Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a Specific Programme in the field of targeted socio-economic research (1994-1998) (94/C 228/13) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(94) 68 final - 94/0091(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 30 March 1994)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130 i (4) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Whereas, by Decision . . ./. . ./EC, the Council and the European Parliament adopted a Fourth Framework Programme for Community activities in the field of research, technological development and demonstration (RTD) for the period 1994-1998 specifying inter alia the activities to be carried out in the field of targeted socio-economic research; whereas this Decision takes account of the grounds set out in the preamble to that Decision;

Whereas Article 130 i (3) of the Treaty specifies that the Framework Programme shall be implemented through Specific Programmes, developed within each activity under the Framework Programme and that each Specific Programme shall define the detailed rules for implementing it, fix its duration and provide for the resources deemed necessary;

Whereas this programme will be carried out mainly through indirect activities and preparatory, accompanying and support measures;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 130 i (3), an estimate should be made of the financial resources needed to carry out this Specific Programme; whereas the final amounts will be decided upon by the budgetary authority in accordance with the relative priority assigned to the area covered by this programme within activity I under the Fourth Framework Programme;

Whereas Decision . . ./. . ./EC (Fourth Framework Programme) lays down that the overall maximum amount of the Fourth Framework Programme will be re-examined by 30 June 1996 at the latest with a view to its being increased; whereas, as a consequence of this re-examination, the amount deemed necessary to carry out this programme could increase;

Whereas the content of the Fourth Framework Programme for Community RTD activities was established in accordance with the subsidiarity principle; whereas this Specific Programme sets out the content of the activities to be carried out in accordance with this principle in the field of targeted socio-economic research;

Whereas Decision . . ./. . ./EC (Fourth Framework Programme) lays down that Community action is justified if inter alia the research helps to reinforce the economic and social cohesion of the Community and to encourage its overall harmonious development while at the same time meeting the objective of scientific and technical quality; whereas this programme is intended to help meet these objectives;

Whereas this programme will help to strengthen synergy between the RTD activities carried out in the field of targeted socio-economic research by research centres, universities and enterprises in the Member States and between the latter and the corresponding Community RTD activities;

Whereas the activities carried out under this programme must stimulate, utilize and supplement the activities carried out to evaluate the socio-economic impact in the other Specific Programmes implementing the Fourth Framework Programme; whereas to this end the measures necessary to ensure mutual information and coordination must be taken;

Whereas the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities and the rules governing the dissemination of research results specified in the measures provided for in Article 130 j of the Treaty apply to this Specific Programme;

Whereas, in accordance with Article 130 m of the Treaty, it may be appropriate to engage in international cooperation activities with international organizations and third countries other than the countries covered by the European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement for the purpose of implementing this programme;

Whereas this programme also comprises activities for the dissemination and utilization of RTD results and schemes for promoting the mobility and training of researchers to the extent necessary for its proper implementation of the programme;

Whereas progress with this programme should be continuously and systematically monitored with a view to adapting it, where appropriate, to scientific and technological developments in this area; whereas in due course there should be an independent evaluation of progress with the programme so as to provide all the background information needed in order to determine the objectives of the Fifth RTD Framework Programme; whereas at the end of this programme there should be a final evaluation of the results obtained compared with the objectives set out in this Decision;

Whereas the JRC will also contribute, through its own programme of direct activities, to the attainment of the Community RTD objectives in the first area covered by this programme;

Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (Crest) has been consulted,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

A Specific Programme of targeted socio-economic research, as set out in Annex I, is hereby adopted for the period from (data of adoption of this programme) to 31 December 1998.

Article 2

1. The amount deemed necessary for carrying out the programme is ECU 105 million, including 25,70 % for staff and administrative expenditure.

2. An indicative breakdown of this amount is given in Annex II.

3. The amount deemed necessary for carrying out the programme, as indicated above, could increase as a result of and in accordance with the Decision referred to in Article 1 (3) of Decision . . ./. . ./EC (Fourth Framework Programme).

4. The budgetary authority shall determine the appropriations available for each financial year in accordance with the scientific and technological priorities set in the Fourth Framework Programme.

Article 3

Detailed rules for implementing this programme, in addition to those referred to in Article 5, are set out in Annex III.

Article 4

1. The Commission shall continually and systematically monitor, with appropriate assistance from independent, external experts, the progress within this programme in relation to the objectives set out in Annex I. It shall in particular assess whether the objectives, priorities and financial resources are still appropriate. Where appropriate, it shall submit proposals to adapt or supplement this programme depending on the results of this monitoring process.

