4.

Article 8 is replaced by the following: ‘Article 8 1. The fee shall be payable by the applicant in euros. The terms of payment shall be made available to applicants on the Agency’s website. The applicant shall pay the fee in full including possible bank charges related to the payment before the issuing, maintaining or amending of the certificate, unless the Agency decides otherwise after due consideration of financial risks. The fee shall be paid within 30 calendar days from the date on which the invoice is notified to the applicant by the Agency. The application may be cancelled or the certificate may be suspended or revoked if the fees due have not been received upon the expiry of the deadline and after the Agency has sent out a formal warning. 2. The Agency may invoice the fee in one instalment after having received the application or at the start of the annual or surveillance period. 3. For all certification tasks which give rise to the payment of fees calculated on an hourly basis, the Agency may, on request, provide the applicant with an estimate. The estimate shall be amended by the Agency if it appears that the task is simpler or can be carried out faster than initially foreseen or, on the contrary, if it is more complex and takes longer to carry out than the Agency could reasonably have foreseen. 4. If, following a verification of an application, the Agency decides not to accept this application, any fees already paid shall be returned to the applicant, with the exception of an amount to cover the administrative costs of handling the application. That amount shall be equivalent to two times the hourly fee set out in Part II of the Annex. Where the Agency has evidence that the applicant’s financial ability is at risk, it may refuse an application unless the applicant provides a bank guarantee or secured deposit. The Agency may also refuse an application, where the applicant has not fulfilled its payment obligations arising out of certification tasks or services performed by the Agency, unless the applicant pays for the outstanding amounts due for those certification tasks or services provided. 5. If a certification task has to be interrupted by the Agency because the applicant has insufficient resources or fails to comply with the applicable requirements, or because the applicant decides to abandon its application or to postpone its project, the balance of any fees due, calculated on an hourly basis for the ongoing period of 12 months but not exceeding the applicable flat fee, shall be payable in full at the time the Agency stops working, together with any other amounts due at that time. The relevant number of hours shall be invoiced at the hourly fee set out in Part II of the Annex. When, on demand of the applicant, the Agency starts again a certification task previously interrupted, this task shall be charged as a new project. 6. If the certificate holder surrenders the corresponding certificate or the Agency revokes the certificate, the balance of any fees due, calculated on an hourly basis but not exceeding the applicable flat fee, shall be payable in full at the time the surrender or revocation takes place, together with any other amounts due at that time. The relevant number of hours shall be invoiced at the hourly fee set out in Part II of the Annex. 7. If the Agency suspends the certificate due to non-payment of the annual fee or surveillance fee or because the applicant fails to comply with the applicable requirements, the respective fee periods shall continue.’;