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1. Payments of financial contributions and, where applicable, of the loan to the Member State concerned under this Article shall be made by 31 December 2026 and in accordance with the budget appropriations and subject to the available funding.

2. Upon completion of the relevant agreed milestones and targets indicated in the recovery and resilience plan as approved in accordance with Article 20, the Member State concerned shall submit to the Commission a duly justified request for payment of the financial contribution and, where relevant, of the loan. Such requests for payment may be submitted by the Member States to the Commission twice a year.

3. The Commission shall assess on a preliminary basis without undue delay, and at the latest within two months of receiving the request, whether the relevant milestones and targets set out in the Council implementing decision referred to in Article 20(1) have been satisfactorily fulfilled. The satisfactory fulfilment of milestones and targets shall presuppose that measures related to previously satisfactorily fulfilled milestones and targets have not been reversed by the Member State concerned. For the purpose of the assessment, the operational arrangements referred to in Article 20(6) shall also be taken into account. The Commission may be assisted by experts.

4. Where the Commission makes a positive preliminary assessment of the satisfactory fulfilment of the relevant milestones and targets, it shall provide its findings to the Economic and Financial Committee and ask for its opinion on the satisfactory fulfilment of the relevant milestones and targets. The Commission shall take the opinion of the Economic and Financial Committee into account for its assessment.

5. Where the Commission makes a positive assessment, it shall adopt without undue delay a decision authorising the disbursement of the financial contribution and, where applicable, of the loan in accordance with the Financial Regulation. Such decision shall be adopted in accordance with the examination procedure referred to in Article 35(2).

6. Where, as a result of the assessment referred to in paragraph 3, the Commission establishes that the milestones and targets set out in the Council implementing decision referred to in Article 20(1) have not been satisfactorily fulfilled, ◄ the payment of all or part of the financial contribution and, where applicable, of the loan shall be suspended. The Member State concerned may present its observations within one month of the communication of the Commission’s assessment. The suspension shall only be lifted where the Member State concerned has taken the necessary measures to ensure a satisfactory fulfilment of the milestones and targets set out in the Council implementing decision referred to in Article 20(1).

7. By derogation from Article 116(2) of the Financial Regulation, the payment deadline shall start running from the date of the communication of the decision authorising the disbursement to the Member State concerned pursuant to paragraph 5 of this Article, or from the date of the communication of the lifting of a suspension pursuant to the second subparagraph of paragraph 6 of this Article.

8. Where the Member State concerned has not taken the necessary measures within a period of six months from the suspension, the Commission shall reduce the amount of the financial contribution and, where applicable, of the loan proportionately after having given the Member State concerned the possibility to present its observations within two months from the communication of its conclusions.

9. Where, within 18 months of the date of the adoption of the Council implementing decision referred to in Article 20(1), no tangible progress has been made in respect of any relevant milestones and targets by the Member State concerned, the Commission shall terminate the agreements referred to in Articles 15(2) and 23(1) and shall decommit the amount of the financial contribution without prejudice to Article 14(3) of the Financial Regulation. Any pre-financing in accordance with Article 13 shall be recovered in full. The Commission shall take a decision on the termination of agreements referred to in Articles 15(2) and 23(1) and, where applicable, of the recovery of the pre-financing after having given the Member State concerned the possibility to present its observations within a period of two months of the communication of its assessment as to whether no tangible progress has been made.

10. If exceptional circumstances arise, the adoption of the decision authorising the disbursement of the financial contribution and, where applicable, of the loan in accordance with paragraph 5 may be postponed for up to three months.