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1. Twice per year, the beneficiary shall submit a duly justified request for the release of funds in respect of fulfilled payment conditions related to the quantitative and qualitative steps as set out in the Reform Agendas.

2. The Commission shall assess without undue delay whether the beneficiary has met the preconditions set out in Article 5 and the principles for financing set out in Article 12(3) and achieved satisfactory fulfilment of the payment conditions set out in the Commission implementing decision referred to in Article 15. The satisfactory fulfilment of those payment conditions shall presuppose that measures related to the same reforms for which the beneficiary had achieved satisfactory fulfilment in prior decisions have not been reversed by the beneficiary. The Commission may be assisted by experts, including experts from Member States.

3. Where the Commission makes a positive assessment of the satisfactory fulfilment of all applicable conditions, it shall adopt without undue delay a decision authorising the release of funds corresponding to those conditions. That decision shall, in accordance with Article 6(5), set the amount of funds to be made available as financial assistance, channelled directly to the treasuries of the beneficiaries and the amount to be made available through the WBIF. In respect of those amounts, the decision shall constitute the condition referred to in Article 12 for the amount of funds to be made available as financial assistance channelled directly to the treasuries of the beneficiaries and the preliminary validation referred to in Article 12 for the amount to be made available through the WBIF.

4. Where the Commission makes a negative assessment of the fulfilment of any conditions as per the indicative timetable, the release of funds corresponding to such conditions shall be withheld. The withheld amounts shall be released only when the beneficiary has duly justified, as part of the subsequent request for release of funds, that it has taken the necessary measures to ensure satisfactory fulfilment of the corresponding conditions.

5. Where the Commission concludes that the beneficiary has not taken the necessary measures within a period of 12 months from the initial negative assessment referred to in paragraph 4, the Commission shall reduce the amount of the non-repayable financial support and of the loan proportionately to the part corresponding to the relevant payment conditions. During the first year of implementation, a deadline of 24 months shall apply, calculated from the initial negative assessment referred to in paragraph 4. The beneficiary may present its observations within two months from the communication to them of the Commission’s conclusions.

6. Any amount corresponding to payment conditions that have not been fulfilled by 31 December 2028 shall not be due to the beneficiaries and shall be decommitted, or cancelled from the available amount of loan support, as appropriate.

7. The Commission may reduce the amount of the non-repayable financial support, including by offsetting in line with Article 102 of the Financial Regulation, or of the loan, in the event of identified cases of, or serious concerns in relation to, irregularities, fraud, corruption and conflicts of interest affecting the financial interests of the Union that have not been corrected by the beneficiary, or a serious breach of an obligation resulting from the Facility Agreements or from the loan agreements, including on the basis of information provided by OLAF or of the Court of Auditors’ reports. The Commission shall inform the European Parliament and the Council prior to taking any decision of such reductions.

8. The Commission may decide to redistribute any amount reduced pursuant to paragraph 6 or 7 of this Article among other beneficiaries of the Facility by amending the implementing decisions referred to in Article 15.

9. For the part of the Facility funding paid as financial assistance, channelled directly to the beneficiaries’ treasuries, by way of derogation from Article 116(2) of the Financial Regulation, the payment deadline as referred to in Article 116(1), point (a), of the Financial Regulation shall start running from the date of the communication of the decision authorising the disbursement to the beneficiary pursuant to paragraph 3 of this Article.

10. Article 116(5) of the Financial Regulation shall not apply to payments made as financial assistance, channelled directly to the beneficiaries’ treasuries pursuant to this Article and to Article 23 of this Regulation.

11. Payments of the non-repayable financial support and of the loans under this Article shall be made in accordance with the budget appropriations, as set in the annual budgetary procedure, and subject to the available funding, respectively. Funds shall be paid in instalments. An instalment may be paid in one or more tranches.

12. The amount made available as financial assistance, channelled directly to the treasuries of the beneficiaries, shall be paid following the decision referred to in paragraph 3 in accordance with the loan agreement.

13. Payment of any amount of the support in the form of loans, whether channelled directly to the treasuries of the beneficiaries or through the WBIF, shall be subject to the submission by the beneficiary of a request for payment in the form set out in the loan agreement.

14. The amount made available through the WBIF shall be paid following the decision referred to in paragraph 3, following the request for payment referred to in paragraph 13 and following receipt of a payment request from the fund managers of the joint fund established under the WBIF for receiving donors’ contributions.