- encouraging the promotion of Agreements between the EU Member States, or Euratom, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on early notification of information in cases of nuclear accidents and on nuclear safety issues generally, if appropriate,
- strengthening the supervision and control on the transport of materials sensitive to radioactive pollution.
Title IX. FINANCIAL COOPERATION
Article 104.
In order to achieve the objectives of this Agreement and in accordance with Articles 3, 108 and 109 the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia may receive financial assistance from the Community in the forms of grants and loans, including loans from the European Investment Bank.
Article 105.
Financial assistance, in the form of grants, shall be covered by the operation measures provided for in the relevant Council Regulation within a multi-annual indicative framework established by the Community following consultations with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The overall objectives of the assistance, in the form of institution-building and investment, shall contribute to the democratic, economic and institutional reforms of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in line with the Stabilisation and Association process. Financial assistance may cover all areas of harmonisation of legislation and cooperation policies of this Agreement, including Justice and Home Affairs.
Consideration should be given to the full implementation of the infrastructure projects of common interest identified in the Transport Agreement.
Article 106.
At the request of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and in case of special need, the Community could examine in coordination with international financial institutions, the possibility of granting on an exceptional basis macro-financial assistance subject to certain conditions taking into account the availability of all financial resources.
Article 107.
In order to permit optimum use of the resources available, the parties shall ensure that Community contributions are made in close coordination with those from other sources such as the Member States, other countries and international financial institutions.
To this effect, information on all sources of assistance shall be exchanged regularly between the Parties.
Title X. INSTITUTIONAL, GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 108.
A Stabilisation and Association Council is hereby established which shall supervise the application and implementation of this Agreement. It shall meet at an appropriate level at regular intervals and when circumstances require. It shall examine any major issues arising within the framework of this Agreement and any other bilateral or international issues of mutual interest.
Article 109.
1. The Stabilisation and Association Council shall consist of the members of the Council of the European Union and members of the Commission of the European Communities, on the one hand, and of members of the Government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on the other.
2. The Stabilisation and Association Council shall establish its rules of procedure.
3. Members of the Stabilisation and Association Council may arrange to be represented, in accordance with the conditions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
4. The Stabilisation and Association Council shall be chaired in turn by a representative of the European Community and a representative of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
5. In matters that concern it, the European Investment Bank shall take part, as an observer, in the work of the Stabilisation and Association Council.
Article 110.
The Stabilisation and Association Council shall, for the purpose of attaining the objectives of this Agreement, have the power to take decisions within the scope of the Agreement in the cases provided for therein. The decisions taken shall be binding on the Parties, which shall take the measures necessary to implement the decisions taken. When deciding on the transition to the second stage, as provided for in Article 5, the Stabilisation and Association Council may also decide on any possible changes to be brought about as regards the content of the provisions governing the second stage.
In its rules of procedure the Stabilisation and Association Council shall determine the duties of the Stabilisation and Association Committee, which shall include the preparation of meetings of the Stabilisation and Association Council, and shall determine how the Committee shall function.
The Stabilisation and Association Council may delegate to the Stabilisation and Association Committee any of its powers. In this event the Stabilisation and Association Committee shall take its decisions in accordance with the conditions laid down in this Article.
The Stabilisation and Association Council may also make appropriate recommendations.
It shall draw up its decisions and recommendations by agreement between the Parties.
Article 111.
Each Party may refer to the Stabilisation and Association Council any dispute relating to the application or interpretation of this Agreement. The Stabilisation and Association Council may settle the dispute by means of a binding decision.
Article 112.
The Stabilisation and Association Council shall be assisted in the performance of its duties by a Stabilisation and Association Committee, composed of representatives of the Council of the European Union and of representatives of the Commission of the European Communities, on the one hand, and of representatives of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the other.
Article 113.
The Stabilisation and Association Committee may create subcommittees. The Transport Committee established under the Transport Agreement shall assist the Stabilisation and Association Committee.
Article 114.
A Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee is hereby established. It shall be a forum for Members of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonian Parliament and the European Parliament to meet and exchange views. It shall meet at intervals that it shall itself determine.
The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall consist of members of the European Parliament, on the one hand, and of Members of the Parliament of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on the other.
