- the establishment of programmes for the exchange of information and experience, by methods including seminars.
Article 89. Social Cooperation
1. With regard to health and safety at work, the parties shall develop cooperation between them with the aim of improving the level of protection of the health and safety of workers, taking as a reference the level of protection existing in the Community. Cooperation shall comprise the following in particular:
- the provision of technical assistance;
- the exchange of experts;
- cooperation between firms;
- the exchange of information and administrative and other relevant assistance to firms; training operations.
2. With regard to employment, cooperation between the parties shall focus notably on upgrading job-finding and careers advice services, providing back-up measures and promoting local development to assist industrial restructuring.
It shall also include measures such as studies, the secondment of experts and information and training operations.
3. With regard to social security, cooperation between the parties shall seek to adapt the Slovenian social security system to the new economic and social requirements, notably by providing the services of experts and organising information and training activities.
Article 90. Tourism
The parties shall increase and develop cooperation between them with a view to:
- encouraging tourism;
- increasing the flow of information through international networks, data banks, etc.;
- transferring know-how by organising training, exchanges and seminars;
- executing regional tourist projects such as cross-frontier projects, town-twinning, etc.;
- exchanging views and providing for appropriate exchanges of information on major issues of mutual interest affecting the tourism sector;
- encouraging the development of infrastructure conductive to investment in the tourism sector;
- introducing a computerised reservation and information system in Slovenia, together with rules for the protection of tourists as consumers.
Article 91. Small and Medium-sized Enterprises
1. The parties shall aim to develop and strengthen private sector small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and cooperation between SMEs in the Community and Slovenia.
2. They shall encourage the exchange of information and know-how in the following areas:
- bringing about the legal, administrative, technical, tax and financial conditions necessary to the establishment and expansion of SMEs and for cross-border cooperation;
- the provision of the specialised services required by SMEs (management training, accounting, marketing, quality control, etc.) and the strengthening of agencies providing such services;
- the establishment of appropriate links with Community operators with the aim of improving the flow of information to SMEs and promoting cross-border cooperation, (for example, through the Business Cooperation Network (BC-NET), Euro-Info Centres, conferences, etc.).
3. The cooperation will include:
- the provision of technical assistance, in particular for the establishment of appropriate institutional support for SMEs, at national and regional level, in respect of financial, technological and commercial services;
- training and advisory services.
Article 92. Information Communication
1. The Community and Slovenia shall take appropriate steps to stimulate effective mutual exchange of information. Priority shall be given to programmes aimed at providing the general public with basic information about the Community and Slovenia, and at supplying Slovenian business circles with more specialised information, including, where possible, access to Community databases.
2. The parties shall coordinate and, where appropriate, harmonise their policies regarding the regulation of cross-border broadcasts, technical standards and the promotion of European audiovisual technology.
3. Cooperation may include providing for exchange programmes, scholarships, training facilities for journalists and experts in the sectors of the media as appropriate.
Article 93. Consumer Protection
1. The parties shall cooperate with the aim of achieving compatibility between the consumer protection systems of Slovenia and the Community. Effective consumer protection should be sought as a prerequisite for an efficient market economy.
2. To this end, in view of their shared interests, the parties shall promote and provide:
- active consumer protection policies, in line with Community legislation and, where appropriate, United Nations guidelines;
- harmonisation of legislation and alignment of Slovenian consumer protection laws with those applied in the Community;
- effective legal protection of consumers in order to improve quality and guarantee adequate safety standards for consumer goods.
3. Cooperation in this field may include:
- exchanges of information on dangerous products;
- training of government and NGO experts in the field of consumer protection;
- assistance with the development of independent organisations whose goal is to improve information to consumers, particularly through awareness campaigns;
- the establishment of information and advice centres to settle disputes and provide legal and other advice to consumers; cooperation between Slovenia and Community centres;
- access to Community databases;
- development of exchanges between representatives of consumers' interests.
Article 94. Customs
1. The aim of cooperation shall be to guarantee compliance with all the provisions scheduled for adoption in connection in the area of trade and to achieve the approximation of Slovenia's customs system to that of the Community, thus helping to pave the way for liberalization measures planned under this Agreement.
2. Cooperation shall include the following in particular:
- the exchange of information including on the methods of investigation;
- the development of cross-frontier infrastructure between the parties;
- the interconnection between the transit systems of the Community and Slovenia;
- the simplification of inspections and formalities in respect of the carriage of goods;
- the organisation of seminars and placements.
