EN Official Journal of the European Communities L 74/26

AGREEMENT

for Scientific and Technological Cooperation between the European Community and Canada

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION on behalf of the European Community, of the one part, and

THE GOVERNMENT OF CANADA, of the other part, hereinafter referred to as the ‘Parties’;

CONSIDERING the importance of science and technology for their economic and social development;

RECOGNIZING that the European Community, hereinafter referred to as ‘the Community’, and Canada, are pursuing research and technological programmes in a number of areas of common interest, and that mutual benefits may be derived if the Parties facilitate further cooperation;

NOTING that there has been active cooperation and information exchange in a number of scientific or technological areas under the European Communities-Canada Framework Agreement for Commercial and Economic Cooperation signed in 1976;

HAVING REGARD to the Declaration on European Community-Canada Relations adopted on 22 November 1990, and

DESIRING to establish a formal basis for cooperation in scientific and technological research which will extend and strengthen the conduct of cooperative activities in areas of common interest and encourage the application of the results of such cooperation to their economic and social benefit,

HAVE AGREED AS FOLLOWS:

Article 1

Purpose

The purpose of this Agreement is to encourage and facilitate cooperation between the Community and Canada in fields of common interest where the Parties are suporting research and development activities to advance science and/or technology relevant to those fields of interest.

Article 2

Definitions

For the purposes of this Agreement:

(a) ‘Cooperative activity’ means any activity carried on under this Agreement, and includes joint research;

(b) ‘Information’ means scientific or technical data, results or methods of research and development stemming from the joint research, and any other information deemed necessary by the participants engaged in cooperative activity, including, where necessary, the Parties themselves;

(c) ‘Intellecutal Property’ shall have the meaning defined in Article 2 of the Convention establishing the World Intellectual Property Organization, done at Stockholm, 14 July 1967;

(d) ‘Joint research’ means research that is financially supported by either or by both Parties and that involves collaboration by participants from both the Community and Canada;

(e) ‘Participant’ means any person, legal entity, university, research institute or any other body or undertaking participating in a cooperative activity, including the Parties themselves.

Article 3

Principles

Cooperation shall be conducted on the basis of the following principles:

(a) mutual benefit;

(b) timely exchange of information which may affect the actions of participants in cooperative activities;

(c) within the framework of applicable laws and regulations, effective protection of intellectual property and equitable sharing of intellectual property rights, as set out in the Annex, which forms an integral part of this Agreement;

(d) balanced realization of economic and social benefits by the Community and Canada in view of the contributions made to cooperative activities by the respective participants and/or Parties.

Article 4

Areas of cooperation

(a) Cooperation may be pursued in the following areas: 1. agriculture, including fisheries; 2. medical and health research; 3. non-nuclear energy; 4. environment, including earth observation; 5. forestry; 6. information technologies; 7. communication technologies; 8. telematics for economic and social development; 9. mineral processing;

(b) Other areas may be added to this list upon review and recommendation by the Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee and subject to decisions in accordance with procedures in force for each Party.

Article 5

Modalitites of cooperation

(a) Cooperation may include the following activities: 1. participation of persons and legal entities, including the Parties themselves, universities, research institutions, and other bodies or undertakings, in research projects of the Community or Canada, in accordance with the procedures in force for each Party; 2. shared use of research facilites; 3. visits and exchanges of scientists, engineers or other appropriate personnel for the purposes of participating in seminars, symposia and workshops relevant to cooperation under this Agreement; 4. exchange of information on practices, laws, regulations and programmes relevant to cooperation under this Agreement; 5. other activities as may be mutually determined by the Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee in accordance with the applicable policies and programmes of the Parties.

(b) Joint research projects shall proceed under this Agreement only after the participants in a project have concluded a Joint Technology Management Plan, as indicated in the Annex to this Agreement.

Article 6

Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC)

(a) This Agreement shall be administered by a Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee composed of representatives of each Party.

(b) The functions of the JSTCC shall be to: 1. promote and review the activities envisaged under the Agreement; 2. make recommendations pursuant to Article 4 (b); 3. authorize activities falling under Article 5 (a) (5) as being cooperation to which this Agreement applies; 4. advise the Parties on ways to enhance cooperation consistent with the principles set out in this Agreement; 5. provide a report annually to the Parties on the level, status and effectiveness of cooperation undertaken under this Agreement; 6. review the efficient and effective functioning of the Agreement.

