The Regional Cooperation Dunare - Cris - Mures - Tisa
PROTOCOL

Having in mind the wish to cooperate for mutual interests, with the observance of the legislative system existent in the countries they come from and of the standards of international law, and to create a spirit of trust in the interest of Regional European cooperation development. Being decided to support the cooperation and thus to contribute to the social and economical development of their regions as well as of the whole cooperation area, the public authority presidents of the signatory regions namely:
Arad County Council – Romania, The General Assembly of Bacs-Kiskun County – Hungarian Republic, The General Assembly of Bekes County – Hungarian Republic, Caras-Severin County Council – Romania, The General Assembly of Csongrad County – Hungarian Republic, Hunedoara County Council – Romania, The General Assembly of Jasz – Nagykun – Szolnok County – Hungarian Republic, Timis County Council – Romania, The Executive Council of Voivodina Autonomous Province – Serbian Republic, Federal Republic of Iugoslavia

1. have agreed to the following:

PROTOCOL

The members of DMT regional cooperation

Art. 1. The members of DMT regional cooperation are:
- Arad County – Romania
- Bacs – Kiskun County – Hungarian Republic
- Bekes County – Hungarian Republic
- Caras-Severin County – Romania
- Csongrad County – Hungarian Republic
- Hunedoara County – Romania
- Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok County – Hungarian Republic
- Timis County – Romania
- Vojvodina Autonomous Province – Serbian Republic, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia

Art. 2. Any local administration and administration unit with regional responsibilities from Hungarian Republic, Romania and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia can become member of DMT regional cooperation if they adhere to its purpose and protocol on the basis of the Presidents Forum approval.

The purpose of DMT regional cooperation

Art. 3. The purpose of DMT regional cooperation consists in the expansion of relations between the regional collectivities and authorities in economical, educational, scientific and sportive areas and in the cooperation for the integration in the modern European processes.

Cooperation areas

Art. 4. In order to reach the purposes of the cooperation the signatory parties suggest harmonizing the concerns regarding in the following areas:

A.)In the area of economic relations by:

a) drawing up common programs, according to the economic possibilities of the parties;
b) drawing up and utilizing a common informational system;
c) supporting and encouraging economical chambers’ cooperation;
d) supporting the establishment of joint-venture companies and banks;
e) establishing cooperation in agriculture and the trade of farm products;
f) supporting economical contracts between companies;
g) establishing economical and financial common activities on third markets.

B.)In the infrastructure work of transportation and communication area:

a) drawing up projects of transportation infrastructure (road, railways, waterways)
b) creating new customs check points and up-dating the existing ones.

C.)In the environment area

a) harmonizing environment protection programs;
c) harmonizing common activities for soil, air and water protection;

D.) Tourism

a) the development of tourism

E.)In science, culture, education, civic relations, health and sports areas

a) encouraging relations and contacts in the science area, between Universities as research centres and specialized institutions;
b) establishing cultural relations and creating cultural cooperation programs;
c) promoting the cooperation between unions and civic organizations;
d) taking into consideration and supporting the strengthening of minorities’ ethnic rights according to the national legislation and the existing international conventions;
e) establishing and developing cooperation in health area and social assistance in hospitals university clinics and other specialized institutions;
f) organizing regional sport events;

DMT regional cooperation bodies

Art. 5. The DMT regional cooperation bodies are:

A) The Forum of Presidents
B) The Consultative-Deliberative authority
C) The President in duty
D) Work groups

A) The Forum of Presidents

The Forum of Presidents assembles regional public authority leaders.

a) Prerogatives

- endorses the DMT regional cooperation protocol and its modifications;
- decides the admission of new members;
- establishes the work groups and approves their functioning and organizing rules;
- approves the cooperation’s programs and projects;
- receives and analyses the work group reports and establishes measures for achieving the formulated purposes;
- elects the President in Officeand analyses the annual information presented by the elected President;
- establishes measures for the increasing the efficiency of the president’s, secretariat’s and work group’s activities;
- receives and decides upon the withdrawal requests of the members from DMT regional cooperation;
- carries out other duties for achieving the purpose of the cooperation and the harmonization of common interests;

b) Meetings

- the Forum of Presidents activates by having three ordinary meetings a year following the agenda approved during the previous meeting or during the extraordinary meetings at the request of the majority which suggests the agenda;
- the suggestions concerning new issues entering the agenda are made by writing to the President in Office with at least one month before the ordinary meeting.
The Forum of Presidents approves the change in the agenda;
- the President in Office calls the Forum of Presidents with at least 20 days before an ordinary meeting and with at least 10 days before an extraordinary meeting;
- the meetings take place by turns, in every member county or province;
- the languages of the meeting are Romanian, Hungarian, Serbian, the participant delegations being compelled to ensure the needed translators.

c) Decisions and voting procedures

- the decisions are taken by consensual vote of all the Presidents or their commissioners present at the meeting;
- for the admission of a new member, the decision is taken by all the members’ mutual consent;
- the decision is signed by the President in Office and also by all the Presidents or their commissioners present at the meeting;
- the decisions are elaborated in the following languages: English, Romanian, Hungarian and Serbia. The English version is considered to be the official one.

