1.Community aid may cover only project-related expenditure incurred by the beneficiaries or by third parties responsible for the implementation of a project.
2.Expenditure incurred before the date on which the Commission received the application for financial aid shall not be covered.
3.Decisions to grant financial aid taken by the Commission under Article 10 shall be binding as commitments to incur expenditure authorised by the Budget.
4.As a general rule, payments shall be made in the form of advances, intermediate payments and a final payment. The advance, which shall not normally exceed 50 % of the first annual tranche, shall be paid once the application for aid has been approved. Intermediate payments shall be made on the basis of requests for payment, taking account of the progress made in implementing the project or study and, if necessary, taking account of revised financial plans in a rigorous and transparent manner.
5.The payments must take account of the fact the infrastructure projects will be implemented over a period of years and that provision must therefore be made for multiannual financing.
6.The Commission shall make the final payment after approval of the final report on the project or study, submitted by the beneficiary and itemising all the expenditure actually incurred.
7.In accordance with the procedure referred to in Article 18(2), the Commission shall establish a framework for the procedures, timetable and amounts for payments of interest rate subsidies, guarantee premium subsidies and support in the form of risk capital participation, for investment funds or comparable financial undertakings with a priority focus on providing risk capital for trans-European network projects.