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Partnership agreement Concerning the LIFE Integrated Project LIFE IP CleanEST (LIFE Grant Agreement no LIFE17 IPE/000007) 4-6/50/3 The Coordinating Beneficiary Ministry of the Environment Narva mnt 7a, Tallinn, Estonia, 15172 represented by Mr. Harry Liiv Deputy Secretary General AND The Associated Beneficiary Geological Survey of Estonia (EGT) Lääne-Viru maakond, Rakvere linn, F. R. Kreutzwaldi tn 5, 44314 represented by Mr. Alvar Soesoo Director HAVE AGREED 1. Subject This partnership agreement is concluded in relation to the LIFE project „Development of an integrated water management and its modern tools in Estonia – strategic choices for future“, as described in Grant Agreement No LIFE17 IPE/000007, signed on 14th of December 2018, annexed hereto. The grant agreement (and any amendment thereto) signed by the coordinating beneficiary and the European Agency/Commission, which includes Special Conditions, the General Conditions in Annex I to the LIFE Grant Agreement (hereinafter referred to "the General Conditions"), the full project proposal and the other annexes, forms an integral part of this partnership agreement. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all parts of the General Conditions are relevant for and apply to both the coordinating beneficiary and the associated beneficiary. The provisions of the grant agreement, including the mandate1 stipulating that the associated beneficiary gives the coordinating beneficiary the mandate to act on its behalf towards the Agency/Commission, shall take precedence over any other agreement between the associated beneficiary and the coordinating beneficiary that may have an effect on the implementation of the above-mentioned grant agreement between the coordinating beneficiary and the Agency/Commission. 2. Duration This partnership agreement enters into force retroactively from 02.01.2019 when the last of the two parties (coordinating beneficiary / associated beneficiary) signs, and terminates five years after the date of the payment of the balance by the coordinating beneficiary to the associated beneficiary. 1 Annex IV to the Grant Agreement consisting of Form(s) A4 of the Project proposal in Annex II to the Grant agreement. 3. Role and obligations of the coordinating beneficiary Article II.1.3 of the General Conditions sets out the role and general obligations of the coordinating beneficiary. The modalities for implementing this article are: 3.1. The main contact person to represent the coordinating beneficiary in communication with the beneficiaries is Ms. Mari Sepp (e-mail: [email protected], GSM: +372 522 4166); Second contact is Ms. Tatjana Rein (e-mail: [email protected], tel: +372 626 2852). 3.2. The coordinating beneficiary shall provide the associated beneficiary with copies of technical and financial reports submitted to the Agency/Commission as well as the Agency/Commission’s reactions to these documents. The coordinating beneficiary shall regularly inform the associated beneficiary about communication with the Agency/Commission concerning the project; 3.3. In exercising the mandate given by the associated beneficiary to act on its behalf, the coordinating beneficiary will take into due consideration the interests and concerns of the associated beneficiary, whom the coordinating beneficiary will consult whenever appropriate and especially prior to requesting any modification of the grant agreement; 3.4. According to the Grant Agreement, the amount of EU support for EGT is 367 780 euros. The estimated total cost of the associated beneficiary is 612 967 euros; 3.5. The coordinating beneficiary will cover 60% of all eligible costs according to the timesheets, invoices and supporting documents corresponding to LIFE Administrative and Financial guidelines (Annex X) sent to the coordinating beneficiary. 4. Role and obligations of the associated beneficiary Article II.1.2 of the General Conditions sets out the role and general obligations of the associated beneficiary. The modalities for implementing this article are: 4.1. The main contact person to represent the associated beneficiary in communication with the coordinating beneficiary is Ms. Merle Truu (e-mail: [email protected] GSM: +37253482111); 4.2. The associated beneficiary is responsible for implementation of the following actions: C9; 4.3. The associated beneficiary participates in the implementation of the following actions A2, C5, C7, C8, C9, C10, E1, E2, E3, E6, E8, F1-F3; 4.4. The associated beneficiary participates in other actions if it is necessary for fulfilling the project targets; 4.5. The associated beneficiary will request approvals from the coordinating beneficiary for the technical specifications of all public procurements before procuring; 4.6. The associated beneficiary will request approvals from the coordinating beneficiary for research programmes of all researches and studies before the beginning of the research or study; 4.7. The associated beneficiary will contribute financially to the project in total sum of 245 187 euros; 4.8. The associated beneficiary will submit the activity report and the financial report with supporting (accounting) documents to the coordinating beneficiary once every three months; 4.9. If the associated beneficiary foresees any activities and eligible costs for next year the associated beneficiary will request approvals from the coordinating beneficiary for the detailed budget of next year by the end of October. The budget split between the two years of appropriate project phase has to be clearly shown for each budgeted activity. 