Regulation (EU, Euratom) 2018/1046 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 July 2018 on the financial rules applicable to the general budget of the Union, amending Regulations (EU) No 1296/2013, (EU) No 1301/2013, (EU) No 1303/2013, (EU) No 1304/2013, (EU) No 1309/2013, (EU) No 1316/2013, (EU) No 223/2014, (EU) No 283/2014, and Decision No 541/2014/EU and repealing Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012

The financial rules of the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 shall not depart from the framework financial regulation except where their specific needs so require and subject to the Commission’s prior consent.

Discharge for the implementation of the budgets of the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 shall be given by the European Parliament on the recommendation of the Council. The bodies referred to in paragraph 1 shall fully cooperate with the Union institutions involved in the discharge procedure and provide, as appropriate, any additional necessary information, including through attendance at meetings of the relevant bodies.

The internal auditor of the Commission shall exercise the same powers over the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 as those exercised in respect of the Commission.

An independent external auditor shall verify that the annual accounts of each of the bodies referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article properly present the income, expenditure and financial position of the relevant body prior to the consolidation in the Commission’s final accounts. Unless otherwise provided in the relevant basic act, the Court of Auditors shall prepare a specific annual report on each body in line with the requirements of Article 287(1) TFEU. In preparing that report, the Court of Auditors shall consider the audit work performed by the independent external auditor and the action taken in response to the auditor’s findings.

All aspects of the independent external audits referred to in paragraph 6, including the reported findings, shall remain under the full responsibility of the Court of Auditors.

The duties of authorising officer and accounting officer shall be segregated and mutually exclusive.

Each Union institution shall provide each financial actor with the resources required to perform his or her duties and a charter describing in detail his or her tasks, rights and obligations.

Each Union institution shall perform the duties of authorising officer.

For the purposes of this Title, ‘staff’ means persons covered by the Staff Regulations.

Each Union institution shall, in compliance with the conditions in its rules of procedure, delegate the duties of authorising officer to staff at an appropriate level. It shall, in its internal administrative rules, indicate the staff to whom it delegates those duties, the scope of the powers delegated and whether the persons to whom those powers are delegated may subdelegate them.

The powers of authorising officer shall be delegated or subdelegated only to staff.

The authorising officer responsible shall act within the limits set by the instrument of delegation or subdelegation. The authorising officer responsible may be assisted by one or more members of staff entrusted, under his or her responsibility, with the carrying out of certain operations necessary for budget implementation and the production of the financial and management information.

Each Union institution and each Union body referred to in Article 70 shall inform the European Parliament, the Council, the Court of Auditors and the accounting officer of the Commission within two weeks of the appointment and the termination of the duties of authorising officers by delegation, internal auditors and accounting officers, and of any internal rules it adopts in respect of financial matters.

Each Union institution shall inform the Court of Auditors of delegation decisions and of the appointment of imprest administrators under Articles 79 and 88.

The authorising officer shall be responsible in the Union institution concerned for implementing revenue and expenditure in accordance with the principle of sound financial management, including through ensuring reporting on performance, and for ensuring compliance with the requirements of legality and regularity and equal treatment of recipients.

For the purposes of paragraph 1 of this Article, the authorising officer by delegation shall, in accordance with Article 36 and the minimum standards adopted by each Union institution and having due regard to the risks associated with the management environment and the nature of the actions financed, put in place the organisational structure and the internal control systems suited to the performance of his or her duties. The establishment of such structure and systems shall be supported by a comprehensive risk analysis, which takes into account their cost effectiveness and performance considerations.

To implement expenditure, the authorising officer responsible shall make budgetary and legal commitments, shall validate expenditure and authorise payments and shall undertake the preliminary steps for the implementation of appropriations.

To implement revenue, the authorising officer responsible shall draw up estimates of amounts receivable, establish entitlements to be recovered and issue recovery orders. Where appropriate, the authorising officer responsible shall waive established entitlements.

In order to prevent errors and irregularities before the authorisation of operations and to mitigate risks of non-achievement of objectives, each operation shall be subject at least to an ex ante control relating to the operational and financial aspects of the operation, on the basis of a multiannual control strategy which takes risk into account.

The authorising officer by delegation may put in place ex post controls to detect and correct errors and irregularities of operations after they have been authorised. Such controls may be organised on a sample basis according to risk and shall take account of the results of prior controls as well as cost-effectiveness and performance considerations.

