rt' *-v« W%-.> 
COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 15.07.1998 
COM( 1998)'439 final 
RESEARCH AND 
TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT 
ACTIVITIES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 
1998 ANNUAL REPORT 
(Presented by the Commission) 

SUMMARY 
This Annual Report of the Commission on research activities in 1997 provides an overview of 
developments regarding Community research policy and the implementation of research during the 
year. It aims to provide information which is of interest to researchers and research organisations, 
industrial enterprises, research policy specialists and politicians with an interest in the Community 
programmes, as well as. to the European Parliament and Council of Ministers1. 
In order to take account of the progressive refinement of the data available on the implementation of 
Community research programmes, and to accommodate feedback on previous reports, in particular 
from the European Parliament and the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST), the 
presentation of this latest Annual Report has been further modified in comparison with earlier years. 
To facilitate reference and comparisons, its overall structure nevertheless has been standardised. The 
report itself gives a synopsis of the main activities during 1997 (extending into 1998 in some areas 
where important actions or decisions were taken). Annex 1 gives more detailed information on the 
implementation of each of the specific programmes of the Fourth Framework Programme, and 
examples of projects supported. Annex 2 provides statistical information on contracts signed, on 
proposals and on funding. Annex 3 contains a list of complementary sources of information on 
Community Research (see note overleaf). 
1997 was a pivotal year in the development of Community research policy. The Amsterdam Treaty 
modified the legal base for research which, when ratified, will eliminate the requirement for 
unanimous voting in Council, thus streamlining decision making and bringing research in line with 
other policy areas where a co-decision of EP and Council is required. Agenda 2000 - the 
Commission's strategy for addressing enlargement and the challenges of the future - also gave an 
important boost for research, emphasising the key role for knowledge-based policies. The 
Commission presented its formal proposals for the Fifth Framework Programme which represent a 
significant departure from earlier programmes in the direction of a more strategic, focused and 
integrated set of activities designed to further improve the impact of Community funding. 
*** 
Implementation of the Fourth Framework Programme continued at a similar level to 1996, with 
nearly 24000 proposals received and evaluated across all the specific programmes, 6000 contracts 
signed and ECU 3 000 million of Community funds attributed to research projects, involving 24000 
participants. Cumulatively, more than 15000 research projects had been established under the 
Fourth Framework Programme by the end of 1997, amounting to ECU 8 200 million in signed 
contracts, with 10000 projects ongoing. Strong growth has been achieved in the level of 
participation of SMEs (24% of total participants in 1997 as compared to 18% in 1996) and the 
budgetary contribution they receive (16% of total budgetary contributions in 1997 against 13% in 
1996), largely through the success of stimulation measures (cooperative research and exploratory 
awards) and take up actions (for information technologies). 
*** 
i Article 130P of the EC Treaty and the Framework Programme Decisions (EC and Euratom) require the 
Commission to send a report each year to the European Parliament and Council. 
The Fifth Framework Programme was again the main focus for policy developments during the year, 
with the presentation of the Commission's formal proposal in April 1997. The first reading of the 
proposal by the European Parliament took place in December 1997, followed by a modified proposal 
from the Commission in January 1998 and the Common Position of Council in March. The ground 
is thus prepared for a Decision on the Fifth Framework Programme and the specific programmes to 
implement it by the end of 1998, allowing continuity of funding to be maintained beyond the 
termination of the Fourth Framework Programme in 1998. 
A decision was reached during the year 1997 on the Commission's proposal for supplementary 
funding of the Fourth Framework Programme, presented early in 1996. This resulted in an increase 
of funding of ECU 115 million for a number of specific research areas including transmissible 
spongiform encephalopathies (TSE). Concrete progress was also achieved in implementing the First 
Action Plan for Innovation in Europe, which includes a wide range of measures designed to improve 
the climate for innovation in Europe. 
Considerable attention was given to programme management during the year, and into 1998. 
Besides the efforts towards progressive improvement of management performance and quality, 
significant advances were made in the evolution and further development of management systems to 
reflect fully the new principles of focus, coordination and flexibility in the implementation of the Fifth 
Framework Programme. 
NOTE 
Extensive information is available on EU research through regular complementary reports relating 
to different aspects of research activities. In addition to the present Report, which is issued 
annually, the following main types of documents are published by the European Commission 
which together provide a very comprehensive picture: 
- Annual Monitoring Reports, for the Framework Programme and the Specific Programmes, 
which provide rapid, independent feedback on the state and quality of programme 
implementation. 
- Five-year Assessment Reports, issued every fourth year, both for the Framework and the 
Specific Programmes, which present an independent retrospective evaluation on the relevance, 
efficiency, effectiveness, results and impact of the EU RTD programmes. 
- The European Report on Science and Technology Indicators, the second edition of which was 
issued in December 1997 and which gives data and comparative analyses on European and 
national RTD in the world context. 
- Research and development: annual statistics, a Eurostat report issued each year, which 
provides extensive data on Community and national R&D expenditures, R&D personnel and 
patents 
- The Commission's main annual budgetary documents i.e. the preliminary draft budget, the 
budget and the consolidated revenue and expenditure account and balance sheet. 
- Various studies and analyses conducted and published on the initiative of the research 
programmes and which address issues specific to the RTD domains they cover. 
The main documents are listed in Annex III. 
* * * 
CONTENTS 
THE COMMUNITY'S RTD POLICY IN 1997 -1998 
1. NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN RESEARCH POLICY 1 
1.1. The context of the RTD policy 1 
1.2. Preparation of the Fifth Framework Programme 2 
1.3. Implementation of the First Action Plan for Innovation in Europe 5 
2 OTHER MAIN ASPECTS OF COMMUNITY RESEARCH POLICY IN 
1997-1998 6 
2.1. Supplementary financing for the Fourth Framework Programme 6 
2.2. CREST and coordination between Community policies and national 
policies 7 
2.3. Advisory Committees 8 
2.4. Economic and social cohesion 10 
2.5. International cooperation 12 
3. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IN 1997 AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 
FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES 13 
3.1. Issues and scientific and technical results 14 
3.2. Monitoring of the framework programmes 15 
3.3. Contracts signed and payments made in 1997: Annual basis and 
framework programmes 15 
3.4. Implementation of the framework programmes and objectives of European 
research policy 16 
3.4.1. Industrial participation 16 
3.4.2. Technology stimulation measures for SME access to RTD 17 
3.4.3 Contribution of Community research to the development of 
the European economy 18 
4 MANAGEMENT OF RESEARCH 19 
ANNEX I: RTD ACTIVITIES IN 1997 AND WORK PROGRAMMES 
FOR 1998 21 
ANNEX II: STATISTICAL AND FINANCIAL DATA: ANNUAL BASIS 
1997 AND FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES 71 
ANNEX III: MAIN REPORTS RELATING TO COMMUNITY RESEARCH 
ACTIVITIES 92 
LIST OF MAIN ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED 93 
THE COMMUNITY'S RTD POLICY IN 1997-1998 
The research and technological development (RTD) policy of the European Union aims to 
strengthen Europe's scientific and technological base and thus to contribute to the 
development of the competitiveness of European industry and to promote the quality of 
life of Europe's citizens. EU RTD policy complements Member States' national research 
efforts and supports other Union policies such as in agriculture, economic and social 
cohesion, transport, environment, health, education, energy, etc. 
The European Union's RTD policy is implemented by means of specific research 
programmes which associate companies - including SMEs - universities and research 
centres from various European countries in joint research projects. The research themes 
covered by EU RTD are defined in multiannual Framework Programmes. The current 
Framework Programme (1994-1998) has a total budget of ECU 13 215 million: ECU 
11 879 million for the Fourth EC Framework Programme and ECU 1336 million for the 
Euratom Framework Programme (see Annex II, table 9). 
The Joint Research Centre (IRC), with its seven institutes, is the Community's own 
research centre which contributes to the implementation of the Framework Programmes 
by carrying out research directly, and provides scientific support for other Union policies. 
A separate annual report of the JRC for 1997 is available (a brief summary is included in 
Annex 1). 
1. NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN RESEARCH POLICY 
1.1. THE CONTEXT OF RTD POLICY 
1997 was a year in which the role of research within the overall political objectives of the 
Community was substantially advanced. Two major political developments of the year 
were the finalisation of the Amsterdam Treaty and Agenda 2000, the Commission's 
proposals for the future institutional and financial development of the Community. Both 
confirmed the need to attack major issues such as employment, competitiveness and 
sustainability, by further developing the Community as a society founded on knowledge, 
and to build a Europe which is closer to its citizens. 
The Amsterdam treaty signalled a true maturity in research policy by removing the 
requirement in the co-decision process of unanimous voting in Council, thus bringing it in 
line with other policy areas, such as Single Market policy. This show of confidence in the 
European acquis should bring a more balanced debate and speed decision-making in the 
negotiation of future Framework Programmes. 
