13. 6. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 146/15 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a research programme on competitiveness of 
agriculture and management of agricultural resources (1989 to 1993) 
COM(88) 459 final — SYN 152 
(Submitted by the Commission on 20 September 1988) 
(89/C 146/10) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES, 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European 
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130q (2) 
thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
In cooperation with the European Parliament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1728/74 of 
27 June 1974 on the coordination of agricultural 
research (x), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No 
3768/85 (2), provides for coordination at Community 
level of national agricultural research activities, in order 
to contribute towards attaining the objectives of the 
common agricultural policy; 
Whereas Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 1728/74 
provides that the Council is to decide upon specific 
measures for the coordination of national research acti­
vities so as to allow rational organization of resources 
employed, efficient use of results and the orientation of 
such work towards the aims of the common agricultural 
policy, as well as for implementation of projects designed 
to second or supplement work undertaken in Member 
States in fields which are of particular importance to the 
Community; 
Whereas by its Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC (3) the 
Council adopted a framework programme for 
Community research and technological development 
(1987 to 1991) providing for activities to be implemented 
to ensure the exploitation and optimum use of biological 
resources; 
Whereas Article 130k of the Treaty stipulates that the 
framework programme shall be implemented through 
specific programmes developed within each of the acti­
vities; 
(*) OJ No L 182, 5. 7. 1974, p. 1. 
(2) OJ No L 362, 31. 12. 1985, p. 8. 
(3) OJ No L 302, 24. 10. 1987, p. 1. Whereas a programme of agricultural research has the 
objective of enhancing the competitiveness of agriculture 
and management of agricultural resources with the 
purpose of increasing the efficiency of human and 
financial resources devoted to agriculture and of 
providing a response to the economic, social, environ­
mental and regional challenges arising from the way 
farming and farming methods are changing in the socio­
economic framework of rural areas; 
Whereas in the Community efforts are needed to 
overcome the problems of agricultural surpluses, 
production has to be adjusted in line with market 
demand, agricultural incomes have to be maintained at a 
reasonable level, agricultural structures have to be 
rationalized and modernized and all at the same time as 
caring for and improving the environment; 
Whereas efforts must be directed to the promotion and 
development of products which are in deficit in the 
Community, on the improvement of the quality of agri­
cultural products and the development of new uses for 
traditional and novel agricultural products to give higher 
added value; 
Whereas numerous areas in the Community lag behind 
others in development and whereas there is therefore a 
need to define viable solutions, to meet existing oppor­
tunities, to reduce the economic and social disparities 
between the slower zones to develop, particularly in the 
Mediterranean regions, and the economically more 
developed parts of the Community; 
Whereas one of the major problems facing agricultural 
research will be confining the rapidly escalating costs of 
agricultural inputs by, inter alia, developing new 
production, processing and conservation systems aimed 
at reducing costs; 
Whereas the elaboration of long-term schemes in 
resource management can result in new ways of 
managing land and water to the advantage of agri­
culture, the environment and the countryside; 
Whereas the development of methods and services to 
disseminate agricultural information will assist farmers to 
No C 146/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 13. 6. 89 
adapt easily and efficiently to changes which will 
accompany the evolution of the common agricultural 
policy; 
Whereas the programme will be developed in close colla­
boration, coordination and interaction with the actions 
of the framework programme which directly and indi­
rectly involve agricultural activities; 
Whereas the sum estimated to be necessary is fixed at 
ECU 55 million in the framework programme, adopted 
for the period 1987 to 1991, for actions on the competi­
tiveness of agriculture and management of agricultural 
resources; whereas, due to delays in adopting the 1988 
budget, the supplementary ECU 20 million awarded in 
March 1987, and inserted in the 1988 budget, largely for 
cost-shared contracts, would more logically be engaged 
in the new programme specified for the period 1989 to 
1993, for actions spread over five years with more 
developed objectives instead of being engaged at the end 
of the preceding programme, 
HAS ADOPTED THE DECISION: 
Article 1 
A research programme in the field of competitiveness of 
agriculture and management of agricultural resources 
(1989 to 1993) covering a five-year period beginning on 
1 January 1989, is hereby adopted in the form set out in 
the Annex. The funds required for the execution of the 
programme are estimated at ECU 55 million, including 
expenditure relating to additional staff of eight. 
