Article 51 Exceptions to decommitment
United Kingdom
The amount concerned by decommitment shall be reduced by the amounts that the Responsible Authority has not been able to declare to the Commission because of:
actions suspended by legal proceedings or by an administrative appeal having suspensive effect; or
reasons of force majeure seriously affecting the implementation of all or part of the national programme. Responsible Authorities claiming force majeure shall demonstrate the direct consequences of the force majeure on the implementation of all or part of the national programme.
The reduction may be requested once if the suspension or force majeure lasted up to one year. If the suspension or force majeure lasted more than one year, the reduction may be requested several times, corresponding to the duration of the force majeure or the number of years between the date of the legal or administrative decision suspending the implementation of the action and the date of the final legal or administrative decision.
The Member State shall send to the Commission information on the exceptions referred to in paragraph 1 by 31 January, in order for the amount to be declared by the end of the preceding year.
The part of the budget commitments for which a payment request has been made, but payment of which has been reduced or suspended by the Commission on 31 December of year N + 2, shall be disregarded in calculating the automatic decommitment.