Technical assistance shall be provided where appropriate.
3. Without prejudice to further cooperation provided for in this Agreement, and in particular Article 97, the mutual assistance between administrative authorities in customs matters of the parties shall take place in accordance with the provisions of Protocol 5.
Article 95. Statistical Cooperation
1. Cooperation in the area of statistics shall have as its aim the development of an efficient statistical system to provide, in a rapid and timely fashion, the reliable statistics needed to plan and monitor the process of reform and to contribute to the development of private enterprise in Slovenia.
2. To this end the parties shall cooperate in particular:
- to promote the development of an efficient statistical service in Slovenia with the requisite institutional framework;
- to bring about harmonisation with international (and particularly Community) methods, standards and classifications;
- to provide the data needed to maintain and monitor economic reform;
- to provide private sector economic operators with the appropriate macroeconomic and microeconomic data;
- to guarantee the confidentiality of individual data;
- to enable Slovenia to adopt the principles and standards of the Community statistical system.
3. Cooperation in this field shall include:
- providing information on methods;
- organising a programme of technical assistance comprising:
- seminars, placements and technical consultations;
- training activities;
- pilot surveys;
- participation in selected Eurostat working groups;
- exchange of statistical data.
Article 96. Economic Policy
1. The Community and Slovenia shall facilitate the process of economic reform and integration by cooperating to improve understanding of the fundamentals of their respective economies and of implementing economic policy in market economies.
2. To these ends the Community and Slovenia shall cooperate to:
- exchange information on macroeconomic performance and prospects and on strategies for development;
- analyse jointly economic issues of mutual interest, including the framing of economic policy and the instruments for implementing it;
- through the programme of Action for Cooperation in Economics in particular, encourage extensive cooperation among economists and managers in the Community and Slovenia, in order to speed the transfer of know-how for the drafting of economic policies, and provide for wide dissemination of the results of policy-relevant research.
Article 97. Combating Drug Abuse
1. Within the scope of their respective powers and competences, the parties shall cooperate in increasing the efficiency of policies and measures to counter the illicit supply and traffic of narcotics and psychotropic substances and reducing abuse of these products.
2. The parties shall agree on the necessary methods of cooperation to attain these objectives, including the detailed arrangements for the implementation of common actions. Their actions will be based on consultation on and close coordination of the objectives and the policy measures in the fields targeted in paragraph 1.
3. The cooperation between the parties shall comprise technical and administrative assistance which could deal in particular with the following areas: the drafting and implementation of national legislation; the establishment 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 of psychotropic substances. The parties may agree to include other areas.
Title VII. PREVENTION OF ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES
Article 98.
1. The parties shall, within the scope of their respective powers and competences, establish a framework for cooperation designed to prevent illegal activities such as:
- clandestine immigration and the illegal presence of either party's nationals on the other's territory, with due allowance for the principles and practices of readmission;
- illegal economic activities, notably corruption;
- illegal transactions involving merchandise such as industrial waste and counterfeit goods;
- illegal trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substances;
- illegal transfer of motor vehicles;
- organised crime;
- theft or an illegal trade in radioactive and nuclear material.
2. Cooperation in the areas referred to in paragraph 1 shall be the subject of mutual consultations and close coordination. This cooperation should include technical and administrative assistance in:
- the drafting of national legislation for the prevention of illegal activities;
- the establishment of information centres;
- improving the efficiency of institutions responsible for preventing illegal activities;
- staff training and development of investigative facilities;
- drawing up mutually acceptable measures for the prevention of illegal activities.
Title VIII. CULTURAL COOPERATION
Article 99.
1. The parties undertake to promote cultural cooperation. Where appropriate, the Community's cultural cooperation programmes, or those of one or more Member States, may be extended to Slovenia and further activities of interest to both sides developed.
This cooperation may cover in particular:
- literary translation;
- non-commercial exchanges of works of art and artists;
- conservation and restoration of monuments and sites (architectural and cultural heritage);
- training for those dealing with cultural affairs;
- the organisation of cultural events with a European emphasis;
- dissemination of information on major cultural works.
2. The parties may cooperate in the promotion of the audiovisual industry in Europe. In particular, the Slovenian audiovisual sector could apply to take part in activities set up by the Community in the framework of the MEDIA programme, in accordance with the procedures laid down by the bodies responsible for the various activities and the provisions of Council Decision 90/685/EEC which established the programme.