Agenda 2000 provides a strategy for addressing the far-reaching changes - geopolitical, 
demographic, environmental, technological and economic - which Europe is facing, and 
which will open new political and economic horizons in the next century. Achieving 
sustainable growth and employment, within an inclusive society with a high quality of life 
requires dynamic enterprises and skilled and knowledgeable citizens. Thus knowledge 
policies - research, innovation, education and training - are of decisive importance, and 
must be properly resourced and effectively targeted to get the very best value for Europe 
as a whole. Agenda 2000 recommends that, within a more constrained budgetary 
framework, the Fifth Framework Programme should be given a somewhat increased 
financial allocation above the level of the current programme. 
1.2. PREPARATION OF THE FIFTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 
1997 was also a pivotal year in the development of research policy, with the Commission 
presenting its formal proposals for the Fifth Framework and rules for participation and 
dissemination (Article 130j Decision), as well as a working document on the detailed 
content of the Framework Programme. The ground is therefore prepared for the 
decisions which are needed before the end of 1998 to secure continuity of research 
funding in 1999. Proposals were put forward by the Commission in June 1998 for the 
specific programmes concerning the EC2 and Euratom3 Framework Programmes, and 
including the Joint Research Centre. 
The FP5 proposal 
The Commission presented its proposal for the Fifth Framework Programme in April 
1997*. It represented a significant departure from earlier programmes, in line with the 
orientations given in earlier working documents, which were the subject of extensive 
consultation, and from which a general consensus emerged. Research was structured in 
six programmes - three thematic programmes and three horizontal programmes - and 
followed a highly targeted and integrated approach encompassing both EC and Euratom 
programmes, allowing significantly greater flexibility in implementation. The criteria for 
selecting research themes were set out and included social and economic relevance as well 
as high European added value. 
The proposal predated the Commission's forecast of the economic outlook and its 
proposals for the development of the overall Community budget for the years 2000 and 
beyond. These were presented in July 1997, in the context of Agenda 2000, and a 
modified proposal was put forward at that time5. This proposal set out an overall budget 
corresponding to the political objectives and financial perspective given in Agenda 2000, 
and providing for an increase in funds, in comparison with FP4 to ECU 16 300 million, 
which represents a constant percentage of GDP plus 3%. 
Parliament's first reading on 18 December 1997 supported the transition to a more 
strategic and focused Framework Programme, addressing major European concerns, and 
involving integrated research actions in a small number of large thematic programmes. 
2 COM (98) 305, adopted by the Commission on 10.06.1998. 
3 COM (98) 306, adopted by the Commission on 10.06.1998. 
4 Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision concerning the Fifth Framework 
Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration 
activities (1998-2002); Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the Fifth Framework Programme 
of the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) for research and training activities (1998-
2002). COM(97) 142. 
5 COM(97) 439 final, 11.08.1997. 
This was also welcomed by the Economic and Social Committee6, and the Committee of 
the Regions7. Parliament proposed an increase in the budget to ECU 16 700 million, and 
a number of changes to the structure, increasing the number of thematic programmes to 
four and bringing energy and environment research together in a separate programme. 
Changes were also made to the research content. 
Following Parliament's first reading, the Commission modified its proposal in two major 
respects. In the first place it took up a number of Parliamentary amendments to the 
research content8 that represented an improvement of the proposal. Second, it proposed 
moving to a structure involving four thematic programmes, thus responding to the 
substantive concerns of Parliament on the distribution of research activities but at the 
same time maintaining an integrated approach, focused on socio-economic objectives, 
which was consistent with the original political intent. The modified proposal, presented 
on 14 January 1998, retained the original budget of ECU 16 300 million. 
Following a first examination of the proposal on 15 May and a more substantial debate on 
10 November 1997, which benefited from CREST's advice on the scientific and 
technological content, the Research Council came to a common position, at its meeting on 
12 February 1998, which was formally adopted on 23 March. This confirmed a four 
programme structure and developed the research content in a manner which, with a 
number of exceptions, was broadly convergent with the position of the Parliament and the 
Commission's modified proposal. However, it diverged considerably from the 
Commission's proposal in setting out an overall budget of ECU 14 000 million.9, a figure 
which would fall well short of the allocation for the Fourth Framework Programme once 
account is taken of inflation. Council also proposed that the fourth thematic programme 
should give rise to two committees concerned with environment and energy respectively. 
The Commission expressed its serious reservation on these matters in its subsequent 
communication to Parliament. 
Consultation on the S/T content of the Fifth Framework Programme 
During the course of 1997, the detailed content of the new Framework Programme began 
to be filled out with the twin objective of meeting the political aims set out in the proposal 
and providing a package of research activities which corresponded to the proposed 
budget. Publication of the Framework Programme proposal followed a wide ranging 
6 CES 1407 de 1997, JO C73 09.03.1998 p. 133. 
7 CdR 158/97 fin. 17/18.09.1997. 
Several additional key actions were proposed by Parliament, on chemical and molecular bases of life, 
health systems, taking account of ageing and the handicapped, global change and climate, social 
changes brought about by the introduction of new ICTs, and land and marine transport technologies. 
Moreover, Parliament proposed that the key action on advanced energy systems and services in the 
Commission's proposal be broken down into two key actions, dealing respectively with fossil and 
renewable energies. 
To avoid anticipating a decision on the financial perspective for the years 2000+, the common 
position specified that this budget should be segmented into the years 1998-1999 and 2000-2002; the 
latter part being the subject of revision should it not be compatible with a future financial perspective, 
or should that financial perspective not be decided. 
process of consultation and profited from a considerable effort of analysis, taking account 
also of the many productive outputs of the research/industry task forces. 
Many contributions were received from the various players involved in European 
research. By the end of 1997 over 300 contributions had been received, including just 
under 150 from European associations and over 170 from private bodies ; among the 
latter 50 were from European industrial and professional federations. A conference on the 
scientific and technological content of the Fifth Framework Programme was held in 
February 1997, at which comments were provided by representatives of the research 
community, industry and users. This process of consultation was continued by a more in-
depth review, in July 1997, of the prospective content of the specific programmes, again 
with the help of the constituencies concerned. Advice was also provided by the Scientific 
and Technical Research Committee (CREST) and by the Commission's advisory bodies 
IRDAC and ESTA (see section 2). 
A working paper on the proposed content of the specific programmes was presented in 
November 199710. Updated and modified in the light of comments received and 
developments in the programme structure signalled during the first readings by Parliament 
and Council, this forms the basis of the S/T content of the Commission's proposals on the 
specific programmes. 
Preparations for implementation 
Alongside the preparation and negotiation of the Framework Programme proposal and the 
development of its detailed content, the Commission commenced preparations for its 
implementation, these being of particular importance given the need to adapt to the new 
approach. These involved, in particular: 
• The rules for participation and dissemination, on which the Commission adopted its 
formal proposal on 15 December 199711. Consistent with their key role in the 
administration of the Framework Programme, they contain several innovations with 
respect to earlier programmes. For the first time a complete, coherent and transparent 
set of rules will be applied consistently across all the specific programmes, 
supplemented as required by a minimal number of specific rules adapted to each 
programme. The rules for dissemination and exploitation will normally vary 
accordingly to the rate of Community financing, reflected by the distance of the project 
to the market. A more flexible regime will apply to intellectual property rights, 
allowing the contractors to negotiate specific agreements, notably concerning exclusive 
rights, in compliance with the applicable rules on competition. This will be 
complemented by a more stringent monitoring of the commitment to exploit results, 
with a strengthened role of the technology implementation plan. 
10 COM(97) 553 final, 05.11.1997. 
11 Proposal for a Council Decision concerning the rules for the participation of undertakings, research 
centres and universities and for the dissemination of research results for the implementation of the 
Fifth Framework Programme of the European Community (1998-2002); Proposal for a Council 
Decision concerning the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities 
and for the implementation of the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Atomic Energy 
Community (1998-2002); COM(97) 587, 15.12.1997. NB, in the case of the Euratom Framework 
Programme, the rules for dissemination are stated in the Euratom Treaty itself. 
4 
• Development of practical arrangements for programme implementation which are 
compatible with the new approach for FP5 and which provide for more general 
improvements in management efficiency, matters which were raised in successive 
research Councils. The new structure of FP5 will open the possibility of streamlining 
and improving the process of consultation with industry, the science base and users, 
through mechanisms which are consistently applied across the programme. The 
Commission's initial ideas on this matter were discussed informally with ministers' 
personal representatives towards the end of 1997. Work was also done to take 
forward the conclusions of the June 1996 seminar on management of research 
programmes in developing the operational aspects of the new Framework Programme 
(see also section 4). 
