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DRAFT BUDGETARY ASSESSMENT (COM(2025)0599 – C100248/2025 – 2025/0264(CNS))

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 for the period 2028 to 2034

BUDG-PA-785490

Committee on Budgets · Rapporteur: Bogdan Rzońca

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The Committee on Budgets gives its budgetary assessment of the proposed Council Decision amending Decision (EU) 2021/1764 on the Association of the Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) and Greenland for 2028 to 2034. It considers the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 999 000 000 and welcomes the proposed EUR 530 million for Greenland. It asks for sufficient human resources from the outset and throughout the next multiannual financial framework (MFF), and for indicative sub-envelopes and specific OCT thematic and geographical budget lines. It stresses that loans and budgetary guarantees to OCTs must be transparently presented, monitored and provisioned from the OCT programme, and that complementarity with other programmes must not harm traceability of expenditure. It says external assigned revenue must be clearly circumscribed, transparent and subject to parliamentary scrutiny, with any amendments coordinated with the Committee on Budgets.

Committee position. The Committee on Budgets considers the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 999 000 000, welcomes EUR 530 million for Greenland, and asks for sufficient human resources, indicative sub-envelopes, specific OCT budget lines, transparent treatment of loans and guarantees, and scrutiny of external assigned revenue.

Key points

  1. The proposal sets up a framework for the association of the EU's Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs) including Greenland.
  2. It aims to foster cooperation with OCTs and Greenland in strategic sectors such as critical raw materials, renewable energy and sustainable tourism.
  3. The programme simplifies the existing funding architecture but stays separate from Global Europe because of its distinct legal nature.
  4. The Committee considers the programme envelope should be increased from EUR 999 000 000 to enable the Union to step up support for OCTs.
  5. It welcomes the Commission's proposal to allocate EUR 530 million to Greenland given its growing geostrategic importance in the Arctic region.
  6. It says sufficient human resources must be available from the outset and throughout the next MFF for effective implementation of the OCT programme.
  7. It deplores the lack of a limited breakdown of the OCT programme budget and recommends considering indicative sub-envelopes for the OCTs.
  8. It deplores the lack of a detailed indicative budgetary nomenclature and insists on specific OCT thematic and geographical budget lines for oversight and transparency.
  9. It says loans and budgetary guarantees to OCTs through Global Europe must be clearly identified, transparently presented and monitored, respecting the budgetary authority, with provisioning from the OCT programme.
  10. It says complementarity between the OCT programme, Global Europe and the European Competitiveness Fund must not harm traceability of expenditure, and contributions from other programmes must be identifiable at all stages.
  11. It says external assigned revenue under the OCT programme must be clearly circumscribed, transparent and subject to parliamentary scrutiny, and any amendments coordinated with the Committee on Budgets.

Who is affected

  • Overseas Countries and Territories: the programme supports their association with the EU and cooperation in strategic sectors.
  • Greenland: the proposal allocates EUR 530 million to it because of its geostrategic importance in the Arctic.
  • The Commission: it would implement the programme and decide spending priorities, which the Committee wants constrained.
  • The budgetary authority: it would gain oversight through specific budget lines and scrutiny of external assigned revenue.

Figures and deadlines

  • EUR 999 000 000 — the current programme envelope the Committee considers should be increased.
  • EUR 530 million — the funding the Commission proposes to allocate to Greenland.
  • 2028 to 2034 — the period covered by the proposed Council Decision.