1.Payments by the Commission of the contribution from the Community funds shall be made in accordance with the budget appropriations. Each payment shall be posted to the earliest open budget commitments.
2.Payments shall take the form of pre-financing, interim payments and payment of the final balance. They shall be made to the body designated by the participating countries.
3.At the latest by 30 April each year, the certifying authority shall send the Commission a provisional forecast of its likely payment applications for the current financial year and the subsequent financial year.
4.All exchanges concerning financial transactions between the Commission and the authorities and bodies designated by the participating countries shall be made by electronic means. In cases of force majeure, and in particular of malfunction of the common computerised system or a lack of a lasting connection, the certifying authority may forward the statement of expenditure and the payment application in hard copy.
Interim payments and payments of the final balance shall be calculated by applying the co-financing rate for each priority axis to the eligible expenditure mentioned under that priority axis in each statement of expenditure certified by the certifying authority.
However, the Community contribution through the interim payments and payments of the final balance shall not be greater than the public contribution and the maximum amount of assistance from the Community funds for each priority axis as laid down in the decision of the Commission approving the cross-border programme.
1.All statements of expenditure shall include, for each priority axis, the total amount of eligible expenditure, in accordance with Article 89 paid by final beneficiaries in implementing the operations and the corresponding public expenditure paid or due to be paid to the final beneficiaries according to the conditions governing the public expenditure. Expenditure paid by final beneficiaries shall be justified by receipted invoices or accounting documents of equivalent probative value.
[F12. Where the contribution from the Community funds is calculated with reference to public expenditure as provided for in Article 90(2), any information on expenditure other than public expenditure shall not affect the amount due as calculated on the basis of the payment request.]
Textual Amendments
The provisions laid down in Article 40(5) apply mutatis mutandis.
The provisions laid down in Article 40(9) apply mutatis mutandis .]
Textual Amendments
1.Amounts set out in the submitted cross-border programmes of the participating countries, certified statements of expenditure, payment application and expenditure mentioned in the annual and final report on implementation shall be denominated in euro.
2.Commission decisions on cross-border programmes, Commission commitments and payments, shall be denominated and carried out in euro.
3.Lead beneficiaries for projects involving final beneficiaries in participating countries which have not adopted the euro as their currency on the date of the payment application shall convert into euro the amounts of expenditure incurred in national currency.
[F1The amount shall be converted into euro using the monthly accounting exchange rate of the Commission in the month in which the expenditure was submitted by the final beneficiary to the controllers referred to in Article 108. This rate shall be published electronically by the Commission each month.]
4.When the euro becomes the currency of a participating country, the conversion procedure set out in paragraph 3 shall continue to apply to all expenditure recorded in the accounts by the certifying authority before the date of entry into force of the fixed conversion rate between the national currency and the euro.
Textual Amendments
1.Following the Commission decision approving the cross-border programme, and upon acceptance of the report referred to in Article 116, a single pre-financing amount shall be paid by the Commission to the body designated by the participating countries.
The pre-financing amount shall amount to [F150 %] of the first three budgetary commitments to the programme.
The pre-financing amount may be paid in two instalments, where necessary with regard to the availability of budgetary commitment.
2.The total amount paid as pre-financing shall be reimbursed to the Commission by the body designated by the participating countries if no payment application under the cross-border programme is sent within twenty-four months of the date on which the Commission pays the first instalment of the pre-financing amount.
Textual Amendments
The provisions laid down in Article 36 apply mutatis mutandis.
The amount paid as pre-financing shall be totally cleared from the Commission accounts when the cross-border programme is closed in accordance with Article 133.
1.Each interim payment made by the Commission shall be subject to the following conditions being met:
(a)the Commission must have been sent a payment application and a statement of expenditure in accordance with Article 124;
(b)no more than the maximum amount of assistance from the Community funds as laid down in the decision of the Commission approving the cross-border programme has been paid by the Commission during the whole period for each priority axis;
(c)the managing authority must have sent the Commission the most recent annual implementation report in accordance with Article 112;
(d)the absence of a reasoned opinion by the Commission in respect of an infringement under Article 226 of the Treaty, as regards the operation(s) for which the expenditure is declared in the payment application in question.
2.If one or more of the conditions referred to in paragraph 1 are not met, the participating countries and the certifying authority shall be informed by the Commission within a deadline of one month so that the necessary steps can be taken to remedy the situation.
1.The certifying authority shall send requests for interim payments for each cross-border programme to the Commission, as far as possible, on three separate occasions a year. For a payment to be made by the Commission in the current year, the latest date on which a payment application shall be submitted is 31 October.
2.Subject to available funding, and the absence of a suspension of payments in accordance with Article 136, the Commission shall make the interim payment no later than two months after the date on which a payment application meeting the above conditions referred to in Article 131 is registered with the Commission.
1.The Commission shall pay the final balance provided that:
(a)the certifying authority has sent a payment application comprising the following documents by 31 March of the fifth year following the last budgetary commitment:
an application for payment of the final balance and a statement of expenditure in accordance with Article 124;
the final implementation report for the cross-border programme, including the information set out in Article 112;
a closure declaration referred to in Article 105(1)(d); and
(b)there is no reasoned opinion by the Commission in respect of an infringement under Article 226 of the Treaty, as regards the operation(s) for which the expenditure is declared in the payment application in question.