2. In order to contribute to the overall assessment of Community activities provided for in Article 4 (2) of the Decision adopting the Fourth Framework Programme, the Commission shall, in due course, have an assessment made by independent experts of the activities carried out in the fields directly covered by this programme, and of their management during the five years preceding the assessment.

3. At the end of this programme, the Commission shall instruct independent experts to conduct a final evaluation of the results achieved compared with the objectives set out in Annex III to the Fourth Framework Programme and Annex I to this Decision. The final evaluation report shall be forwarded to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee.

Article 5

1. A work programme shall be drawn up by the Commission in accordance with the objectives set out in Annex I and shall be updated where appropriate. It shall set out the detailed scientific and technological objectives and specify the stages in the implementation of the programme and the corresponding financial arrangements.

2. The Commission shall issue calls for proposals for projects on the basis of the work programme.

Article 6

1. The Commission shall be responsible for the implementation of the programme.

2. In the cases provided for in Article 7 (1) the Commission shall be assisted by an advisory committee consisting of representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.

The Commission representative shall submit to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The committee shall deliver its opinion on this draft within a period which the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of the matter, where necessary by taking a vote.

The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in addition, each Member State shall have the right to request that its position be recorded in the minutes.

The Commission shall take the greatest possible account of the committee's opinion. It shall inform the committee of the manner in which its opinion has been taken into account.

Article 7

1. The procedure laid down in Article 6 (2) shall apply to:

- the establishment and updating of the work programme referred to in Article 5 (1),

- the evaluation of the RTD projects proposed for Community funding and of the estimated amount of project funding where this exceeds ECU 0,2 million;

- the measures to be undertaken to evaluate the programme,

- any changes to the indicative breakdown of the amount allocated set out in Annex II that has not been the subject of a budgetary decision.

2. The Commission shall inform the committee, at each of its meetings, of progress with the implementation of the programme.

Article 8

The Commission is authorized to negotiate, in accordance with Article 228 (1), international agreements wih European third countries with a view to involving them in all or part of the programme.

Article 9

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

ANNEX I

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT

This Specific Programme fully reflects the broad lines of the Fourth Framework Programme, and applies the selection criteria and spells out the scientific and technological objectives set out in that programme.

Paragraph 7 of Annex III (first activity) of the Framework Programme is an integral part of this programme.

I. GENERAL OBJECTIVES AND CONTEXT

The White Paper approved by the European Council in December 1993 started discussions at European level and contributed to the decision-making required at decentralized, national or Community level to lay the foundation for sustainable development of Europe's economies enabling them to withstand international competition and create jobs.

These targeted socio-economic research activities aim at elucidating decision-making in future by developing shared knowledge based on the challenges facing Europe, based on research and other work in three areas:

- evaluation of science and technology policy options;

- research on education and training;

- research into social integration and social exclusion in Europe.

Evaluation of science and technology policy options for Europe will provide a common knowledge base for decision-makers in the fields of science and technology policy at regional, national and European level and for all those responsible for other areas of activity in which science and technology play a role, with the ultimate objective of encouraging greater consistency and closer coordination of RTD efforts and policies in Europe.

These activities will follow up the Monitor programme (FAST, SAST and SPEAR) and will build on the work done by the JRC's Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, the VALUE, Sprint or Eurostat programmes and the experience acquired from the Specific Programmes (evaluation of the socio-economic impact of research), as decided at the time of adoption of the Third Framework Programme.

The JRC's Institute for Prospective Technological Studies will contribute to the Community's RTD activities in this field and coordinate its work closely with this programme (1).

The objective of the Community's research activities on education and training must be to support the efforts made by the Member States to strengthen the links between research, education and training and to improve their education and training systems by stepping up research and disseminating the results and innovations which it produces. The objective is to help to promote the development in Europe of a society in which lifelong training and education permanently play a central role.

In line with the subsidiarity principle, this research will supplement the Member States' activities. It will also be coordinated with the technological research on the same subject under the telematics programme and with the Community's activities in the field of education and training, i.e. the work on the Socrates and Leonardo programmes, the successors to the Comett, Erasmus, Lingua, PETRA, FORCE and Eurotecnet programmes in particular. In this context, account will also be taken of the basic data-gathering and systems analysis work conducted within the Eurydice network and of the work of the Cedefop.

Poverty and social exclusion are major problems facing the Member States. Research into social integration and social exclusion in Europe is necessary in order to gain a fuller understanding of these problems so that remedies can be found.

