COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 14 January 1974 on the coordination of national policies and the definition of projects of interest to the Community in the field of science and technology

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Communities;

Having regard to the draft from the Commission;

Having regard to the Opinion of the European Parliament;

Whereas the Heads of State or of Government meeting in Paris on 19 and 20 October 1972 expressed their determination to promote the development of a common policy in the field of science and technology and noted that such a policy would require the coordination of national policies within the Community institutions, and the joint implementation of projects of interest to the Community;

Whereas the Heads of State or of Government meeting in Copenhagen on 14 and 15 December 1973 invited the Community to develop more actively a common policy on industrial, scientific and technological cooperation in all fields;

Whereas to this end, it is desirable to establish a Committee capable of contributing, through its work and opinions, to the coordination of national policies and the definition of Community projects in this field;

Whereas if they are to perform these tasks the Community institutions must be provided with the necessary information in the field of science and technology and must possess adequate instruments to assist them,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RESOLUTION:

Article 1

(a) In order to define objectives and ensure the development of a common policy in the field of science and technology involving the coordination of national policies and the joint implementation of projects of interest to the Community the following operations shall be progressively carried out within the Community: 1. the examination and comparison of Member States' national policies in this field, particularly their potential, plans, programmes, projects, budgets, measures and methods in this field;

2. the identification, analysis and comparison of the objectives of the Member States in order to determine the common goals to be adopted and the appropriate ways and means of achieving them;

3. the coordination of national policies on the basis of 1 and 2 above with the aim of: - eliminating unnecessary or unwarranted duplication of effort in national programmes,

- avoiding any divergent tendencies which would be contrary to the interests of the Member States,

- improving the efficiency, or reducing the cost of national and Community projects by sharing of tasks or, possibly, by the concentration of resources or research teams,

- gradually harmonizing procedures for the formulation and implementation of scientific policies within the Community;

4. the definition of projects of interest to the Community, taking into account possibilities for participation in some of these projects by non-member countries, particularly European ones;

5. the selection of appropriate ways and means for implementing these projects;

6. consultation for the purpose of: (i) prior information on the development of and prospects for cooperation between Member States or with non-member countries with a view to the possible harmonization or coordination of the attitudes of Member States;

(ii) seeking as a general rule a common attitude on the part of Member States towards cooperation with or within international organizations.

(b) For the purpose of accomplishing the tasks defined above, Member States shall transmit the necessary information available to the Commission, at the appropriate time and before adopting final decisions at national level, with the exception of information militarily or industrially classified as secret.

The Commission shall ensure that this information is transmitted to the Member States and the Committee referred to in Article 2.

Article 2

A Scientific and Technical Research Committee hereinafter referred to as "the Committee", is hereby set up for the purpose of assisting the Commission and the Council in performing the tasks which fall to them pursuant to Article 1.

The Committee shall fulfil its functions, either at the request of the Commission or the Council or on its own initiative.

Its reports and opinions may, where appropriate, make mention of minority views. They shall be forwarded simultaneously to the Council and the Commission, together with all documents submitted to the Committee.

The Committee shall define the procedures for communicating the information referred to in Article 1 (b).

Article 3

The Committee shall consist of representatives of the Member States and the Commission.

Article 4

The Committee shall draw up its rules of procedure, which will be submitted for approval by the Council.

The Chairman shall be a Commission representative, and secretarial services shall be provided by the General Secretariat of the Council with the aid of Commission experts for scientific and technical problems.

Article 5

The Working Party on Scientific and Technical Research Policy of the Medium-Term Economic Policy Committee is hereby dissolved. The working parties and committees which are answerable to it shall be taken over by the Committee, which, acting unanimously may, where the need arises, set up other sub-committees.

The procedures established by the ECSC and Euratom Treaties are in no way affected, nor are the powers of the bodies in charge of administering these procedures. The opinions and recommendations of these bodies shall however be forwarded to the Committee.

The tasks assigned to the Working Party on Scientific and Technical Research Policy of the Medium-Term Economic Policy Committee by the Council Resolution of 24 June 1971 (1) on scientific and technical information shall be carried out by the Committee.

Article 6

The Council approves, as a working basis, the outline programme and timetable of work appearing in the Annex and covering the 1974 to 1976 phase, which will make it possible to try out methods of comparison, consultation, definition and implementation of projects and of formulation of opinions and recommendations addressed to the Member States by Community Institutions relating to national policies in the field of science and technology.

In the course of 1976, conclusions will be drawn from the experience gained during this first phase, with a view to evaluating the effectiveness of the procedures tested, perfecting their machinery and determining the guidelines for a common policy in the field of science and technology, so as to facilitate the Commission's task in drawing up its proposals for the second phase. (1)OJ No C 122, 10.12.1971, p. 7.

ANNEX WORK PROGRAMME AND TIMETABLE 1st phase : 1974 to 1976

1974 : - Setting-up of the "Scientific and Technical Research Committee",

- Setting-up of an initial group of sub-committees using existing committees where possible;

- Invitation to the Member States to designate the national bodies authorized to supply the appropriate information to the Commission and, through the latter, to the Committee and to the sub-committees (general data on national policies and sectoral information);

- Gradual development of comparison of national and Community potential, plans, programmes, projects, budgets, measures and methods;

- Implementation of Community consultation procedures concerning cooperation, in the scientific and technological field with non-member countries or international organizations;

- First examination of available information and guidelines on draft national budgets for science and technology;

- Examination of draft programmes of interest to the Community, in particular those appearing in the outline programmes submitted by the Commission, and formulation of relevant suggestions;

- Participation in the work of reviewing the multi-annual research and training programme.

1975 : - Extension of the procedures for comparing national potential, plans, programmes, projects, budgets, measures and methods. Setting-up of a second group of sub-committees;

- Trial systematization of the examination of draft national science and technology budgets;

- Trial synchronization of planning procedures at national and Community level;

- Study on the setting-up of a "Scientific and Technological Policy" data bank, forming the link with the correspondents in the Member States for the information system;

- Examination of projects of interest to the Community.

1976 : - Further setting-up of the necessary sub-committees;

- Further work within the Committee's terms of reference;

- Drafting of a report on the experience gained, the effectiveness of the procedures adopted, and the suggestions for improving machinery, with a view to enabling Community Institutions to determine the guidelines for a common scientific and technological policy.