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1. Budgetary commitments shall fall into one of the following categories:

(a) individual: when the recipient and the amount of the expenditure are known or the budgetary commitment is made for provisioning of financial liabilities referred to in Article 214;

(b) global: when at least one of the elements necessary to identify the individual commitment is still not known;

(c) provisional: to cover routine management expenditure for the EAGF as referred to in Article 11(2), and routine administrative expenditure where either the amount or the final payees are not definitively known. Notwithstanding the first subparagraph, point (c), routine administrative expenditure relating to Union delegations and Union representations may be covered by provisional budgetary commitments also when the amount and final payee are known.

2. Budgetary commitments for actions extending over more than one financial year may be broken down over several years into annual instalments only where the basic act so provides or where they relate to administrative expenditure.

3. A global budgetary commitment shall be made on the basis of a financing decision. The global budgetary commitment shall be made at the latest before the decision on the recipients and amounts is taken and, where implementation of the appropriations concerned involves the adoption of a work programme, at the earliest after that programme has been adopted.

4. A global budgetary commitment shall be implemented by the conclusion of a financing agreement providing for the subsequent entering into one or more legal commitments, by entering into one or more legal commitments, or by provisioning of financial liabilities referred to in Article 214. Financing agreements in the field of direct financial assistance to third countries, including budget support, which constitute legal commitments may give rise to payments without entering into other legal commitments. Where the global budgetary commitment is implemented by the conclusion of a financing agreement, paragraph 3, second subparagraph, shall not apply.

5. Each individual legal commitment entered into following a global budgetary commitment shall, prior to signature, be registered by the authorising officer responsible in the central budgetary accounts and booked to the global budgetary commitment.

6. Provisional budgetary commitments shall be implemented by entering into one or more legal commitments giving rise to an entitlement to subsequent payments. However, in cases relating to expenditure on staff management, expenditure on members or former members of a Union institution or expenditure on communication engaged in by Union institutions for the coverage of Union events, or in the cases referred to in point 14.5 of Annex I, they may be implemented directly by payments without entering into prior legal commitments.