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Law No. 129 Of 25 June 1998 On The Establishment, Organization And Functioning Of The Romanian Social Development Fund

Original Language Title:  LEGE nr. 129 din 25 iunie 1998 privind înfiinţarea, organizarea şi funcţionarea Fondului Român de Dezvoltare Socială

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LEGE no. 129 129 of 25 June 1998 (* updated *) (** republished) on the establishment, organization and functioning of the Romanian Social Development Fund *) ((updated until 26 May 2014 *)
ISSUER PARLIAMENT




---------- *) The updated form of this normative act until May 26, 2014 is carried out by the legal department of S.C. "Territorial Center of Electronic Computing" S.A. Piatra-Neamt by including all the changes and additions made by: RECTIFICATION no. 129 129 of 25 June 1998 . The content of this act is not an official document, being intended to inform users ____________ ** **) Republicated pursuant to art. 248 248 of Law no. 187/2012 for the implementation of Law no. 286/2009 on the Criminal Code, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 757 of 12 November 2012, giving the texts a new numbering. Law no. 129/1998 was republished in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 483 483 of 8 June 2005, and subsequently amended by Government Ordinance no. 28/2006 on the regulation of financial-fiscal measures, published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 89 of 31 January 2006, approved with amendments and additions by Law no. 266/2006 , published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I, no. 580 580 of 5 July 2006. + Chapter I General provisions + Article 1 (1) The Romanian Social Development Fund is established, hereinafter referred to as the Fund, a body of public interest, without profit, with legal personality and with headquarters in Bucharest. (2) The Fund operates under the authority of the Government, under the present law. + Article 2 (1) For the purposes of this Law, the following notions shall read: a) the beneficiaries are groups from poor rural communities, poor Roma groups, disadvantaged groups, productive groups coming from poor communities and other social categories established as eligible, in agreement with the funders or donors; b) poor rural communities are those groups of households and families, living in a village or in an isolated human settlement, facing the same problems and obstacles, have identical interests and meet the characteristics set out in the Handbook operating the Fund; c) disadvantaged groups are made up, as the case may be, from the poor elderly, without family support, certain categories of sick, people deprived of housing or shelter, women, victims of domestic violence, poor women, poor parents with children in maintenance, street children, pregnant poor teenagers and other such categories; d) productive groups from poor communities or productive groups established at the level of other social categories established as eligible, coming from city, communal or village communities, are those of agricultural producers, craftsmen, artisans and other categories of craftsmen; e) the poor Roma groups are persons from settlements located in urban or rural areas mainly constituted by members of Roma ethnicity; f) the grant agreement is that convention concluded between the Fund and the rightful representatives of the beneficiaries, under which the Fund shall transmit to the beneficiaries or, where appropriate, intermediary organisations, free of charge, amounts of money, referred to as grants, in the exclusive purpose of executing approved projects; g) the project is an initiative from the beneficiaries, in accordance with the Fund regulations; h) the facilitator is a natural person or a legal person selected by the Fund, who assumes the obligation to help a poor rural community, a disadvantaged group, a productive group or other social category established as eligible, originating from city, communal or village communities, as the case may be, to organize, to identify their own needs, to rank them, to develop a project, to overcome the problems of organization and communication that occurred during the development of a project, to participate in the sustainable development of the community and after the end of funding i) the representatives of the beneficiaries are, where appropriate, the project management committees, in the case of groups from poor rural communities, productive groups from poor communities and other social categories established as eligible, from city, communal or village communities, or intermediate organizations, in the case of disadvantaged groups, or the town hall of the administrative-territorial unit alone and/or in partnership with non-governmental organizations, in the case poor Roma groups; j) the management committee of the project is the management and management unit of the project, consisting of 3 persons: president, secretary, treasurer, of poor rural community groups, of productive groups coming from communities poor and other social categories established as eligible, originating from city, communal or village communities, designated by them according to the Procedures