The programme shall consist of work carried out as 
shared-cost contracts, as pilot activities and as coor­
dinated actions. Participants in this research will be from 
national and regional institutions such as universities, 
research centres and agencies involved in research and 
development for agriculture. Commercial operations with 
a contribution to make to research and development will 
be included. 
Projects must involve participants from more than one 
Member State. 
The Community contribution shall not exceed 50 % in 
the shared-cost research activities but may be higher in 
high-priority pilot activities. 
Article 2 
Detailed rules for the application of this Decision, 
concerning in particular scientific priorities to be 
complied with within the programme, selection criteria 
for participants cooperating in the execution of the 
projects and the conduct of the programme on their 
execution, shall be adopted in accordance with the 
following procedure: The representative of the Commission shall submit to the 
Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (the 
'committee') set up by Regulation (EEC) No 1728/74, a 
draft of measures to be taken. The committee shall 
deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which 
the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of 
the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the 
majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the 
case of Decisions which the Council is required to adopt 
on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the 
representatives of the Member States within the 
committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in 
that Article. The chairman shall not vote. 
The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply 
immediately. However, if these measures are not in 
accordance with the opinion of the committee, they shall 
be communicated by the Commission to the Council 
forthwith. In that event: 
the Commission may defer application of the measures 
which it has decided for a period of not more than one 
month from the date of such communication; 
the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a 
different Decision within the time limit referred to in the 
previous paragraph. 
Article 3 
The Commission shall implement the programme by 
concluding research contracts with the agencies partici­
pating in shared-cost activities and pilot activities. 
The Commission shall ensure implementation of the 
coordinated activities related to the main research targets 
and shall enhance their impact by organizing seminars, 
lectures, conferences, fact-finding visits, aids to training 
and mobility of experts, networks, exchanges of research 
workers and working meetings of scientific experts, and 
the publication of results and assistance from high-level 
outside experts. 
Article 4 
In the third year of implementation of the programme, 
the Commission shall undertake a review of the 
situation, in particular of financial aspects. An assessment 
of the programme and of its global impact shall be made 
before its completion. The results of the review and 
assessment shall be laid before the Council and 
Parliament. 
Article 5 
This Decision is addressed to the Member States. 
13. 6. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 146/17 
ANNEX 
1. The research programme will concentrate on the following research objectives: 
(a) to help farmers to adapt to the new situation created by over-production and a restrictive policy on 
prices and markets; 
(b) to maintain the incomes from holdings and encourage structural reform whilst controlling output 
and reducing production costs; 
(c) to care for and improve the agricultural situation, in line with the market situation, in regions which 
have been slow to develop; 
(d) to supervise and improve the environment and the countryside; 
(e) to develop agricultural information services and infrastructures to improve the dissemination of 
research results within and between Member States. 
2. To realize the research objectives the emphasis will be on some of the following themes: 
(a) conversion and diversification aimed at less intensive cropping and livestock-farming systems, and 
improvement in marketing of traditional and new products; 
(b) improvement in production techniques of agricultural products and in their quality, and research for 
new uses for traditional agricultural products with a view to enhancing their added value; 
(c) definition of viable solutions where agriculture can contribute to meet existing opportunities to 
reduce the economic and social disparities between the slower zones to develop, particularly in the 
Mediterranean regions, and the economically more-developed parts of the Community; 
(d) reduction of costs in agricultural production systems; 
(e) elaboration of long-term schemes which will result in different ways of managing land and water 
resources to the advantage of agriculture, the environment and the countryside; 
(f) development of methods and services to disseminate agricultural information to assist farmers to 
adapt easily and efficiently to changes which will accompany the development of the common agri­
cultural policy. 
Most of these topics are mentioned in the targets and technical content given in Annex 1 to the 
framework programme (1987 to 1991) under the heading 'competitiveness of agriculture and the 
management of agricultural resources'. These topics are juxtaposed with those in the sub-schemes 
'biotechnology' and 'agro-industrial technologies' in the framework programme (1987 to 1991). 