Authorising officers responsible and staff responsible for budget implementation shall have the necessary professional skills.

If a member of staff, involved in the financial management and control of transactions, considers that a decision he or she is required by his or her superior to apply or to agree to is irregular or contrary to the principle of sound financial management or the professional rules which that member of staff is required to observe, he or she shall inform his or her hierarchical superior accordingly. If the member of staff does so in writing, the hierarchical superior shall reply in writing. If the hierarchical superior fails to take action or confirms the initial decision or instruction and the member of staff believes that such confirmation does not constitute a reasonable response to his or her concern, the member of staff shall inform the authorising officer by delegation in writing. If that officer does not reply within a reasonable time given the circumstances of the case and in any event within a month, the member of staff shall inform the relevant panel referred to in Article 143.

The authorising officer by delegation shall report to his or her Union institution on the performance of his or her duties in the form of an annual activity report containing financial and management information, including the results of controls, declaring that, except as otherwise specified in any reservations related to defined areas of revenue and expenditure, he or she has reasonable assurance that:

The authorising officer by delegation shall, for each financial year, record contracts concluded by negotiated procedures in accordance with points (a) to (f) of point 11.1 and point 39 of Annex I. If the proportion of negotiated procedures in relation to the number of contracts awarded by the same authorising officer by delegation increases significantly in relation to earlier years or if that proportion is distinctly higher than the average recorded for the Union institution, the authorising officer responsible shall report to the Union institution setting out any measures taken to reverse that trend. Each Union institution shall send a report on negotiated procedures to the European Parliament and to the Council. In the case of the Commission, that report shall be annexed to the summary of the annual activity reports referred to in paragraph 9 of this Article.

Where Heads of Union delegations act as authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance with Article 60(2), they shall be subject to the Commission as the Union institution responsible for the definition, exercise, monitoring and appraisal of their duties and responsibilities as authorising officers by subdelegation and shall cooperate closely with the Commission with regard to the proper implementation of the funds, in order to ensure, in particular, the legality and regularity of financial transactions, respect for the principle of sound financial management in the management of the funds and the effective protection of the financial interests of the Union. They shall be subject to the internal rules of the Commission and to the Commission Charter for the implementation of the financial management tasks subdelegated to them. They may be assisted in their duties by Commission staff of Union delegations.

If Heads of Union delegations find themselves in a situation as referred to in Article 74(8), they shall refer the matter to the panel referred to in Article 143. In the event of any illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Union, they shall inform the authorities and bodies designated by the applicable legislation.

Heads of Union delegations acting as authorising officers by subdelegation in accordance with Article 60(2) shall report to their authorising officer by delegation so that the latter can integrate their reports in his or her annual activity report referred to in Article 74(9). The reports of Heads of Union delegations shall include information on the efficiency and effectiveness of internal control systems put in place in their delegation, as well as on the management of operations subdelegated to them, and provide the assurance referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 92(5). Those reports shall be annexed to the annual activity report of the authorising officer by delegation, and shall be made available to the European Parliament and to the Council having due regard, where appropriate, to their confidentiality.

Paragraphs 1, 2 and 3 shall also apply to deputy Heads of Union delegations when they act as authorising officers by subdelegation in the absence of Heads of Union delegations.

Each Union institution shall appoint an accounting officer who shall be responsible in that institution for the following:

The responsibilities of the accounting officer of the EEAS shall concern only the section of the budget relating to the EEAS as implemented by the EEAS. The accounting officer of the Commission shall remain responsible for the entire section of the budget relating to the Commission, including accounting operations relating to appropriations subdelegated to Heads of Union delegations.

Each Union institution shall appoint an accounting officer from officials subject to the Staff Regulations.

Two or more Union institutions or bodies may appoint the same accounting officer.

A trial balance shall be drawn up without delay in the event of termination of the duties of the accounting officer.

The trial balance accompanied by a hand-over report shall be transmitted to the new accounting officer by the accounting officer who is terminating his or her duties or, if it is not possible, by an official in his or her department.

The accounting rules to be applied by Union institutions, European offices and the agencies and Union bodies referred to in Section 2 of Chapter 3 of this Title shall be based on internationally accepted accounting standards for the public sector. Those rules shall be adopted by the accounting officer of the Commission following consultation with the accounting officers of other Union institutions, European offices and Union bodies.

