Zakon o ratifikaciji Letnega sporazuma o financiranju 2003 Posebnega pristopnega programa za kmetijstvo in razvoj podeželja v Republiki Sloveniji (SAPARD) med Komisijo Evropskih skupnosti v imenu Evropske skupnosti in Vlado Republike Slovenije (MSAPAR3)

Ratificira se Letni sporazum o financiranju 2003 Posebnega pristopnega programa za kmetijstvo in razvoj podeželja v Republiki Sloveniji (SAPARD) med Komisijo Evropskih skupnosti v imenu Evropske skupnosti in Vlado Republike Slovenije, podpisan v Bruslju 22. julija 2003.

Letni sporazum se v izvirniku v slovenskem in angleškem jeziku glasi: LETNI SPORAZUM O FINANCIRANJU 2003 Komisija Evropskih skupnosti, v nadaljevanju imenovana “Komisija“, ki nastopa za Evropsko skupnost, v nadaljevanju imenovana “Skupnost“, in v njenem imenu, na eni strani in Vlada Republike Slovenije, ki nastopa za Republiko Slovenijo, v nadaljevanju imenovana “Republika Slovenija“, in v njenem imenu, na drugi strani in skupaj imenovani “pogodbenici“, STA SE glede na to, da

(1)je bil z Uredbo Sveta (ES) št. 1268/1999 o podpori Skupnosti za predpristopne ukrepe za kmetijstvo in razvoj podeželja v državah prosilkah Srednje in Vzhodne Evrope v predpristopnem obdobju ustanovljen Posebni predpristopni program za kmetijstvo in razvoj podeželja (v nadaljevanju imenovan “SAPARD“)(*1), ki predvideva finančni prispevek Skupnosti, kot je bila nazadnje spremenjena z Uredbo (ES) št. 696/2003(*2);

(2)je bil načrt, ki ga je predložila Republika Slovenija, 27. oktobra 2000 odobren kot program za kmetijstvo in razvoj podeželja s sklepom Komisije, sprejetim v skladu s petim odstavkom 4. člena Uredbe (ES) št. 1268/1999;

(3)je bil 28. avgusta 2001 sklenjen Večletni sporazum o financiranju med Komisijo, ki nastopa v imenu Skupnosti, in Republiko Slovenijo, kot je bil nazadnje spremenjen z Letnim sporazumom o financiranju 2002 med Komisijo, ki nastopa v imenu Skupnosti, in Republiko Slovenijo (v nadaljevanju imenovan “MAFA“) in je v njegovem 2. členu določeno, da se finančna obveznost Skupnosti določi v letnih sporazumih o financiranju;

(4)je treba določiti finančno obveznost Skupnosti za leto 2003 za izvajanje programa za kmetijstvo in razvoj podeželja ter vseh njegovih sprememb (v nadaljevanju imenovan “program“) v Republiki Sloveniji in opredeliti obdobje veljavnosti te obveznosti. Zaradi določb Uredbe Komisije (ES) št. 2222/2000 z dne 7. junija 2000 o finančnih pravilih za uporabo Uredbe Sveta (ES) št. 1268/1999 o podpori Skupnosti za predpristopne ukrepe za kmetijstvo in razvoj podeželja v državah prosilkah Srednje in Vzhodne Evrope v predpristopnem obdobju(*3), kot je bila nazadnje spremenjena z Uredbo (ES) št. 188/2003(*4), je treba podaljšati roke veljavnosti za finančne obveznosti, kot so bili določeni v letnih sporazumih o financiranju za 2000, 2001 in 2002. Iz istega razloga je treba tudi v Večletnem sporazumu o financiranju prilagoditi določbe, ki se nanašajo na vlaganje zahtevkov za plačila Komisije;

(5)je treba upoštevati možnost, da bo Agencija SAPARD še nekaj časa po tem, ko bo Republika Slovenija postala država članica, lahko sklepala pogodbe z upravičenci. Poskrbeti je treba, da bodo zahteve v teh pogodbah odražale spremembo statusa Republike Slovenije;

