Article 15 — Loan agreement, borrowing and lending operations

1. In order to finance the support under the Facility in the form of loans, the Commission shall be empowered on behalf of the Union to borrow the necessary funds on the capital markets or from financial institutions in accordance with Article 224 of the Financial Regulation. 2. The Commission shall enter into a loan agreement with Moldova. The loan agreement shall lay down the maximum loan amount, the availability period and the detailed terms and conditions of the support under the Facility in the form of loans. The loans shall have maximum duration of 40 years from the date of the signature of the loan agreement. In addition to and by way of derogation from Article 223(4) of the Financial Regulation, the loan agreement shall contain the amount of pre-financing and rules on clearing of pre-financing. 3. The loan agreement shall be made available simultaneously to the European Parliament and the Council.