for the acquisition of legal personality by groups in poor rural communities, productive groups in poor rural communities and other social groups established as eligible, from city, communal or village communities; k) the project maintenance committee is the maintenance unit of the project, consisting of at least 3 persons within the group from the poor rural community or from other social categories established as eligible, originating from city, communal or village communities, mandated by its members through a document legalized by the secretary of the administrative-territorial unit in whose radius the beneficiary community or the beneficiary group is located, as the case may be; l) intermediary organizations are non-governmental organizations, legal entities of private law, without profit, or local public administration authorities, as the case may be, in contractual relations of partnership with organizations nongovernmental. (2) In order to benefit from the provisions of the present law, the groups provided in ((1) lit. b), d) and e), as well as groups belonging to other social categories established as eligible, originating from communities/city, communal or village settlements, under the conditions of par. ((1) lit. a), must acquire legal personality on the basis of the minutes of establishment as a legal person, concluded by at least 10 members of the community, respectively by at least 30 members in the case of Roma beneficiaries, registered at the local council in whose territorial area the beneficiary community/settlement is located or the beneficiary group, as the case may be. The legal personality thus acquired can be used only in the legal relations born in connection with the application of the provisions of this law. The legal person thus constituted ceases to be after the objective of the financing was achieved, according to procedures established by the Fund. + Article 3 The categories of projects funded by the Fund are as follows: a) small rural infrastructure projects proposed by groups from poor rural communities, defined in art. 2 2 para. ((1) lit. b); b) projects of income generating activities proposed by productive groups from poor communities, defined in art. 2 2 para. ((1) lit. d); c) community social services projects proposed by intermediary organizations, defined in art. 2 2 para. ((1) lit. l); d) projects and programs with integrated approach addressed to poor Roma groups, as defined in art. 2 2 para. ((1) lit. e). The modalities of the implementation of projects and programmes with an integrated approach, addressed to the poor Roma groups, will be established, in agreement with the funders, through the Operating Manual; e) other types of projects considered as eligible, in agreement with the funders or donors, as the case may be. + Article 4 (1) The group from the poor rural community, the poor Roma groups or the group belonging to other social categories established as eligible, originating from city, communal or village communities, may make use of the acquired legal personality under art. 2 2 para. ((2) only in the legal relationships born in connection with the realization of a project/program and its maintenance after the end of the financing by the Fund. Upon closing of the projects funded by the Fund, the project maintenance committee shall take over all rights and shall be held by all obligations of the project management committee in respect of the maintenance of the goods resulting from the execution the project, executing, as the case may be, the last financial management acts consisting in the payment of the guarantee of good execution of the contracts concluded, from the bank account opened for the project financed by the Fund. ((2) The property on the objectives resulting from the execution of small rural infrastructure projects returns, at the closing date of projects, to administrative-territorial units, with the obligation of their maintenance together with the maintenance committee of project. + Article 5 (1) After the approval by the Fund of the application for funding, members of the productive group from a poor community or productive group belonging to other social categories established as eligible, originating from city, communal or satesti, groups that have acquired legal personality according to art. 2 2 para. (2), will constitute, in order to conclude the grant agreement, a new legal entity in one of the legal forms recognized by the legal provisions in force, in relation to the specifics of the project approved by the Fund. (2) In the situation referred to in par. (1) the legal person referred to in art. 2 2 para. (2) cease to be, according to the procedures established by the Fund. (3) The property on the goods purchased for the execution of the projects of income generating activities returns, at the closing date of the projects, to the newly constituted legal person under the conditions ((1). + Article 6 The ownership of the goods purchased for the purpose of the Community social service projects shall return, on the date of their closure, to the intermediary organizations defined 2 2 para. ((1) lit. l), which have the obligation to use them for the same purposes for which they were