1. The medium-term financial assistance facility may be implemented by the Council on the initiative of:

(a) the Commission, acting pursuant to Article 119 of the Treaty in agreement with the Member State seeking Community financing;

(b) a Member State experiencing, or seriously threatened with, difficulties as regards its balance of current payments or capital movements.

2. The Council, after examining the situation in the Member State seeking medium-term financial assistance and the adjustment or back-up programme presented in support of its application, shall decide, as a rule during the same meeting:

(a) whether to grant a loan or appropriate financing facility, its amount and its average duration;

(b) the economic policy conditions attaching to the medium-term financial assistance with a view to re-establishing or ensuring a sustainable balance of payments situation;

(c) the techniques for disbursing the loan or financing facility, the release or drawing-down of which shall, as a rule, be by successive instalments, the release of each instalment being subject to verification of the results achieved in implementing the programme in terms of the objectives set.