1.3. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FIRST ACTION PLAN FOR INNOVATION IN EUROPE 
Work continued during 1997 ir; taking forward the objectives of the First Action Plan for 
Innovation, by putting into place a series of coordinated initiatives. Mobilising the various 
services concerned (Innovation, Internal Market, SMEs, Industry, Education and 
Training, Research and Development), the Commission's activities in this first phase 
focused mainly on 5 areas: 
• Protection of intellectual property : on 24 June 1997 the Commission adopted a Green 
Paper on the Community patent and the patent system in Europe designed to launch a 
debate leading to practical proposals to simplify the patent system while making it 
more efficient and less expensive. To make those involved in innovation aware of what 
is at stake in the protection of intellectual property, the Commission is also setting up, 
under the Innovation Programme, an assistance and information service for participants 
in Community research programmes. Lastly, progress has been made with protecting 
innovations in rapidly expanding sectors such as biotechnology: with regard to 
biotechnological inventions, the Commission has put forward a revised draft Directive 
which was endorsed by the European Parliament and agreed upon by the November 
1997 Internal Market Council. 
• Innovation financing: particular attention was paid to the mobilisation of private 
capital for this purpose, in order to help Europe catch up in this area of fundamental 
importance to innovation. The Research Council of 10 November 1997 recognised the 
legitimacy of Community action in this connection, and the need for an approach under 
the Framework Programme allowing better account to be taken of aspects linked to 
research and competitiveness. In addition, the strong backing given by the Amsterdam 
and Luxembourg European Councils for innovation financing will allow considerable 
resources (EIB, EIF, Community budget) to be released for 1998 and 1999, thus 
enhancing Europe's capacity to provide equity finance for innovative high-tech 
businesses.12 Other initiatives supplementing these measures include: investment 
forums for the various programmes; setting up of an assistance and guidance service 
and a performance benchmarking system at European level in the field of innovation 
financing. 
12 The measures taken are intended mainly to channel capital (especially venture capital) more 
effectively towards innovative projects in their early stages. The I-TEC pilot project launched in 
1997 under the Innovation Programme is helping to bring this about by enabling venture capital 
companies to acquire a lasting ability to assess and manage high-tech projects. 
5 
• The regulatory framework and administrative simplification: apart from pursuing 
the SLIM (Simplified Legislation for the Internal Market) measures and promoting 
various forms of enterprise at European level (European company, EEIG, proposal for 
a statute for joint enterprises in research and development), the major initiative in this 
field is the setting up of the BEST task force with a mandate to formulate (for the 
Cardiff European Council in June 1998) specific proposals aimed at simplifying 
administrative procedures and improving the quality of legislation (both at Community 
level and in the Member States). 
Education and training: a major effort was devoted to training and education, in 
particular with measures to stimulate mobility ("Erasmus Apprenticeship", 
EUROPASS-Training, CAMPUS VOICE service) and to make better use of 
information technologies ("Learning in the information society" initiative), and pilot 
projects aimed at strengthening the innovation culture to complement projects to 
exploit research. 
Gearing research towards innovation: the preparation of the Fifth Framework 
Programme enabled this priority to be taken into account. The proposed Fifth 
Framework Programme is more focused (4 thematic programmes and 3 horizontal 
programmes) and explicitly includes innovation among the objectives of all the 
programmes. Within the thematic programmes, the "key actions" are aimed at 
fostering the emergence of targeted industrial applications. Lastly, the Commission has 
taken steps to ensure that the know-how and expertise of the Joint Research Centre are 
better exploited. 
At the Employment Summit on 20 and 21 November 1997, the Heads of State and 
Government solemnly confirmed the need to promote research, innovation and the spirit 
of enterprise in order to help reduce unemployment in Europe. Continued implementation 
of the Action Plan for Innovation in 1998 will remain one of the Commission's priorities, 
in particular in the fields of intellectual property, access to financing, administrative 
simplification, and developing the spirit of enterprise. 
2. OTHER MAIN ASPECTS OF COMMUNITY RESEARCH POLICY IN 1997 -
1998 
2.1. FINANCIAL SUPPLEMENT FOR THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 
Negotiations on the Commission's January 1996 proposal for a financial supplement to the 
Fourth Framework Programme continued throughout 1997, following a modified 
proposal presented by the Commission in November 1996 for a supplement of ECU 100 
million. The common position of Council, reached on 27 January 1997 confirmed this 
sum, while the European Parliament, in its second reading on 13 March 1997, voted 5 
amendments, increasing the supplement to ECU 200 million. Rejection of these 
amendments by Council resulted in the establishment of a conciliation committee which 
met twice, on 9 and 23 September. 
The outcome of conciliation was agreement on a supplement of ECU 115 million, which 
was officially confirmed in a Decision of Parliament and Council in December 199713. A 
significant proportion of the new funding is allocated to research on transmissible 
spongiform encephalopathies. The increase of ECU 15 million above the Commission's 
modified proposal (and Council common position) reflected an increase in the allocation 
to research on the detection and destruction of landmines, and the introduction of an 
additional theme on non-nuclear energy, in view of the Parliament's preferences. 
2.2. CREST AND COORDINATION BETWEEN COMMUNITY POLICIES AND NATIONAL 
POLICIES: 
In 1997 the activities of CREST (the Scientific and Technical Research Committee) were 
strongly influenced by the preparations for the Fifth Framework Programme, resulting in 
particular in opinions on various Commission papers related to this, for example the second 
working paper on the Fifth Framework Programme,14 and the S/T content of the formal 
proposal on the Fifth Framework Programme.15 These opinions indicated, among other things, 
that CREST shares the Commission's desire for a focusing of efforts and welcomes the 
concepts of key actions and generic technologies. 
Other topics were discussed within the Committee, in particular the coordination of RTD 
policies and the assessment of Community RTD activities. In the latter connection, CREST 
endorsed the five-year evaluation and monitoring of the specific programmes and the 
Framework Programme, and the 1997 Annual Report. 
With regard to coordination between Community policy and national RTD policies 
(Art. 130H), the Commission focused on the continuation of the exchange of information 
on national RTD activities within the ad hoc Committee set up in accordance with the 
Council conclusions of 9 June 1995. Other efforts related to indirect RTD support 
measures, research programming methods in Member States, and European partnerships 
within the national RTD programmes. 
In its initial conclusions16 on the exchange of information on national RTD activities, 
CREST stressed the importance of the work accomplished and the permanent nature of 
the exercise. At a seminar with the rapporteurs of the ad hoc Committees, organised by 
the Commission in October 1997, and to which representatives of IRDAC, ESTA and 
CREST were also invited, there was a fruitful exchange of experience and best practices. 
In the light of the results of this seminar, December 1997 CREST issued a second series 
of conclusions17 outlining the strengths and weaknesses of the exercise. For example, it 
was recognised that the exchange of information results in better knowledge and mutual 
understanding of national RTD activities and is a good way of identifying areas in which 
13 Decision No 2535/97/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 1 December 1997 ; OJ L 
347/1, 18.12.97. 
14 (COM (97) 47 final; doc CREST/1202/97) 
15 (COM (97) 142 final; doc CREST/1214/3/97 rev3) 
16 (doc CREST/1206/97) 
17 (doc CREST/1220/97) 
coordination could be strengthened. However, this activity imposes a heavy burden on 
rapporteurs in terms of the communication of information on national activities (with 
problems of comparability), and does not always have a sufficiently high priority and 
profile. 
To remedy these weaknesses, CREST and the Commission have specified the activities 
devolved to the ad hoc Committees, stressing that they must be clearly targeted on 
selected priority areas, and that a clear distinction must be established between what can 
be done by the Committees themselves, in particular by adapting the work programme, 
and what must be brought to the attention of CREST for its opinion and future action. 
The driving role of the rapporteurs and the need to give them increased support was 
stressed, as was the need to promote the circulation of the reports and work of the ad hoc 
Committees. 
In the first half of 1998, the Commission will be holding a second workshop with the 
rapporteurs in order to continue the exchange of views and experience and ensure that 
appropriate account is taken of CREST's conclusions. The Commission will analyse the 
1997 annual reports in order to identify the main messages emerging from the work of the 
ad hoc Committees and guidelines for the future, in particular the adaptation of the 
exercise in the context of the Fifth Framework Programme. In 1998, CREST's activities 
have continued to be influenced by the discussions on the Fifth Framework Programme. 
For example, at the beginning of the year the Committee considered the S/T content of 
the Commission's working paper on the specific programmes (COM(97)553), basing itself 
in particular on the work of the ad hoc workshops set up for this purpose, thus providing 
the Commission with a contribution that sheds light on the S/T content of the specific 
programmes. Other topics will also be addressed by the Committee in the course of 1998, 
e.g. the second European Report on S/T Indicators and international cooperation on 
RTD. The Committee's medium-term work programme will be updated. 
