ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES
DELACOMMISSION
COLLECTION RELIEE DES
DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (74)1440
Vol.1974/0233

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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(74)1440final
Brussels,17September1974
Proposalfora
COUNCILDECISION
establishing aprogrammeoftechnological
researchinthetextilesector
(submittedtotheCouncil "bytheCommission)
COM(74)1440final

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INTRODUCTION AND MOTIVATION
AstheCommunity 'smarkets areopened more andmore toimports oftextiles
from third countries ,faster infact ,than internal demand isgrowing ,it
ismore than ever necessary tomaintain thetechnical andtechnological
lead oftheCommunity 'stextile industries asthey become increasingly
diverted towards areas where apromising future istied tovery advanced
technological development .
Inthedocument SEC(l)26l5 final on"apolicy forthetextile sector ",which
waspassed totheCouncil onSeptember 23,1971 »theCommission particularly
stressed theessential role played inthedevelopment oftextile companies
by,ontheonehand ,research and ,ontheother ,bythefullest use of
modern technology *Hence theCommission declared itsinterest inbeing infor­
medofanysuggestion ofthetextile industry inthis field ,with theview
tosubmit eventually appropriate proposals totheCouncil .
Inview ofthefragmentation andduplication ofwork being carried outin
generally moderate sized companies ,anycollective textile research would ,
without ,ofcourse ,trying tocover too ifide arange ,tend tostimulate the
necessary efforts towards integration within theCommunity .
Aprogramme ofsixresearch projects wasdrawn upbytheCo-ordination
Committee oftheEECTextile Industries (COHITEXTIL ),from which three
themes have been chosen :
-heat treatment ofman-made fibres ,
-treatment oftextiles inorganic solvent media ,
-fireproofing oftextile fibres byradiation-grafting .
Inchoosing thethree projects ,theCommission does notpretend tobe
establishing aresearch programme covering theentire textile industry .
nevertheless ,each ofthese items ,taken separately ,canmake aneffective
contribution towards achieving precise objectives such asagreater knowledge
oftheproperties ofman-made fibres ,strengthening thefight against
pollution andincreasing protection fortheconsumer .Thus ,inchoosing

Τ2- 767/ΙΤΤ/7'·3
*,' 3'ί.·/^
theseareas,itisintendedtogivemorethanmerelysymbolicsupportfor
increasedcooperationinappliedtextileresearchatheCommunitylevel.
TheCommunity'sfinancialcontribution willconstituteonlyonethirdof
thetotal,theremaindercomingfromtheindustryitself.Nontfceless ,this
modestcontribution isexpectedtohaveamultipliereffectwhichwill
beoutofallproportiontothesuminvolved.
V.

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OBJECTIVES OFTHETHREEPROPOSEDRESEARCHPROJECTS
1,Hoattreatmentofman-madefibres .
Thisisintendedtothrowmorelightonthestilllittle-known proper­
tiesoftheproductsofanindustrywhich,startingfromvirtually
nothing "beforethewar,accountedfortwo-thirdsofindustrialtextile
fibreconsumptioninEuropein1973*
Inthesameyear,exportsofman-madefibreproductsconstituted52fo
oftotaltextileexports.Furthermore ,althoughtheCommunity'strade
balanceintextileswasvirtuallyinequilibriumin1972,man-madefibres
producedapositivebalanceof1.200milliondollars.Intermsofthe
maintenance ofaneventradebalanceforalltextiles,thereforethe
presenceofthisindustryisexceptionally importanttotheCommunity.
2.Treatmentoftextilesinorganicsolventmedia
Thisisintendedprincipallytoreduceboththevolumeofeffluentwater
andtheconsumption ofenergy.
3.Fireptfcofina :oftextilefibres
Thisconcernsaveryseriousproblemfortheconsumer,withregard,for
example,tofurnishingfabricsandnightattire.
EXECUTION AMDFINANCING
Beforeembarkingontechnological work,theCommissionconsidereditnecessary
eithertocarryoutapreliminarycriticalanalysisoftheknowledgealready
available,inordertodefineacommonprogramme,or,inthecaseoffire­
proofing,tomakesomepreliminarytrialsonaCommunitybasis.
Withthisobject,theCommissionauthorised ,onDecember11,1972,by
writtenprocedureC/309l/72,thesettingupofabibliographical study
bytheCommunitytextileindustriesorganisation ,COMITEXTIL ,whichbrought
togetherninetextileresearchlaboratories forthework.

