Article 16 Payment and use of the financial contribution

Following the entry into force of a decision on a financial contribution in accordance with Article 15(5) the Commission shall pay the financial contribution to the Member State concerned in a single 100 % pre-financing payment, in principle within 15 days. The pre-financing shall be cleared when the financial contribution is wound up in accordance with Article 18(2).

The financial contribution referred to in paragraph 1 shall be implemented under shared management in accordance with F1Article 63 of the Financial Regulation.

Detailed technical terms of the financing shall be determined by the Commission in the decision on a financial contribution referred to in Article 15(5).

The Member State shall carry out the eligible actions set out in Article 7 as soon as possible, and not later than 24 months after the date of submission of the application pursuant to Article 8(1).

The Member State may decide to postpone the starting date for the eligible actions by up to three months after the date of submission of the application. In the event of such postponement, the eligible actions shall be carried out within the 24-month period following the starting date communicated by the Member State in the application.

Where a beneficiary accesses an education or training course the duration of which is two years or more, the fees for such a course may be included for EGF co-funding up to the date when the final report referred to in Article 18(1) is due, provided that the relevant fees have been paid before that date.

When carrying out the actions contained in the package of personalised services the Member State concerned may submit a proposal to the Commission to amend the actions included by adding other eligible actions listed in points (a) and (c) of Article 7(1), provided that such amendments are duly justified and the total does not exceed the financial contribution referred to in Article 15(5). The Commission shall assess the proposed amendments and, if it agrees, shall notify the Member State accordingly.

Expenditure pursuant to Article 7(4) shall be eligible until the deadline for submission of the final report.