(c) The JSTCC shall meet approximately once a year, meetings being held alternately in the Community and Canada. Other meetings may be held as mutually agreed.

(d) Decisions of the JSTCC shall be reached by consensus. Minutes, comprising a record of the decisions and principal points discussed, shall be taken at each meeting. These minutes shall be agreed by those persons selected from each side to jointly chair the meetings. The JSTCC annual report shall be made available to the Joint Cooperations Committee established under the 1976 European Communities-Canada Framework Agreement for Commercial and Economic Cooperation and appropriate Ministers of each Party.

Article 7

Funding

(a) Cooperative activities shall be subject to the availability of funds and to the applicable laws and regulations, policies and programmes of the Community and Canada.

(b) Costs incurred by participants in cooperative activities subject to this Agreement shall not require any transfer of funds from one Party to the other.

Article 8

Entry of personnel and equipment

Each Party shall take all reasonable steps and use its best efforts, within existing laws and regulations, to facilitate entry to and exit from its territory of personnel, material and equipment of the participant(s) engaged in or used in cooperative activities under this Agreement.

Article 9

Dissemination and utilization of information

The dissemination and utilization of information, and the management, allocation and exercise of intellectual property rights, resulting from joint research under this Agreement, shall be subject to the requirements of the Annex to this Agreement.

Article 10

Other agreements and transitional provisions

(a) This Agreement shall supersede and replace those provisions of the European Communities-Canada Framework Agreement for Commercial and Economic Cooperation governing existing science and technology collaboration.

(b) The Parties shall endeavour to bring under the terms of this Agreement those existing arrangements for scientific and technological cooperation between the Community and Canada that fall under the scope of Article 4.

(c) Subject to paragraph 10 (a), this Agreement is without prejudice to other existing Agreements or arrangements between the Parties or any Agreement or arrangement between the Parties and third parties.

Article 11

Territorial application

This Agreement shall apply, on the one hand to the territories in which the Treaty establishing the European Community is applied and under the conditions laid down in that Treaty and, on the other hand to the territory of Canada.

Article 12

Entry into force and termination

(a) This Agreement shall enter into force on the date on which the Parties have notified each other in writing that their legal requirements for entry into force of this Agreement have been fulfilled.

(b) This Agreement may be amended by agreement of the Parties. Amendments shall enter into force on the date on which the Parties have notified each other in writing that their legal requirements have been fulfilled.

(c) This Agreement may be terminated at any time by either Party upon twelve months written notice. The expiration or termination of this Agreement shall not affect the validity or duration of any arrangements made under it, or any specific rights and obligations that have accrued in compliance with the Annex.

Article 13

This Agreement is drawn up in duplicate in the Danish, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish languages, each of these texts being equally authentic.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF the undersigned have signed this Agreement.

Hecho en Halifax, el diecisiete de junio de mil novecientos noventa y cinco. Udfærdiget i Halifax den syttende juni nittenhundrede og femoghalvfems. Geschehen zu Halifax am siebzehnten Juni neunzehnhundertfünfundneunzig. Έγινε στο Χάλιφαξ, στις δέκα επτά Ιουνίου χίλια εννιακόσια ενενήντα πέντε. Done at Halifax on the seventeenth day of June in the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-five. Fait à Halifax, le dix-sept juin mil neuf cent quatre-vingt-quinze. Fatto a Halifax, addì diciassette giugno millenovecentonovantacinque. Gedaan te Halifax, de zeventiende juni negentienhonderd vijfennegentig. Feito em Halifax, em dezassete de Junho de mil novecentos e noventa e cinco. Tehty Halifaxissa seitsemäntenätoista päivänä kesäkuuta vuonna tuhatyhdeksänsataayhdeksänkymmentäviisi. Som skedde i Halifax den sjuttonde juni nittonhundranittiofem. Por la Comunidad Europea For Det Europæiske Fællesskab Für die Europäische Gemeinschaft Για την Ευρωπαϊκή Κοινότητα For the European Community Pour la Communauté européenne Per la Comunità europea Voor de Europese Gemeenschap Pela Comunidade Europeia Euroopan yhteisön puolesta På Europeiska gemenskapens vägnar Por el Gobierno de Canadá For Canadas regering Für die Regierung Kanadas Για την Κυβέρνηση του Καναδά For the Government of Canada Pour le gouvernement du Canada Per il governo del Canada Voor de Regering van Canada Pelo Governo do Canadá Kanadan hallituksen puolesta På Canadas regerings vägnar