2.3. ADVISORY COMMITTEES 
Industrial Research and Development Advisory Committee (IRDAQ 
The main topics addressed by IRDAC were the Fifth Framework Programme and 
innovation. IRDAC presented its opinion of the specific programmes under the Fifth 
Framework Programme to Mrs Cresson at the October 1997 plenary meeting, and started 
deliberations on the revision of the standard contract, with a view to the implementation 
of the new Framework Programme. The Committee issued a report concerning the 
participation and dissemination rules and will continue its activities in this connection, 
contributing to the preparation of the application rules and the standard contract. In 
addition, the Committee expressed its views on the structure of the programme, its budget 
and the composition of its consultative structures on a number of occasions. 
IRDAC also expressed its views at length on the subject of innovation and the conditions 
needed to promote it. For example, the Committee presented its opinion on the Action 
Plan for Innovation and on the legal and regulative framework for RTD and innovation. 
Venture capital was the subject of two reports, one concerning the links between venture 
capital and the high-technology sector and the other, in preparation, analysing the 
measures taken by the Commission to ensure the provision of venture capital for 
Community RTD projects. 
Three other IRDAC reports were noteworthy: the opinion on the Agreement for 
Cooperation on Science and Technology between the EU and the United States, the 
proposal for a European system of industrial host fellowships in the context of the Fifth 
Framework Programme, and the opinion on the management of Community RTD 
programmes. IRDAC plans to organise round tables on State aid for RTD, the use of 
"outsourcing" by European industry, and, last but not least, the Committee's annual 
seminar will concern the contribution of RTD and innovation to competitiveness and 
employment. The latter topic was addressed from the point of view of SMEs by 
Commissioner Papoutsis at the last meeting. 
European Science and Technology Assembly (ESTA) 
ESTA actively contributed to the debate on Fifth Framework Programme during 1997 at 
the same time undergoing a transition from an Assembly of approximately 100 members 
to a smaller body of 64 which saw the election of a new ESTA chairman and a new, 
smaller Bureau. Separate reports were produced in early 1997 on each of the three 
thematic priority topics put forward in the Commission's Working Paper, "Inventing 
Tomorrow". These reports offered strategic input on the development and 
implementation of the programmes, in advance of the formal proposals. They were 
complemented by a series of meetings between small groups of ESTA members and 
research Directors to discuss specific programme details. 
ESTA also provided input for the development of the horizontal programmes, organising 
a round table on International Cooperation and addressing a number of issues in the area 
of "Improving Human Potential", such as research infrastructure, centres of excellence 
and research training networks. An exploratory round-table, bringing together experts 
from the main European academic organisations, was also organised to explore the 
contribution social scientists could make to the achievement of EU goals in research and 
related fields. 
Longer-term recommendations were developed for Fifth Framework Programme at the 
March 1998 ESTA Plenary meeting, in four areas, each of which will be considered for 
further ESTA action18: support to research infrastructure; international co-operation in 
science and technology with Central and Eastern European countries; the link between the 
Fifth Framework Programme and the Innovation Action Plan with a focus on hi-tech 
SMEs; the attractiveness of regions, critical mass and competitiveness. 
ESTA provided further encouragement to the development of entrepreneurial culture in 
universities in its report on "Academic and Industrial Research Co-operation in Europe" 
and carried out a study on the "Strengths and Weaknesses in European Science", jointly 
with the main national research councils. 
18 The new ESTA Bureau developed a work plan for 1998 on the basis of which ESTA activities have 
been structured into four areas: i) ESTA projects related to the development of advice on RTD 
activities undertaken by the Commission; ii) longer term projects undertaken at ESTA's own 
initiative; iii) actions to maintain constructive relationships with the main European and 
international RTD organisations; iv) contributing to Uie promotion of a scientific and technological 
culture in Europe and the stimulation of debate at European level. 
Outlook for the structure of IRDAC and ESTA 
One essential aspect of the implementation of the Fifth Framework Programme lies in the 
greater involvement of those concerned with Community research on its management. 
Work has been done to develop new ways for consultative structures to achieve this. In 
particular, the Commission intends that ESTA and IRDAC should be transferred into a 
single "two chamber" body, giving advice for the Framework Programme and Community 
research policy as a whole. The renewed ESTA/IRDAC will entertain links with the 
External Advisory- Groups, which will be established to act as channels of advice and 
communication on the focus and implementation of the Framework Programme between 
the Commission and the various parties concerned (researchers, industrialists, users) in 
relation to the key actions. 
2.4. ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COHESION 
1997 was an important year for coordination between RTD and innovation policy and the 
structural policies on account of the preparations for the Fifth Framework Programme and 
the reform of the Structural Funds. Analyses relating to the new communication 
"Reinforcing cohesion and competitiveness through research, technological development 
and innovation"19 made it possible to increase knowledge of this matter and promoted the 
mutual exchange of expertise within the Commission's services and hence the 
coordination process. 
Coordination between RTD and innovation policy and cohesion policy was given a boost 
by the guidelines set out in Agenda 2000, which places particular emphasis on economic 
and social cohesion and on knowledge-related policies, as well as the European Spatial 
Development Perspective (ESDP) approved by the informal Council of Ministers 
responsible for regional planning in Noordwijk in June 1997, which stresses the 
importance of access to knowledge throughout the territories of the European Union. 
With regard to the Structural Funds, studies carried out in preparation for the "Second 
European Report on S&T Indicators" confirmed the growing trend towards RTD in the 
Community Support Frameworks and the Single Programming Documents in the case of 
Objectives 1, 2 and 5b. The percentage of RTD and innovation related measures for the 
periods 1989-93 and 1994-99 increased from 2.92% to 5.37% (Objective 1); from 
11.50% to 16.80% (Objective 2); and from 1.43% to 2.06% (Objective 5b) respectively. 
However, the total funds allocated to RTD and innovation related operations has 
remained more or less stable, amounting to ECU 8 518 million for the period 1994-99, or 
5.6% of the amounts available. A more precise evaluation, involving qualitative aspects, 
has been initiated on the role of RTD and innovation in the Structural Funds from 1994 to 
1999, based on the mid-term evaluation of the structural instruments in that period 
(intermediate results will be available in mid-1998). 
It has been shown20 at the same time that a catching-up process is under way in most of 
the less-favoured regions (Objective 1). Where the Framework Programmes are 
19 COM (98) 275; 27.05.1998. 
20 Second European Report on S&T Indicators 1997, EUR 17639. 
10 
concerned, these regions have in fact done better than in the past, given that the financial 
participation rates were 8.95% and 8.77% for the Fourth and Third Framework 
Programmes respectively, which is slightly higher than these regions' share in research 
personnel. In 1997, the number of participations of Objective 1 regions was 12.6%, and 
the Community contribution for projects involving at least one participant from an 
Objective 1 region was 47% (52% for the first activity). 
Action under the Framework Programme therefore supplemented that under the 
Structural Funds in terms of improving research capacities in the less-favoured regions, by 
enabling researchers from these regions to participate in high-level international research 
projects and slot into networks. For example, in 1997 alone, 13 463 collaboration links 
were created between the cohesion countries (Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Greece) and 
the other European Union countries, out of a total of 56 478 (23.8% of the links created). 
In addition, each of the four areas of activity of the Fourth Framework Programme 
(1994-98) contributed in 1997 to economic and social cohesion in various ways, ranging 
from participation in programmes of particular interest to these regions (environment, 
socio-economic research, etc.), international cooperation, promotion of innovation and 
dissemination of results, to access to programmes concerning the training and mobility of 
researchers. 
The Innovation Programme (dissemination and optimisation of research results) continued to 
play a key role developing cohesion aspects of the Framework Programme. The close 
cooperation with the Structural Funds has continued, supporting 40 new regions in their 
endeavour to define a Regional Innovation and Technology Transfer Strategy (RITTS). A 
large proportion of these projects are located in LFRs, which, through a pan-European 
network allows access to collective expertise and good practice. The network of Innovation 
Relay Centres has actively promoted the transnational flow of technologies toward LFRs, 
where the industrial fabric presents problems of dispersion or insufficient local infrastructure 
for addressing technological requirements. Innovation awareness activities have proven to be 
effective for the transfer of know-how from Nordic countries' cultures to LFRs. For instance 
in 1997, half of the 20 workshops conducted in European cities in the field of urban ecology 
took place in LFRs. Finally, more than 20% of the 74 partners selected after the third call for 
Technology Transfer Projects (in 65 projects), are from Objective 1, 2 or 6 regions (the 
cohesion dimension was included in the selection criteria). 
While assigning greater importance to the dissemination and exploitation of results, the 
Fifth Framework Programme21 will focus on the resolution of a limited number of 
socio-economic problems thanks to a new instrument to be known as key actions, some of 
which are of particular interest to the less-favoured regions: "Sustainable management and 
quality of water", "Sustainable agriculture, fisheries and forestry, including integrated 
development of rural areas", "Systems and services for the citizen", "Sustainable mobility 
and intermodality" and "The city of tomorrow and cultural heritage". 
