No C 47/38 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities 27. 2. 75 
THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE, 
Having  regard  to the referral  on 28 November  1974 
by the Council  of the European  Communities; 
Having  regard  to the  decison  of its Bureau  of 26 
November  1974  instructing  the  Section  for 
Agriculture  to draw  up an Opinion  on the matter,  in 
accordance  with  the urgency  procedure  laid  down  in 
Article  47 of the  Rules  of Procedure; 
Having  regard  to Articles  43 and  198  of the  Treaty 
establishing  the European  Economic  Community; 
Having  regard  to the  oral  report  made  by  the 
Rapporteur,  Mr Rainero; 
Having  regard  to the  Opinion  adopted  by  the 
Section  for Agriculture  at its meeting  on 5 December 
1974; 
Having  regard  to the discussions  at its 126th  plenary 
session  held  on 19 December  1974, 
HAS  ADOPTED  THE  FOLLOWING  OPINION 
with  no votes  against  and  11 abstentions: 
1. The  Committee  approves  the  Commission's 
proposal,  subject  to the following  comments. 
2. The  Committee  notes  that  over  the  past  two 
years  the Council  has  seen  fit to adopt  measures  to 
restrict  exports,  first  by means  of specific  taxes  and 
then  through  calls  for tenders. 
Although  the  Commission  intended  these  measures 
to be a means  of ensuring  the  Community  with  a 
supply  of rice  at reasonable  prices,  during  the  past 
marketing  year  they  led  to a marked  drop  in the 
farmgate  pirices  of certain  types  of rice  without 
Community  consumers  receiving  any  benefit 
whatsoever. 3. The  Committee  therefore  wonders  whether  the 
present  proposal,  which  has  been  promoted  by the 
same  problems  as previous  legislation,  might  not 
exacerbate  the  plight  of producers  without  bringing 
any tangible  benefits  accruing  to consumers. 
The situation  has  become  intolerable  for  rice 
producers,  since  their  earnings  have,  paradoxically, 
fallen. 
4. In  any  case,  in order  not  to jeopardize  rice-
growing  in  the  Community,  the  Commission's 
proposal  must  be amended  as follows: 
Article  2 (1),  last line  to read: 
'It shall  be possible  to adopt  measures  entail-
ing export  controls  for  types  of  rice  in 
deficit  in the  Community,  and  allowing  — 
whatever  the circumstances  — exports  of types  of 
rice which  are  in surplus  in the  Community,  on 
the basis  of an assessment  of available  resources 
and export  programmes  and  in the  light  of 
internal  consumption  requirements  and  the  need 
to dispose  of surplus  production.' 
5. With  regard  to the  above,  the  Committee 
stresses  the  need,  which  the  Committee  has 
repeatedly  mentioned,  of involving  the relevant  trade 
circles  in the management  of the market  in rice. 
Done  at Brussels,  19 December  1974. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic  and  Social  Committee 
Henri  CANONGE 
Opinion  on the  proposal  for  a Council  Decision  adopting  a first  three-year  plan  of 
action  in the  field  of information  and  documentation  in science  and  technology 
The text  referred  to the Committee  was  published  in Official  Journal  of the European 
Communities  No  C 126  of 17 October  1974,  page  37. 
A. LEGAL  BASIS  FOR  THE  OPINION 
On 2 October  1974,  the  Council  referred  the  abovementioned  proposal  to the 
Economic  and  Social  Committee  under  Article  198  of the  Treaty  establishing  the 
European  Economic  Community. 
27. 2. 75 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities No C 47/39 
B. OPINION  OF  THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE 
The Economic  and  Social  Committee  drew  up its Opinion  at its 126th  plenary  session, 
held in Brussels  on 19 December  1974. 
The Opinion  is published  below: 
THE  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE, 
Having  regard  to the  referral  by the  Council  of the 
European  Communities  on 4 October  1974  of the 
proposal  for  a Council  Decision  adopting  a first 
three-year  plan  of action  in the  field  of information 
and documentation  in science  and  technology; 
Having  regard  to  the  Treaty  establishing  the 
European  Economic  Community,  and  in particular 
Article  198  thereof; 
Having  regard  to the  decision  of its  Bureau  of 
9 October  1974  instructing  the Section  for Energy  and 
Nuclear  Questions  to draw  up an Opinion  and  a 
report  on the matter; 
Having  regard  to the  Opinion  adopted  unanimously 
by the Section  for Energy  and  Nuclear  Questions  at 
its meeting  on 6 December  1974; 
Having  regard  to the  report  submitted  by Mr  De 
Ridder,  the  Rapporteur,  at the  Section  meeting  on 
6 December  1974; 
Having  regard  to the discussions  at its 126th  plenary 
session,  held  on 19 December  1974; 
Whereas  in recent  years  developments  in the field  of 
information  and  documentation  on  science  and 
technology  have  been  rapid  and  fragmented; 
Whereas  the  Commission  should  take  action  in this 
field  in order  to encourage  rational  development  of 
the European  network; 
Whereas  the  arrangements  for  implementing  the 
information  system  should  be coordinated  with  the 
details  of the  Community  policy  on data  processing 
dealt  with  in, inter  alia,  the Council  resolution  of 15 
July 1974  H, 
HAS  ADOPTED  THE  FOLLOWING  OPINION 
by a unanimous  vote: 
1. GENERAL  COMMENTS 
1.1. The  Committee  approves  the  Commission's 
proposal  and  would  express  its  support  of this 
initiative. 
