27It should also be noted that the Commission is required to reject the defrayal by the ERDF of expenditure which has not been incurred in accordance with EU rules. That obligation does not disappear merely because the Commission’s decision was taken after the expiry of the three-month period, running from the date of the hearing, laid down in Article 39(3) of Regulation No 1260/1999 read in conjunction with Article 5(3) of Regulation No 448/2001. In the absence of any sanction attaching to the failure by the Commission to comply with that period, that period cannot — in the light of the nature of the procedure provided for in Articles 38 and 39 of Regulation No 1260/1999, the essential object of which is to ensure that the expenditure incurred by the national authorities is in compliance with EU law — be regarded as mandatory, provided that the interests of the Member State are not impaired (see, by analogy, judgment of 22 May 2012 in Case T-345/10 Portugal v Commission, not published in the ECR, paragraph 32). The Commission must endeavour to comply with that period, but, because of the complexity of the verification of such expenditure, it may be necessary for it to have more time to conduct an in-depth analysis with a view to avoiding the defrayal of irregular expenditure.
Source: EUR-Lex, © European Union, 1998-2026. Reuse authorised under Decision 2011/833/EU.