COUNCIL DESICION of 15 December 1994 adopting a specific programme of research and technological development, including demonstration, to be implemented by the Joint Research Centre for the European Atomic Energy Community (1995 to 1998) (94/919/Euratom)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 7 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1) which has consulted the Scientific and Technical Committee,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament (2),
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (3),
Whereas, by Decision 94/268/Euratom (4), the Council adopted a framework programme for Community activities in the field of research and training for the European Atomic Energy Community (1994 to 1998), specifying inter alia the activities to be implemented by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) for the European Atomic Energy Community; whereas this Decision takes account of the grounds set out in the preamble to that Decision;
Whereas Article 2 of Decision 94/268/Euratom stipulates that the framework programme shall be implemented through specific programmes adopted in accordance with Article 7 of the Treaty;
Whereas the RTD activities carried out by means of direct action are conducted by the JRC; whereas these activities consist of institutional research activities for which the JRC has expertise and special, if not unique, facilities in the Community and of institutional, scientific and technical support activities which necessitate the neutrality of the JRC;
Whereas the amount deemed necessary for carrying out this programme is ECU 300 million; whereas the appropriations for each financial year shall be laid down by the budgetary authority, subject to the availability of resources within the financial perspectives and the conditions set out Article 1 (3) of Decision 94/268/Euratom;
Whereas the content of the framework programme of Community activities in the field of research and training was established in accordance with the subsidiarity principle; whereas this specific programme specifies the content of the activities to be implemented by the JRC for the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC) in accordance with this principle;
Whereas Decision 94/268/Euratom (framework programme 1994 to 1998) lays down that a Community action is justified if, inter alia, research contributes to the strengthening of the economic and social cohesion of the Community and the promotion of its overall harmonious development, while being consistent with the pursuit of scientific and technical quality; whereas this programme is intended to help meet these objectives;
Whereas this programme may make a significant contribution to the stimulation of growth, to the strengthening of competitiveness and to the development of employment in the Community, as indicated in the White Paper on 'Growth, competitiveness and employment'; whereas it is therefore necessary to promote the prenormative research activities considered to be necessary under other Community policies;
Whereas, as part of the direct action, the scientific and technical activities to support Community policies should remain consistent with the requirements of these policies for the duration of the implementation of this programme;
Whereas the JRC may also take part in the indirect action carried out under the other specific programmes in the same way as third parties situated in a Member State or an associated State;
Whereas the Commission must ensure that research activities carried out as part of the direct and the indirect actions respectively are complementary;
Whereas the JRC may also take part, on a competitive basis, in any other activity implemented by the Community and carry out research on behalf of third parties;
Whereas exploratory research should be encouraged;
Whereas the JRC, with its laboratories and installations, can make an effective contribution to the training and mobility of researchers, and whereas, to this end, cooperation should be encouraged in all the Member States between laboratories and public and private scientific institutes;
Whereas the JRC may contribute to other European research and technological development activities; whereas the JRC should be better integrated into networks or consortia with partners in all the Member States, in both its institutional and its competitive activities; whereas it should, in particular, be a driving force in improving links between research laboratories and institutions in all regions of the Community;
Whereas the Commission should undertake the tasks incumbent upon it in the area of nuclear safety, making use of the technical expertise of the JRC;
Whereas particular attention should be paid to the safety of the nuclear fuel cycle and its impact on the environment;
Whereas, in the field of safeguards, the JRC should contribute to the development of the new technologies needed to ensure, in this area, compliance with the obligations arising from the Treaty;
Whereas, more generally, the Commission should, by making use of the capabilities of the JRC, continue to contribute to the setting up of a coherent, reliable international system of safeguards through its cooperation with the competent international organizations, in particular the International Atomic Energy Agency and with any third countries which also wish to take part in such a system;
Whereas the work and experience of the JRC, in particular in the field of reactor safety and safeguards, should be usefully exploited by the Community in enhancing the effectiveness of its activities to help the central and east European countries and the new independent States on aspects of nuclear fission safety;
Whereas it may be appropriate to engage in international cooperation activities with international organizations and third countries for the purpose of implementing this programme;
Whereas this programme should also comprise activities for the dissemination and exploitation of RTD results;
Whereas an analysis should be made of possible socio-economic consequences and technological risks associated with the programme;
Whereas progress with this programme should be continuously and systematically monitored with a view to adapting it, where appropriate, to scientific and technological developments in this area; whereas in due course there should be an independent evaluation of progress with the programme so as to provide all the background information needed in order to determine the objectives of the next framework programme of research and training activities for the EAEC; whereas at the end of this programme there should be a final evaluation of results obtained compared with the objectives set out in this Decision; and whereas the conclusions of these evaluations should be submitted to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee;
Whereas the Board of Governors of the JRC plays an important role in the operation of the Centre and in the implementation of its activities,
HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Article 1
A specific programme concerning research and technological development activities to be conducted by the Joint Research Centre is hereby adopted for the period from 1 January 1995 to 31 December 1998.
