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1.Without prejudice to the obligation to pay the negative amount pursuant to Article 48(5), the beneficiary shall reimburse refunds unduly received, which includes any penalty applicable pursuant to Article 48(1) and interest calculated on the time elapsing between payment and reimbursement. However,
(a)where reimbursement is covered by an unreleased security, seizure of that security in accordance with Article 32(1) shall constitute recovery of the amounts due;
(b)where the security has been released, the beneficiary shall pay that part of the security which would have been forfeited, plus interest calculated from the date of release to the day preceding that of payment.
Payment shall be made within 30 days of receipt of the demand for payment.
Where beneficiaries are asked to reimburse funds, for the purposes of calculating interest the Member State may consider payment to be made on the 20th day following the date of the request for reimbursement.
The rate of interest applicable shall be calculated in accordance with national law; it may not, however, be lower than the rate applicable for the recovery of amounts under national provisions.
Where payment is made unduly as a result of an error by the competent authorities, no interest or at most an amount corresponding to the profit realised unduly, to be determined by the Member State, shall be collected.
Where the refund is paid to an assignee, he and the exporter shall be jointly and severally liable for reimbursement of amounts over-paid, securities unduly released and interest relating to the exports concerned. The assignee’s liability shall, however, be limited to the amount paid to him, plus interest.
2.Amounts recovered, amounts pursuant to Article 48(5) and (6) and interest collected shall be paid to the paying agencies, which shall deduct the amounts concerned from European Agricultural Guarantee Fund (EAGF) expenditure.
Where the time limit for payment is not met, Member States may decide that, in place of reimbursement, any amounts over-paid, securities unduly released and compensatory interest shall be deducted from subsequent payments to the exporter concerned.
The second subparagraph shall also apply to amounts to be paid pursuant to Article 48(5) and (6).
3.Without prejudice to the possibility provided for in Article 48(10) of waiving the application of penalties in the case of small amounts, Member States may waive the reimbursement of refunds over-paid, securities unduly released, interest and amounts as provided for in Article 48(5) where such reimbursement per export declaration does not exceed EUR 100, on condition that national law lays down similar rules providing for non-recovery in such cases.
4.The reimbursement obligation referred to in paragraph 1 shall not apply:
(a)if the payment was made by error of the competent authorities itself of the Member States or of another authority concerned and the error could not reasonably be detected by the beneficiary and the beneficiary for his part acted in good faith; or
(b)if the period which passed between the day of the notification to the beneficiary of the final decision on the granting of the refund and that of the first information of the beneficiary by a national or Community authority concerning the undue nature of the payment concerned is more than four years. This provision shall apply only if the beneficiary has acted in good faith.
The acts of any third party relating directly or indirectly to the formalities necessary for the payment of the refund, including the acts of the supervisory agencies, shall be attributable to the beneficiary.
The provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to advances on refunds. In case of non-reimbursement due to the application of this paragraph, the administrative sanction pursuant to point (a) of Article 48(1) shall not apply.