7. Article

This agreement shall apply for the duration of the implementation of the CIP including the preparation of the final report according to Article 37 of Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 and the winding up of the CIP. It will be signed in three originals. Place and date: .................................. Place and date: ......................................... Signature(s): ........................................... Signatures: ................................................ Kingdom of Denmark Investitionsbank Schleswig Holstein /Republic of Estonia /Republic of Finland /Federal Republic of Germany /Republic of Latvia /Republic of Lithuania /Republic of Poland / Kingdom of Sweden Annex 1 Rules of Procedure of the INTERREG III C North Zone Joint Technical Secretariat Preamble In accordance with • the EU regulations laying down provisions on the Structural Funds, in particular Council Regulation (EC) No 1260/1999 of 21 June 1999 (OJ L 161, 26.6.1999, p. 1), Regulation (EC) No 1783/1999 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 12 July 1999 (OJ L 213, 13.8.1999, p. 1), Commission Regulations (EC) No 1681/94 of 11 July 1994 (OJ L 178, 12.7.1994, p. 43), No 643/2000 of 28 March 2000 (OJ L 78, 29.03.2000, p. 4), No 1159/2000 of 30 May 2000 (OJ L 130, 31.5.2000, p. 30), No 1685/2000 of 28 July 2000 (OJ L 193, 29.7.2000, p. 39), No 438/2001 of 2 March 2001 (OJ L 63, 3.3.2001, p. 21) and No 448/2001 of 2 March 2001 (OJ L 64, 6.3.2001, p. 13), • the Communication from the Commission to the Member States of 28 April 2000 laying down guidelines for a Community initiative concerning trans European cooperation intended to encourage harmonious and balanced development of the European territory Interreg III (OJ C 143, 23.5.2000, p. 6; amended OJ C 239, 25.8.2001, p. 4), hereinafter referred to as INTERREG guidelines, and • the Communication from the Commission to the Member States of 7 May 2001 'INTERREGIONAL COOPERATION" Strand C of the Interreg III Community initiative (OJ C 141, 15.5.2001, p. 2), hereinafter referred to as INTERREG IIIC Communication. the EU Member States Denmark, Finland, Germany and Sweden have designated the Investitionsbank Schleswig Holstein, central division of Landesbank Schleswig Holstein Girozentrale, (hereinafter referred to as IB) as host of a joint technical secretariat for the operational management of the Community initiative programme INTERREG IIIC North Zone (CCI 2001 RG 16 0 PC 019), approved by the European Commission on 31 December 2001 (Decision number K (2001) 4771), hereinafter referred to as CIP. According to these provisions the IB sets up and hosts the 'INTERREG IIIC North Zone Joint Technical Secretariat" (hereinafter referred to as JTS) for which the following Rules of Procedure shall apply. They are constituent to the 'Agreement between the EU Member States and the Investitionsbank Schleswig Holstein for the implementation of the Community initiative programme INTERREG IIIC North zone". § 1 Support to the managing authority