COOPERATION AGREEMENT between the European Economic Community and the Kingdom of Sweden on research in the field of wood, including cork, as a renewable raw material

THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC COMMUNITY,

hereinafter referred to as ´the Community',

and THE KINGDOM OF SWEDEN,

hereinafter referred to as ´Sweden',

both hereinafter referred to as the ´Contracting Parties',

WHEREAS the Community and Sweden concluded a Framework Agreement for scientific and technical cooperation which entered into force on 27 August 1987;

WHEREAS, by Decision of 10 June 1986, the Council of the European Communities, hereinafter referred to as ´the Council', adopted, for a period of four years from 1 January 1986, a programme in the sector of materials (raw materials and advanced materials), which includes a subprogramme relating to wood, including cork, as a renewable raw material, hereinafter referred to as ´the Community programme';

WHEREAS, in pursuance of the Council Decision of 14 June 1983, Sweden and the Community cooperated for a period extending until 31 December 1985 in a European research and development programme in the field of wood as a renewable raw material and considering that the Contracting Parties obtained mutual benefit from that cooperation;

WHEREAS comprehensive forest and forest products research programmes, taking into account biological, technological and economic factors, are being carried out in Sweden, financed by, among others, the Swedish National Board for Technical Development, the Swedish Council for Forestry and Agricultural Research and the Swedish forest products industry;

WHEREAS the association of Sweden with the Community programme can help to improve the efficacy of the research carried out by the Contracting Parties in the field of wood, including cork, as a renewable raw material and can avoid the useless duplication of efforts;

WHEREAS the Contracting Parties expect to derive mutual benefit from Sweden's association with the Community programme,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1 Sweden is hereby associated with the implementation of the Community programme as set out in Annex A.

Article 2 The financial contribution of Sweden deriving from its association with the implementation of the Community programme shall be established in proportion to the amount available each year in the general budget of the European Communities for appropriations covering commitments to meet financial obligations of the Commission of the European Communities, hereinafter referred to as ´the Commission', resulting from work to be carried out in the framework of shared cost research contracts necessary to the implementation of the Community programme and from management and administrative operating expenditures for the Community programme.

The proportionality factor governing Sweden's contribution shall be given by the ratio between Sweden's gross domestic product (GDP), at market prices, and the sum of gross domestic products, at market prices, of the Member States of the Community and of Sweden. This ratio shall be calculated on the basis of the latest available OECD statistical data.

The amount estimated as necessary to carry out the Community programme, the amount of Sweden's contribution and the timetable of the commitment estimates are set out in Annex B.

The provisions and rules governing Sweden's financial contribution are set out in Annex C.

Article 3 For Swedish persons and undertakings, the terms and conditions for the submission and the evaluation of research proposals and the terms and conditions for the granting and conclusion of contracts under the Community programme shall be the same as those applicable to persons and undertakings in the Community. In particular, the provisions of the General Terms and Conditions applicable to research contracts within the Community shall apply, mutatis mutandis, to research contracts with Swedish persons and undertakings as far as questions relating to taxation and customs duties and the utilization of research results are concerned.

Article 4 The Commission shall be responsible for the implementation of the Community programme. It shall be assisted by the Management and Coordination Advisory Committee on ´Raw Materials and Other Materials', hereinafter referred to as ´the committee', set up by Council Decision 84/338/Euratom, ECSC, EEC.

The committee shall be enlarged to include two representatives designated by Sweden who may be assisted or replaced by one Swedish expert. They shall participate solely in the work of the committee which meets in its variable configuration to accomplish the tasks concerning the Community programme on wood, including cork, as a renewable raw material.

Article 5 Each Contracting Party undertakes, in accordance with its respective rules and regulations, to facilitate the movement and residence of research workers participating in Sweden and in the Community in the activities covered by this agreement.

Article 6 The implementation of this agreement shall be ensured by the Commission.

Article 7 This agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and, on the other hand, to the territory of the Kingdom of Sweden.

Article 8 1. This agreement is concluded for the duration of the Community programme.

Should the Community revise the Community programme, the agreement may be terminated in the month following the Community decision. The Contracting Party wishing to terminate the agreement shall give written notice to the other Contracting Party of its decision. The agreement shall terminate on the date of receipt of the written notice by the other Contracting Party.

2. This agreement shall be renewed by tacit agreement when the Community adopts a new Community programme, for the duration of the new programme, unless it is terminated in the month following the adoption of the new programme.

The provisions of the second subparagraph of paragraph 1 shall remain applicable.

3. Whenever a decision on a Community programme is taken by the Community, Annexes A and B shall be amended in accordance with the Community's decision.

4. This agreement shall not be regarded as having expired merely because there is a delay in the adoption of a future Community programme.