3. The realization of the objectives of the programme, via more particularly the themes above, will be 
achieved in several ways: 
(a) Shared-cost activities 
In the context of the five research objectives defined above the shared-cost activities will be: 
(i) to help farmers to adapt to the new situation created by over-production and a restrictive policy on 
prices and markets 
— the development and introduction of improved varieties of existing crops to improve their 
marketability, and of new varieties of existing crops and out-of-season products, for which 
there are viable market opportunities, 
— the development of specific types of farm products in specific areas or regions, which are of 
high quality and high value added, and for which market opportunities clearly exist, 
— the assessment of the influence of pre- and post-harvesting factors, with particular reference 
to cropping methods and storage, on the quality of agricultural and horticultural products, 
— the improvement of the profitability of farm woodland as an alternative enterprise through 
the development or introduction of integrated forestry-livestock systems, and the identifi­
cation of ligneous species for rotation and undergrowth specific to various woodland areas, 
— the identification of options for profitable alternative uses for land which may no longer be 
required for agriculture; 
No C 146/18 Official Journal of the European Communities 13. 6. 89 
(ii) to maintain the incomes from holdings and encourage structural reform whilst controlling output 
and reducing production costs 
— the definition of optimum (least-cost) combinations of agricultural resources which are 
compatible with current and foreseeable market constraints, 
— the control of crop pests and diseases with reduced quantities of chemicals by the devel­
opment of improved strategies of integrated biological control and the early detection of 
plant diseases, 
— the reduction of input levels in farming practice and the effective conservation of the envi­
ronment and maintenance of the countryside, 
— the improvement of the health and welfare status of livestock by controlling disease, 
parasites and other disorders of farm animals, 
— the establishment in environmentally sensitive areas of land use systems conserving the 
countryside and enriching its wildlife, 
— the establishment of guidelines applicable to cropping and livestock farming systems in 
marginal areas, 
— support for the development of the common agricultural structures policy by providing the 
range of data necessary for its conception, evaluation and management; 
(iii) to care for and improve, in line with the market situation, regions which have been slow to develop 
— the pursuit of the research objectives 1 (a) and 1 (b) concerning the specificities of regions 
which have been slow to develop and taking account of the situation of the Community 
markets for the products involved, 
— the assessment of the scope for integrated rural development, 
— the improvement and management of natural and local resources, 
— the provision of alternative jobs for farmers and farm workers who cannot obtain viable 
incomes in farming. 
Contracts with the Commission will provide Community finance for research projects at up to 50 % 
of the total project cost. 
The shared-cost activities will be launched by a call for proposals published by the Commission. 
(b) High-priority pilot activities 
In the context of research objectives defined for the 1989 to 1993 programme, high-priority pilot 
activities will be restricted to a very few main problems. The projects are expected to respond to: 
(i) particular technical problems facing the Commission in connection with the common agri­
cultural policy; 
(ii) possibilities of applying promising research results in farming practice; 
(iii) needs to demonstrate to farmers the real scope for improving the efficiency of agricultural 
production, consequently agricultural income, by adopting and exploiting new techniques 
derived from research results and from new technology. 
Contracts with the Commission will provide Community finance for high-priority projects at a level 
above 50 % of the total cost. 
The high-priority activities will be implemented by the Commission. 
(c) Coordination activities 
These activities will in particular serve the needs of the shared-cost and high-priority activities. 
Seminars and workshops will bring together scientists from the Member States to address a limited 
number of agricultural research problems of particular importance to the Community and the preoc­
cupations of the common agricultural policy. By limiting resources to certain problems, the accent 
and the efforts will be where the needs are greatest. Such activities prime the pump for later colla­
boration which will avoid duplication of research and will ensure more rapid dissemination of 
results and other information throughout the Community. This programme will include encour-
13. 6. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 146/19 
agement for laboratory twinning and training of scientists working on techniques and methods of 
crucial interest for the Community. The publications produced will assist in the overall coordination 
and publicize the results. 
(d) Information 
There must be improved dissemination of the research results (1989 to 1993) to advisory services 
and farmers. The priorities are: 
(i) to develop and implement the Community inventory of agricultural research (Agrep); 
(ii) to integrate Community information, particularly results from the Community agricultural 
research programme, into national information systems; 
(iii) to support and develop Eur-Agris; 
(iv) to introduce, harmonize and utilize information technology in advisory and information 
services and on-farm information systems. 
(e) Evaluation 
Independent evaluation is vital to proper management of the programme, since it is a check on the 
utility of the programme in terms of achieving objectives against a background of constant change 
and development of the common agricultural policy.