Article 18

If the budget of the Union body has not been definitively adopted at the beginning of the financial year, the rules set out in paragraphs 2 to 6 shall apply. Commitments and payments may be made within the limits laid down in paragraph 3. Commitments may be made per chapter up to a maximum of one quarter of the total appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the previous financial year plus one twelfth for each month which has elapsed. The limit of the appropriations provided for in the statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure shall not be exceeded. Payments may be made monthly per chapter up to a maximum of one twelfth of the appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the preceding financial year. That sum shall not, however, exceed one twelfth of the appropriations provided for in the same chapter in the statement of estimates of revenue and expenditure. The appropriations authorised in the relevant chapter of the preceding financial year, as specified in paragraphs 2 and 3, shall be understood as referring to the appropriations voted in the budget of the Union body, including by amending budgets, and after adjustment for the transfers made during that financial year. At the request of the director, if the continuity of action by the Union body and management needs so require, the management board, may authorise expenditure in excess of one provisional twelfth but not exceeding the total of four provisional twelfths, except in duly justified cases, both for commitments and for payments over and above those automatically made available in accordance with paragraphs 2 and 3. The additional twelfths shall be authorised in full and shall not be divisible. If, for a given chapter, the authorisation of four provisional twelfths granted in accordance with paragraph 5 is not sufficient to cover the expenditure necessary to avoid a break in continuity of action by the Union body in the area covered by the chapter in question, authorisation may exceptionally be given to exceed the amount of the appropriations entered in the corresponding chapter of the budget of the Union body of the preceding financial year. The management board shall act in accordance with the procedures provided for in paragraph 5. However, the overall total of the appropriations available in the budget of the Union body of the preceding financial year or in the draft budget of the Union body, as proposed, may in no circumstances be exceeded.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-01 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.