED THIS REGULATION:

Article 1 Amendments to Regulation (EU) 2021/947 [NDICI-Global Europe Regulation]

Regulation (EU) 2021/947 is amended as follows:

(1) Article 30(4) is amended as follows:

‘By way of derogation from Article 212(3) of the Financial Regulation, repayments and revenues generated by a financial instrument established under this Regulation shall be assigned to the budget line of origin after deduction of management costs and fees.

By way of derogation from Article 216(4), point (a), of the Financial Regulation, any surplus of provisions for the EFSD guarantee under Regulation (EU) 2017/1601 reported in 2025, 2026 and 2027 in the working document attached to the draft budget as per Article 41(5), point (h), of the Financial Regulation, shall be used for the provisioning of the budgetary guarantee supported by EFSD+ established under this Regulation.

The resources referred in the first two subparagraphs of this paragraph shall constitute internal assigned revenue within the meaning of Article 21(5) of the Financial Regulation.’

(2) in Article 31(8), the following subparagraph is added:

‘By way of derogation from Article 214(6) of the Financial Regulation, EFSD+ resources relating to provisioning of the budgetary guarantee supported by EFSD+ established by this Regulation and referred to in Article 214(4), first subparagraph, points (b) ▌ and (d), of the Financial Regulation, shall be used to cover payment of calls above EUR 10 million on the EFSD guarantee in 2025, 2026 and 2027.’

(3) in Article 36(1), second subparagraph, the second sentence is replaced by the following:

‘Under the exclusive dedicated investment window, the own resources contribution shall be understood as the assumption of residual risk and the EU guarantee shall cover 60 % of the aggregate amount disbursed and guaranteed under EIB financing operations, less amounts reimbursed, plus all related amounts.’

(4) Article 38(6) is repealed.

Article 2 Entry into force and application

This Regulation shall enter into force on the twentieth day following that of its publication in the Official Journal of the European Union.

This Regulation shall be binding in its entirety and directly applicable in all Member States.

Done at Brussels,

For the European Parliament For the Council

The President The President