There are two objectives in this field: to study how far the actual process of European integration (single market, economic and monetary union, world context, etc.) itself gives rise to particular causes of social exclusion and integration, as opposed to factors specific to the changes at national and local level, and to allow all Member States to benefit from successful social integration schemes, by conducting comparative research and by joint application of the results of evaluations of the most innovatory projects.

Research under this heading is closely linked to Community initiatives (notably the new medium-term action plan against social exclusion) and national initiatives aimed at combating social exclusion in Europe.

* * *

As well as these horizontal targeted research activities, socio-economic research will be carried out within each Specific Programme under the first activity (evaluation of socio-economic impact and risks) and also under the second activity (socio-economic conditions for international scientific and technical cooperation and links with the Community's external policy), the third activity (more efficient uptake of RTD results) and the fourth activity (training and mobility of researchers in the social and economic sciences). This programme will be designed and implemented so as to ensure stronger synergy and support for research extending, bringing to fruition or stimulating similar work within other Specific Programmes. Close contacts will be maintained with the COST projects in the field of social sciences and with European organizations working in the areas covered by this programme.

II. COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES

1. Evaluation of science and technology policy options in Europe

(a) Specific objectives

The immediate specific objectives of the programme, defined in line with the subsidiarity principle, are:

- to bring together at European level the efforts of the various individuals and institutions involved in the evaluation of science and technology policy options; to encourage the development of networks of scientists, heads of parliamentary offices and governmental departments responsible for the evaluation of science and technology options, together with experts on socio-economic evaluation of technologies from industry and experts from other areas of socio-economic life;

- on the basis, and in particular at the request, of these networks, to produce specific elements of analysis allowing evaluation of different science and technology policy options at regional, national or European level. These will take the form of reports, sets of indicators, information files or periodic publications and will use new media (computer systems, multimedia products, etc.).

(b) Themes

The Community research on this topic will concentrate on three principal inter-related themes.

(i) Analysis of the RTD situation in Europe in the world context

The primary objective of the research will be to generate facts allowing evaluation of the strengths and weaknesses of RTD in Europe, compared with the other leading regions of the world:

- the RTD situation in Member States, in non-Community countries, in individual regions or in inter-regional associations;

- policies pursued at regional, national, European and world level: objectives, implementing procedures, regulatory and budgetary aspects and impact on the scientific and technical base and on socio-economic development, including the macroeconomic level;

- strategies of the industrial and business circles concerned by sector or type of firm; globalization and transnational cooperation; inertia and changes observed in the producing system and constraints on the development and take-up of new technologies.

(ii) Evaluation of the inter-relations between short- and medium-term needs and socio-economic changes and new scientific and technological developments

Strategic short- and medium-term (five to ten year) forward analyses of the major economic, social and cultural challenges and of scientific and technological developments will provide firm guidance for the discussions on the direction to be taken by research efforts in Europe (at national, Community and European level). In particular, efforts will be made to identify the science and technology policy options with the most favourable impact on growth, competitiveness and job creation in Europe.

The following challenges will therefore be analyzed:

- the economic, industrial and financial challenges. This work will concentrate on an in-depth analysis of the changes under way or in prospect in the world economy and in the European production system in Europe and of their consequences for research, particularly the consequence of the emergence of new regional free-trade zones (the North American Free Trade Association, . . .), of fast-growing regions (South-East Asia) or of regions in transition (eastern Europe and the CIS), the major worldwide problems (environment, health and ageing, mobility, energy, food, etc.) and changes in production processes and forms of economic organization;

- the socio-cultural challenges. Europeans' growing awareness of the environment, ethical problems and safety in all its forms, including health and safety at work, the emergence of new leisure pursuits or new cultural activities, the social implications of the emergence of an 'information society', adaptation of mentalities to the changes in production methods and the impact of these factors on consumption patterns will be evaluated with regard to the design, production and dissemination of new knowledge, products and processes. Special attention will also be paid to the relationships between technological development, employment and the organization of society.

The potential impact of new scientific and technological developments will be evaluated in the light of:

- the potential benefits of RTD and the advantages which it can offer from various points of view - scientific (e.g. new insights into natural phenomena, new methods), economic (e.g. improving the competitiveness of companies in various sectors) or social (e.g. job creation, new forms of work, consumer protection, etc.);

- the potential costs and risks: from the economic point of view (e.g. widening of the gaps between regions) and from the social point of view (e.g. destruction of jobs, marginalization of technically illiterate sections of society, psycho-sociological effects, etc.).