The Commission organised mobilisation seminars in order to continue its work on raising 
the awareness of those concerned, at national, regional or local level by economic 
21 Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision concerning the Fifth Framework 
Programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration-
activities (1998- 2002), COM(97) 142 of 30 April 1997. 
11 
development, RTD and innovation problems.22 The series of seminars begun in 1994 
finished in March 1998 in Denmark. It should make it possible to ensure by the year 2000 
a more rapid and more effective integration of the RTD and innovation dimension in the 
next Structural Fund period 2000-2006. 
With the prospect of future enlargement, in 1997 the Commission launched a study23 to 
measure Eastern Europe's technology gap. This study provides the basis for reflecting on 
the need for structural and operational support for RTD and innovation systems in the 
accession candidate countries. The conclusions of this study were presented in Vienna in 
November 1997. 
2.5. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION 
In the context of the globalisation of knowledge and economies, the enlargement of the 
Union, the ongoing development of S&T relations with the emerging economies, and in 
the context of the Fifth Framework Programme, the Council of 14/15 May 1997 stressed 
the growing importance of RTD cooperation. This cooperation, entailing in particular a 
"European added value", helps to ensure a higher profile in the world for European know-
how in the field of science and technology compared with the United States and Japan in 
particular. It also promotes economic and trade links, while helping to improve the 
competitiveness of the Union's economy and to implement other sectoral and external 
policies. 
The activities conducted in 1997 were part of the medium-term strategy set out in the 
communication on the perspectives for international cooperation.24 Efforts continued to 
increase the participation of the accession candidate countries in the second activity 
"international cooperation" and the other specific programmes under the Fourth 
Framework Programme, with the support of the second activity. A "structured dialogue" 
meeting (14 May) was held between the Research Ministers of the applicant countries and 
the Union countries, during which it was agreed in particular to step up the dialogue on 
RTD policy and explore ways, including financial ones, of facilitating these countries' 
participation in the Fifth Framework Programme. 
Turning to the advanced countries, a Cooperation Agreement on S&T was signed 
between the EU and the United States of America, following on from the Transatlantic 
Action Plan signed in December 1995. It is designed to encourage and facilitate the 
development of scientific cooperation in areas of common interest. Negotiations began 
with Russia with a view to a Cooperation Agreement aimed at expanding and 
consolidating the present collaboration between Russia and the EU, presupposing, among 
other things, a solution for problems connected with taxation and the protection of 
intellectual property rights. 
22 "Science and Technology - optimising the impact in the regions", Liverpool (UK), 18.04.1997. 
"Stimulation of Research and Technological Development via the Structural Funds," Groningen 
(NL), 20.06.1997. "RTD policies, regional policies and structural policies," Metz (FR), 21.11.1997. 
23 "Impact of the enlargement of the European Community towards the Associated Central and Eastern 
European Countries on RTD-innovation and structural policies", Coopers & Lybrand, 09.03.1998. 
24 COM (95) 489 final, 18.10.1995. 
12 
The European Parliament adopted a resolution on the communication on promoting RTD 
cooperation with the world's emerging economies, which sets out vis-à-vis these 
countries, which are both the EU's partners and its competitors, a selective cooperation 
policy based in particular on the conclusion of Cooperation Agreements. 
Where the developing countries (DCs) are concerned, following the conference co-
organised by the Dutch Presidency and the Commission on partnership for research 
(Leiden, March 1997), the Commission published a communication on "scientific and 
technological research - a strategic part of the European Union's development 
cooperation with the DCs"25 which was endorsed by the Development Council in a 
resolution adopted on 5 June. The general objective is to utilise RTD as a determining 
factor for sustainable development and for facilitating the integration of developing 
countries in the global economy. This strategy is based on four main principles: 
partnership, differentiation, mainstreaming of RTD, and an integrated approach to solving 
problems which combines institutional development, strengthening research capacities and 
international scientific and technological cooperation. Coherence between RTD and 
external policy will be ensured through coordination of the two instruments available -
scientific and technological cooperation (through the INCO-DC programme) and official 
development assistance programmes. More active coordination with the Member States 
should further strengthen the impact of RTD in all the areas of development co-operation, 
on the basis of a global partnership with the developing countries. 
Continued participation of the EFTA EEA countries (Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein) in 
the Fourth Framework Programme has been enabled via an extension to the EEA 
Agreement and has worked satisfactorily. Where the other international cooperation 
forums are concerned, the meeting of the COST Ministerial Conference (June 1997) 
confirmed the interest of the Member States and the Commission in this intergovernmental 
initiative to coordinate European research. Detailed discussions were started between the 
Commission's services and representatives of Eureka on the procedures for greater 
interaction between Eureka, COST and the Framework Programme, with a view to 
encouraging the optimum utilisation of the results of European research. 
3. RESEARCH ACTIVITIES IN 1997 AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 
FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES 
The Union's RTD policy mobilises a growing number of Union researchers and it 
supports or encourages European networks of undisputed quality; it plays an important 
role in all Community activities.26 Networks involve firms, universities and research 
centres on a transnational basis in an increasingly wide variety of ways: for the first three 
years of the Fourth Framework Programme the respective share of firms, universities and 
research centres was 43%, 28% and 23% of total European participation in shared-cost 
actions27 for the first activity of the Fourth Framework Programme. 
25 COM (97) 174, 25.04.1997. 
26 Almost ECU 3 000 million and some 4% of the Community budget (see Tables 10 and 11). 
27 For 1995, 1996 and 1997, the data are those given in Table 5 of the 1996, 1997 and 1998 
Article 130P reports for European Union participants: the "others" category amounts to 6%. 
13 
3.1. IMPACTS AND SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESULTS 
In the course of 1997, numerous results were achieved through Community RTD projects 
which will contribute, sometimes indirectly and/or in the long term, to improving the 
quality of life in Europe: sequencing of the genome of several living organisms, 
development of a powerful climate-forecasting model for Europe, development of several 
innovative production technologies, launching of an international campaign to study the 
depletion of the ozone layer above Europe, etc. 
However, the impact of the Community programmes also helps, in a more diffuse but 
equally important way, to support Europe's scientific, technical and industrial fabric. For 
example, Community funding has made it possible to establish hundreds of networks and 
conferences and has given rise to thousands of publications and patents - activities which 
help to promote the dynamism of European science and technology. 
Where the economic impact of Community activities is concerned, an important aspect of 
the value added by the Community programmes is the coordination of research. In many 
areas Europe is at the forefront of science and technology - for example in certain 
branches of environmental, biotechnology and energy research - thanks to the 
coordination of research made possible by the European programmes, coordination which 
does not exist - or which exists to a lesser extent - in the case of some of our competitors. 
The pooling of data and expertise is another aspect of this European added value, making 
it possible to speed up the development of treatments in the medical field, for example: 
• our understanding of certain forms of cancer has improved significantly as a result of 
studies carried out in parallel in several Member States and funded by the Biomedicine 
and Health Programme; 
• it was also an epidemiological monitoring network supported by the European Union 
which detected the first ten atypical cases of Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease suspected of 
being linked to "mad cow" disease. 
The fact is that because Community projects are selected on the basis of their quality, 
most European research teams are consistently at the forefront of research in their 
particular sector. To quote just one example, a network under the TMR Programme 
made it possible to discover the quantum teleportation phenomenon, offering the prospect 
of new generations of computers. 
However, these interesting scientific and technical results should not conceal the fact that 
the Union's major weakness lies not in its research potential but rather in translating the 
results of this research in economic and commercial terms. One of the objectives of the 
Framework Programme is therefore to improve this state of affairs and, through the 
Innovation Programme and the other specific programmes, to establish a framework 
conducive to innovation in Europe. Thus, following on from those initiatives, in particular 
by DG XIII-D, in 1997 ESPRIT established an annual Investment Forum designed to 
bring together IT firms and investors in innovation. Other similar initiatives have been 
launched elsewhere, in particular in the field of biotechnology (first conference of the 
"Biotechnology and Finance Forum"). 
14 
3.2. MONITORING OF THE FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES 
As forseen in the relevant legal Decisions, the implementation of each of the 18 specific 
programmes and the Framework Programme overall were the subject of an independent 
monitoring exercise by panels of experts from the Member States; for the year 1997 all of 
these were completed by the end of March 1998. 
The Framework Programme monitoring panel consisted of 8 senior experts, under the 
Chairmanship of Prof. J. Viana Baptista, Vice Chairman of IRDAC. As this monitoring 
exercise was conducted during the period when discussions on the Fifth Framework 
Programme were in progress, the Panel's deliberations took particular account of the 
approach forseen for the next Framework Programme and the actions in 1997 which are 
precursors to this new approach. 