(6)kot splošno pravilo velja, da je treba javna naročila izvajati na način, ki zagotavlja preglednost, nediskriminacijo in delovanje brez konflikta interesov. Zaradi tega bi bilo treba spremeniti ustrezna pravila MAFA;

(7)so se pokazale nedoslednosti v zvezi z MAFA, ki jih je treba rešiti; DOGOVORILI, KOT SLEDI:

Ta sporazum določa finančno obveznost Skupnosti za Republiko Slovenijo za leto 2003. Spreminja tudi Večletni sporazum o financiranju, podpisan 5. marca 2001, kot je bil spremenjen, in letne sporazume o financiranju 2000, 2001 in 2002.

Finančni prispevek Skupnosti za leto 2003 je omejen na 6,824.462 EUR. Ta obveznost velja le za izvajanje programa, kot je bil spremenjen, v skladu z Večletnim sporazumom o financiranju med Skupnostjo in Republiko Slovenijo.

Komisija bo samodejno ukinila vsak del obveznosti, navedene v 2. členu, ki ne bo poravnan s plačilom na račun ali za katerega ne bo prejela sprejemljivega zahtevka za plačilo, najpozneje do 31. decembra 2006. Po datumu, ko bo Republika Slovenija sklenila pogodbe o oblikah pomoči za razvoj podeželja Republike Slovenije kot članica Evropske unije, ne sme agencija SAPARD z nobenim upravičencem skleniti nobene pogodbe glede sredstev Skupnosti po tem sporazumu.

3. člen Letnega sporazuma o financiranju 2000, sklenjenega med Komisijo in Republiko Slovenijo, se nadomesti z naslednjim: Komisija bo samodejno ukinila vsak del obveznosti, navedene v 2. členu, ki ne bo poravnan s plačilom na račun ali za katerega ne bo prejela sprejemljivega zahtevka za plačilo, najpozneje do 31. decembra 2004. Po datumu, ko bo Republika Slovenija sklenila pogodbe o oblikah pomoči za razvoj podeželja Republike Slovenije kot članica Evropske unije, ne sme agencija SAPARD z nobenim upravičencem skleniti nobene pogodbe glede sredstev Skupnosti po tem sporazumu.“

3. člen Letnega sporazuma o financiranju 2001, sklenjenega med Komisijo in Republiko Slovenijo, se nadomesti z naslednjim: Komisija bo samodejno ukinila vsak del obveznosti, navedene v 2. členu, ki ne bo poravnan s plačilom na račun ali za katerega ne bo prejela sprejemljivega zahtevka za plačilo, najpozneje do 31. decembra 2005. Po datumu, ko bo Republika Slovenija sklenila pogodbe o oblikah pomoči za razvoj podeželja Republike Slovenije kot članica Evropske unije, ne sme agencija SAPARD z nobenim upravičencem skleniti nobene pogodbe glede sredstev Skupnosti po tem sporazumu.“

3. člen Letnega sporazuma o financiranju 2002, sklenjenega med Komisijo in Republiko Slovenijo, se nadomesti z naslednjim: Komisija bo samodejno ukinila vsak del obveznosti, navedene v 2. členu, ki ne bo poravnan s plačilom na račun ali za katerega ne bo prejela sprejemljivega zahtevka za plačilo, najpozneje do 31. decembra 2006. Po datumu, ko bo Republika Slovenija sklenila pogodbe o oblikah pomoči za razvoj podeželja Republike Slovenije kot članica Evropske unije, ne sme agencija SAPARD z nobenim upravičencem skleniti nobene pogodbe glede sredstev Skupnosti po tem sporazumu.“