These strategic forward analysis activities will focus on general socio-economic issues, emerging fields of science and technology or fields developing at the interface between different areas of research (e.g. work to identify technologies of major importance for industry and other sectors of activity in Europe).

(iii) Methods, tools and approaches

Finally, a limited proportion of the resources for the programme will be allocated to funding work on methods and tools for socio-economic evaluation of science and technology (work on scientific and technological indicators, on various methods of strategic forward analysis such as scenario building, structural analysis, consultation of experts and new forms of consultation of the players involved and of the public, etc. and on methods of evaluating research programmes).

* * *

To provide material for the work in these three fields, an open information system generating and providing access to RTD statistics and indicators will be developed with the cooperation of Eurostat. The system must contain information on RTD resources (inputs) and results (outputs) and on Europe's competitive position, must cover both the public and private sectors and must contain data allowing comparisons at world level. It will be built around the statistics and indicators generated at national, Community (Eurostat and the JRC's Institute for Prospective Technological Studies) and OECD level or by international organizations (Unesco, UNIDO, FAO, etc.) and original studies. The relevant tasks will be included in the statistical Framework Programme. This open information system must allow regular publication of a situation report on RTD in Europe in particular. The data-collection activities and the analyses will be coordinated closely with those carried out in the programme on cooperation with third countries and international organizations.

The activities in this field will draw on the European Technology Assessment Network (ETAN) which brings together the leading players involved and users of evaluations of science and technology policy options in Europe and provides a means of circulating information on the research and other work in progress in the European Union.

2. Research on education and training

(a) Specific objectives

The specific objectives of the programme, defined in line with the subsidiarity principle, are:

- to provide the knowledge base, tools and references necessary for the development of research on education and training in Europe. To help to develop a common knowledge base, infrastructure and instruments which can be used for specific activities;

- to bring together at European level the efforts of the various individuals and institutions involved in research on education and training; to encourage the development of networks of specialists in educational science (pedagogics, didactics, educational sociology, etc.), the heads of education and training departments in administrations and businesses, those responsible for educational systems and the two sides of industry; to shape the intellectual structure of the multidisciplinary field of research on education and training at European level.

(b) Themes

The themes covered by these activities can be subdivided into two main categories:

(i) Methods, tools and technologies: innovation and quality in education and training

- New technologies in education and training and methods of learning: Principles and comparison of the effects of new technologies and tools in education and training (educational software, multimedia and hypertext systems; audiovisual and multimedia methods; virtual reality, etc.). Cognitive bases and operating mechanisms for these technologies; comparison of various methods of learning and interaction with traditional methods and aids;

- Dissemination of innovations in teaching methods: processes for dissemination (whether spontaneous or planned) of innovations in teaching methods in educational systems and economic life; intellectual bases and organizational mechanisms for the transfer and dissemination of technological innovations by means of training schemes; social and cultural aspects of the dissemination of innovations in education and training;

- Quality of education and training systems: Evaluation methods and quality criteria for tools, programmes and branches; establishment of quantitative criteria; cost-benefit analyses, etc.

- Teachers and trainers as the key components of education and training systems: new forms of interactions between teacher and pupil; methods of assessing knowledge and representations of teachers and trainers; comparison of attitudes to traditional methods and teach-yourself systems using new technologies, etc.

(ii) Policies, action and needs

- New or emerging education and training needs of industry and European society: needs for knowledge, skills and qualifications arising from completion of the internal market, development of economic and social potential at regional level, the globalization of trade, new methods of production and business organization, the calls for greater competitiveness, etc.

- Impact of the action taken at regional, national and European level; effects of the introduction of new training schemes in educational systems and of the development of continuous education and training; impact of greater mobility, increased trade, closer contact, etc.

- Comparison of the situation and policies on education and training; social and cultural bases of the Member States' policies; roots and impact of the diversity of the education and training systems in Europe.

3. Research into social integration and social exclusion in Europe

(a) Specific objectives

The immediate specific objectives of the programme, defined in line with the subsidiarity principle, are:

- to provide the knowledge base, tools and reference necessary for the development of research on social integration and socal exclusion in Europe. To help to develop a common knowledge base, infrastructure and instruments which can be used for specific activities;

- to bring together at European level the various researchers into economic and social sciences and the humanities specializing in this field so that they can work together and with the other players involved (government agencies, non-governmental organizations, trade unions, trade associations, etc.) in order to gain a fuller understanding of social integration and of the various forms of social exclusion and of the causes and options for solutions.

