THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA ANNUAL FINANCING AGREEMENT 2003 between THE COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ON BEHALF OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITY and THE REPUBLIC OF LITHUANIA ANNUAL FINANCING AGREEMENT 2003 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 Lithuania acting for and on behalf of the Republic of Lithuania, hereinafter referred to as “the Republic of Lithuania” of the other part, and together jointly referred to as “the Contracting Parties”, Whereas:
the Applicant Countries of central and eastern Europe
the pre-accession period[1], as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 696/2003[2];
accordance with Article 4
that the financial commitment of the Community shall be set out
Annual Financing Agreements;
the Republic of Lithuania, and to state the period of validity of that commitment. Moreover, to reflect the provisions of Commission Regulation (EC) No 2222/2000 of 7 June 2000 laying down financial rules for the application of Council Regulation (EC) No 1268/1999 on Community support for pre-accession measures for agriculture and rural development
the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe
the pre-accession period[3], as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 188/2003[4] it is necessary to the
crease the time limits of validity of financial commitments set out
the Annual Financing Agreements for 2000, 2001 and 2002. For the same reason it is also necessary to adjust the provisions
the Multi-annual Financing Agreement concerning the submission of applications for payment from the Commission;
to contracts with beneficiaries. Provision needs to be made so that the requirements of these contracts reflect the change
status of the Republic of Lithuania;
a way as to guarantee transparency, non-discrimination and that there are no conflicts of
terest. The relevant rules of the MAFA should therefore be amended accordingly;
consistencies relevant to MAFA have come to light that need to be addressed; HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: Article 1 Objective This Agreement sets out the Community financial commitment for the Republic of Lithuania for the year
conformity with the Multi-annual Financing Agreement between the Community and the Republic of Lithuania. Article 3 Period of commitment The Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the commitment referred to
which has not been settled by a payment on account, or for which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31 December 2006 at the latest. No contract
volving Community funds relating to this Agreement shall be entered
to by the SAPARD Agency with any beneficiary later than the date the Republic of Lithuania enters
to contracts
volving a form of assistance for Rural Development for the Republic of Lithuania as a member of the European Union. Article 4 Amendment of the Annual Financing Agreement 2000 Article 3 of the Annual Financing Agreement 2000, concluded between the Commission and the Republic of Lithuania, is replaced by the following: “Article 3 Period of commitment The Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the commitment referred to
which has not been settled by a payment on account, or for which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31 December 2004 at the latest. No contract
volving Community funds relating to this Agreement shall be entered
to by the SAPARD Agency with any beneficiary later than the date the Republic of Lithuania enters
to contracts
volving a form of assistance for Rural Development for the Republic of Lithuania as a member of the European Union.” Article 5 Amendment of the Annual Financing Agreement 2001 Article 3 of the Annual Financing Agreement 2001, concluded between the Commission and the Republic of Lithuania is replaced by the following: “Article 3 Period of commitment The Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the commitment referred to
which has not been settled by a payment on account, or for which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31 December 2005 at the latest. No contract
volving Community funds relating to this Agreement shall be entered
to by the SAPARD Agency with any beneficiary later than the date the Republic of Lithuania enters
to contracts
volving a form of assistance for Rural Development for the Republic of Lithuania as a member of the European Union.” Article 6 Amendment of the Annual Financing Agreement 2002 Article 3 of the Annual Financing Agreement 2002, concluded between the Commission and the Republic of Lithuania, is replaced by the following: “Article 3 Period of commitment The Commission shall automatically decommit any part of the commitment referred to
which has not been settled by a payment on account, or for which it has not received an acceptable payment application, by 31 December 2006 at the latest. No contract
volving Community funds relating to this Agreement shall be entered
to by the SAPARD Agency with any beneficiary later than the date the Republic of Lithuania enters
to contracts
volving a form of assistance for Rural Development for the Republic of Lithuania as a member of the European Union.” Article 7 Amendment of the Multi-annual Financing Agreement The Multi-annual Financing Agreement is amended as follows: 1.
The SAPARD Agency shall, on a quarterly basis, present payment applications
accordance with the Form D-1 as set out
, signed and certified, and transmitted by the National Authorising Officer, on behalf of the Republic of Lithuania, to the Commission within one month of the end of each quarter. However, supplementary applications may be submitted only if justified on the basis of the risk of the net balance
the SAPARD euro account being exhausted before the next quarterly application has been processed or if there is a risk of decommitment being
voked pursuant to the provisions of the relevant Annual Financing Agreement.” 2.
of Section A, the reference
paragraph 7 to “by 30 September” is replaced by “before 30 September”. 3.
of Section A, point 1 (
The rules for the procurement by public bodies of services, works and supplies
the Republic of Lithuania shall be transparent, non-discriminatory and give rise to no conflicts of
terest. They shall be consistent with the rules set out
the Commission manual entitled “Service, Supply, and Work Contracts concluded within the Framework of Community Co-operation for the Third Countries[5]". However, the requirements for ex-ante approval by the Commission
cluded therein shall not apply. The services, works, and supplies procured shall originate
the Community or
the countries referred to
Item 8 of Section F. However public procurement procedures
itiated from accession to the European Union shall be run
accordance with Community legislation.” 5.
the appendix to Section E the last paragraph of each of the examples A to E
clusive is replaced by the following: “Our audit was conducted between DD/MM/YYYY and DD/MM/YYYY. A report on our findings is delivered at the same date as the date of this certificate. This certificate also covers the SAPARD euro account.” 7. The text of item 5 of Section F, is replaced by the following: “Irregularity shall mean any
fringement of this Agreement and ensuing contracts resulting from an act or omission by an economic operator[6], which has, or would have, the effect of prejudicing the general budget of the European Communities by an unjustified item of expenditure. Fraud shall mean any
tentional act or omission relating to: (i) the use or presentation of false,
correct or
complete statements or documents, which has, or could have, as its effect the misappropriation or wrongful retention of funds from the general budget of the European Communities; (ii) non-disclosure of
formation
violation of a specific obligation, with the same effect as that referred to under (i); (iii) the misapplication of such funds for purposes other than those for which they are originally granted.” 8. The text of item 6 of Section F, is replaced by the following: “Administrative measures and penalties may be applied to economic operators where their activity may have led them via an irregular application of this Agreement or ensuing contracts to attempt to or to harm the Community contribution and also to the natural or legal persons who have been
volved
the commission of the irregularity or who are expected to answer for an irregularity to avoid it being committed.” Article 8 Entry
to Force This Agreement shall enter
to force on the date when both Contracting Parties have notified each other of the completion of all necessary
ternal legal procedures for its conclusion. Article 9 Signature This agreement shall be drawn up
duplicate
English and
Lithuanian, each of these texts being authentic. However
the event of divergence between versions, the English shall prevail. Done at Brussels and at Vilnius, respectively, this twenty-sixth day of September
the year two thousand and three. For the Commission of the European Communities: Franz FISCHLER Member of the Commission For the Republic of Lithuania: Dalia GRYBAUSKAITĖ Minister of Finance [1] OJ L 161, 26.06.1999, p. 87-93. [2] OJ L 99, 17.04.2003, p. 24. [3] OJ L 253, 7.10.2000, p. 5. [4] OJ L 27, 1.02.2003, p. 14. [5] SEC
dividuals, enterprises, public establishments or State regional and local authorities).
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