purchased. + Article 7 If the provisions of the grant agreement are not complied with the Fund will determine the procedures governing the withdrawal of the remaining grant amounts in the bank accounts. + Article 8 (1) The Fund aims to contribute to poverty reduction through project funding in poor beneficiary communities, including for Roma poor groups and disadvantaged groups, to increase local managerial capacities, support for administrative decentralisation, increase local organisational capacity. (2) In order to extend its activity, the use of accumulated experience and the completion of financial resources The Fund may also carry out other activities in the field of social development, such as: training, assistance and consultancy. (3) Financing of the projects provided in par. ((1) is based on the ranking, according to the selection criteria and within the limits of available funds. (4) The Fund is established for an initial period of 4 years and represents a program of the Romanian Government, constituted with the financial support of international financial organizations and other donors from the country and abroad, of the budget of state and local budgets. The Fund will continue its work, and after the expiry of the initial duration, during the period in which it has financial resources + Article 9 (1) In carrying out its purpose, the Fund shall adopt its own regulations under the conditions laid down by this Law, opposable only to persons with whom it enters legal relations. These regulations will refer to the operating manuals, the Handbook of administrative and financial procedures, guidelines/regulations/operational procedures, the facilitator's Guide, the procedure for acquiring legal personality, according to art. 2 2 para. (2), as well as other such regulations, as required. (2) By the decision of the Board of Directors of the Fund, it will be determined which of the regulations (1) will be published in the Official Gazette of Romania, Part I. (3) Based on its regulations, the Fund administers its own revenue and expenditure budget. + Article 10 In order to achieve its purpose, the Fund may, where appropriate, constitute branches without legal personality, at the zonal level. + Article 11 The organization and functioning of the Fund are characterized a) administrative autonomy, under the conditions of this law; b) political non-involvement. + Article 12 The Fund shall promote the following principles: a) transparency regarding the administration of the revenue and expenditure budget; b) allocation of funds based on the evaluation of project proposals, in relation to the conditions imposed by the Fund; c) orientation of resources to the identified needs and/or requests expressed by groups in poor rural communities, including poor Roma groups, groups belonging to other social categories established as eligible, originating from city, communal or village communities and disadvantaged groups; d) community participation and partnership; e) ensuring an optimal ratio between the costs and efficiency of projects; f) the contribution of beneficiaries and intermediary organizations, as the case may be, to the realization of projects, through contributions to work, in kind and/or in cash; g) integrated approach to beneficiaries ' problems. + Chapter II Organizing Fund + Article 13 The governing body of the Fund shall be the Board of Directors, composed of 11 members, as follows: a) a representative appointed by the Prime Minister; b) one representative of the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Protection and Elderly, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Public Finance, Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, Ministry of Funds European and the National Agency for Roma, appointed by the heads of the respective institutions; ------- Lit. b) a art. 13 13 has been amended by RECTIFICATION no. 129 129 of 25 June 1998 , published in MONITORUL OFFICIAL no. 387 387 of 26 May 2014. c) four recognized public figures, from civil society, who are not part of non-governmental organizations participating in the Fund, appointed by the President of Romania. + Article 14 (1) The term of office of the Governing Board is 4 years (2) Members of the board of directors, provided in art. 13 lit. a) and b), are appointed by Government decision. (3) At the first meeting, the members of the board shall make the proposal for the appointment of its chairman, which he shall submit to the Prime Minister for approval. + Article 15 (. The members of the Board may be revoked by the appointing authority in the following situations: a) have committed criminal acts for which they have suffered final convictions or any other acts likely to affect the authority of the Fund; b) is in a situation of conflict of interest with the Fund; c) does not promote the principles laid down in 12. (2) The members of the board appointed by the authorities referred to in art. 13 lit. a) and b), if they have lost their quality under which they have been proposed by these authorities. (3) The existence of one of the situations that determines the revocation of the members of the board of directors is found on the basis of his complaint, of the authorities 13 