Regulation (EU) No 1303/2013 of the European Parliament and of the CouncilShow full title

CHAPTER I Financial management

Article 76 Budget commitments

The budget commitments of the Union in respect of each programme shall be made in annual instalments for each Fund during the period between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2020. The budget commitments relating to the performance reserve in each programme shall be made separately from the remaining allocation to the programme.

The decision of the Commission adopting a programme shall constitute a financing decision within the meaning of Article 84 of the Financial Regulation and once notified to the Member State concerned, a legal commitment within the meaning of that Regulation.

For each programme, the budget commitments for the first instalment shall follow the adoption of the programme by the Commission.

The budget commitments for subsequent instalments shall be made by the Commission before 1 May of each year, on the basis of the decision referred to in the second paragraph of this Article, except where Article 16 of the Financial Regulation applies.

Following application of the performance framework in accordance with Article 22, where priorities have not achieved their milestones, the Commission shall where necessary decommit the corresponding appropriations committed to the programmes concerned as part of the performance reserve and shall make them available again for the programmes for which the allocation is increased as a result of an amendment approved by the Commission in accordance with Article 22(5).

Article 77 Common rules for payments

1. Payments by the Commission of the contribution from the ESI Funds to each programme shall be made in accordance with budget appropriations and subject to available funding. Each payment shall be posted to the earliest open budget commitment of the Fund concerned.

2. Payments related to the commitments of the performance reserve shall not be made prior to the definitive allocation of the performance reserve, in accordance with Article 22(3) and (4).

3. Payments shall take the form of pre-financing, interim payments and payment of the final balance.

4. For forms of support under points (b), (c) and (d) of the first subparagraph of Article 67(1) and under Articles 68 and 69, costs calculated on the applicable basis shall be regarded as eligible expenditure.

Article 78 Common rules for calculating interim payments, and payment of the final balance

The Fund-specific rules shall lay down rules for the calculation of the amount reimbursed as interim payments, and of the final balance. That amount shall be a function of the specific co-financing rate applicable to the eligible expenditure.

Article 79 Requests for payment

1. The specific procedure and information to be submitted for requests for payment in relation to each ESI Fund shall be laid down in the Fund-specific rules.

2. The request for payment to be submitted to the Commission shall provide all the information necessary for the Commission to produce accounts in accordance with Article 68(3) of the Financial Regulation.

Article 80 Use of the euro

Amounts set out in programmes submitted by Member States, forecasts of expenditure, statements of expenditure, requests for payment, accounts and expenditure mentioned in the annual and final implementation reports shall be denominated in euro.

Article 81 Payment of initial pre-financing

1. Following the Commission decision adopting the programme, an initial pre-financing amount for the whole programming period shall be paid by the Commission. The initial pre-financing amount shall be paid in instalments according to budgetary needs. The level of the instalments shall be defined in the Fund-specific rules.

2. Initial pre-financing shall be used only for payments to beneficiaries in the implementation of the programme. It shall be made available without delay to the body responsible for that purpose.

Article 82 Clearance of initial pre-financing

The amount paid as initial pre-financing shall be totally cleared from the Commission accounts not later than when the programme is closed.

Article 83 Interruption of the payment deadline

1. The payment deadline for an interim payment claim may be interrupted by the authorising officer by delegation within the meaning of the Financial Regulation for a maximum period of six months if:

(a) following information provided by a national or Union audit body, there is clear evidence to suggest a significant deficiency in the functioning of the management and control system;

(b) the authorising officer by delegation has to carry out additional verifications following information that has come to that officer's attention alerting him or her that expenditure in a request for payment is linked to an irregularity having serious financial consequences;

(c) there is a failure to submit one of the documents required under Article 59(5) of the Financial Regulation.

The Member State may agree to an extension of the interruption period for another three months.

The Fund-specific rules for the EMFF may lay down specific bases for interruption of payments linked to non-compliance with rules applicable under the Common Fisheries Policy, which shall be proportionate, having regard to the nature, gravity, duration and recurrence of the non-compliance.

2. The authorising officer by delegation shall limit the interruption to the part of the expenditure covered by the payment claim affected by the elements referred to in the first subparagraph of paragraph 1, unless it is not possible to identify the part of the expenditure affected. The authorising officer by delegation shall inform the Member State and the managing authority in writing immediately of the reason for interruption and shall ask them to remedy the situation. The interruption shall be ended by the authorising officer by delegation as soon as the necessary measures have been taken.