SPECIAL ACCESSION PROGRAMME FOR AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA ANNUAL FINANCING AGREEMENT 2001 between THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES

ON BEHALF OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY and THE REPUBLIC OF LATVIA

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 Republic of Latvia, of the other part,

and together jointly referred to as “the Contracting Parties”,

Whereas

(1) A Special 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 period;1

(2) The plan submitted by the Republic of Latvia 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 25 October 2000;

(3) The Multi-Annual Financing Agreement between the Community and the Republic of Latvia has been concluded on 4 July 2001 and provides in Article 2 that the financial commitment of the Community shall be set out in Annual Financing Agreements.

(4) It is necessary to set out the Community financial commitment for the year 2001 for the execution of the Agriculture and Rural Development Programme, and any amendments thereof, (hereinafter referred to as “the Programme”), in the Republic of Latvia, and to state the period of validity of that commitment;

(5) The Annual Financing Agreement 2000 between the Community and the Republic of Latvia sets the date of 31 December 2002 as the time limit of validity of the 2000 annual commitment. Since no Commission Decision conferring management of the SAPARD instrument on Agencies in the Republic of Latvia has been taken in 2000, it is appropriate to modify Article 3 of the Annual Financing Agreement 2000, extending the period of commitment until 31 December 2003;

(6) In the light of experience gained since signature of the Multi-Annual Financing Agreement between the Community and the Republic of Latvia, it appears necessary to make certain adjustments to that agreement;

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Objective

This Agreement sets out the Community financial commitment for the Republic of Latvia for the year 2001. It also modifies the Multi-annual Financing Agreement signed on 25.01.2001, as well as the Annual Financing Agreement 2000 signed on 30.03.2001.

Article 2

Commitment

The financial contribution of the Community for the year 2001 is limited to 22.673.602 e. 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 Latvia.

Article 3

Period of commitment

The Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the commitment referred to in Article 2 which has not been settled by a payment on account, or for which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31 December 2003 at the latest.

Article 4

Modification of the Annual Financing Agreement 2000

Article 3 of the Annual Financing Agreement 2000, concluded between the Commission and the Republic of Latvia, is modified as follows:

“Article 3

Period of commitment

The Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the commitment referred to in Article 2 which has not been settled by a payment on account, or for which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31 December 2003 at the latest.”

Article 5

Modification of the Multi-Annual Financing Agreement

The Multi-annual Financing Agreement concluded between the Commission and the Republic of Latvia, is modified as follows:

1 OJ No. L 161, 26.6.1999, p.87–93

1. In Article 8, the first sentence is replaced by the following:

“Correspondence relating to any matter falling within the scope of this Multi-Annual Financing Agreement, and/or the scope of the Annual Financing Agreements provided for in Article 2, 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, 130, 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 Latvia:

National Authorising Officer

Ministry of Finance

Smilšu street 1, LV – 1919

Rīga, Latvia

Telephone: 00 371 7095419

Fax: 00 371 7095503”.

2. In Section A

— Article 3(3) is replaced by the following:

“3. The Decision to confer management of aid on Agencies in the Republic of Latvia may be made on a provisional basis, provided that the conditions and Articles referred to in the first sub-paragraph of paragraph 1 are complied with.”

— Article 7(2) is replaced by the following:

“2. Payment by the Commission of the Community contribution shall be made in accordance with the Annual Financing Agreement(s) referred to in Article 2 of this Agreement to the SAPARD euro account and provided that the verifications referred to in Article 9 of this Section have not indicated any problems.”

— In Article 7(4) the first sentence is replaced by the following:

“4. Unless provided otherwise in an Annual Financing Agreement, the Commission shall automatically decommit.”

— In Article 14, point 2.6, the footnote n° 4 is replaced by the following:

“SEC (1999) 1801 / 2”

— In Article 14, the point 2.9 is replaced by the following:

“2.9 The SAPARD Agency shall ensure that adequate publicity is given to the availability of support. This publicity shall make reference to Community co-financing and be directed towards all potential project managers and operators so as to obtain as wide as possible a selection of potential project managers and operators. Standard application forms with clear guidelines for completion and conditions for eligibility shall be drawn up in advance of the launch of the scheme. No charges shall be imposed on potential beneficiaries or on beneficiaries for information, including application forms, relating to the Programme. This provision is without prejudice to the application of charges levied generally in the rest of the economy.”

3. In Section B

— In Article 4(3) the point (c) is replaced by the following:

“(c) Expenditure, not involving infrastructure nor human capital, incurred by a beneficiary where more than 25% of their capital is held by a public body or bodies”.

4. In Section D

— The Declaration of expenditure and payment application in Form D-1, is replaced by the form reproduced in the annex to this Agreement.

— The form D-3 (financial identification) is deleted.

Article 6

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 7

Signature

This Agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in English and in Latvian, only the English text being authentic.

Done at Brussels, this eleventh day of February in the year two thousand and two.

For Commission of the European Communities:

Franz FISCHLER

Member of the Commission

For the Republic of Latvia:

Ingūna SUDRABA

Deputy State Secretary

Ministry of Finance

National Authorising Officer

Annex