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1. By 31 May of the year following the end of the accounting period, the Commission shall, in accordance with Article 59(6) of the Financial Regulation, carry out an examination of the documents submitted by the Member State under Article 48 of this Regulation. Upon request by the Commission, the Member State shall provide all necessary additional information to enable the Commission to determine whether the accounts are complete, accurate and true by the deadline set out in the first subparagraph of this paragraph.

2. The Commission shall accept the accounts where it is able to conclude that the accounts are complete, accurate and true. The Commission shall reach such a conclusion where the audit authority has provided an unqualified audit opinion regarding the completeness, accuracy and veracity of the accounts unless the Commission has specific evidence that the audit opinion on the accounts is unreliable.

3. The Commission shall inform the Member State by the deadline set out in paragraph 1 whether it is able to accept the accounts.

4. If for reasons attributable to Member State, the Commission is unable to accept the accounts by the deadline set out in paragraph 1 the Commission shall notify the Member States specifying the reasons in accordance with paragraph 2 and the actions which are required to be undertaken and the time period for their completion. At the end of that period the Commission shall inform the Member State whether it is able to accept the accounts.

5. Issues related to legality and regularity of the underlying transactions concerning expenditure entered in the accounts shall not be taken into account for the purposes of acceptance of the accounts by the Commission. The procedure for examination and acceptance of the accounts shall not interrupt the treatment of applications for interim payments and shall not lead to suspension of payments, without prejudice to Articles 46 and 47.

6. On the basis of the accepted accounts the Commission shall calculate the amount chargeable to the Fund for the accounting year and the consequent adjustments in relation to the payments to the Member State. The Commission shall take into account:

(i) the amounts in the accounts referred to in point (a) of Article 49(1), and to which the co-financing rate defined in Article 20 is to be applied;

(ii) the total amount of payments made by the Commission during that accounting year, consisting of the amount of interim payments paid by the Commission in accordance with Article 21 and Article 40(1).

7. After the calculation carried out under paragraph 6 of this Article, the Commission shall pay any additional amount due within 30 days of the acceptance of the accounts. Where there is an amount recoverable from the Member State, it shall be subject to a recovery order issued by the Commission which shall be executed, where possible, by offsetting against amounts due to the Member State under subsequent payments to the same operational programme. Such recovery shall not constitute a financial correction and shall not reduce support from the Fund to the operational programme. The amount recovered shall constitute assigned revenue in accordance with Article 177(3) of the Financial Regulation.

8. Where after applying the procedure set out in paragraph 4, the Commission is unable to accept the accounts, the Commission shall determine, on the basis of the available information and in accordance with paragraph 6, the amount chargeable to the Fund for the accounting year, and shall inform the Member State. Where the Member State notifies the Commission of its agreement within two months of the transmission by the Commission of the information, paragraph 7 shall apply. In the absence of such agreement, the Commission shall adopt a decision, by means of implementing acts, setting out the amount chargeable to the Fund for the accounting year. Such decision shall not constitute a financial correction and shall not reduce support from the Fund to the operational programme. On the basis of the decision, the Commission shall apply the adjustments to the payments to the Member State in accordance with paragraph 7.

9. The acceptance of the accounts by the Commission, or a decision by the Commission under paragraph 8, shall be without prejudice to the application of corrections under Articles 55 and 56.

10. Member States may replace irregular amounts which are detected after the submission of the accounts by making the corresponding adjustments in the accounts for the accounting year in which the irregularity is detected, without prejudice to Articles 55 and 56.