(b) Themes

Taking account of the changes in progress throughout the European continent on the whole, the exploratory activities will centre on four topics:

(i) Forms and processes of social exclusion:

This comparative targeted research will analyse the multidimensional processes of social exclusion. For society as a whole, social exclusion takes the form of disintegration and fragmentation of social relations and, hence, of loss of control thereof (e.g. violence, interethnic tensions, crises of group identity). For individuals and particular groups, social exclusion means deprivation or discrimination.

Particular attention will be paid to the spatial dimension of social exclusion, i.e. the geographical concentration of excluded groups (for example, urban segregation), and to the processes of exclusion associated with living in deteriorated and devalued areas.

Finally, the analysis should help to cast light on the pathways to exclusion and integration, inter alia by analyzing demographic changes (age and family structures, etc.). To give one example of the issues to be covered, one change forming part of the exclusion process is the increasingly precarious position of sections of the population on the fringes of exclusion, for example those who continuously enter and leave the welfare systems at brief intervals or who lose one job after another.

(ii) Causes of social exclusion, particularly unemployment:

This work will concentrate on:

- the impact of the economic changes affecting Europe in terms of aggravation or reduction of unemployment;

- the consequences of European integration for the national forms of welfare State;

- the development of the black economy in Europe and the consequences thereof.

(iii) Migration

The growing flood of immigrants from the less-developed countries outside Europe and from central and eastern Europe must be taken into account in the tradition models for explaining migratory flows and the impact thereof in order to assess the possible implications in terms of potential social conflicts, destabilization of labour markets and legal restrictions on the rights of entry and asylum.

(iv) Evaluation of the impact of social integration policies:

The research on the development and impact of social integration policies will concentrate on:

- comparative evaluation of the approaches taken by the existing social policies (e.g. switch from welfare policies to active integration policies, promotion of equal treatment, particularly for men and women) and of the role of the various players involved (the two sides of industry, non-governmental organizations, etc.) taking account of changes in the forms and processes of social exclusion in Europe; in these comparisons particular attention will be paid to the socio-economic factors concerning protection of the health and safety of workers. These activities will take account of the results of the research conducted in other programmes, particularly if they could contribute to structural improvements in this field. This includes the programmes on biomedicine and health (particularly the research on occupational and environmental health), telematics applications of common interest (particularly telematics for improving employment and the quality of life) and industrial and materials technologies (particularly the reliability of production systems). In particular, socio-economic consequences of protection of the health and safety of workers on the conditions of competitiveness in the Community or other regions will be analyzed. Account will be taken of the conditions associated with the special nature of small and medium-sized enterprises.

- taking account of in the dimension of social cohesion and citizenship the process of European integration, of development of its institutions and the specific activities at Community level.

The research in this third area will require preliminary work on the methods for constructing data which can be compared Europe-wide and the establishment or reinforcement of common research infrastructure (databases on the parties involved and research results; directories and manuals, glossaries and thesauruses, etc.). A limited proportion of the resources allocated to this field will therefore be earmarked for the definition of a strategy for carrying out this work and developing such infrastructure and to the associated pilot projects.

(1) A more detailed description of the JRC's research activities, which are defined in a proposal for a separate Council Decision, is given in Annex IV for information in order to ensure the transparency in relation to their complementarity with corresponding indirect actions.

ANNEX II

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ANNEX III

DETAILED RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME

1. The detailed rules for the Community's financial contribution are laid down in Annex IV to the Decision on the Fourth Framework Programme.

The detailed rules for the participaton of undertakings, research centres and universities, and for the dissemination of results will be laid down in the measures provided for by Article 130 j of the Treaty.

However, for the purpose of implementing this programme, the following specifications shall apply:

1.1. Participation in this programme is open, which financial support from the Community:

(a) to all legal entities, established and regularly carrying out RTD activities

- in the Community, or

- in a third country associated, wholly or in part, with the implementation of the relevant programme through an agreement concluded between the Community and the said third country

(b) to the Joint Research Centre.

1.2. Participation in this programme is open, without financial support from the Community, and on condition that their participation is in the interests of Community policy:

(a) to legal entities established in a country which has concluded a scientific and technical cooperation agreement with the Community relating to activities covered by the programme, provided the participation accords with the terms of the agreement,

(b) to legal entities established in a European country,

(c) to international research organizations.

1.3. The participation of European international organizations may be financed on the same basis as that for Community organizations in duly specified cases.

