Commission Regulation (EC) No 718/2007Show full title

Article 133 Conditions for the payment of the final balance

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:

(i)

an application for payment of the final balance and a statement of expenditure in accordance with Article 124;

(ii)

the final implementation report for the cross-border programme, including the information set out in Article 112;

(iii)

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.