Article 1
Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 is amended as follows: 1. Article 2(g) is replaced by the following: "(g) 'annual financing agreement' means the agreement setting out the financial allocation for the year in question on the basis of the appropriations entered in the Community budget and supplementing and amending, as appropriate, provisions laid down either in the multiannual financing agreement or in a prior annual financing agreement;". 2. The following subparagraph is added to Article 7(3): "By way of derogation from the first subparagraph, the Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the commitment corresponding to the year 2000 which has not been settled by the payment on account or for which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31 December 2003 at the latest." 3. Article 9(1), second indent, is replaced by the following: "- be based on declarations of expenditure incurred by the beneficiary. Such declarations shall include only projects selected and expenditure paid from the date of the Commission decision referred to in Article 3(1), except for feasibility and related studies concerning the selected projects and for technical assistance." 4. Article 11(3) is replaced by the following: "3. Interest earned on the Sapard euro account shall be used exclusively for the programme. Such interest shall not be subject to reduction due to any charges."