B) The Consultative-Deliberative Authority

The Consultative-Deliberative Authority gathers the public authority leaders without regional responsibilities, admitted as members by the Forum of Presidents.

Prerogatives:
- prepares the strategic planning topics of the DMT Euroregional cooperation;
- assists the harmonization of mutual interests, plays the role of interface between the Forum of Presidents and the work groups;
- holds ordinary reunions – before the Forum of Presidents reunion – at least three times a year.

C) The President in Office

The Forum of Presidents elects the President in Office for the period of one full year, from among the Presidents or leaders of the regions, or the public authorities from administrative-territorial units, members of DMT. The procedure of electing the President in Office is by mutual consent of the Forum of Presidents. The President in Office cannot be elected twice consecutively, his election following the principle of country rotation.
The President in Office has the following prerogatives:
- calls the Forum of Presidents for ordinary and extraordinary meetings;
- leads the meetings and mediates the discussions;
- organizes and coordinates the secretariat’s activity;
- presents to the Forum of Presidents annual information sessions about the organized activities and about how the resolutions were put into practice
- hands over at the end of the mandate all the DMT cooperation documents to the new President in Office;
- carries out other prerogatives decided by the Forum of Presidents.

D) Secretariat
The secretariat of the cooperation is organized under the coordination of the President in Office and it gathers specialists from the President’s insitution.
The Secretariat carries out the following prerogatives:
- assures the meetings’ organization, including the situation when these are held in a different place than the permanent premises;
- assures the multiplication and distribution of papers or documents that will be debated in the Forum of Presidents’ meetings;
- elaborates the lists of participants at the Forum of Presidents’ meetings;
- assures the functionality of the Consultative-Deliberative Authority
- assures, together with the public authorities – the host of the meetings, the necessary conditions for the full accommodation of the participants;
- elaborates the report of the meetings and keeps the record of the resolutions endorsed;
- keeps the record of all the papers and documents presented during the meetings, in special files;
- carries out the tasks established by the Presidents’ Forum and by the President in Office.

E) Work Groups
- The work groups formed for different areas of activity are established by The Presidents’ Forum;
- The work groups study and elaborate projects and programs, formulate suggestions and reports which they present to the Forum of Presidents;
- the organization and development of the work groups’ activity is established by regulations approved by the Forum of Presidents.

The expenses of DMT regional cooperation

Art.6. All accommodation expenses for Presidents’ Forum, Consultative-Deliberative Authority and work groups meetings are paid by the hosts; the transportation costs are paid by the participants.

Art.7. The secretariat’s activity spendings are covered by the public administration authority whose president has the position of President in Office.

Art. 8. The Forum of Presidents can approve the payment by the members of an annual fee for any purpose agreed by its members.
The public administration authority whose president has the position of President in Office administrates these fees.

Final arrangements

Art.9. DMT regional cooperation will function according to the present protocol, it doesn’t have a juridical personality, it is open and unlimited in time, starting with the approval and signing of the protocol.

Art.10. DMT regional cooperation stops at the will of all parties or in the moment when it involves the regions of a single country.
When all the regions of a country withdraw, but some regions of the other two countries remain, the preamble changes to exclude the regions that retired. The text of the protocol will not change.
The intention of withdrawal has to be declared and reported in writing to the President in Office with at least 90 days before the ordinary meetings.

Art. 11. The suggestions for changing the protocol are reported in writing to the President in Office with at least 30 days before the ordinary meetings. The Forum of the Presidents decides about any modification of the protocol.

Art. 12. DMT regional cooperation can’t influence negatively the promotion and development of the relations between two member countries or the relations with other countries.

Art. 13 The organization and development of the Forum of Presidents’ activity will be established by regulations adopted according to the stipulations of the present protocol.

The present protocol was adopted in Szeged, on November 21st 1997, drafted in 36 original samples, of which there are 9 in every one of the following languages: Romanian, Hungarian, Serbian and English.

Signatures:

Dan IVAN
for Arad County Council

dr. Laszlo BALOGH
for the General Assembly of Bacs-Kiskun County

Zoltan VARGA
for the General Assembly of Bekes County

Sorin FRUNZAVERDE
for Caras-Severin County Council

Istvan LEHMANN
for the General Assembly of Csongrad County

Gheorghe BARBU
for Hunedoara County Council

Imre IVANCSIK
for the General Assembly of Jasz-Nagykun-Szolnok

Viorel COIFAN
for Timis County Council

Bosko PEROSEVICI, M.A.
for the Executive Council of Vojvodina Autonomous Province