lit. a) and b) or through the act of control of the organs provided in art. 40. + Article 16 (. The Board of Directors shall meet in quarterly working meetings and whenever necessary. (2) For the participation in the meetings of the board of directors, the chairman and members shall receive a monthly allowance of 25% of the monthly allowance of the Secretary of State. For travel in the interest of the Fund, the chairman and members of the board shall benefit from the settlement of transport, accommodation and per diem expenses under the conditions provided by the legal provisions in force for the personnel budgetary, applicable for the category assimilated to the rank of secretary of state. + Article 17 The Board of Directors shall coordinate and control the entire Fund. To that end, it shall exercise the following tasks: a) establish the Fund's strategy and policies b) pursues the consistency and complementarity of the Fund's strategy and policies with strategies and sectoral policies of the state in combating poverty; c) adopt the Fund regulations; d) approve the revenue and expenditure budget and the Fund's annual activity report, elaborated through the care of the Executive Director; e) pursues the complementarity of projects in relation to projects initiated by other organizations and the avoidance of parallelisms determined by similar projects; f) designate independent external censors, in order to verify the financial statements of the Fund, and receive their reports; g) approves the establishment of branches of the Fund at the area level; h) designate subcommittees by category of projects, consisting of 3 members of the board of directors who make recommendations on the approval of their financing; i) approve the financing of projects resulting from the evaluation process, on the recommendation of the subcommittees; j) adopt any other measures necessary to achieve the Fund's purpose. + Article 18 (. The Board of Directors shall meet, under the conditions of art. 16 16 para. ((1), at the convocation of the President or a third of its members. ((. The meetings of the Board of Directors shall be conducted by the President or, in his absence, by one of the members appointed by the President. (. The Governing Board shall adopt decisions in the presence of at least 7 members, one of which shall be the chairman of the Board or, as the case may be, a replacement mandated by the President. (4) If, on the occasion of the adoption of a decision, one of the members of the board of directors knows that he is in a conflict of interest, he is obliged to abstain from the vote. The breach of this obligation may lead to its revocation and the annulment of the decision (5) At the meetings of the Governing Board, the Executive Board of the Fund shall participate as a guest. (6) The Board of Directors shall approve its own rules of organization and operation. + Article 19 (1) The current activity of the Fund shall be headed by the Executive Director, appointed by the Prime Minister, at the proposal of the Board of Directors and provided that the training and professional experience requirements are met, imposed by the nature of the Fund (2) The Executive Director shall be assisted in the performance of his duties by a Deputy Director, employed under the conditions of labor law. + Article 20 The Executive Director of the Fund shall: a) leads the activity of the specialized departments of the Fund; b) supervises and directs the activity of the area branches of the Fund; c) ensure the collaboration of the Fund with central and local public administration authorities, as well as non-governmental d) ensure the development of reports and any other materials, including the revenue and expenditure budget and the annual activity report, which shall be subject to the analysis and approval of the Governing Board; e) approve, within the limits of the competence established by this law, the release of funds to the area branches of the Fund; f) periodically informs the board of directors of the project implementation stage. + Article 21 (1) The Executive Director shall be the legal representative of the Fund in relations with natural persons and legal persons, as well as before the judicial authority. (2) The Executive Director shall employ and dismiss, under the law and internal regulations of the Fund, its staff. It also concludes contracts with external collaborators, in consideration of the terms of reference, for a fixed duration. (3) The Executive Director shall conclude any legal acts circumscribed to the purpose of the Fund and undertake its patrimony, in accordance with the regulations approved by the Board + Article 22 (1) The Fund shall be approved by the Board of Directors at the proposal of the Executive Director. (2) An office for the relationship with the poor Roma groups, as well as additional staff within the existing structures, involved in the development of integrated projects and programmes for poor groups of Roma, is also provided. Roma ethnicity, with the making available of the financial resources necessary for the operation, of the necessary space, according to art. 35, as well as the financial resources needed to finance these types of projects and