The Panel commended the significant improvements already effected by the Commission 
services in several areas of Programme management, and the Commission's efforts in 
responding to earlier monitoring exercises. It concluded that, overall, the Framework 
Programme is developing in a positive way and substantial results have been achieved in 
specific fields. Improvements were noted in processing proposals, supply of information 
to applicants, reduction of over-subscription, management flexibility and coordination and 
cooperation between programmes. The Panel highlighted a number of areas to which 
further attention should be given; in particular for the long term development of the 
programme, such as the development of a comprehensive concept of European added 
value, to assist programme definition/proposal selection and underpin output measures 
and impact assessment techniques. 
3.3. CONTRACTS SIGNED AND PAYMENTS MADE IN 1997: ANNUAL BASIS AND 
FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES 
The statistical and budgetary data (see Annex II, Tables 1 to 3B and 5 to 7) relate to the 
contracts signed in 1997 and the projects in progress under all the Framework 
Programmes. The data relate to the Community and Euratom Framework Programmes; 
the financing structures for the Fourth Framework Programme include the financial 
supplement approved in 1997 (Tables 9 to 11). The calls for proposals (Tables 4 and 8) 
concern 1997 and 1998. 
For 1997, Tables 1-8 indicate that nearly 24 000 proposals were received by the 
Commission in response to calls for proposals and that over 7 000 contracts and 
amendments to contracts were signed, corresponding to nearly ECU 3 000 million28 and 
nearly 24 000 participations. On 31 December 1997 over 11000 projects were in 
progress, including 10 500 under the Fourth Framework Programmes alone. 
The 6 300 contracts signed in 1997 comprise on average 3.8 participations and 2.6 
Member States and correspond to average funding of ECU 0.41 million (Table 2), which 
is slightly less than in previous years: this can be explained by the growing success of the 
28 The commitments for 1997 for appropriations for operations amount to ECU 3 149 million, a figure 
which is more than the contracts signed in 1997. Generally speaking, the difference between 
commitments and contracts is attributable to contracts committed one year and signed by all the 
contractors the next year. 
15 
technology stimulation measures for SMEs and the accompanying measures which rose 
from 9.5% of the amount of contracts signed in 1996 to 13.6% in 1997. Concerted 
actions represented 6.9% of participations in 1997. 
In the case of shared-cost actions (SCA), in 1997 as in 1996 over 4 000 projects were 
signed, giving rise to 18 000 participations. Taking into account amendments (which 
apply almost exclusively to SCA), since the start of the Fourth Framework Programme 
nearly 9 700 contracts have been signed, corresponding to ECU 7 100 million and over 
46 500 participations. An average project (SCA) therefore involves ECU 0.73 million, 
4.8 partners and 3.2 Member States. 
In accordance with the revenue and expenditure accounts, all the appropriations for 
Community research operations (including the competitive scientific and technical support 
activities29) are accounted for in terms of payments in Table 1, totalling 
ECU 2 487 million under the Third Framework Programme (Table 3 A), and 
ECU 2 188 million under the Fourth Framework Programmes (Table 3B). 
Table 9 gives the breakdown of funding, including the financial supplement, for the 
various specific programmes for all the budgetary commitments concerning the 
Framework Programmes comprising management costs and direct actions (JRC) as well 
as the appropriations for operations. Tables 10 and 11 set out the budgetary 
commitments (1984-1998) for the Community research Framework Programmes in 
current prices and 1992 prices.30 
3.4. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES AND OBJECTIVES OF 
EUROPEAN RESEARCH POLICY 
3.4.1. INDUSTRIAL PARTICIPATION 
After levelling off in 1995 and 1996, industrial participation in the Framework Programme 
as a whole increased in 1997, mainly as a result of SME participation. Aggregated data 
for the first three years of the Fourth Framework Programme show that for the first 
activity firms accounted for 43% of European Union participation (18% for large firms 
and 25%o for SMEs) in SCA, and 44% of the Community contribution. 
Industrial participation varies quite considerably from one specific programme to another 
(see Tables 5A and 5B). In 1997 the five programmes where industrial participation is 
around 50% include the two biggest programmes under the Fourth Framework 
Programme, "Information Technologies" and "Industrial and Materials Technologies" 
(16%> and 22% of SCA respectively); large firms play the leading role (Table 5B). SMEs 
play a major role compared with the large firms in the case of the third activity 
"Dissemination and Optimisation of Results" (accounting for over 46% of the types of 
organisations), in the case of transport where they are more numerous than large firms, 
and in the case of non-nuclear energy. 
29 In 1997 as in 1996 these are accounted for in terms of payment. Qualitative and quantitative 
information concerning them is given in Annex 1 to this report on page 48. 
30 The current financial perspective was decided upon in 1992 at the Edinburgh Summit for the period 
1992-1999). 
16 
3.4.2. TECHNOLOGY STIMULATION MEASURES FOR SME ACCESS TO RTD 
The percentage participation of SMEs in all the specific programmes increased between 
1995 and 1997, bringing it to a level which, according to a recent report, is the highest of 
all public national or international RTD programmes.31 SMEs now account for 24% of 
total participation (Table 5B). 
The most important result in terms of SME participation32 undoubtedly concerns the 
increase in SMEs ,with research facilities participating in collaborative research projects. 
Nearly 5 400 SMEs were funded in a project of this type between 1995 and 1998 - more 
than double the number in the previous framework programme. 
Between 1995 and 1997, the technology stimulation measures for SMEs (TSME) thus 
enabled 2 900 SMEs to benefit from one of the 1 264 exploratory awards financed and 
nearly 1 900 other SMEs to participate in one of the 300 CRAFT projects in progress.33 
Over 80%) of the SMEs receiving an exploratory award had never before taken part in a 
Community project. 
A recent study34 has confirmed that the latter point applies to the entire Fourth 
Framework Programme: 64% of SMEs interviewed are taking part for the first time, while 
in the case of 63% of them it is also their first participation in a public RTD programme 
(regional, national or international). The study shows that the Framework Programme 
enables SMEs to establish new contacts, 50% of them never having collaborated with any 
of the partners involved in the projects financed by the Framework Programme. In 
addition, the fact of obtaining an exploratory award increased the rate of selection of 
projects submitted by SMEs in 1995 and 1996: from 28 to 41% for collaborative research 
projects. In the case of CRAFT projects, the increase is lower (from 47 to 49%), but in 
this case the awards enabled a new category of SMEs to participate in the Framework 
Programme. 
With an average of six or seven SMEs per CRAFT project, it can be estimated that the 
calls scheduled for 1998 will bring total participation under the Fourth Framework 
Programme to around 12 500 SMEs compared with 5 400 for the previous Framework 
Programme. On the basis of the study and these estimates, it is likely that under the Fourth 
Framework Programme nearly 8 000 SMEs will have participated not only in their first 
31 "Second European Report on S&T indicators - 1997", EUR 17639, December 1997. 
32 The 9 300 SMEs obtained by adding up those indicated in Table 5 for the years 1995 to 1997 break 
down into 5 400 SMEs collaborating with other types of participants (large firms, research centres, 
universities) in research contracts and 3 900 SMEs benefiting from technology stimulation measures. 
33 The 9 300 SME participations obtained by adding up the figures in Table 5 for the years 1995 to 
1997 only represent organisations which have signed a contract with the Commission. Associated 
contractors such as, for example, the 1 700 SMEs that are co-beneficiaries of an exploratory award do 
not appear. Similarly, very many SMEs benefit from Community RTD programmes as 
subcontractors, without the Commission being able to quantify their participation or the funding 
received by them.. 
34 "SME Participation in the 4th RTD Framework Programme of the European Union", publication in 
preparation. 
17 
international research project but also their first public RTD programme (including over 
5 000 as a result of the TSME). 
3.4.3. CONTRIBUTION OF COMMUNITY RESEARCH TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE 
EUROPEAN ECONOMY 
The Framework Programme makes an active contribution to industrial competitiveness, 
growth and employment as a result of the production of high-quality knowledge. The 
latter is essential, to the development of the Union's productive capacity and is a 
precondition for the availability of human resources capable of meeting new needs. In 
addition to its direct impact on employment,35, the Framework Programme increases the 
dynamism and productive capacity of the research community by supplementing the 
research efforts at national and regional level (subsidiarity principle). In particular, as a 
result of the numerous links that it establishes between the various players involved (since 
the beginning of the Fourth Framework Programme, 160 000 collaboration links between 
EU partners have been created, of which nearly 60 000 in 1997), it helps to consolidate 
the European dimension which is becoming an increasingly essential aspect of growth and 
employment. In this connection, mention should also be made of the Training and 
Mobility of Researchers Programme. 