2. This programme will be carried out in the form of:

2.1. Indirect activities, i.e. financial participation by the Community in RTD activities carried out by third parties, mainly in the form of:

- Shared-cost activities, i.e. RTD projects carried out by undertakings, research centres and universities with a common theme;

- Concerted action, which consists of coordinating, particularly with the aid of concertation networks, RTD projects already funded by public authorities or private bodies;

- Measures appropriate to the characteristics of the programme such as thematic studies, measures to encourage the establishment and standardization of databases on the players and research projects involved and schemes to provide general tools to research centres, universities and undertakings (thesauruses, directories, etc.). The Community's contribution covers up to 100 % of the costs of the measures.

2.2. Preparatory, accompanying and support measures:

- studies in support of this programme and in preparation for future activities;

- conferences, seminars, workshops or other scientific or technical meetings, including intersectoral or multidisciplinary coordination meetings;

- use of external expertise, including access to scientific databases and visits by scientists;

- scientific publications, including the dissemination, promotion and utilization of the results;

- training activities related to research covered by this programme;

- independent evaluation (including studies) of programme administration and of the implementation of the activities.

The activities relating to the dissemination and utilization of results carried out under this programme will complement those carried out under the third area of activity and will be implemented in close coordination with the latter. The partners in RTD projects are excellent vehicles for the dissemination and utilization of results. Back-up will be provided via publications, conferences, promotion of results, studies of technical and economic potential, etc. To ensure optimum exploitation, factors liable to encourage the subsequent utilization of results should be taken into account from the outset and throughout the RTD projects.

3. The measures taken to implement the programme will depend on the specific nature of the activities concerned.

However, in order to coordinate the Community's research closely with the national work and, in the process, develop a joint information and analysis infrastructure accessible to all, the activities concerning the evaluation of science and technology policy options will be based on the European technology assessment network (ETAN), which will be funded from this programme. This network will bring together the main regional, national and European bodies actively involved in evaluation of science and technology policy options (including the European Parliament's STOA, the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment Network and the two sides of industry in Europe), including the Commission departments most directly involved (particularly, the management team for this programme, the JRC's Institute for Prospective Technological Studies and the Forward Studies Unit). The Commission will provide the secretarial services. The network will be responsible for advising the Commission, via a steering committee appointed by the member organizations, on the work programme for this first part of the programme, on application and utilization of the results or on the national, transnational or European work which the members of the network wish to share at Community level. The activities will also be coordinated with the work of the other Commission departments most directly concerned with RTD activities in Europe and special attention will be paid to making the best use of the expertise available from the various socio-economic circles in Europe.

The operation of this network will ensure that the work programme includes the research topics of greatest relevance to the work in progress at regional, national and international level and of greatest use to the end-users of the results.

Wherever possible the research projects will allow participation by experts and by working parties representing the interests of the end-users of the results. Their involvement will ensure the cooperation of the players and users concerned by the objectives of the project, follow-up work and real-time dissemination of the results as they are generated.

4. International organizations in Europe may exceptionally be funded on the same basis as Community organizations.

Cooperation with organizations in third countries outside Europe (e.g. the National Science Foundation or the Office of Technology Assessment in the United States and the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy in Japan) will be organized where this enables the objectives of this programme to be achieved more effectively.

ANNEX IV

DESCRIPTION OF THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE'S (JRC) RESEARCH ACTIVITIES CORRESPONDING TO THE AREAS COVERED BY THIS SPECIFIC PROGRAMME AND THE SUBJECT OF THE PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION FOR THE JRC PROGRAMME (COM(94)68 FINAL - 94/0095 (CNS)).

The European Science and Technology Observatory of the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the JRC will provide an information service on progress in science and technology and ensure surveillance of scientific developments and technological innovation.

In order to improve communications and to avoid duplication of effort, the Observatory will work in close cooperation with Eurostat and establish close links with European organizations and the OECD, but also with ESA, CERN, Eureka, etc. Its activities will be conducted in close cooperation with those foreseen under the heading for the corresponding shared-cost action programme.

It will act within the ETAN network, whose creation is foreseen in the shared-cost actions programme as the focal point within, on the one hand, a network consisting of various similar observatories in the Member States, and on the other, university and industrial experts responsible for evaluating the relevance, development and impact of scientific technological breakthroughs.

In a Community perspective, it will contribute by gathering information for the regular evaluation of the state of RTD in Europe and comparing it with the situation in other developed countries.

The aim of the technological watch system will be to detect new scientific breakthroughs and technological innovation at an early stage and to alert those responsible in the Community to the implications and consequences, notably for technological research and for the industrial world.