5. Common obligations for both the coordinating beneficiary and the associated beneficiary Article II.1.1 of the General Conditions, sets out common obligations for both the coordinating beneficiary and the associated beneficiary. The modalities for implementing this article are: 5.1. Project management and reporting meetings are held at least once every six months; 5.2. Beneficiaries ensure that all invoices include the project acronym LIFE IP CleanEST and the LIFE Grant Agreement no LIFE17 IPE/000007; 5.3. Beneficiaries do not act, in the context of the project, as sub-contractor or supplier to any other beneficiary or its affiliate; 5.4 Beneficiaries agree, that the contact info of the main contact person of each beneficiary is public and can be used on public documents, on project promotional materials and on the project website; 5.5. Beneficiaries agree that public communication on the project activities will be carried out in a coordinated manner based on the project communication strategy and the communication plan. 6. Technical activity reports The associated beneficiary shall provide any relevant information to the coordinating beneficiary in due time before the submission of reports to the Agency/Commission and be available with additional information, should the Agency/Commission so request. The reporting schedule for the project is as follows: 6.1. The quarterly reports must be submitted in April, July, October and January each year until January 2029; 6.2. The final report must be submitted in February 2029; 6.3. All technical reports must be submitted using appropriate forms confirmed by EASME which are found on the webpage https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life-reporting. 7. Financial reporting The associated beneficiary is obliged to report costs as specified in the General Conditions and the grant agreement. Regarding the final statement of expenditure and income, the associated beneficiary shall provide the coordinating beneficiary with a dated and signed "participant cost statement summary" at least 30 days before the deadline for submission to the Agency/Commission of the final report. The deadline for the associated beneficiary to provide the coordinating beneficiary with the interim financial statement is 30 days before the deadline for submission to the Agency/Commission of the interim report. The deadline for the associated beneficiary to provide the coordinating beneficiary with the quarterly financial statement is the end of April, July, October and January each year until January 2029. If the deadline of the quarterly financial statement coincides with the deadline of the interim report, only interim financial statement has to be submitted. All financial reports must be submitted using appropriate forms confirmed by EASME which are found on the webpage https://ec.europa.eu/easme/en/life-reporting. The procedure to collect the data and to channel them through the coordinating beneficiary regularly is through e-mail to the project manager of the coordinating beneficiary. Original signed documents must be handed over or sent via trackable express post. Digital signing is allowed for quarterly and interim reports. 8. Estimated eligible costs and associated beneficiary's financial contribution to the project In accordance with the "declaration of the associated beneficiary", the associated beneficiary will implement actions with an estimated total cost of 612 967 euros. The associated beneficiary will contribute 245 187 euros to the project of own financial resources. On the basis of the above amounts, the associated beneficiary will receive from the coordinating beneficiary a maximum amount of 367 780 euros as share of the EU contribution. The estimated total costs incurred by the associated beneficiary will be regularly reviewed during the project. In agreement with the coordinating beneficiary (which will take into account the total costs of the project incurred by all participants), the amounts specified in this Article can be modified, provided that the modifications are in line with the Grant Agreement concerning the project budget. The final settlement will be based on the Agency/Commission's assessment of the final statement of expenditure and income and more precisely on the accepted eligible costs of the project. According to Article II.25 of the General Conditions, in case the project generates profit, the EU contribution will be reduced proportionally to the actual final rate of reimbursement of the eligible costs approved by the Agency/Commission. 9. Payment terms Unless requested otherwise in writing by the associated beneficiary, the coordinating beneficiary shall make all payments to the State Treasury bank account with the reference number of the associated beneficiary: 2800045496. The associated beneficiary will cover the costs from their own budget and 60% of it will be covered by the coordinating beneficiary after the coordinating beneficiary has approved the quarterly or interim reports with invoices and supporting documents. The associated beneficiary is allowed to apply a pre-financing up to 60% of the annual estimated costs but not more than the proportion of the beneficiary’s budget that is covered by the pre-financing from the Agency/Commission. Once the pre-financing funds have been used, the associated beneficiary will make the project-related costs at the expense of the funds provided for in the State Budget Act until the grant is received. The coordinating beneficiary and the associated beneficiary agree that all payments are considered as pre- financing payments until the Agency/Commission has approved the final technical and financial reports and has transferred the final payment to the coordinating beneficiary. The coordinating beneficiary will transfer the share of the final payment to the associated beneficiary after the Agency/Commission has made the final payment. The coordinating beneficiary may recover any amounts which have been unduly paid to the associated beneficiary, including unduly paid amounts identified as such during an ex-post audit by the Agency/Commission. 10. Termination of partnership agreement The date of the anticipated termination of the partnership agreement is five years after the end of the payment of balance, which is presumably 30.06.2034. In addition, Article II.17 of the General Conditions, sets out the rules of the termination of the Grant Agreement and if any of the rules applies, the partnership agreement between coordinating beneficiary and associated beneficiary will be terminated according to the General Conditions. 11. Jurisdiction clause Failing amicable settlement, the Court of Estonia shall have sole competence to rule on any dispute between the contracting parties in respect of this agreement. The law applicable to this agreement shall be the law of Estonia. Signed digitally on the dates shown in digital signatures For the coordinating beneficiary: For the associated beneficiary: Mr. Harry Liiv Mr. Alvar Soesoo Deputy Secretary General Director Ministry of the Environment Geological Survey of Estonia