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Theresultsofthisstudyarenowavailable,anditisnecessarytomove
ontotheexperimental phase,whichwillagainbeentrustedtoCOMITEXTIL.
Theywillpassoutthev:or!ctothethirteenresearchlaboratories whohave
alreadyworkedonthestudyphaseandthepreliminary work,andwillalso
involveotherinstitutions accordingtogeographical andtechnicalreauire-
ments.Thetextileindustryitselfhassetaside500*000unitsofaccount
forthefinancingofthisprogramme,twicethesumwhichtheCommissionpro­
posedtospendasaresultofthisnote(25*000u.a.)
Ascurrentlyconceived,theprogrammewilllastthreeyears,andthe
expenditure (fortheCommunity)isphasedasfollows:
-heattreatmentofman-madefibres30.000u.a.35*000u.a.35*000u.a.
-treatmentoftextilesinorganic
solventmedia 30.000u.a#35*000u.a.35*000u.a.
-fireproofing oftextilefibresby
radiation-grafting 10.000u.a.20.000u.a.20.000u.a.
totalcontributionoftheCommunity70.000u.a.90.000u.a.90.000u.a.j
. ' .....'
Onthebasisofthoresultsobtainedduringthisperiod,anexaminationwill
bemadeofwhetherresearchintotheseobjectivesshouldcontinue,andifso,
inwhatform#phasedasfollows:
1st,year2nd,year3rd.year
30.000u.a.35*000u.a.35*000u.a.
30*000u*a#35.000u#a®35«000u.a#
10.000 20.000u*o>*20*000u.a.
DECISIONREQUESTED OPTHECOUNCIL
Toapprovethisresearchprogrammeinthetextilesector.

767/111/74-E
Proposalfora
COUNCILDECISION
Establising aprogrammeoftechnological researchinthe-textilesector
THECOUNCILOPTHEEUROPEANCOMMUNITIES ,
HAVINGREGARDTOtheTreatyestablishing theEuropeanEconomicCommunity,
inparticularArticle235.thereof?
HAVINGREGARDTOtheproposalfromtheCommission ;
HAVINGREGARDTOthe-OpinionoftheEuropeanParliament »
WHEREAStheCouncilonthe14»1»1974adoptedaresolutionconcerningthe
co-ordination ofnationalpoliciesandthedefinitionofactionsof
Communityinterestinthefieldofscienceandtechnology ;
WHEREASthefinalcommuniqueoftheconferenceofHeadsofStateheldin
Parison19-21October1972,envisagesthejointexecutionofactionsof
Communityinterestinthecontextofthedevelopment ofacommonpolicy
inthefieldofscienceandtechnology ;
WHEREASbyvirtueofArticle2oftheTreaty,oneobjectiveofthe
Communityamongothers,istofurthertheharmoniousdevelopment ofeconomic
activitiesintheCommunityasawhole,andcontinuousandbalanced
expansion;
WHEREAStheresearchtowhichthepresentDecisionrelatesisconcerned
withavarietyofobjectives,suchaathereductionofmanufacturing costs,
experimentswithnewfibres,thesolutionofcertainenvironmental problems,
aswellasconsumersafetyandprotection,andrepresentsafundamental
stepinthedevelopmentofanimportanteconomicsectoroftheCommunity,
thetextileindustry;
WHEREASpreliminaryresearchcarriedoutbythetextileindustryhas
demonstrated thevalueoftheprogrammetowhichthepresentDecision