Večletni sporazum o financiranju se spremeni, kot sledi: text="1. V razdelku A se prvi odstavek 9. člena nadomesti z naslednjim: “1. Agencija SAPARD četrtletno predloži zahtevke za plačilo v skladu z obrazcem D-1 iz razdelka D, ki jih nacionalni odredbodajalec v imenu Republike Slovenije podpiše in overi ter pošlje Komisiji v enem mesecu po koncu vsakega četrtletja. Dodatni zahtevki pa se lahko predložijo samo, če je to utemeljeno zaradi tveganja, da bi bila sredstva na evro računu SAPARD izčrpana, preden bi bil obdelan zahtevek za naslednje četrtletje, ali če obstaja tveganje, da bi bila obveznost ukinjena na podlagi določb ustreznega letnega sporazuma o financiranju.“   2. V razdelku A se v sedmem odstavku 11. člena besede “do 30. septembra“ nadomestijo z besedami “pred 30. septembrom“. 3. V razdelku A se v prvem odstavku 13. člena točka (b) nadomesti z naslednjim: “(b) prepreči in rešuje sume in dejanske primere goljufij in nepravilnosti,“ 4. V razdelku A se v 14. členu točka 2.6 nadomesti z naslednjim: “2.6. Pravila za javna naročila storitev, del in blaga v Republiki Sloveniji morajo biti pregledna, nediskriminacijska in taka, da ne sprožajo konflikta interesov. Biti morajo skladna s pravili, določenimi v priročniku Skupnosti z naslovom Pogodbe o nabavi storitev, blaga in del, sklenjene v okviru sodelovanja Skupnosti za tretje države(*5). Ne uporablja pa se zahteva za predhodno odobritev Komisije, ki jo vsebuje omenjeni priročnik. Storitve, dela in blago, ki se naročijo, morajo biti po poreklu iz Skupnosti ali iz držav, navedenih v zap. št. 8 razdelka F. Postopki javnih naročil, ki se začnejo po pristopu k Evropski uniji, pa morajo biti izvedeni v skladu z zakonodajo Skupnosti.“ 5. V razdelku B se v drugem odstavku 4. člena točka (j) nadomesti z naslednjim: “(j) splošni stroški določenega projekta, kot so honorarji arhitektov, inženirjev in svetovalcev, sodni in odvetniški stroški, stroški za študije izvedljivosti in ekonomske upravičenosti za pripravo in/ali izvajanje projekta ter stroški za pridobitev patentov in licenc, ki so neposredno povezani s projektom in presegajo 12% vseh upravičenih stroškov projekta brez upoštevanja teh splošnih stroškov;“ 6. V dodatku k razdelku E se zadnji odstavek vsakega primera od A do vključno E nadomesti z naslednjim:   “Revizijo smo opravili od DD/MM/LLLL do DD/MM/LLLL. Poročilo o naših ugotovitvah je dostavljeno istega dne kot to potrdilo. To potrdilo vključuje tudi stanje na evro računu SAPARD.“   7. Besedilo zap. št. 5 razdelka F se nadomesti z naslednjim: “Nepravilnost pomeni vsako kršitev tega sporazuma in z njim povezanih pogodb, ki je posledica dejanja ali opustitve nosilca gospodarske dejavnosti(*6), ki je ali bi lahko zaradi neupravičenega izdatka škodovala splošnemu proračunu Evropskih skupnosti.   Goljufija pomeni vsako namerno dejanje ali opustitev v zvezi z:   (i) uporabo ali predložitvijo lažnih, nepravilnih ali nepopolnih izkazov ali listin, ki so ali bi lahko vplivale na nepravilno dodelitev ali neupravičeno zadržanje sredstev splošnega proračuna Evropskih skupnosti;   (ii) nerazkritjem podatkov ob kršitvi določene obveznosti z enakim učinkom, kot je naveden v (i);   (iii) nepravilno uporabo teh sredstev za druge namene kot za tiste, za katere so bila prvotno dodeljena.“   8. Besedilo zap. št. 6 razdelka F se nadomesti z naslednjim: “Upravni ukrepi in kazni se lahko uporabijo proti nosilcem gospodarskih dejavnosti, če bi pri svoji dejavnosti z nepravilno uporabo tega sporazuma ali z njim povezanih pogodb skušali oškodovati ali bi oškodovali prispevek Skupnosti, in proti fizičnim ali pravnim osebam, ki so vpletene v nepravilnost ali se od njih pričakuje, da so odgovorne, ker bi jo morale preprečiti.“"

Ta sporazum začne veljati na dan, ko se pogodbenici uradno obvestita, da so končane vse potrebne formalnosti za njegovo sklenitev.