The parties shall coordinate and, where appropriate, harmonise their policies governing cross-border broadcasts, paying particular attention to the acquisition of intellectual property rights for satellite and cable broadcasts, audiovisual technical standards and the promotion of European audiovisual technology.
Cooperation in this area might also include exchanges of programmes, scholarships and equipment with a view to the training of journalists and other media professionals.
Title IX. FINANCIAL COOPERATION
Article 100.
In order to achieve the objectives of this Agreement and in accordance with Articles 101, 102 and 104, without prejudice to Article 103, Slovenia shall receive temporary financial assistance from the Community in the form of grants and loans, including loans from the European Investment Bank according to the provisions of Article 18 of the Statute of the Bank.
Article 101.
This financial assistance shall be covered by:
- the Operation PHARE measures provided for in Council Regulation (EEC) No 3906/89, as amended, on a multiannual basis, or within a new multiannual financial framework established by the Community following consultations with Slovenia and taking into account the considerations set out in Articles 104 and 105 of this Agreement;
- loans provided by the European Investment Bank until the expiry date of the availability thereof. Following consultations with Slovenia the Community shall fix the maximum amount and period of availability of loans from the European Investment Bank for Slovenia for subsequent years.
Article 102.
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 103.
1. The Community shall, in case of special need, taking into account the availability of all financial resources, at the request of Slovenia and in coordination with international financial institutions, in the context of the G-24, examine the possibility of granting temporary financial assistance:
- to support, as appropriate, measures with the aim of ensuring the viability of Slovenia's external accounts and maintaining the convertibility of its currency;
- to support medium-term structural adjustment efforts in the Slovenian economy, including balance of payments assistance.
2. This financial assistance shall be subject to the presentation by Slovenia of stabilisation programmes for its economy, approved by the IMF, to the Community's acceptance thereof, to Slovenia'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 regarding compliance with the obligations undertaken by Slovenia concerning such assistance.
Article 104.
The Community financial assistance shall be evaluated in the light of the needs which arise and of Slovenia's development level, and taking into account established priorities and the absorption capacity of Slovenia's economy, the ability to repay loans and introduction of a market economy system and restructuring in Slovenia.
Article 105.
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, 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.
Article 106.
Slovenia shall participate in framework programmes, specific programmes, projects or other actions of the Community in the fields laid down in Annex XI. Without prejudice to the existing participation of Slovenia in the activities referred to in Annex XI, the Association Council shall decide the terms and conditions for the participation of Slovenia in these activities. The financial contribution of Slovenia to the activities referred to in Annex XI shall be based on the principle that Slovenia shall meet the costs resulting from its participation. If necessary the Community may decide, on a case-by-case basis, and pursuant to the rules applicable to the general budget of the European Communities, to pay a supplement to Slovenia's contribution.
Title X. PROVISIONS RELATING TO THE OSIMO AGREEMENTS AND CONCERNING ECONOMIC COOPERATION BETWEEN SLOVENIA AND ITALY
Article 107.
In order to promote regional cooperation, the Community and Slovenia shall give particular attention, as part of the implementation of their cooperation, to activities which come within the scope of the Agreements signed at Osimo on 10 November 1975 by the Italian Republic and the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and to the transfrontier cooperation initiatives which form part of the general framework of economic cooperation between Italy and Slovenia.
In particular, the parties shall take account of their mutual interest in attaining the objectives referred to in the first subparagraph in the selection of projects that are to receive financial assistance in the context of cooperation.
Article 108.
Without prejudice to Article 31, the Community, within the framework of Community provisions governing free zones, and Slovenia shall grant free access to their markets to products that have obtained originating status, within the meaning of the Protocol on originating products, in the free frontier zones which could be created by agreement between the Italian Republic and Republic of Slovenia within the meaning of the Agreement on the promotion of economic cooperation, signed in Osimo in 1975.
Article 109.
For the purposes of the implementation of Articles 107 and 108, the Community and Slovenia shall cooperate in accordance with the cooperation objectives referred to in Article 107.
XI. INSTITUTIONAL, GENERAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS
Article 110.
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 111.
1. The 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 Slovenia, 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 chaired in turn by a member of the Council of the European Union and a member of the Government of Slovenia, in accordance with the provisions to be laid down in its rules of procedure.
5. In matters which concern it, the European Investment Bank shall take part, as an observer, in the work of the Association Council.