The accounting officer may deviate from the standards referred to in paragraph 1 if he or she considers this necessary in order to give a fair presentation of the assets and liabilities, charges, income and cash flow. Where an accounting rule diverges materially from those standards, the notes to the financial statements shall disclose that fact and the reasons for it.

The accounting rules referred to in paragraph 1 shall lay down the structure and content of the financial statements, as well as the accounting principles underlying the accounts.

The budget implementation reports referred to in Article 241 shall respect the budgetary principles laid down in this Regulation. They shall provide a detailed record of budget implementation. They shall record all revenue and expenditure operations provided for in this Title and give a fair presentation thereon.

The accounting officer of each Union institution or body shall draw up and keep updated documents describing the organisation of the accounts and the accounting procedures of his or her Union institution or body.

Revenue and expenditure shall be recorded in a computerised system according to the economic nature of the operation, as current revenue or expenditure or as capital.

The accounting officer of the Commission shall be responsible for laying down the harmonised charts of accounts to be applied by Union institutions, by European offices and by the agencies and Union bodies referred to in Section 2 of Chapter 3 of this Title.

The accounting officers shall obtain from authorising officers all the information necessary for the production of accounts which give a fair presentation of the financial situation of Union institutions and of budget implementation. The authorising officers shall guarantee the reliability of that information.

Before the adoption of the accounts by the Union institution or the Union body referred to in Article 70, the accounting officer shall sign them off, thereby certifying that he or she has reasonable assurance that the accounts give a fair presentation of the financial situation of the Union institution or the Union body referred to in Article 70.

The authorising officer by delegation shall, in accordance with the rules adopted by the accounting officer, send the accounting officer any financial and management information required for the performance of the accounting officer’s duties.

The authorising officer responsible shall notify the accounting officer of all developments or significant modifications of a financial management system, an inventory system or a system for the valuation of assets and liabilities, if it provides data for the accounts of the Union institution or is used to substantiate data thereof, so that the accounting officer can verify compliance with the validation criteria.

The accounting officer shall be empowered to check the information received as well as to carry out any further checks he or she deems necessary in order to sign off the accounts.

A Union institution’s accounting system shall serve to organise the budgetary and financial information in such a way that figures can be entered, filed and registered.

The accounting system shall consist of general accounts and budget accounts. The accounts shall be kept in euro and on the basis of the calendar year.

The authorising officer by delegation may also keep detailed management accounts.

Supporting documents for the accounting system and for the preparation of the accounts referred to in Article 241 shall be kept for at least five years from the date on which the European Parliament gives discharge for the financial year to which the documents relate.

The budget accounts shall for each subdivision of the budget show:

The budget accounts shall show separately:

The general accounts shall, in chronological order using the double-entry method, record all events and operations which affect the economic and financial situation and the assets and liabilities of Union institutions and of the agencies and Union bodies referred to in Section 2 of Chapter 3 of this Title.

Balances and movements in the general accounts shall be entered in the accounting ledgers.

All accounting entries, including adjustments to the accounts, shall be based on supporting documents, to which the entries shall refer.

The accounting system shall be such as to leave a clear audit trail for all accounting entries.

For the requirements of treasury management, the accounting officer may, in the name of his or her Union institution, open accounts with financial institutions or national central banks or request for such accounts to be opened. The accounting officer shall also be responsible for closing those accounts or for ensuring that they are closed.

The terms governing the opening, operation and use of bank accounts shall, depending on internal control requirements, provide that cheques, bank credit transfer orders or any other banking operations must be signed by one or more duly authorised members of staff. Manual instructions shall be signed by at least two duly authorised members of staff, or by the accounting officer.

Within the implementation of a programme or an action, fiduciary accounts may be opened on behalf of the Commission in order to allow for their management by an entity pursuant to point (c)(ii), (iii), (v) or (vi) of the first subparagraph of Article 62(1).

The accounting officer of the Commission shall lay down rules for the opening, management and closure of fiduciary accounts and their use.

Unless otherwise provided in this Regulation, only the accounting officer shall be empowered to manage cash and cash equivalents. The accounting officer shall be responsible for their safekeeping.

The accounting officer shall ensure that his or her Union institution has at its disposal sufficient funds to cover the cash requirements arising from budget implementation within the applicable regulatory framework and shall set up procedures to ensure that none of the accounts opened in accordance with Articles 85(1) and 89(3) is in debit.