5. Except as provided in paragraphs 1 and 2, either Contracting Party may at any time give written notice to the other Contracting Party of its decision to terminate this agreement. The agreement shall terminate six months after the date of receipt of the written notice by the other Contracting Party. The projects and work in progress at the time of termination and/or expiry of this agreement shall be continued until they are completed under the conditions laid down in the agreement, unless otherwise agreed upon.

Article 9 Annexes A, B and C to this agreement shall form an integral part thereof.

Article 10 This agreement shall be approved by the Contracting Parties in accordance with their existing procedures. Subject to the Contracting Parties having notified each other of the completion of the procedures necessary for this purpose, it shall enter into force on 1 January 1988.

Article 11 This agreement shall be drawn up in duplicate in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

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ANNEX A COMMUNITY PROGRAMME IN THE FIELD OF WOOD, INCLUDING CORK, AS A RENEWABLE RAW MATERIAL (1986 to 1989) The following research areas are included in the Community programme:

1.

Wood production 1.1.

Forest-tree breeding and gene resource conservation 1.2.

Protection against damage from biotic and abiotic agents and fire 1.3.

Better use of land resources (coordination action only) 1.4.

Forest inventory (coordination action only) 2.

Wood harvest, storage and transport 2.1.

Organization of harvesting operations and development of harvesting machinery 2.2.

Harvesting, treatment, storage and transport 3.

Wood as a material 3.1.

Properties, protection and improvement of wood and wood-based panels 3.2.

Development of testing and grading procedures 4.

Mechanical wood processing and use of finished wood products 4.1.

Mechanical conversion and manufacturing processes 4.2.

Drying process 4.3.

Use of wood and wood-based materials in construction 4.4.

Other uses of finished products made of wood 5.

Pulp and paper manufacturing and processing and wood chemicals 5.1.

The physical and organic chemistry of wood defibring 5.2.

Chemi-mechanical pulping (high-yield pulping) 5.3.

Pulping processes with low-grade wood 5.4.

Substitutes for wood fibres and material additives 5.5.

Fibre recycling 5.6.

The process of manufacture of paper and board 5.7.

Products derived from wood as a source of chemicals In relation to the research areas set out above:

- the work shall be carried out as shared-cost contract research and coordination and training activities,

- consideration will be given to standardization and prestandardization aspects.

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ANNEX B FINANCIAL PROVISIONS Article 1 The amount estimated as necessary to carry out the Community programme shall be 10 million ECU.

Article 2 The estimated amount of Sweden's financial contribution shall be 393 600 ECU.

Article 3 The timetable of the commitment estimates and of Sweden's financial contribution is given in the following table:

Timetable of the commitments estimated as necessary to carry out the community programme (commitment appropriations) and of Sweden's contribution (ECU) Year Commitments for management and administrative operation contracts Total Sweden's contribution 1986 1987 1988 1989 341 495 480 205 364 700 380 950 0 7 678 300 685 300 69 050 341 495 8 158 505 1 050 000 450 000 13 441 321 119 41 328 17 712 Grand Total 1 567 350 8 432 650 10 000 000 393 600 EWG:L000UMBE06.96 FF: 0UEN; SETUP: 01; Hoehe: 258 mm; 57 Zeilen; 883 Zeichen;

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ANNEX C FINANCING RULES Article 1 This Annex lays down the provisions and rules governing Sweden's financial contribution referred to in Article 2 of the agreement.

Article 2 At the beginning of each year, or whenever the Community programme is revised so as to involve an increase in the amount estimated as necessary to its carrying out, the Commission shall send to Sweden a call for funds corresponding to its contribution to the costs under the agreement.

This contribution shall be expressed both in ECU and in the Swedish currency, the composition of the ECU being defined in Council Regulation (EEC) No 3180/78. The value of the contribution in ECU shall be determined on the date of the call for funds.

Sweden shall pay its contribution to the annual costs under the agreement at the beginning of each year and at the latest three months after the call for funds is sent. Any delay in the payment of the contribution shall give rise to the payment of interest by Sweden at a rate equal to the highest discount rate obtaining in the Member States of the Community on the due date. The rate shall be increased by 0,25 of a percentage point for each month of delay.

The increased rate shall be applied to the entire period of delay. However, this interest shall be payable only if the contribution is paid more than three months after a call for funds has been made by the Commission.

The financial regulations in force applicable to the general budget of the European Communities shall apply to the management of the appropriations.

Travel costs of Swedish representatives and experts deriving from their participation in the work of the committee referred to in Article 4 of the agreement shall be reimbursed by the Commission in accordance with the procedures currently in force for representatives and experts of the Member States of the European Community and, in particular, in accordance with Council Decision 84/338/Euratom, ECSC, EEC.

At the end of each year, a statement of appropriations for the Community programme shall be prepared and transmitted to Sweden for information.

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