Key Benefits:
President of the Republic,
On the report of the Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs,
Considering articles 52 to 55 of the Constitution;
Having regard to the amended Decree No. 53-192 of 14 March 1953 concerning the ratification and publication of the international commitments undertaken by France;
In view of Decree No. 77-379 of 28 March 1977 on the publication of the Framework Agreement for Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Republic of Venezuela, signed in Caracas on 15 November 1974,
Decrete:
The complementary agreement to the framework agreement for cultural, scientific and technical cooperation between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Republic of Venezuela on academic cooperation, signed in Caracas on 25 January 1999, will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
The Prime Minister and the Minister for Foreign and European Affairs are responsible for the execution of this decree, which will be published in the Official Journal of the French Republic.
A C C O R D C O M P L E M E N T A I R E
TO THE ACCORD-CADRE OF CULTURAL, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL COOPERATION IN THE GOVERNMENT OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC AND GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA IN UNIVERSAL COOPERATION
The Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Republic of Venezuela, hereafter referred to as “the Parties”,
Considering the Framework Agreement for Cultural, Scientific and Technical Cooperation, signed in Caracas on 15 November 1974, between the Government of the French Republic and the Government of the Republic of Venezuela, desiring to strengthen their academic cooperation,
The following agreed:
Article I
The purpose of this Comprehensive Agreement is to strengthen and develop, on the basis of mutual benefit, cooperation between French and Venezuelan higher education and research institutions.
To this end, Parties undertake to jointly implement training programs in and through research (specialization, PhD and post-doctoral) or high-level research projects for institutions, researchers, teachers and students participating in these programs or projects.
Article II
The implementation of this Complementary Agreement shall be entrusted to national committees designated by the respective competent bodies.
For the French Party, the Committee is designated and coordinated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Education, Research and Technology.
For the Venezuelan Party, the Committee is designated and coordinated by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Tecnológicas (CONICIT), the Fundación Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho (FUNDAYACUCHO) and the "Núcleo de Consejos de Desarrollo Científico, Humanistico y Tecnológico" and the equivalent.
The two Committees are responsible for:
(a) to issue periodically calls for proposals in each country;
(b) To assess the files submitted in the context of these calls for proposals;
(c) selection of projects previously evaluated at a joint annual meeting held alternately in France and Venezuela;
(d) propose the programming of the means to be allocated to existing or selected projects;
(e) develop an activity report for competent national bodies and propose priorities for action and, where appropriate, measures to facilitate the implementation of this Agreement;
(f) Facilitate, in accordance with existing legislation in each State, the procedures for the recognition of the respective university degrees.
Article III
This Comprehensive Agreement is implemented in the form of projects jointly developed by French and Venezuelan teams, according to the standards in force in each of the institutions involved. Programs or projects must engage higher education or research institutions. However, the competent national authorities may, in common agreement, define public or private, thematic or geographic priorities.
The maximum duration of programs or projects is four years. Each project is evaluated during its execution. Exceptional extensions may be granted on a case-by-case basis, after evaluation.
For each project, committees jointly designate a French coordinator and a Venezuelan coordinator.
The coordinators are the scientific leaders of the project and are responsible for ensuring its proper functioning.
Each year, the coordinators submit to the competent national committee a performance report and a proposal for action for the following year. If committees have an unfavourable assessment of the progress of the project, they may decide to redirect or interrupt the project.
The National Committee may use experts to participate in the evaluation of the implementation reports submitted by the coordinators.
The coordinators submit a final report within two (2) months after the project is completed.
Article IV
Projects may include one or more of the following activities:
1. Mission of French and Venezuelan teachers and researchers.
2. Doctoral training of full-time French students in Venezuela or through alternate stays in France and Venezuela, particularly in the framework of co-tutelles procedures, according to the standards and policies of the French Party.
3. Doctoral training of Venezuelan students in full time in France or through alternate stays in Venezuela and France, particularly in the framework of co-tutelles procedures, according to the standards and policies of the Venezuelan Party.
4. Post-doctoral training through the exchange of French and Venezuelan teachers and researchers.
5. Complementary activities to doctoral studies, such as seminars or seminars, on a joint proposal by both Parties.
Article V
Within and within the budgetary availability of each of the two Parties, the rules of expenditure management are as follows:
1. The salaries of teachers and researchers involved in the projects are covered by their original establishment.
2. For missions to the territories of one of the Parties of the Researchers and Researchers of the other Party, the travel costs are borne by the Party that sends the mission and the travel expenses by the Party that receives it.
3. Scholarships or educational credits for doctoral specialization of students from one of the Parties (including during their stay in the territory of the other Party) and their travel expenses are borne by the Party sending them. The fees for university registration, as well as the costs for specific educational tutelage, are borne by the Party that receives them.
4. Each Party shall meet the following costs:
(a) costs incurred by the organization of annual meetings and the stay of representatives of the other committee participating.
(b) broadcasting costs induced by the promotion, within its national territory, of exchange programmes defined by this Comprehensive Agreement.
(c) insurance premium for the coverage of medical expenses and possible medical repatriations of PhD students, teachers and researchers, and, in general, of any expert received by the other Party under this programme.
Article VI
Intellectual property rights on the results of joint research are the subject of specific conventions signed between the institutions and this in accordance with the legal norms in force in both countries and the commitments made by them in the framework of international agreements on this matter.
Article VII
This Comprehensive Agreement does not impede the development of other Franco-Venezean relations in the field of research and training in scientific and technological research. It does not oppose existing agreements.
Article VIII
This Comprehensive Agreement shall enter into force on the date of its signature. It is concluded for a period of five (5) years, renewable by tacit renewal for equal periods. It may be denounced by one of the two signatory Parties with notice of six (6) months notified in writing and through diplomatic channels.
Any denunciation shall not have an impact on ongoing projects whose continuity will be ensured unless the Parties decide otherwise.
Done at Caracas on 25 January 1999, in two original French and Spanish copies, both texts being equally authentic.
For the Government
of the Republic of
French:
Patrick Villemur,
Ambassador of France
For the Government
of the Republic of Venezuela:
Miguel Angel Burelli Rivas,
Minister of External Relations
of the Republic of Venezuela
Done in Paris, 9 November 2007.
Nicolas Sarkozy
By the President of the Republic:
The Prime Minister,
François Fillon
Minister for Foreign Affairs
and European,
Bernard Kouchner