(!) OJ No C 86, 20. 7. 1974. 1.2. In  the  Committee's  view  there  is an urgent 
need  for  an  action  programme  under  which 
appropriate  measures  could  be taken  to reduce  the 
existing  divergences  and  which  would  culminate  in 
an efficient  Community  information  network  to 
which  users  from  all the Member  States  would  have 
access  under  equivalent  conditions  and  with 
adequate  guarantees,  within  the  framework  of a 
realistic  and  equitable  system  of common  charges. 
1.3. Establishment  of the  European  Information 
Network  (Euronet)  will,  however,  require  a flexible 
and persuasive  approach.  This  means  that  theoretical 
and practical  in-depth  studies  of the  various  systems 
will have  to be carried  out  beforehand  in order  to 
make  the most  suitable  choice  for the Community. 
1.4. The  plan  proposed  by the Commission  would 
appear  to have  been  worked  out  pragmatically  on 
the basis  of what  has  already  been  achieved  and 
projects  currently  in hand  in the  various  Member 
States  or in certain  sectors.  Therefore,  the Committee 
considers  that  a structural  overall  plan  should  be 
drawn  up  for  Community  action  into  which  the 
various  IDST  sectors  and  objectives  would  be slotted 
in a rational  manner  according  to their  utility, 
urgency  and  technical  and  financial  feasibility.  It 
should  be ensured  by means  of suitable  studies  and 
contacts  that  this  action  is founded  on realities  and 
meets  users'  needs  by making  full  allowance  for 
costs  and  anticipated  advantages. 
1.5. In  view  of the  limited  budgetary  resources 
available,  it is vital  to concentrate  at the outset  on a 
few areas  which  are considered  crucial  for economic 
expansion  and  social  progress.  Sectors  which  have  a 
public  service  character,  in particular  public  health, 
education  and  the  environment,  should  receive 
special  attention.  Moreover,  a certain  minimum 
degree  of flexibility  should  be  ensured  in the 
implementation  of the  programme  so that  it can  be 
adjusted  where  necessary  to new  situations.  The 
Committee  accordingly  proposes  that  as a matter  of 
priority  a special  effort  be devoted  to the  entire 
energy  sector. 
No C 47/40 Official  Journal  of the  European  Communities 27. 2. 75 
1.6. The  Commission's  proposed  plan  of action 
does  not  attach  sufficient  importance  to economic 
and social  information.  This  shortcoming  should  be 
remedied. 
1.7. Since  no information  at all has  been  provided 
to explain  the  initial  budget  proposed  by the  CIDST 
or the  cuts  in it made  by the  CREST,  the  Committee 
feels  unable  to comment  on the  size  and  distribution 
of these  cuts. 
1.8. If  it were  necessary  for  any  reason  to cut 
down  on expenditure,  this  should  be done  primarily 
by spreading  projects  over  a longer  period.  If this 
proved  inadequate,  priorities  should  be fixed  so that 
resources  could  be  concentrated  on  the  most 
important  problems  in setting  up the network. 
2. SPECIFIC  COMMENTS 
2.1. IDST  systems 
(No comments) 
2.2. The  information  network 
2.2.1. 
2.1. Preparatory  studies  for  Euronet  —  market 
studies 
The Committee  considers  that  the  list  of three  types 
of market  study  should  be supplemented  by a fourth 
type  as follows: 
'an appraisal  of the  extent  to which  the  needs 
identified  are  being  satisfied  or could  be satisfied 
by existing  data  bases  and  information  services.' 
2.2.2. 
2.1. Preparatory  studies  for  Euronet  —  economic 
evaluation 
The Committee  proposes  adding  the  following  after 
'system  operators'  (second  sentence  of  last 
paragraph): 'including  operators  of commercial  information 
sources.' 
2.3. Information  methodology  and  technology 
2.3.1. 
3.1. Study  and  development  of  appropriate 
multilingual  tools 
In order  to meet  the  need  for  a less  sophisticated 
automatic  indexing  system  to facilitate  classification 
work,  it is proposed  that  the  following  indent  be 
added  at the end  of (d): 
'the development  of less  sophisticated  systems, 
techniques  and  programmes  designed  to facilitate 
the document  classification  tasks  of information 
scientists.' 
2.3.2. 
3.5. Development  of  information  technology 
It would  also  be worth  studying  retrieval  techniques. 
The Committee  therefore  proposes  that  paragraph 
(a) be amended  to read: 
'study  of  cost  and  efficiency  of various  file 
structures  and  retrieval  techniques  in a network 
environment,  including  direct  and  inverted  files, 
clustering  techniques,  dynamic  file  arrangements 
and content-addressable  storage  devices.' 
Done  at Brussels,  19 December  1974. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic  and  Social  Committee 
Henri  CANONGE 
Opinion  on the  proposal  for  a Council  Directive  on the  liberalization  of co-insurance 
operations  and  the  coordination  of laws,  regulations  and  administrative  provisions 
relating  to co-insurance 
The text  referred  to the  Committee  was  published  in Official  Journal  of the  European 
Communities  No  C 72 of 27 June  1974,  pages  26 and  27.