Article 2
1. The activities referred to in Article 1 shall include institutional research activities and institutional scientific and technical support activities.
2. The institutional research activities, as described in Annex IA, are those for which the JRC has expertise and special, if not unique, facilities in the Community which contribute to the implementation of the RTD policy of the Community. They shall be carried out in such a way as to ensure their complementarity with corresponding indirect action contained in the other specific programmes of the framework programme.
3. The institutional scientific and technical support activities, as described in Annex IB, are the activities necessary for the formulation and implementation of Community policies and the tasks assigned to the Commission under the Treaty which necessitate the neutrality of the JRC.
Article 3
1. The JRC shall participate in the implementation of Community action on research and training in the fields of nuclear fission safety and controlled thermonuclear fusion and through its exploratory research activities.
Article 4
1. The operational budget of the JRC under this programme is ECU 300 million.
2. An indicative breakdown of this amount is given in Annex II.
3. The budgetary authority shall lay down the appropriations for each financial year, subject to the availability of resources within the financial perspectives and in accordance with the conditions set out in Article 1 (3) of Decision 94/268/Euratom, taking into account the principles of sound management referred to in Article 2 of the Financial Regulation applicable to the general budget of the European Communities.
If additional funding is approved in accordance with Article 1 (3) of Decision 94/268/Euratom, the JRC will receive a share proportional to its share of the present overall amount for the framework programme, provided that, after evaluation, the European Parliament and the Council consider that the JRC is making satisfactory progress towards increased openness to competition.
Article 5
1. The general rules for the Community's financial contribution are laid down in Annex IV to Decision 94/268/Euratom.
2. Annex III sets out the specific rules for implementing this programme, supplementary to those referred to in paragraph 1.
Article 6
The Commission shall be responsible for the implementation of this programme and, to this end, shall call upon the services of the JRC. The Commission shall be assisted in this task by the Board of Governors of the JRC (hereinafter referred to as the 'Board of Governors'.
Article 7
1. In order to help ensure, inter alia, the cost effective implementation of the activities, the Commission, assisted by the Board of Governors, shall continually and systematically monitor progress on the implementation of the direct action in relation to the objectives set out in Annex I. It shall assess in particular whether the objectives, priorities and financial resources are still appropriate to the changing situation. It shall, if necessary in the light of the results of the monitoring process, submit proposals to the Council to adapt or supplement the institutional research activities. With regard to the institutional scientific and technical support activities, the Commission will, if necessary, make adaptations to ensure that they are consistent with the requirements of the relevant Community policies.
2. The Commission shall each year before 15 April submit to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee a report on the implementation of the activities of the JRC. This report shall be accompanied by the comments of the Board of Governors as contained in its annual report. The latter may also submit, through the Commission, to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee a separate report on any aspect of the implementation of the JRC's activities.
3. In order to contribute towards the evaluation of Community activities, as required by Article 4 (2) of Decision 94/268/Euratom and in compliance with the timetable laid down in that paragraph, the Commission, after consulting the Board of Governors, shall have an external assessment conducted by independent experts of the activities carried out by the JRC within the areas covered by this programme and their management during the five years preceding this assessment. The concussions of this evaluation shall be submitted to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee.
4. At the end of this programme, the Commission, after consulting the Board of Governors, shall have an independent final evaluation carried out of the results achieved compared with the objectives set out in Annex III to the framework programme and Annex I to this Decision. The final evaluation report shall be forwarded to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee.
Article 8
In order to ensure effective coordination between the JRC's institutional research activities and the other activities provided for in the framework programme, systematic exchanges of views will be held between the JRC, including the Board of Governors, and the committees for the specific programmes with due regard to their respective responsibilities.
Article 9
The Commission, assisted by the Board of Governors, may, on the basis of the criterion of mutual benefit, request the JRC to execute projects with legal entities established in third countries where this contributes effectively to the implementation of the JRC's activities. Participation of legal entities from third countries shall not benefit from Community financing under this programme.
Article 10
This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
Done at Brussels, 15 December 1994.