Payments shall be made by bank credit transfer, by cheque or, from imprest accounts, or if specifically authorised by the accounting officer, by debit card, direct debit or other means of payment, in accordance with the rules laid down by the accounting officer.

Union institutions and agencies or Union bodies referred to in Section 2 of Chapter 3 of this Title shall keep inventories showing the quantity and value of all their tangible, intangible and financial assets in accordance with a model drawn up by the accounting officer of the Commission.

The sale of the Union’s tangible assets shall be suitably advertised.

Union institutions and agencies or Union bodies referred to in Section 2 of Chapter 3 of this Title shall adopt provisions on safeguarding the assets included in their respective inventories and decide which administrative departments are responsible for the inventory system.

Imprest accounts may be set up for the payment of expenditure where, owing to the limited amounts involved, it is materially impossible or inefficient to carry out payment operations by budgetary procedures. Imprest accounts may also be set up for the collection of revenue other than own resources.

In Union delegations, imprest accounts shall be set up for the payment of expenditure from both the sections of the budget relating to the Commission and to the EEAS, ensuring full traceability of expenditure.

The creation of an imprest account and the appointment of an imprest administrator shall be the subject of a decision by the accounting officer of the Union institution, on the basis of a duly substantiated proposal from the authorising officer responsible. That decision shall set out the respective responsibilities and obligations of the imprest administrator and the authorising officer.

In proposals for decisions to create an imprest account, the authorising officer responsible shall ensure that:

Bank accounts for the imprest shall be opened and monitored by the accounting officer, who shall also authorise delegated signatures on them on the basis of a duly substantiated proposal from the authorising officer responsible.

Imprest accounts shall be endowed by the accounting officer of the Union institution and shall be placed under the responsibility of imprest administrators.

Payments made shall be followed by formal final validation decisions or payment orders signed by the authorising officer responsible.

The accounting officer shall carry out checks, or have them carried out by a staff member in his or her own department or in the authorising department specifically empowered for that purpose. Those checks shall as a general rule be effected on the spot and, where necessary, without warning, to verify the existence of the funds allocated to the imprest administrators and the bookkeeping and to check that imprest transactions are settled within the time limit set. The accounting officer shall communicate the findings of those checks to the authorising officer responsible.

Authorising officers responsible may at any time have their delegation or subdelegation withdrawn temporarily or definitively by the authority which appointed them.

Accounting officers or imprest administrators, or both, may at any time be suspended temporarily or definitively from their duties by the authority which appointed them.

Paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be without prejudice to any disciplinary action taken in respect of the financial actors referred to in those paragraphs.

This Chapter is without prejudice to any liability under criminal law which the financial actors referred to in Article 90 may incur as provided for in applicable national law and in the provisions in force concerning the protection of the financial interests of the Union and the fight against corruption involving Union officials or officials of Member States.

Without prejudice to Articles 92, 94 and 95 of this Regulation, each authorising officer responsible, accounting officer or imprest administrator shall be liable to disciplinary action and payment of compensation as laid down in the Staff Regulations, or for the personnel employed by the Commission in the field of crisis management aid and humanitarian aid operations as referred to in Article 89(1) of this Regulation in their employment contracts. In the event of illegal activity, fraud or corruption which may harm the interests of the Union, the matter shall be referred to the authorities and bodies designated by the applicable legislation, in particular to OLAF.

The authorising officer responsible shall be liable for payment of compensation as laid down in the Staff Regulations.

The obligation to pay compensation shall apply in particular if the authorising officer responsible, whether intentionally or through gross negligence on his or her part:

An authorising officer by delegation or sub-delegation who receives a binding instruction which he or she considers to be irregular or contrary to the principle of sound financial management, in particular because the instruction cannot be carried out with the resources allocated to him or her, shall inform the authority from which he or she received the delegation or subdelegation about that fact in writing. If the instruction is confirmed in writing and that confirmation is received in good time and is sufficiently clear, in that it refers explicitly to the points which the authorising officer by delegation or subdelegation has challenged, the authorising officer by delegation or subdelegation shall not be held liable. He or she shall carry out the instruction, unless it is manifestly illegal or constitutes a breach of the relevant safety standards.