programs. + Article 23 (1) The employees of the Fund are employed under the labor law. The Fund's external collaborators are recruited by selection, concluding with them contractual commitments. (2) The structure of the staff and the collaborators, their rights and obligations, including the aspect of the salary and the value of the benefits shall be determined by the regulations of the Fund. + Chapter III Heritage Fund + Article 24 (. On the date of establishment of the Fund, its patrimony shall consist of: a) the right of use on the goods provided by the Autonomous Regia "Administration of the State Protocol Heritage", according to the law; b) the right of use on office equipment and communications purchased from non-reimbursable funds, originating from international financial bodies. (2) The Fund's financial resources are: a) from international financial bodies; b) from donations of individuals and legal entities, from the country and abroad, and from sponsorships, which can be used in accordance with the provisions of art. 26 26 para. (1), as well as for the extension of the ways of combating poverty; c) of interest received on the availability in lei of the Fund and interest remaining unused from the projects, intended exclusively for the financing of projects; d) of their own income from the provision of training, assistance and consultancy services in the field of social development, which will be used to complete the funds to cover the expenses of organization and operation of the The Fund, as well as project funding; e) from local budgets, within the limits approved by local councils or county councils, as the case may be; f) from the state budget, within the limit of the equivalent in lei of 12.4 million U.S. dollars, of which the equivalent in lei of 300,000 U.S. dollars to ensure the conditions necessary to extend the Fund's activity as a result of the involvement in the Integrated projects and programmes on Roma poor groups. The amount of $12.4 million U.S. can be increased later by normative acts approving new loans used by the Fund. (3) The amounts that are granted annually in the form of transfers from the state budget will be provided in the budget of the Ministry of Public Finance. (4) The availability of the Fund shall be kept in an account opened with a bank and shall bear interest. (5) In order to carry out the activity of the Fund, in the first 3 months from the establishment of the financing of the expenses shall be provided from the state budget, on account of the budgetary reserve fund at the disposal of the Government, Government decision. + Article 25 The Fund shall be managed by the Executive Director in accordance with the Regulation adopted by the Governing Board. + Article 26 (. The Fund's financial resources shall be used for: a) project financing; b) funding of programmes with an integrated approach; c) covering own expenses, imposed by the proper functioning of the Fund. (2) The allocation of financial resources of the Project Fund shall be based on selection and competition only, according to the regulations adopted by the board of directors. (3) The maximum ceilings of the financial contribution of the Fund to the implementation of the projects, as well as the eligible costs, are established by regulations (4) The detection of financial resources of the Fund is provided for in the regulations adopted by the Board of Directors. + Article 27 Fund resources may not be used for: a) the purchase of land and buildings; b) speculative operations of any type; c) purchase of securities; d) constructions and furnishings on the land of some owners, individuals or legal entities with a lucrative purpose, other than those that are the subject of concern of the Fund; e) maintenance and other costs after financing, necessary for the proper functioning of the infrastructure resulting from the execution of projects; f) other operations provided for in the regulations adopted by the Governing Board + Chapter IV Operating Fund + Section 1 General provisions + Article 28 (1) In the project financing approach, the Fund shall carry out the following operations: a) the promotion and dissemination of information to the public about their own activity and the projects they can finance, as well as the facilitation, at the level of the beneficiaries in the process of identification and ranking of their needs and of project development; b) organization of the evaluation, selection and approval process of proposals for projects received from beneficiaries; c) the conclusion of the grant agreement with the representatives of the beneficiaries or with the intermediary organizations, d) organization of training programs and exchange of experience for beneficiaries ' representatives; e) payment of the amounts affected f) monitoring, supervision and evaluation of project execution; g) ascertaining the achievement of the objectives of the grant agreement. (2) The conduct of the operations provided in par. ((1) is established in the Fund regulations. + Article 29 During the performance of the operations referred to in 28, the Fund enters into contractual legal relations with different partners, such as: market agents, non-governmental organizations, local