A study completed in 1998 on completed projects under the Brite-EuRam Programme has 
indicated that firms' participation in Community research has major economic 
implications: nearly half of all the firms involved have managed to increase their turnover; 
40%> of them have gained access to new markets; and 40% have been able to increase the 
size of their workforce. Another study concerning a series of projects under the Esprit 
Programme36 has also shown that 1 ecu invested in research results ECU 11 of economic 
output eight year later. 
Thanks to the Training and Mobility of Researchers Programme several thousands of 
young scientists have been able to obtain training in a country other than their own and 
have been able to expedite their research by having more rapid access to relevant and 
recognised results. For example, by the time it ends the current programme will have 
made it possible to support the training through research of 6 500 researchers/year in the 
context of the "networks" activity and some 5 600 researchers/year in the case of the 
Marie Curie fellowships. The "large facilities" activity of the programme has made it 
possible to facilitate the access of European researchers to very expensive large facilities 
in order to carry out certain research work. This activity is particularly important for 
researchers working in the regions of the Community that are the furthest away from such 
facilities. The Association of Marie Curie Fellows set up in 1997 and its branches in all the 
Member States also represent an important channel of dialogue and source of information 
and assistance for Marie Curie fellowship holders during and after their fellowship. 
35 By involving over 24 000 firms, universities and research centres in over 6 000 projects in 1997, the 
Framework Programme provided employment for a considerable number of people working in the 
field of S&T. 
36 "Pilot Evaluation of Economic Effects, HPCN - ESPRIT', Office for Official Publications of the 
European Communities, 1997. 
18 
The Commission has lengthy experience with the evaluation of RTD programmes, but in 
particular because of the difficulties of evaluating the socio-economic impact of RTD it 
has begun to reflect on how to improve evaluation methodologies by attempting to 
increase their ability to measure the output of programmes. 
4. MANAGEMENT OF RESEARCH 
In the context of the debate on the Commission's proposal for the Fifth Framework 
Programme and the lead-up to proposals for the specific programmes, management was a 
subject of considerable attention during the year and into 1998. Besides the ongoing issue 
of progressive improvement of management performance and quality, significant advances 
were made in the evolution and further development of management systems to reflect 
fully the new principles of focus, coordination and flexibility in the implementation of the 
Fifth Framework Programme. 
Following a suggestion to the Council of research ministers at its meeting on 15 May 
1997 from Mrs Cresson, the Commissioner responsible for research, a group of personal 
representatives of research ministers was set up and met three times during the year. The 
group was set up with the aim that the Commission should "...provide on an ad-hoc basis 
... more detailed information on the modalities of programme implementation and 
management ...". 
In its three meetings, the group discussed the principal issues related to programme 
implementation within EU RTD programmes. These meetings provided for the possibility 
of constructive discussions between the Commission and the Member States, allowing 
concerns to be aired, issues to be clarified and overall principles for programme 
management to be confirmed. In particular, the discussions focused around the issues of 
transparency, the role of programme Committees in the more strategically-oriented Fifth 
Framework Programme, the networks of providers of information and assistance to 
proposers, and the Commission's external advisory structures. A representative of the 
Commission chaired the group and the Chairman's report on the main findings of the 
group was a major input for the Council conclusions on the implementation and 
management of Community RTD programmes adopted at the 10 November 1997 meeting 
of research ministers. 
Ministers affirmed the need for a closer liaison with the research, industry and user 
communities in the implementation of the Fifth Framework Programme and the need to 
adapt management structures to improve flexibility. Their conclusions opened the way, 
following the political agreement on a Common Position reached at the February research 
Council, to a further discussion in the context of an informal ministerial colloquium held in 
London on 28 April 1998, focusing specifically on management aspects of SME 
participation and training/mobility fellowships, as well as general management issues. 
At the informal colloquium, the Commission put forward a series of proposals for 
adaptations to the management system applying to the Fifth Framework Programme, 
including: 
• A regular "benchmarking" exercise to compare the performance of the Commission 
with that of other research organisations (a first such exercise carried out by 
independent consultants in early 1998 concluded that the Commission's administrative 
costs compared favourably with those of both member states' and other European 
research organisations). 
19 
• The setting of targets for the timescales of key steps in the process leading from project 
proposals to research contracts. 
• Guidelines for the setting up of external "Advisory Groups", to act as consultative 
bodies for the Commission on the priorities for research work and as an instrument for 
transparency, providing channels for communication between the Commission and the 
various parties involved (researchers, industrialists, users). 
• A pilot experiment of "host fellowships" for Marie Curie research training fellowships, 
in which the Commission would be responsible for selection of the host institutions, 
which would themselves handle the selection of fellows on the basis of criteria 
established by the Commission (and subject to Commission confirmation). 
• Arrangements to improve the management of SME-specific measures, building on the 
achievements in the Fourth Framework Programme, including the setting up of a 
renewed and reinforced network of information and assistance, and the creation of a 
single entry point for SMEs, covering all the programmes of the Fifth Framework 
Programme. 
The Commission also confirmed its interest in the possibility of strategic research 
initiatives within the Fifth Framework Programme which, through voluntary efforts on the 
part of researchers, would involve grouping ("clustering") projects around particular 
objectives, with greater autonomy for the project coordinators and simplification of 
administration, whilst giving those involved access to a larger, and closely coordinated, 
RTD activity. 
On more detailed aspects of management, as reported in the last Annual Report, the 
Commission has set up an inter-service group to examine all the steps involved in the 
implementation of the programmes and, in particular, any changes that will need to be 
made in the context of the Fifth Framework Programme. With the Commission's 
proposals for the structure of the Fifth Framework Programme decided, the group 
continued to work throughout 1997 and, towards the end of the year, set up a number of 
specialist sub-groups to examine particular issues in much more detail. These groups are 
continuing to work and cover all the major topics relating to programme management, 
including internal Commission procedures and delegation, contractual issues, proposal, 
evaluation procedures and evaluation manuals, harmonisation and simplification of 
documentation (including forms, information packages, etc.), information and assistance 
networks, project monitoring and evaluation, statistics and informatics systems for the 
management of the Fifth Framework Programme (including electronic proposal 
submission). 
20 
ANNEX!, 
RTD ACTIVITIES IN 1997 <B& WOMC PkdGRMl^ FORÎ998 
1ST ACTIVITY OF THE FOURTH EC FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME AND THE 
EURATOM FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 22 
Information and communications technologies - 22 
1. Telematics 22 
2. Communications technologies 25 
3. Information technologies 27 
Industrial technologies 30 
4. Industrial and materials technologies 30 
5. Measurement and testing 33 
Environment 35 
6. Environment and climate 35 
7. Marine sciences and technologies 38 
Life sciences and technologies 40 
8. Biotechnology 40 
9. Biomedicine and health 42 
10. Agriculture and fisheries (including agro-industry, food technologies, forestry, 
aquaculture and rural development) 45 
Energy 47 
11. Non-nuclear energy 47 
12. Nuclear fission safety 50 
13. Controlled thermonuclear fusion 52 
14. Transport 55 
15.Targeted socio-economic research 57 
2ND ACTIVITY OF THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 59 
Cooperation with third countries and international organisations 59 
3RD ACTIVITY OF THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 62 
Dissemination and optimisation of results 62 
4TH ACTIVITY OF THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 64 
Stimulation of the training and mobility of researchers 64 
JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE (JRC) 66 
COMPETITIVE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES 70 
21 
1ST ACTIVITY OF THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 
AND THE 
EURATOM FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 
INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES 
1. TELEMATICS APPLICATIONS 
Activities in 1997 
The Telematics Applications Programme is a user-driven research 
programme, focusing on the applications of information and/or 
communications technologies to society, thus providing some of the 
building blocks for Europe's Information Society. Its activities are 
relevant to a range of other European policies in fields such as transport, 
health, education. At the end of 1997 the Telematics Applications 
Programme was responsible for a total of some 500 projects, of which 
more than 450 were shared-cost projects. 
In the course of the year, contracts were signed following three calls for 
proposals: the fourth general call generated 179 new projects, of which 
140 were shared-cost projects; the call concerning Integrated Applications 
for Digital Sites (IADS) generated 21 new contracts, of which 11 were 
shared-cost projects; the joint call for Educational Multimedia (EMM) 
involved 6 programmes (Telematics Applications, ESPRIT, Targeted 
Socio-economic Research, TEN-Telecom, Leonardo da Vinci and 
Socrates) and generated 29 new projects, of which 25 were shared-cost 
projects. The fifth call for proposals for the "Research networks" sector 
resulted in one new shared-cost project to be signed in 1998. A joint call 
for proposals was launched in December 1997 by the Transport 
Programme together with the "Telematics Applications for Transport" 
sector. 