In the event of subdelegation within his or her service, the authorising officer by delegation shall continue to be responsible for the efficiency and effectiveness of the internal management and control systems put in place and for the choice of the authorising officer by subdelegation.

In the event of subdelegation to Heads of Union delegations and their deputies, the authorising officer by delegation shall be responsible for the definition of the internal management and control systems put in place, as well as their efficiency and effectiveness. Heads of Union delegations shall be responsible for the adequate setting up and functioning of those systems, in accordance with the instructions of the authorising officer by delegation, and for the management of the funds and the operations they carry out within the Union delegation under their responsibility. Before taking up their duties, they shall complete specific training courses on the tasks and responsibilities of authorising officers and budget implementation.

Without prejudice to the powers of OLAF and to the administrative autonomy of Union institutions, Union bodies, European offices or bodies or persons entrusted with the implementation of specific actions in the CFSP pursuant to Title V of the TEU in respect of members of their staff and with due regard to the protection of whistle-blowers, any infringement of this Regulation, or of a provision relating to financial management or the checking of operations, resulting from an act or omission of a member of staff shall be referred for an opinion to the panel referred to in Article 143, by any of the following:

A request for an opinion of the panel pursuant to the first subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall be accompanied by a description of the facts and the act or omission which the panel is asked to assess, as well as by relevant supporting documents, including reports of any investigation which has taken place. Wherever possible, the information shall be produced in anonymised form.

In the cases referred in paragraph 1 of this Article, the panel referred to in Article 143 shall be competent to assess whether, on the basis of the elements submitted to it pursuant to paragraph 2 of this Article and any additional information received, a financial irregularity has occurred. On the basis of the opinion of the panel, the Union institution, Union body, European office or body or person concerned shall decide on the appropriate follow-up actions in accordance with the Staff Regulations. If the panel detects systemic problems, it shall make a recommendation to the authorising officer and to the authorising officer by delegation, unless the latter is the member of staff involved, as well as to the internal auditor.

Where the panel gives the opinion referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article, it shall be composed of the members referred to in Article 143(2) as well as the following three additional members, which shall be appointed taking into account the need for avoiding any conflicts of interests:

The panel shall have no investigative powers. The Union institution, Union body, European office or body or person concerned shall cooperate with the panel with a view to ensuring that it has all the information necessary for giving its opinion.

Where the panel considers that the case is a matter for OLAF, it shall in accordance with paragraph 1 transmit the file to the relevant appointing authority without delay and inform OLAF immediately.

The Member States shall fully support the Union in the enforcement of any liability, under Article 22 of the Staff Regulations, of temporary staff to whom point (e) of Article 2 of the Conditions of Employment of Other Servants of the European Union applies.

An estimate of revenue constituted by own resources, as referred to in Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom shall be entered in the budget in euro. The corresponding own resources shall be made available in accordance with Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 609/2014.

The authorising officer shall draw up a schedule indicating when the own resources defined in Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom will be made available to the Commission.

When the authorising officer responsible has sufficient and reliable information in respect of any measure or situation which may give rise to an amount being owed to the Union, the authorising officer responsible shall make an estimate of the amount receivable.

The estimate of the amount receivable shall be adjusted by the authorising officer responsible as soon as he or she is aware of an event modifying the measure or the situation which gave rise to the estimate being made.

By way of derogation from paragraph 1, no estimate of the amount receivable shall be made before Member States make available to the Commission the amounts of own resources defined in Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom, which are paid at fixed intervals by Member States. The authorising officer responsible shall issue a recovery order in respect of those amounts.

In order to establish an amount receivable, the authorising officer responsible shall:

Any amount receivable that is identified as being certain, of a fixed amount and due shall be established by a recovery order by which the authorising officer responsible instructs the accounting officer to recover the amount. It shall be followed by a debit note sent to the debtor, except for the cases where a waiver procedure is carried out immediately in accordance with the second subparagraph of paragraph 4. Both the recovery order and the debit note shall be drawn up by the authorising officer responsible.

To establish an amount receivable the authorising officer responsible shall ensure that:

The debit note shall be to inform the debtor that:

Amounts wrongly paid shall be recovered.

Without prejudice to any specific provisions deriving from the application of specific regulations, any amount receivable not repaid on the deadline referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 98(4) shall bear interest in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3 of this Article.