public administration authorities and individuals. + Section 2 Conclusion and execution of the grant agreement + Article 30 (. The grant agreement shall be concluded, in written form, between the Fund, represented by the Executive Director, on the one hand, and the representatives of the beneficiaries, on behalf of and on behalf of the beneficiaries, on the other. In the case of disadvantaged groups, the grant agreement shall be concluded between the Fund, represented by the Executive Director, on the one hand, and the intermediary organisation, on its own behalf and on behalf of the groups, on the other. (2) The framework content of the grant agreement is established by regulations of the Fund. + Article 31 The payment of the grant is made in lei, under the conditions established by the grant agreement, at the exchange rate of the currency obtained by the Fund following the foreign exchange auction on the day of payment. + Article 32 (1) The use of the grant for purposes other than those provided for in the grant agreement is prohibited and attracts the abolition of the grant agreement, without the intervention of the court or arbitration, as the case may be. ((2) If the use of grants is found for purposes other than those provided for in the grant agreements, the recovery of the amounts of grants from those beneficiaries shall be carried out according to the legislation in force on the use of public funds, by the Fund together with the competent fiscal bodies, during the operation of the Fund, and after the end of its operation, by the competent fiscal bodies. + Article 33 (1) Contracts between grant beneficiaries and third party providers and service providers shall be concluded in written form and shall constitute enforceable securities. (2) The contracts provided in par. ((1) shall contain particulars relating to the grant agreement, the grant and the involvement of the Fund. (3) On goods resulting from the execution of contracts provided in par. (1) the supplier, the contractor and the service provider have the obligation to apply, in any form and in sight, the emblem and the other distinctive signs of the Fund, established by its regulations. + Article 34 If during the execution of the grant agreement there are violations of contractual or non-contractual obligations of the provisions of this law and of the provisions of the Fund regulations, it may proceed to suspend the execution until remedy the deficiencies found or terminate the grant agreement, without the intervention of the court or arbitration court. + Chapter V Final provisions + Article 35 The Autonomous Administration "Administration of the State Protocol Heritage" will provide the Fund with an appropriate building for its headquarters, which will also ensure the space necessary to carry out the activity of the Bureau for the relationship with poor ethnic groups Rome. + Article 36 Throughout the period of initiation, elaboration, evaluation, selection, approval and realization of projects, the beneficiaries, respectively their representatives, and the facilitators or intermediary organizations, as the case may be, are entitled to free legal assistance from the part of the local public administration authorities within the county, regardless of their hierarchical level, for the preparation and conclusion of any legal acts related to the presentation of a project for funding by the Fund. + Article 37 The management committee of the project organizes and leads the accounting of the patrimonial rights and obligations in the simple game, in accordance with the provisions Accounting Law no. 82/1991 , republished, as amended and supplemented, with the opinion of the competent territorial bodies of the Ministry of Public Finance. + Article 38 Within 15 days from the date of entry into force of this Law, the members of the Board of Directors and the Executive Director of the Fund will be appointed. + Article 39 Within 90 days from the date of entry into force of this Law, the Board of Directors will adopt the regulations of the Fund, approve its organizational chart and proceed to the employment of the personnel necessary to carry out the activity. + Article 40 (1) The bodies empowered by law shall carry out the control over the manner in which the amounts corresponding to the financing of the Fund, from the state budget, the local budgets and from loans granted to the Romanian state by financial bodies international. (2) The members of the Board, the Executive Director and the Fund staff shall not be responsible for the actions or inactions of grant recipients who violate the Fund's regulations, after the Fond's compliance with the provisions of the grant concluded, respectively suspension or cessation of project financing and/or application of the legislation in the matter. + Article 41 The amounts from loans, contracted by the Romanian state with international financial bodies and used to finance the Fund, in order to achieve its purpose, represent commitments and responsibilities of the Romanian state and shall be reimburses by the Ministry of Public Finance. + Article 42 At the end of the operating life, the unused financial resources of the Fund are made to the state budget. _________