The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall establish its rules of procedure.
The Stabilisation and Association Parliamentary Committee shall be chaired in turn by the European Parliament and the Parliament of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
Article 115.
Within the scope of this Agreement, each Party undertakes to ensure that natural and legal persons of the other Party have access free of discrimination in relation to its own nationals to the competent courts and administrative organs of the Parties to defend their individual rights and their property rights.
Article 116.
Nothing in this Agreement shall prevent a Party from taking any measures:
(a) which it considers necessary to prevent the disclosure of information contrary to its essential security interests;
(b) which relate to the production of, or trade in, arms, munitions or war materials or to research, development or production indispensable for defence purposes, provided that such measures do not impair the conditions of competition in respect of products not intended for specifically military purposes;
(c) which it considers essential to its own security in the event of serious internal disturbances affecting the maintenance of law and order, in time of war or serious international tension constituting threat of war or in order to carry out obligations it has accepted for the purpose of maintaining peace and international security.
Article 117.
1. In the fields covered by this Agreement and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein:
- the arrangements applied by the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in respect of the Community shall not give rise to any discrimination between the Member States, their nationals or their companies or firms,
- the arrangements applied by the Community in respect of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shall not give rise to any discrimination between the nationals of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or its companies or firms.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 shall be without prejudice to the right of the Parties to apply the relevant provisions of their fiscal legislation to taxpayers who are not in identical situations as regards their place of residence.
Article 118.
1. The Parties shall take any general or specific measures required to fulfil their obligations under this Agreement. They shall see to it that the objectives set out in this Agreement are attained.
2. If either Party considers that the other Party has failed to fulfil an obligation under this Agreement, it may take appropriate measures. Before so doing, except in cases of special urgency, it shall supply the Stabilisation and Association Council with all relevant information required for a thorough examination of the situation with a view to seeking a solution acceptable to the Parties.
In the selection of measures, priority must be given to those which least disturb the functioning of this Agreement. These measures shall be notified immediately to the Stabilisation and Association Council and shall be the subject of consultations within the Stabilisation and Association Council if the other Party so requests.
Article 119.
The Parties agree to consult promptly through appropriate channels at the request of either Party to discuss any matter concerning the interpretation or implementation of this Agreement and other relevant aspects of the relations between the Parties.
The provisions of this Article shall in no way affect and are without prejudice to Articles 30, 37, 38 and 42.
Article 120.
This Agreement shall not, until equivalent rights for individuals and economic operators have been achieved under this Agreement, affect rights ensured to them through existing agreements binding one or more Member States, on the one hand, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, on the other.
Article 121.
Protocols 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 and Annexes I to VII shall form an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 122.
This Agreement is concluded for an unlimited period.
Either Party may denounce this Agreement by notifying the other Party. This Agreement shall cease to apply six months after the date of such notification.
Article 123.
For the purposes of this Agreement, the term "Parties" shall mean the Community, or its Member States, or the Community and its Member States, in accordance with their respective powers, of the one part, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, of the other part.
Article 124.
This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaties establishing the European Community, the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Atomic Energy Community are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties, and to the territory of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on the other.
Article 125.
The Secretary General of the Council of the European Union shall be the depository of the Agreement.
Article 126.
This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate each of the official languages of the Parties, each of these texts being equally authentic.
Article 127.
The Parties shall approve this Agreement in accordance with their own procedures.
This Agreement shall enter into force on the first day of the second month following the date on which the Parties notify each other that the procedures referred to in the first paragraph have been completed.
Upon its entry into force, this Agreement shall replace the Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia signed on 29 April 1997 by way of Exchange of Letters.
Article 128. Interim Agreement
In the event that, pending the completion of the procedures necessary for the entry into force of this Agreement, the provisions of certain parts of this Agreement, in particular those relating to the free movement of goods, are put into effect by means of an Interim Agreement between the Community and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, the Parties agree that, in such circumstances, for the purpose of Title IV, Articles 69, 70 and 71 of this Agreement and Protocol 1 to 5 hereto, the terms "date of entry into force of this Agreement" mean the date of entry into force of the Interim Agreement in relation to obligations contained in these Articles and Protocols.