Except in the case referred to in paragraph 4 of this Article, the interest rate for amounts receivable not repaid on the deadline referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 98(4) shall be the rate applied by the European Central Bank to its principal refinancing operations, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union, in force on the first calendar day of the month in which the deadline falls, increased by:

Interest shall be calculated from the calendar day following the deadline referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 98(4) up to the calendar day on which the debt is repaid in full.

In the case of fines or other penalties, the interest rate for amounts receivable not paid within the deadline referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 98(4) shall be the rate applied by the European Central Bank to its principal refinancing operations, as published in the C series of the Official Journal of the European Union, in force on the first calendar day of the month in which the decision imposing a fine or other penalty has been adopted, increased by:

In cases where the overall interest rate would be negative it shall be set at zero percent.

The authorising officer responsible shall, by issuing a recovery order, instruct the accounting officer to recover an amount receivable which that authorising officer responsible has established (‘the authorisation of recovery’).

A Union institution may formally establish an amount as being receivable from persons other than Member States by means of a decision which shall be enforceable within the meaning of Article 299 TFEU.

The accounting officer shall act on recovery orders for amounts receivable duly established by the authorising officer responsible. The accounting officer shall exercise due diligence to ensure that the Union receives its revenue and shall ensure that the Union’s rights are safeguarded.

The authorising officer responsible may waive recovery of all or part of an established amount receivable only in the following cases:

In the case referred to in point (c) of the first subparagraph of paragraph 2, the authorising officer responsible shall act in accordance with predetermined procedures established within his or her Union institution and shall apply the following criteria which are compulsory and applicable in all circumstances:

Depending on the circumstances of the case, the authorising officer responsible shall, where appropriate, take the following additional criteria into account:

Each Union institution shall send to the European Parliament and to the Council each year a report on the waivers granted by it pursuant to paragraphs 2, 3 and 4 of this Article. Information on waivers below EUR 60 000 shall be provided as a total amount. In the case of the Commission, that report shall be annexed to the summary of the annual activity reports referred to in Article 74(9).

The authorising officer responsible may cancel an established amount receivable in full or in part. The partial cancellation of an established amount receivable does not imply the waiver of the remaining established Union entitlement.

Member States shall have primary responsibility for carrying out controls and audits and for recovering amounts unduly spent, as provided for in sector-specific rules. To the extent that Member States detect and correct irregularities on their own account, they shall be exempt from financial corrections by the Commission concerning those irregularities.

The Commission shall make financial corrections on Member States in order to exclude expenditure incurred in breach of applicable law from Union financing. The Commission shall base its financial corrections on the identification of amounts unduly spent, and the financial implications for the budget. Where such amounts cannot be identified precisely, the Commission may apply extrapolated or flat-rate corrections in accordance with sector-specific rules.

The methodology for applying extrapolated or flat-rate corrections shall be laid down in accordance with sector-specific rules with a view to enabling the Commission to protect the financial interests of the Union.

Where the debtor has a claim on the Union, or on an executive agency when it implements the budget, that is certain within the meaning of point (a) of Article 98(3), of a fixed amount and due relating to a sum established by a payment order, the accounting officer shall, after expiry of the deadline referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 98(4), recover established amounts receivable by offsetting.

Before proceeding with any recovery in accordance with paragraph 1 of this Article, the accounting officer shall consult the authorising officer responsible and inform the debtors concerned, including of the means of redress in accordance with Article 133.

The offsetting referred to in paragraph 1 shall have the same effect as a payment and discharge the Union for the amount of the debt and, where appropriate, of the interest due.

Without prejudice to Article 102, if the full amount has not been recovered by the deadline referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 98(4), the accounting officer shall inform the authorising officer responsible and shall without delay launch the procedure for effecting recovery by any means offered by the law, including, where appropriate, by enforcement of any guarantee lodged in advance.

Without prejudice to Article 102, where the recovery method referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article cannot be used and the debtor has failed to pay in response to a letter of formal notice sent by the accounting officer, the accounting officer shall effect recovery by enforcement of a decision secured either in accordance with Article 100(2) or by legal action.

Without prejudice to the provisions of specific regulations and the application of Decision 2014/335/EU, Euratom, entitlements of the Union in respect of third parties and entitlements of third parties in respect of the Union shall be subject to a limitation period of five years.

The limitation period for entitlements of the Union in respect of third parties shall begin to run on the expiry of the deadline referred to in point (b) of the first subparagraph of Article 98(4).