Payment of the balance and closure of the interventions for rural development in the CAP Strategic Plan

1.   After receiving the last annual performance report on the implementation of a CAP Strategic Plan, the Commission shall pay the balance, subject to the availability of resources, on the basis of the financial plan in force at the level of the types of EAFRD intervention, of the annual accounts for the last implementation year for the relevant CAP Strategic Plan and of the corresponding clearance decisions. Those accounts shall be presented to the Commission no later than six months after the final eligibility date of expenditure provided for in Article 86(4) of Regulation (EU) 2021/2115 and shall cover the expenditure effected by the paying agency up to the last eligibility date of expenditure.
2.   The balance shall be paid no later than six months from the date on which the information and documents referred to in paragraph 1 of this Article are considered to be admissible by the Commission and the last set of annual accounts has been cleared. Without prejudice to Article 34(5), the amounts still committed after the balance is paid shall be decommitted by the Commission within a period of six months.
3.   If, by the time limit set out in paragraph 1 of this Article, the Commission has not received the last annual performance report and the documents needed for clearance of the annual accounts for the last implementation year of the CAP Strategic Plan, the balance shall be automatically decommitted in accordance with Article 34.