3. The cooperation between the Contracting Parties will comprise technical and administrative assistance which could deal in particular with the following areas: the drafting and implementation of national legislation; the creation of institutions and information centres and of social and health centres; the training of personnel and research; the prevention of diversion of precursors used for the purpose of illicit manufacture of narcotic drugs or psychotropic substances.
The Parties may agree to include other areas.
Title VII. CULTURAL COOPERATION
Article 95.
1. The Parties agree to promote cultural cooperation. Where appropriate, Community cultural cooperation programmes, or those of one or more Member States, may be extended to Poland and additional actions of mutual interest shall be developed.
2. The areas of cooperation may include in particular:
- translation of literary works,
- conservation and restoration of historic and cultural monuments and sites,
- training of persons working in the cultural field,
- cultural events with a European character.
Title VIII. FINANCIAL COOPERATION
Article 96.
In order to achieve the objectives of this Agreement and in accordance with Articles 97, 98, 100 and 101, Poland shall benefit from temporary financial assistance from the Community in the form of grants and loans to accelerate the economic transformation of Poland and to help Poland to cope with the economic and social consequences of structural readjustment.
Article 97.
This financial assistance shall be covered by:
- the operation Phare measures provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89, as amended, until the end of 1992; thereafter grants will be made available by the Community, either within the framework of the operation Phare on a multiannual basis, or within a new financial multiannual framework established by the Community following consultations with Poland and taking into account the considerations set out in Articles 100 and 101,
- the loan(s) provided by the European Investment Bank until the expiry date of the availability thereof. Poland shall have access to European Investment Bank loans according to the provisions of Article 18 of the Statute of the Bank for subsequent years; following consultations with Poland the Community shall fix the maximum amount and period of availability of loans from the European Investment Bank for Poland.
Article 98.
The objectives and the areas of the Community's financial assistance shall be laid down in an indicative programme to be agreed between the two Parties. The Parties shall inform the Association Council.
Article 99.
1. The Community shall, in case of special need, taking into account the availability of all financial resources, on request of Poland and in coordination with international financial institutions, in the context of the G-24, examine the possibility of granting temporary financial assistance:
- to support measures with the aim of stabilizing and maintaining the convertibility of the zloty,
- to support medium-term stabilization and economic restructuring efforts, including balance of payments support.
2. This financial assistance is subject to Poland's presentation of IMF supported programmes in the context of G-24, as appropriate, for convertibility and/or for restructuring its economy, to the Community's acceptance thereof, to Poland's continued adherence to these programmes and, as an ultimate objective, to rapid transition to reliance on finance from private sources.
3. The Association Council will be informed of the conditions under which this assistance will be provided and of the respect of the obligations undertaken by Poland concerning such assistance.
Article 100.
The Community financial assistance shall be evaluated in the light of the needs which arise and of Poland's development level, and taking into account established priorities and the absorption capacity of the Polish economy, the ability to repay loans and accomplishment of a market economy system and restructuring in Poland.
Article 101.
In order to permit optimum use of the resources available, the Contracting Parties shall ensure that Community contributions are made in close coordination with those from other sources such as the Member States, other countries including the G-24 and international financial institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
Title IX. INSTITUTIONAL, GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 102.
An Association Council is hereby established which shall supervise the implementation of this Agreement. It shall meet at ministerial level once a year 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 103.
1. The Association Council shall consist of the members of the Council of the European Communities and members of the Commission of the European Communities, on the one hand, and of members of the Government of Poland, on the other.
2. Members of the Association Council may arrange to be represented, in accordance with the conditions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
3. The Association Council shall establish its rules of procedure.
4. The Association Council shall be presided in turn by a member of the Council of the European Communities and a member of the Government of Poland, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
Article 104.
The Association Council shall, for the purpose of attaining the objectives of this Agreement, have the power to take decisions 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. The Association Council may also make appropriate recommendations.
It shall draw up its decisions and recommendations by agreement between the two Parties.
Article 105.
1. Each of the two Parties may refer to the Association Council any dispute relating to the application or interpretation of this Agreement.
2. The Association Council may settle the dispute by means of a decision.
3. Each Party shall be bound to take the measures involved in carrying out the decision referred to in paragraph 2.
4. In the event of it not being possible to settle the dispute in accordance with paragraph 2, either Party may notify the other of the appointment of an arbitrator; the other Party must then appoint a second arbitrator within two months. For the application of this procedure, the Community and the Member States shall be deemed to be one Party to the dispute.
