1. An EU guarantee fund (guarantee fund) shall be established which shall constitute a liquidity cushion from which the EIB shall be paid in the event of a call on the EU guarantee.
2. The guarantee fund shall be endowed by:
(a)
contributions from the general budget of the Union;
(b)
returns on guarantee fund resources invested;
(c)
amounts recovered from defaulting debtors in accordance with the recovery procedure laid down in the EFSI Agreement as provided for in Article 4(2)(c)(iv);
(d)
revenues and any other payments received by the Union in accordance with the EFSI Agreement.
3. Endowments to the guarantee fund provided for in points (b), (c) and (d) of paragraph 2 of this Article shall constitute internal assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council (13).
4. The resources of the guarantee fund provided to it under paragraph 2 shall be directly managed by the Commission and invested in accordance with the principle of sound financial management and shall follow appropriate prudential rules.
5. Endowments to the guarantee fund referred to in paragraph 2 shall be used to reach an appropriate level (target amount) to reflect the total EU guarantee obligations. The target amount shall be set at 50 % of the total EU guarantee obligations.
The target amount shall initially be met by the gradual payment of resources referred to in point (a) of paragraph 2. If there have been calls on the EU guarantee during the initial constitution of the guarantee fund, endowments to the guarantee fund provided for in points (b), (c) and (d) of paragraph 2 shall contribute to meeting the target amount up to an amount equal to the calls on the EU guarantee.
6. Following an assessment of the adequacy of the level of the guarantee fund in accordance with the report provided for in Article 16(6), the following payments shall be made:
(a)
any surplus shall be paid to the general budget of the Union as internal assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 for any budget lines which may have been used as a source of redeployment to the guarantee fund;
(b)
any replenishment of the guarantee fund shall be paid in annual tranches during a maximum period of three years starting in the year n+1.
7. From 1 January 2019, if, as a result of calls on the EU guarantee, the level of the guarantee fund falls below 50 % of the target amount, the Commission shall submit a report on exceptional measures that may be required to replenish the guarantee fund.
8. After a call on the EU guarantee, endowments to the guarantee fund provided for in points (b) and (d) of paragraph 2 above the target amount shall be used within the limits of the investment period provided for in Article 9 to restore the EU guarantee up to its initial amount.
9. Endowments to the guarantee fund provided for in point (c) of paragraph 2 shall be used to restore the EU guarantee up to its initial amount.
10. In the event that the EU guarantee is fully restored up to its maximum initial amount of EUR 16 000 000 000, any amount in the guarantee fund in excess of the target amount shall be paid to the general budget of the Union as internal assigned revenue in accordance with Article 21(4) of Regulation (EU, Euratom) No 966/2012 for any budget lines which may have been used as a source of redeployment to the guarantee fund.