Any repayment due to the Commission shall be effected before the due date indicated in the recovery order. The due date shall be 45 days from the date of the issuing of the debit note.

Any delay in effecting repayment shall give rise to interest on account of late payment, starting on the due date and ending on the date of actual payment. The rate of such interest shall be three and a half percentage points above the rate applied by the European Central Bank in its main refinancing operations on the first working day of the month in which the due date falls. Amounts to be repaid may be offset against amounts of any kind due to the beneficiary or participating country. This shall not affect the parties' right to agree on payment in instalments.