The Association Council shall appoint a third arbitrator.
The arbitrators' decisions shall be taken by majority vote.
Each party to the dispute must take the steps required to implement the decision of the arbitrators.
Article 106.
1. The Association Council shall be assisted in the performance of its duties by an Association Committee composed of representatives of the members of the Council of the European Communities and of members of the Commission of the European Communities on the one hand and of representatives of the Government of Poland on the other, normally at senior civil servant level.
In its rules of procedure the Association Council shall determine the duties of the Association Committee, which shall include the preparation of meetings of the Association Council, and how the Committee shall function.
2. The Association Council may delegate to the Association Committee any of its powers. In this event the Association Committee shall take its decisions in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 104.
Article 107.
The Association Council may decide to set up any other special committee or body that can assist it in carrying out its duties.
In its rules of procedure, the Association Council shall determine the composition and duties of such committees or bodies and how they shall function.
Article 108.
An Association Parliamentary Committee is hereby established. It shall be a forum for Members of the Polish Parliament and the European Parliament to meet and exchange views. It shall meet at intervals which it shall itself determine.
Article 109.
1. The Association Parliamentary Committee shall consist of members of the European Parliament, on the one hand, and of members of the Polish Parliament, on the other.
2. The Association Parliamentary Committee shall establish its Rules of Procedure.
3. The Association Parliamentary Committee shall be presided each in turn by the European Parliament and the Polish Parliament, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its Rules of Procedure.
Article 110.
The Association Parliamentary Committee may request relevant information regarding the implementation of this Agreement from the Association Council, which shall then supply the Committee with the requested information.
The Association Parliamentary Committee shall be informed of the decisions of the Association Council.
The Association Parliamentary Committee may make recommendations to the Association Council.
Article 111.
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 in the Community and Poland to defend their individual rights and their property rights, including those concerning intellectual, industrial and commercial property.
Article 112.
Nothing in the Agreement shall prevent a Contracting 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 113.
1. In the fields covered by this Agreement and without prejudice to any special provisions contained therein:
- the arrangements applied by Poland 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 Poland shall not give rise to any discrimination between Polish nationals or its companies or firms.
2. The provisions of paragraph 1 are without prejudice to the right of the Contracting 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 114.
Products originating in Poland shall not enjoy more favourable treatment when imported into the Community than that applied by Member States among themselves.
The treatment granted to Poland under Title IV and Chapter I of Title V shall not be more favourable than that accorded by Member States among themselves.
Article 115.
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, it shall supply the 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 Association Council and shall be the subject of consultations within the Association Council if the other Party so requests.
Article 116.
This Agreement shall not, until equivalent rights for individuals and economic operators have been achieved under this Agreement, affect rights assured to them through existing agreements binding one or more Member States, on the one hand, and Poland, on the other.
Article 117.
Protocols 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 and Annexes I to XIII shall form an integral part of this Agreement.
Article 118.
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 119.
This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand, to the territories in which the Treaties establishing the European Economic Community, the European Atomic Energy Community, and the European Coal and Steel Community are applied and under the conditions laid down in those Treaties and, on the other hand, to the territory of the Republic of Poland.
Article 120.
This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Portuguese languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.
Article 121.
This Agreement will be approved by the Contracting Parties 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 Contracting 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 Agreement between the European Economic Community and the Republic of Poland on trade and economic and commercial cooperation signed in Brussels on 19 September 1989, and the Protocol between the European Coal and Steel Community and the Republic of Poland signed in Brussels on 16 October 1991.
Article 122.
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 movement of goods, are put into effect in 1992 by means of an Interim Agreement between the Community and Poland, the Contracting Parties agree that, in such circumstances for the purposes of Title III, Articles 63, 65 and 66 of this Agreement and Protocols 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 hereto, the terms 'date of entry into force of this Agreement` shall mean:
- the date of entry into force of the Interim Agreement in relation to obligations taking effect on that date, and
- 1 January 1992 in relation to obligations taking effect after the date of entry into force by reference to the date of entry into force.
Conclusion
In witness whereof the undersigned plenipotentiaries have signed this Agreement.
Done at Brussels on the sixteenth day of December in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-one.
For the Kingdom of Belgium
For the Kingdom of Denmark
For the Federal Republic of Germany
For the Hellenic Republic
For the Kingdom of Spain
For thr French Republic
For Ireland
For the Italian Republic
For the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
For the Kingdom of Netherlands
For the Portuguese Republic
For the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
For the Council and the Commission of the European Communities
For the Republic of Poland