The N+3 rule is an automatic decommitment mechanism that determines by when a member state must actually spend the allocation tied to a specific year. If funds from the budgetary commitment for year N are not paid out to beneficiaries and reported to the European Commission by the end of year N+3, the unspent part is irrevocably cancelled and the programme's budget is reduced by that amount. The rule is a safeguard against the accumulation of unused resources and creates pressure on the pace of publishing calls for proposals, the speed of application assessment, and the smooth reimbursement of payment requests. This is precisely why calls with short deadlines appear towards the end of the programming period, and managing authorities urge beneficiaries to submit payment requests on an ongoing basis rather than only after activities have finished. For an applicant, the rule has a practical consequence: the project schedule must be realistic, because delays are reflected in the programme's overall absorption capacity.
See also: Allocation, Programming period, Payment claim.
