Decommitment

Decommitment means that the unused amounts will be cut from the approved budget.

For programmes there is N+3 rule and that means the allocation for a specific year must be used by end of the third calendar year after this. For example, the allocation for 2022 must be used by end of 2025. For programmes, however, the target is reduced with the cumulative amount of pre-financing.

To ensure adequate spending, programmes can set decommitment requirements for projects and cut the budgets of low spending projects and reuse the funds for new projects.

Where to start

You can use this calculator to define the decommitment targets for your programme in the period 2021-2027.  This updated calculator includes a template for programmes with budget amendments.

The rules for decommitment come from CPR Regulation, Articles 105-107 (for 2021-2027).

What we are working on

The topic is part of regular agenda in Finance Network meetings. 

For 2014-2020 programmes the commitments for 2020 are decommitment during programme closure.

For 2021-2027 programmes the decommitment is calculated for the first time in Spring 2026.