2.Failure to send any of the documents referred to in paragraph 1 to the Commission shall automatically result in the de-commitment of the final balance, in accordance with Article 137.
3.The Commission shall inform the participating countries of its opinion on the content of the closure declaration within five months of the date of its receipt.
The closure declaration shall be deemed to be accepted in the absence of observations by the Commission within a deadline of five months.
4.Subject to available funding, the Commission shall pay the final balance within forty-five days from the later of the following dates:
(a)the date on which it accepts the final report in accordance with Article 112; and
(b)the date on which it accepts the closure declaration.
5.Without prejudice to paragraph 6, the balance of the budgetary commitment shall be de-committed twelve months following the payment of the final balance. The cross-border programme is considered closed as soon as one of the following events occurs:
(a)the payment of the final balance determined by the Commission on the basis of the documents referred to in paragraph 1;
(b)the sending of a debit note for sums unduly paid by the Commission to the participating countries in respect of the cross-border programme;
(c)the de-commitment of the final balance of the budgetary commitment.
The Commission shall inform the participating countries about the date of the closure of the cross-border programme within a deadline of two months.
6.Notwithstanding the results of any audits performed by the Commission or the European Court of Auditors, the final balance paid by the Commission for the cross-border programme can be amended within nine months of the date on which it is paid or, where there is a negative balance to be reimbursed by the participating countries, within nine months of the date on which the debit note is issued. Such amendment of the balance shall not affect the date of the closure of the cross-border programme as set out in paragraph 5.
1.Without prejudice to the rules governing State aid under Article 87 of the Treaty, the managing authority shall ensure that all the supporting documents regarding expenditure and audits on the cross-border programme concerned are kept available for the Commission and the Court of Auditors for a period of three years following the closure of a cross-border programme as defined in Article 133(5).
This period shall be interrupted either in the case of legal proceedings or at the duly motivated request of the Commission.
2.The documents shall be kept either in the form of the originals or in versions certified to be in conformity with the originals on commonly accepted data carriers.
3.The managing authority shall keep a record of the bodies holding the original supporting documents relating to expenditure and checks, comprising:
(a)documents relating to specific expenditure incurred and declared payments made under the assistance and required for a sufficient audit trail including documents constituting proof of the actual delivery of products or services co-financed;
(b)reports and documents relating to checks carried out by the bodies referred to in Article 102.
4.The managing authority shall ensure that the documents referred to in paragraph 1 are made available for inspection by, and extracts or copies thereof are supplied to, persons and bodies entitled thereto, including at least authorised staff of the managing authority, certifying authority, intermediate bodies and audit authority and authorised officials of the Community and their authorised representatives.
5.The following at least shall be considered as commonly accepted data carriers as referred to in paragraph 2:
(a)photocopies of original documents;
(b)microfiches of original documents;
(c)electronic versions of original documents;
(d)documents existing in electronic version only.
6.The procedure for certification of conformity of documents held on commonly accepted data carriers with the original document shall be laid down by the national authorities and shall ensure that the versions held comply with national legal requirements and can be relied on for audit purposes.
7.Where documents exist in electronic version only, the computer systems used must meet accepted security standards that ensure that the documents held comply with national legal requirements and can be relied on for audit purposes.
1.The payment deadline may be interrupted by the authorising officer by delegation within the meaning of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002 for a maximum period of six months if:
(a)in a report of a national or Community audit body there is evidence to suggest a significant deficiency in the functioning of the management and control systems;
(b)the authorising officer by delegation has to carry out additional verifications following information coming to his attention alerting him that expenditure in a certified statement of expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity which has not been corrected.
2.The participating countries and the certifying authority shall be informed immediately of the reasons for the interruption. The interruption shall be ended as soon as the necessary measures have been taken by the participating countries.
1.All or part of the interim payments at the level of priority axes or programmes may be suspended by the Commission where:
(a)there is a serious deficiency in the management and control system of the programme which affects the reliability of the procedure for certification of payments and for which corrective measures have not been taken; or
(b)expenditure in a certified statement of expenditure is linked to a serious irregularity which has not been corrected; or
(c)there is a serious breach by participating countries of their obligations under Article 114.
2.The Commission may decide to suspend all or part of interim payments after having given the participating countries the opportunity to present their observations within a period of two months.
3.The Commission shall end suspension of all or part of interim payments when the participating countries have taken the necessary measures to enable the suspension to be lifted. Where the required measures have not been taken by the participating countries, the Commission may adopt the decision to cancel all or part of the Community contribution to the cross-border programme, in accordance with Article 138.
Automatic and final de-commitment of any portion of the budgetary commitment for a cross-border programme shall follow the rules laid down in paragraph 3 of Article 166 of Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1605/2002.
1.For the purpose of financial corrections, the relevant provisions contained in Articles 98, 99, 100, 101 and 102 of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 shall apply mutatis mutandis.
2.For the purposes of irregularities, the relevant provisions contained in Articles 27 to 34 of Commission Regulation (EC) No 1828/2006(1) setting out the rules for the implementation of Regulation (EC) No 1083/2006 and of Regulation (EC) No 1080/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council shall apply mutatis mutandis.