Financing Memorandum of  Agreed between the European Commission   and the Republic of Latvia Concerning the grant of assistance from the Instrument   for Structural Policies for  Pre-accession to the following measure

Technical Assistance in the rail sector (signalling and safety control systems) in Latvia

The European Commission, hereinafter referred to as “the Commission”, acting for and on behalf of the European Community, hereinafter referred to as “the Community” represented by the Director General for Regional Policy, Mr Guy Crauser, for the Commission

on the one part, and

The Government of Latvia, hereinafter referred to as “the beneficiary”

on the other part,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

The measure referred to in Article 2 below shall be implemented and financed out of the budgetary resources of the Community in accordance with the provisions set out in this Memorandum. The measure referred to in Article 2 below shall be implemented in line with the General Conditions annexed to the Framework Agreement signed between the Commission and the beneficiary and supplemented by the terms of this Memorandum and the provisions annexed hereto.

Article 2

Identification of the measure

The Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession shall contribute, by way of a grant, towards the financing of the following measure as described in Annex I:

Measure number: 2000/LV/16/P/PA/005

Title: Technical Assistance in the rail sector (signalling and safety control systems)

Duration: Start date: The date of signature of the financing memorandum by the Commission

End date: 31st December 2001

Location: Latvia

Group: east-west rail corridor with additional network components related

Article 3

Commitment

1. The maximum public or equivalent expenditure which may be taken into account for the purpose of calculating assistance shall be e 425 000;

2. The rate of Community assistance granted to the measure is fixed at 75 % of total public or equivalent expenditure as indicated in the financing plan in Annex II;

3. The maximum amount of assistance from the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession is fixed at e 318 750;

4. An amount of e 255 000 is committed from the 2000 budget under budgetary line B7-020. Commitments in respect of subsequent instalments shall be based on the initial or revised financing plan for the measure, subject to the state of implementation of the measure and to budgetary availability.

Article 4

Payments

1. Community assistance shall cover payments on the measure for which legally binding commitments have been made in the beneficiary and for which the requisite finance has been specifically allocated. These payments must relate to the services described in Annex I.

2. Payments made before (date of signature of financing memorandum by the Commission) shall not be eligible for assistance from the Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-accession.

3. The measure described in Annex I and payments by the body responsible for the implementation of the measure shall be completed no later than 31st December 2001.

4. The report required for the payment of the final balance should be submitted not later than 6 months after this date.

5. The advance payment is fixed at e 63 750, which shall be transferred as follows:

• An amount of e 31 875 is paid out after signature of this memorandum by the beneficiary;

• The remainder is paid out following the signing of the first technical assistance contract.

Article 5

Respect of Community law and policies

The measure shall be carried out in compliance with the relevant provisions set out in the Europe Agreements and shall contribute to the achievement of Community policies, in particular those concerning transport and trans-European networks.

Article 6

Intellectual property

The Beneficiary and the authority responsible for implementation mentioned in Annex I point 3 shall ensure that they acquire all necessary intellectual property rights to studies, drawings, plans, publicity and other material made in conjunction with planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of the project. They shall guarantee that the Commission, or any body or person delegated by the Commission shall have access and the right to use such material. The Commission will only use such material for its own purpose.

Article 7

Permits and authorisations

Any type of permits and or authorisations required for the implementation of the measure must be provided by the competent authorities of the Beneficiary in due time and in accordance with national law.

Article 8

Specific conditions related to the measure

The presence of a project in the indicative list contained in Annex I does not constitute in any way a commitment of the Commission to grant financial support for the construction phase of the project.

Article 9

The implementation provisions described in the Annexes to this financing memorandum form an integral part of it.

Non-compliance with the conditions and implementation provisions shall be dealt with by the Commission according to the procedure stipulated in Annex III.1. Section VIII.

Article 10

The authentic text of this financing memorandum is the present document as signed hereunder.