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1. Member States shall take all requisite measures to ensure that the amounts corresponding to the entitlements established under Article 2 are made available to the Commission as specified in this Regulation.

2. Member States shall be released from the obligation to place at the disposal of the Commission the amounts corresponding to entitlements established under Article 2 which prove irrecoverable for either of the following reasons:

(a) for reasons of force majeure;

(b) for other reasons which cannot be attributed to them. Member States shall be likewise released from the obligation to place at the disposal of the Commission the amounts corresponding to entitlements established under Article 2 where they prove that an error committed by the Member State after establishing these entitlements, such as those leading to a belated entry in the separate accounts, had no influence on the irrecoverability of the amount corresponding to entitlements under Article 2.

Member States may be released from the obligation to place at the disposal of the Commission the amounts corresponding to entitlements established under Article 2 where those entitlements prove irrecoverable due to the deferral of the entry in the accounts or the notification of the customs debt in order not to prejudice a criminal investigation affecting the financial interests of the Union. Amounts of established entitlements shall be declared irrecoverable by a decision of the competent administrative authority finding that they cannot be recovered. Amounts of established entitlements shall be deemed irrecoverable, at the latest, after a period of five years from the date on which the amount has been established in accordance with Article 2 or, in the event of an administrative or judicial appeal, the final decision has been given, notified or published. If part payments have been received, the period of 5 years shall at the latest start from the date of the last payment made, where this does not clear the debt.

Amounts declared or deemed irrecoverable shall be definitively removed from the separate accounts referred to in the second subparagraph of Article 6(3). They shall be shown in an annex to the quarterly statement referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 6(4) and, where applicable, in the quarterly descriptions referred to in Article 5 of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 608/2014.

3. Within three months of the administrative decision mentioned in paragraph 2 or in accordance with the time limits referred to in that paragraph, Member States shall provide a report to the Commission with information on those cases where paragraph 2 has been applied, provided that the established entitlements involved exceed EUR 100 000 . That report shall include all the facts necessary for a full examination of the reasons referred to in paragraph 2(a) and (b) of this Article, which prevented the Member State concerned from making available the amounts in question, and the recovery measures the Member State took in the case or cases in question.

That report shall be made on a form established by the Commission. For that purpose the Commission shall adopt implementing acts. Those implementing acts shall be adopted in accordance with the advisory procedure referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 16.

4. Within 3 months from the receipt of the report provided for in paragraph 3, the Commission shall communicate its comments to the Member State concerned. The Commission may extend that time limit once by another 3 months and inform the Member State concerned accordingly. The Commission may request additional information. In such cases, the time limit provided in the first subparagraph shall run from the date of receipt of the requested additional information. The Member State concerned shall provide the additional information within 3 months. At the request of the Member State concerned, that time limit shall be extended once by another 3 months.

Where the Member State cannot provide any additional information requested by the Commission, it may notify the Commission thereof. The Commission shall then communicate its final comments within 3 months from the date of receipt of that notification on the basis of the information available. The Commission may extend that time limit once by another 3 months and inform the Member State concerned accordingly.

5. If the Member State and the Commission cannot agree on the reasons referred to in paragraph 2 the Member State may request the Commission to review its comments in accordance with Article 13b.