‘1a.   The Commission shall receive, from the Member States or the bodies appointed by them by any appropriate means, preferably electronic ones, as a general rule on the day on which they are entered, but within three working days at the latest, a statement of account showing the entry of the own resources.’;

‘2.   The amounts credited shall be accounted for in euro in accordance with the Financial Regulation (*1) applicable to the general budget of the European Communities and its implementing rules.

‘1.   After deduction of collection costs in accordance with Article 2(3) and Article 10(2)(c) of Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom of 29 September 2000 on the system of the European Communities' own resources (*), entry of the own resources referred to in Article 2(1)(a) and (b) of that Decision shall be made at the latest on the first working day following the 19th day of the second month following the month during which the entitlement was established in accordance with Article 2 of this Regulation.

‘3.   VAT resources and the additional resource, taking into account the effect on these resources of the correction granted to the United Kingdom for budgetary imbalances-excluding the reserve relating to loans and loan guarantees and to the reserve for emergency aid-shall be credited on the first working day of each month, the amounts being one-twelfth of the relevant totals in the budget, converted into national currencies at the rates of exchange of the last day of quotation of the calendar year preceding the budget year, as published in the Official Journal of the European Union, C Series.

For the specific needs of paying EAGGF Guarantee Section expenditure, pursuant to Regulation (EEC) No 1765/92 and depending on the Community's cash position, Member States may be invited by the Commission to bring forward by one or two months in the first quarter of the financial year the entry of one-twelfth or a fraction of one-twelfth of the amounts in the budget for VAT resources and/or the additional resource, taking into account the effect on these resources of the correction granted to the United Kingdom for budgetary imbalances, but excluding own resources to cover the reserve for loan guarantees and the reserve for emergency aid.’;

‘4.   Each Member State shall, on the basis of the annual statement on the VAT resources base provided for in Article 7(1) of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1553/89, be debited with an amount calculated from the information contained in the said statement by applying the uniform rate adopted for the previous financial year and credited with the 12 payments made during that financial year. However each Member State's VAT resources base to which the above rate is applied may not exceed the percentage determined by Article 2(1) of Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom of its GNP, as referred to in the first sentence of paragraph 7 of this Article. The Commission shall work out the balance and shall inform the Member States in time for them to enter it in the account referred to in Article 9(1) of this Regulation on the first working day of December of the same year.’;

‘6.   Any corrections to the VAT resources base under Article 9(1) of Regulation (EEC, Euratom) No 1553/89 shall give rise for each Member State concerned whose base, allowing for these corrections, does not exceed the percentages determined by Articles 2(1)(c) and 10(2)(b) of Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom…’ (remainder unchanged);

‘10.   In conformity with Article 2(7) of Decision 2000/597/EC, Euratom, for the purposes of applying that Decision, “GNP” shall mean GNI for the year at market prices as defined by Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 1287/2003 of 15 July 2003 on the harmonisation of gross national income at market prices (*2).

‘2.   Member States shall be released from the obligation to place at the disposal of the Commission the amounts corresponding to established entitlements which prove irrecoverable either:

(a)	for reasons of force majeure; or

(b)	for other reasons which cannot be attributed to them.

Amounts of established entitlements shall be declared irrecoverable by a decision of the competent administrative authority finding that they cannot be recovered.

Amounts of established entitlements shall be deemed irrecoverable, at the latest, after a period of five years from the date on which the amount has been established in accordance with Article 2 or, in the event of an administrative or judicial appeal, the final decision has been given, notified or published.

If part payment or payments have been received, the period of five years at maximum shall start from the date of the last payment made, where this does not clear the debt.

Amounts declared or deemed irrecoverable shall be definitively removed from the separate account referred to in Article 6(3)(b). They shall be shown in an annex to the quarterly statement referred to in Article 6(4)(b) and where applicable, in the quarterly statement referred to in Article 6(5).’;

‘3.   Within three months of the administrative decision mentioned in paragraph 2 or in accordance with the time limits referred to in that paragraph, Member States shall provide the Commission with information on those cases where paragraph 2 has been applied provided the established entitlements involved exceed EUR 50 000.

This timeframe may be extended by up to three years by Member States for cases of established entitlements, which have been declared irrecoverable or deemed irrecoverable prior to 1 July 2006.

This report, which shall be made on a form to be produced by the Commission after consulting the committee referred to in Article 20, shall include all the facts necessary for a full examination of the reasons referred to in paragraph 2(a) and (b), which prevented the Member State concerned from making available the amounts in question, and the recovery measures the Member State took in the case or cases in question.

4.   The Commission has six months from the receipt of the report provided for in paragraph 3 to forward its comments to the Member State concerned.

Where the Commission finds it necessary to request additional information, the six month time-limit shall run from the date of receipt of the requested supplementary information.’;

‘5.   Member States shall inform the Commission, by means of annual reports, of the details and results of their inspections and of the overall data and questions of principle concerning the most important problems arising out of the application of this Regulation and, in particular, matters in dispute. The reports shall be sent to the Commission by 1 March of the year following the financial year in question. The summary report on the notifications by Member States under this Article shall be contained in the Commission report referred to in Article 280(5) of the Treaty. A report and duly substantiated amendments thereto shall be drawn up by the Commission after consulting the committee referred to in Article 20. Any appropriate time limits for implementation shall be provided for.’;