Ta sporazum je sestavljen v dveh izvodih v angleškem in slovenskem jeziku, pri čemer sta obe besedili verodostojni. Pri razhajanju med različicama pa prevlada angleško besedilo. Sestavljeno v Bruslju na dvaindvajseti dan meseca julija leta dva tisoč tri. Za Komisijo Evropskih skupnosti: Franz FISCHLER l. r. član Komisije Za Republiko Slovenijo: Franci BUT l. r. minister za kmetijstvo, gozdarstvo in prehrano (*1) UL L 161, 26. 6. 1999, str. 87–93. (*2) UL L 99, 17. 4. 2003, str. 24. (*3) UL L 253, 7. 10. 2000, str. 5. (*4) UL L 27, 1. 2. 2003, str. 14. (*5) SEC(1999) 1801/2 (*6) Za namene te točke in točke 8 je “nosilec gospodarskih dejavnosti“ opredeljen kot vsaka fizična ali pravna oseba ali drug subjekt, ki je priznan po notranjem pravu (zasebniki, podjetja, javne ustanove ali državni, regionalni in lokalni organi oblasti). 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 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 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), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 696/2003(*2);

(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 Financing Agreement between the Commission acting on behalf of the Community and the Republic of Slovenia, as last amended by the Annual Financing Agreement 2002 between the Commission acting on behalf of the Community and the Republic of Slovenia (hereinafter referred to as “MAFA”), has been concluded on 28 August 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 2003 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, 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 in the applicant countries of central and eastern Europe in the pre-accession period(*3), as last amended by Regulation (EC) No 188/2003(*4) it is necessary to the increase the time limits of validity of financial commitments set out in the Annual Financing Agreements for 2000, 2001 and 2002. For the same reason it is also necessary to adjust the provisions in the Multi-annual Financing Agreement concerning the submission of applications for payment from the Commission;

(5)Account must be taken of the prospect that for a certain period after the Republic of Slovenia has become a Member State the SAPARD Agency may enter into contracts with beneficiaries. Provision needs to be made so that the requirements of these contracts reflect the change in status of the Republic of Slovenia;

(6)As a general rule, public procurement procedures should be carried out in a way as to guarantee transparency, non-discrimination and that there are no conflicts of interest. The relevant rules of the MAFA should therefore be amended accordingly;

