1.Appropriations which have not been used by the end of the financial year for which they were entered shall be cancelled.
However, they may be carried over, but only to the following financial year, by a decision taken by 15 February by the institution concerned, in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3, or they may be carried over automatically in accordance with paragraph 4.
2.Differentiated commitment appropriations and non-differentiated appropriations not yet committed at the end of the financial year may be carried over in respect of:
(a)amounts corresponding to commitment appropriations, or to non-differentiated appropriations relating to building projects, for which most of the preparatory stages of the commitment procedure have been completed by 31 December. Such amounts may then be committed up to 31 March of the following year, or up to 31 December of the following year for amounts relating to building projects;
(b)amounts which are necessary when the legislative authority has adopted a basic act in the final quarter of the financial year and the Commission has been unable to commit the appropriations provided for this purpose by 31 December[F1;]
[F2(c) amounts corresponding to commitment appropriations for the Emergency Aid Reserve.]
[F2The amounts referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph may be carried over to the next financial year only.]
3.Payment appropriations may be carried over in respect of amounts needed to cover existing commitments or commitments linked to commitment appropriations carried over, where the payment appropriations provided for in the relevant budget lines for the following financial year are not sufficient to cover requirements.
The institution concerned shall first use the appropriations authorised for the current financial year and shall not use the appropriations carried over until the former are exhausted.
4.Non-differentiated appropriations corresponding to obligations duly contracted at the end of the financial year shall be carried over automatically to the following financial year only.
5.The institution concerned shall inform the European Parliament and the Council by 15 March of the carry-over decision it has taken and shall state, for each budget line, how the criteria in paragraphs 2 and 3 have been applied to each carry-over.
[F16. Without prejudice to point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2 of this Article and to Article 14, appropriations placed in reserve and appropriations for staff expenditure shall not be carried over. For the purposes of this Article, staff expenditure comprises the remuneration and allowances for members and staff of the institutions to which the Staff Regulations apply.]
7.The Commission shall be empowered to adopt delegated acts in accordance with Article 210 concerning detailed rules for the cancellation and carry-over of appropriations.