Payment of the aid
Article 4
1. Germany shall pay the aid to the beneficiaries between 16 October of the year in which the application was made and 31 January of the following year at the latest for each application that was submitted in accordance with this Regulation and German legislation, but only after all compulsory checks referred to in Article 5 have been carried out. 2. Any amount paid by the German competent authority which has not been committed by a producer organisation within a period of three years from the date of payment shall be paid back to the paying agency and deducted from the expenditure financed under the European Agricultural Guarantee Fund.