45Secondly, in so laying down a general rule providing for a limitation period of five years, the EU legislature took the view that such a period was sufficient to protect the debtor’s interests in the light of the requirements of the principles of legal certainty and legitimate expectations, and to enable the EU bodies to obtain reimbursement of sums unduly paid. As the Advocate General noted in point 50 of his Opinion, Article 73a of the Financial Regulation is intended in particular to limit in time the possibility of recovering EU entitlements against third parties, in order to comply with the principle of sound financial management. The implementing rules thus laid down for Article 73a can be adopted only in compliance with those objectives.
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