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relates andasaresult ofwhich thetextile industry intends tojoin
intheprogramme v/ithafinancial contribution twice that oftheCommunity
WHEREAS thetechnological programme towhich thepresent relates
appears necessary inorder toachieve within thecommon market theaforesaid
Community objectives ;
WHEREAS theTreaty does notprovide allthepowers necessary toachieve these
objectives ;
HAS DECIDED ASFOLLOWS s

-7~
Article 4 :
There ishereby established ,foraperiod ofthree years commencing
1.12.1974 ,aEuropean Economic Community research programme inthe
textile sector asset out inthe Annex hereto .
Article 2
Asumof250000units ofaccount isallooated fortherealisation
ofthis programme andacorresponding appropriation shall "beincluded
intheCommunity Budget ,theunit ofaccount "being asdefined in "the
Financial Regulation ontheestablishment andimplementation ofthe
Budget oftheEuropean Communities andontheresponsibility of
authorising officers andaccounting officers .
Article 3
TheCommission shall carry outtheprogramme bymeans ofcontracts .
Article 4
Know-how andinventions resulting from theexecution oftheprogramme ,
whether patentable orhot ,shall besubject totheprovisions of
Regulation ifo /74oftheCouncil of establishing the
conditions ofuse ofknow-how applicable toresearch programmes under­
taken fortheEuropean Economic Community .
Done atBrussels ,
For the Council
The President

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AMEX -1
Researchprogrammeinthetextilesector
Amaximumof0,250millionunitsof.accountisprovidedforcarryingout
theprogrammewhichisconcernedwiththethreefollowingthemes:
1,Thermaltreatmentofchemicalfibres
Mainobjectives :
Theoptimisation ofproductionmethodstoimprovetheyieldandthe
qualityofproducts,especiallyinmediumandsmallcompanies,whogene­
rallylacktherequiredresearchfacilities.
Programme :
Structuralmodification ofchemicalfibres:polyamides ,polyester,
acrylicandmodacrylic ,olefin,di-andtri-acetate ,underdifferent
conditionsofthermaltreatment(undertensionornot,undertension
withtwist).
Changes,asaresultofthermaltreatment,indyeing,mechanical,physi­
calandshpaeproperties.
2,Textileprocessinginorganicsolvents
Hainobjectives;
Reductioninpollutionofeffluentwater,andinenergyconsumption by
usingorganicsolventsinsteadofwaterinproduction -methods.
Programme:
Pibre/solventinteraction
Typesoffibre:polyester,polyamide,wool
Typesofsolvents sperchlorethylene ,dichloromethane ,hydrocarbon
fraction,isopropylalcohol.
Interactions :solubilityoffibreinthesolvent
solubilityofsolventinthefibre
variationinfibrestructure,
Rheologyinthesolventmedium:two-phaseeffects(fibre/solvent),
three-phase (fibre/solvent/water-fibre/solvent/dyestuff),four-phase
(fibre/solvent/wator/dyestuff),
Mechanical,physical,shapeandsurfacecharacteristics .

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3»Fireproofint' oftextilefibresbyradiationgrafting
Mainobjectives :
Consumerprotectionbythoreductionofflammability inclothingand
householdtextiles-
Programme :
Typesoffibre:cellulosic,wool,polyamide,polyacrylic.
Typeofflamerotardant :variousmonomersofvinyl,oracrylicgroups,
epoxidesandothers,h&logenated ,phosphorised ornitrogencontaining
compounds.
Irradiationcsrriedoutonapilotscalebyelectronaccelerators.
Physical-chemical controloffire-retardant textiles,andtestsofflam­
mabilityandcombustibility accordingtomethodsandstandardslaiddo™
bymemberFtrtesandcortrin+hiriocurtricSe