The Commission of the European Communities, hereinafter referred to as “the Commission”, acting for and on behalf of the European Community, hereinafter referred to as “the Community”.
of the one part, and
The Government of the Republic of Slovenia acting for and on behalf of the Republic of Slovenia, hereinafter referred to as “ the Republic of Slovenia”
of the other part,
and together jointly referred to as “the Contracting Parties”,
Whereas
(1) A Special Pre-Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development (hereinafter referred to as “SAPARD”) providing for a Community financial contribution has been established by Council Regulation (EC) No. 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in the pre-accession period1;
(2) The plan submitted by the Republic of Slovenia was approved as an Agriculture and Rural Development Programme by a Decision taken in accordance with Article 4 (5) of Regulation (EC) No. 1268/1999 on 27 October, 2000;
(3) The Multi-Annual Agreement between the Community and the Republic of Slovenia has been signed to-day and provides in Article 2 that the financial commitment of the Community shall be set out in Annual Financing Agreements. It is appropriate to set out for the year 2000, the maximum Community financial commitment for the Republic of Slovenia and the period of validity of that commitment,
(4) It is necessary to set out the Community financial commitment for the execution of the Agriculture and Rural Development Programme, and any amendments thereof, (hereinafter referred to as “the Programme”), in the Republic of Slovenia;
HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:
Article 1
Objective
This Agreement sets out the Community financial commitment for the Republic of Slovenia for the year 2000.
Article 2
Commitment
The financial contribution of the Community for the year 2000 is limited to 6.445.460 EUR. This commitment is valid only for execution of the Programme in conformity with the Multi-annual Financing Agreement between the Community and the Republic of Slovenia.
Article 3
Period of commitment
The Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the commitment which has not been settled by the payment on account or for which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31 December 2002 at the latest.
Article 4
Contact Points
Correspondence relating to any matter falling within the scope of this Agreement, where appropriate stating the Programme’s number and title, shall be addressed to the following:
for the Community:
Commission of the European Communities
Directorate General Agriculture,
SAPARD Unit
Rue de la Loi, 200, B - 1049 Brussels
Telephone: 00 32 2 2967 337
Fax: 00 32 2 29 51746
E-MAIL: agri-sapard@cec.eu.int
for the Republic of Slovenia:
Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo, gozdarstvo in prehrano
(Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food)
Dunajska 56, 58, SI-1000 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Tel: 00 386 1 478 91 04
Fax: 00 386 1 478 90 21
E-mail: sapard.mkgp@gov.si
and
Ministrstvo za finance, Nacionalni sklad
(Ministry of Finance, National Fund)
Beethovnova 11, SI-1502 Ljubljana
Slovenia
Tel: 00 386 1 478 63 05
Fax: 00 386 1 478 62 04
E-mail: mf.nfsapard@mf-rs.si
Article 5
Entry into Force
This Agreement shall enter into force on the date when both Contracting Parties have notified each other of the completion of all necessary formalities for its conclusion.
Article 6
Signature
This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in English and in Slovene, only the English text being authentic.
Done at Brussels this fifth day of March in the year two thousand and one.
For Commission of the
European Communities:
Franz Fischler, (s)
Member of the Commission
For the Government of
the Republic of Slovenia:
Franci But, (s)
Minister of Agriculture,
Forestry and Food
1 OJ No. L. 161, 26. 6. 1999, p. 87–93.