(7)Certain inconsistencies relevant to MAFA have come to light that need to be addressed; HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS: This Agreement sets out the Community financial commitment for the Republic of Slovenia for the year 2003. It also modifies the Multi-annual Financing Agreement signed on 5 March 2001, as amended, as well as the Annual Financing Agreements 2000, 2001 and 2002. The financial contribution of the Community for the year 2003 is limited to 6.824.462 EUR. This commitment is valid only for execution of the Programme, as amended, in conformity with the Multi-annual Financing Agreement between the Community and the Republic of Slovenia. 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 2006 at the latest. No contract involving Community funds relating to this Agreement shall be entered into by the SAPARD Agency with any beneficiary later than the date the Republic of Slovenia enters into contracts involving a form of assistance for Rural Development for the Republic of Slovenia as a member of the European Union. Article 3 of the Annual Financing Agreement 2000, concluded between the Commission and the Republic of Slovenia, is replaced by the following: 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 2004 at the latest. No contract involving Community funds relating to this Agreement shall be entered into by the SAPARD Agency with any beneficiary later than the date the Republic of Slovenia enters into contracts involving a form of assistance for Rural Development for the Republic of Slovenia as a member of the European Union. Article 3 of the Annual Financing Agreement 2001, concluded between the Commission and the Republic of Slovenia is replaced by the following: 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 2005 at the latest. No contract involving Community funds relating to this Agreement shall be entered into by the SAPARD Agency with any beneficiary later than the date the Republic of Slovenia enters into contracts involving a form of assistance for Rural Development for the Republic of Slovenia as a member of the European Union. Article 3 of the Annual Financing Agreement 2002, concluded between the Commission and the Republic of Slovenia, is replaced by the following: 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 2006 at the latest. No contract involving Community funds relating to this Agreement shall be entered into by the SAPARD Agency with any beneficiary later than the date the Republic of Slovenia enters into contracts involving a form of assistance for Rural Development for the Republic of Slovenia as a member of the European Union. The Multi-annual Financing Agreement is amended as follows: text="1. In Article 9 of Section A, paragraph 1 is replaced by the following: “1. The SAPARD Agency shall, on a quarterly basis, present payment applications in accordance with the Form D-1 as set out in Section D, signed and certified, and transmitted by the National Authorising Officer, on behalf of the Republic of Slovenia, 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 in the SAPARD euro account being exhausted before the next quarterly application has been processed or if there is a risk of decommitment being invoked pursuant to the provisions of the relevant Annual Financing Agreement.” 2. In Article 11 of Section A, the reference in paragraph 7 to “by 30 September” is replaced by “before 30 September”. 3. In Article 13 of Section A, point 1 (b) is replaced by the following: “(b) prevent and deal with suspected and actual cases of fraud and irregularities.” 4. In Article 14 of Section A, point 2.6 is replaced by the following: “2.6. The rules for the procurement by public bodies of services, works and supplies in the Republic of Slovenia shall be transparent, non-discriminatory and give rise to no conflicts of interest. They shall be consistent with the rules set out in 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 included therein shall not apply. The services, works, and supplies procured shall originate in the Community or in the countries referred to in Item 8 of Section F. However public procurement procedures initiated from accession to the European Union shall be run in accordance with Community legislation.” 5. In Article 4

(2)of Section B, point (j) is replaced by the following: “(j) general costs for a given project, such as architects’, engineers’ consultants’ and legal fees, costs of feasibility studies for preparing and/or implementing the project, and costs for acquisition of patents and licences, directly related to that project, which exceed 12% of total eligible expenditure excluding these general costs;”   6. In the appendix to Section E the last paragraph of each of the examples A to E inclusive 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 infringement 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 intentional act or omission relating to: (i) the use or presentation of false, incorrect or incomplete 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 information in 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 involved in the commission of the irregularity or who are expected to answer for an irregularity to avoid it being committed.”" 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. This agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in English and in Slovenian, each of these texts being authentic. However in the event of divergence between versions, the English shall prevail. Done at Brussels, this twenty-second day of July in the year two thousand and three. For the Commission of the European Communities: Franz FISCHLER (s) Member of the Commission For the Republic of Slovenia: Franci BUT (s) Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Food (*1) OJ L 161, 26. 6. 1999, p. 87 - 93. (*2) OJ L 99, 17. 4. 2003, p. 24. (*3) OJ L 253, 7. 10. 2000, p. 5. (*4) OJ L 27, 1. 2. 2003, p. 14. (*5) SEC(1999) 1801/2 (*6) For the purposes of this point and point 8 “economic operator” is defined as all natural or legal persons or other bodies recognised by national law (private individuals, enterprises, public establishments or State regional and local authorities).

Za izvajanje letnega sporazuma skrbi Ministrstvo za kmetijstvo, gozdarstvo in prehrano.

Ta zakon začne veljati naslednji dan po objavi v Uradnem listu Republike Slovenije – Mednarodne pogodbe. Št. 411-04/03-12/1 Ljubljana, dne 2. oktobra 2003 EPA 980-III Predsednik Državnega zbora Republike Slovenije Borut Pahor l. r.