The time between the closing date for the call and the signature of most of 
the contracts was brought down to five open months (seven months in 
1996). This significant improvement has been achieved through a 
combination of a robust evaluation process and the use of a two-stage 
proposal process involving pre-proposals and full proposals. The 1997 
calls have also seen a reduction in the "over-subscription" of the budget 
compared to previous years. There has also been a tendency to select 
larger projects (in particular, the IADS activity encompasses projects 
worth an average EC contribution of ECU 4.5 million, which reflects the 
cross-sectoral nature of this initiative). 
For the second annual technical review of projects, 261 independent 
experts got together to carry out a technical audit of 355 projects, 30 of 
which were subject to an in-depth audit. 
The annual monitoring report stressed the improvements in the efficiency 
and transparency of programme management during 1997, the consistency 
of project selection with the initial objectives and the work programme, 
the relevance of dissemination activities, and the consideration given to 
output indicators that are appropriate for individual sectors. Examples of results 
100 000 severely 
mobility-impaired 
Europeans will get a 
better quality of life and 
get more independence 
through development by 
the Focus project of a 
standardised way to 
equip wheelchairs with 
different assistive 
devices. The TESTLAB 
project, which provides 
access for blind and 
visually-impaired readers 
to library catalogues and 
to documents, 
demonstrated its services 
at 25 test sites in 1997. 
The monitoring of air 
quality is essential for 
human health and well-
being. An efficient 
telematic environment 
management system has 
been developed by the 
EMMA project to provide 
24/48-hour air pollution 
forecasts so that traffic 
restrictions or other 
measures can be taken to 
reduce risks. 
22 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
The programme covers the whole range of RTD activities from applied 
research to real-site demonstration. By developing systems components 
and specific services, and integrating them into generic platforms, this 
programme helps to satisfy society's needs in areas of general interest, 
contributes to the competitiveness of the industries and services 
concerned, and helps to implement other relevant European Union 
policies. In 1997 projects selected from the first two calls entered into 
their demonstration phase which will give preliminary indications on the 
tangible impact of the results on significant socio-economic objectives 
such as employment, market stimulation or cohesion. 
Contribution to strengthening industry's S&T bases and developing 
European competitiveness 
The results of the projects take the form of prototypes of telematics 
systems and services, incorporating various equipment, algorithms and 
software tools, to provide potential users with innovative technical 
solutions meeting their needs and expectations. The programme reinforces 
the technological bases of the European industry (35% of the number of 
participants), thus enabling hardware, software and service companies to 
increase their competitiveness on the emerging applications and 
multimedia service markets. Increased structuring of the various user 
communities and quicker uptake of RTD results are dramatically 
enhanced through the involvement of the users in all phases of the project 
cycle. 
An important innovation in the programme in 1997 was the launch of 11 
large-scale demonstration projects for Integrated Applications for Digital 
Sites. These projects will design, implement, test and evaluate cooperative 
digital platforms in order to support and further deploy a wide range of 
multi-language and cross-sectoral services. The projects aim at providing 
one-point access to a wide range of public and private services and 
thereby boost the industry's ability to provide relevant services for the 
information society of the 21st century. 
Contribution to other Community policies 
In 1997, most projects in the Telematics Applications Programme went 
into their demonstration phases on real sites with large numbers of users. 
The projects will thus have a direct influence on the shaping of the 
information society and the optimisation of the European model of 
society. 
The joint call for educational multimedia directly supports the educational 
policies of the Community as described in the White Paper on Education, 
by developing multimedia services providing equal access to high quality 
education regardless of where the pupils are living. In addition, the 
projects in the Libraries sector provide new ways of opening up access to 
the vast stores of knowledge traditionally held in libraries, museums and 
galleries. 
Employment policies are supported by the combined projects' efforts, as 
new services are being developed to prototype stage, and new 
23 A prototype of a "safe" 
car which can monitor 
the state of the driver and 
take corrective action if 
necessary has been 
developed by the SAVE 
project. This has the 
potential to reduce the 
number of road accidents 
by up to 30%. More 
accident victims are 
going to be saved 
following the 
development by the 
HECTOR project of a 
telematic communication 
system linking the 
accident site via an 
ambulance directly to the 
intensive care units, so 
that first aid can be 
guided directly by the 
expert consultants. 
The police forces and 
emergency services all 
over Europe can now 
more efficiently combat 
cross-border crime and 
fraud through a multi­
lingual communication 
system developed by the 
LlNGUANET project 
which provides simple 
forms of translation 
where appropriate. Many 
instances of practical 
results are reported such 
as recovery of stolen 
vehicles, foiling of 
abductions and drugs 
related interceptions. 
employment possibilities are being created. Employment policies are being 
supported directly by projects in the Administrations and Education & 
Training sectors which support teleworking and better information to the 
unemployed and to employers. 
The projects in the Health and Disabled and Ageing sectors are directly 
contributing to policies concerning the quality of life for citizens. Projects 
are now demonstrating applications which will give a better quality of life 
for people living in remote areas, by providing access to distance 
diagnostic services; development of smart cards for health records will 
make travelling safer and easier for citizens. 
In the Transport sector, the projects concern all modes of transport (road, 
rail, air, waterborne and multimodal) and have begun to demonstrate the 
potential of telematics applications to improve deteriorating transport 
conditions by increasing network efficiency, enhancing traveller safety and 
reducing environmental impacts. Policies towards a better environment 
are supported by the applications developed in the Environment sector for 
better monitoring of the environment, and pollution forecasts, be it in air, 
water or soil. 
The barriers between people speaking different languages or those 
between man and machine are being progressively overcome thanks to 
Language Engineering and Information Engineering. Activities in these 
fields provide systems that can be applied in a broad range of business and 
societal applications for addressing complex issues such as multi-lingual 
software and service interfaces, human-computer interaction, technology 
mediated inter-personal communication, ease of access, usability and 
multimedia information content. 
Work programme for 1998 
In 1998 the programme's activities will be strongly directed towards 
dissemination and uptake of the results of the projects. A first effort in this 
direction will be a major conference and exhibition in February in 
Barcelona promoting the first results of the projects and highlighting their 
contribution to the information society. This will be followed by sector-
specific conferences in the year and a set of publications and dissemination 
of results on the WWW promoting the results of the programme. A very flexible and 
powerful platform 
developed by the 
COOPWWW project has 
been adopted as their 
infrastructure for 
cooperative group 
working by an increasing 
number of European 
research projects and by 
prestigious Europe-wide 
users such as regional 
development and 
employment policy­
makers. A collection of 
interoperable tools and 
services has been 
assembled and integrated 
with an upgraded version 
of the so-called BSCW 
kernel which has already 
been installed in over 200 
Web sites around the 
world. 
24 
2. ADVANCED COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGIES AND SERVICES (ACTS) 
Activities in 1997 
The ACTS programme is now fully implemented. As a result of the third 
and last call for proposals of 1997, the decision has been taken to support 
a further 89 projects which reinforces work in key strategic areas, such as 
high-speed Internet services, advanced optical communications and 
'agent' technology developments which will make it easier to find 
information. 
Interoperation and standardisation have always been strong themes within 
EU communications RTD. In 1997, the consolidation of cooperation on 
development of common guidelines for advanced infrastructure and 
service deployment further strengthened Europe's lead in key areas. Work 
in the ACTS programme also supported wider consensus development in 
the areas of electronic commerce, multi-media access to cultural heritage, 
and new working methods. 
The critical review of each project in an annual technical audit has also 
again proved a valuable way of allowing projects to re-orient work in a 
rapidly changing technical and regulatory environment, as well as of 
ensuring a high level of European 'added value' for public investment. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
Strengthening Europe's science and technology base 
As a result of a decade of cooperation in technology developments, in 
conjunction with agreements on common specifications and standards, 
European industry has a strong base and leads world developments in a 
number of key areas. All the major European telecommunications 
network operators, the equipment manufacturers, the leading broadcasters 
and cable TV operators collaborate in the ACTS programme. In 1997, 
their joint work involved over a thousand other companies and 
universities, and attracted partnerships with organisations in 23 other 
countries outside the EU. 
Development of European competitiveness 
In 1997, the first evaluation of benefit from participation in the ACTS 
programme showed that more than half of the projects have already 
improved the world competitive position of the partners. Participation in 
the EU RTD is also seen to contribute to faster product and service 
development (over 400 new systems and components are now emerging), 
reduced investment risks, and more focused business strategies. Over 
1300 technical papers have already been published, over 345 contributions 
have been made to standardisation bodies, and over 40 new patents have 
been registered. 
A major achievement of ACTS cooperation has already been realised with 
the unanimous industrial agreement on specifications for the next 
generation of multi-media mobile communications: the UMTS system. 
This agreement arose from the long and careful analyses in RACE and 
ACTS projects, and will give European industries a head start in product 
25 Examples of results 
Advanced optical multi-
wavelength 
communication networks 
will provide the 
infrastructure for the 
explosive growth in 
Internet services and data 
communications. 
The agreement on 
common specifications 
for the Universal Mobile 
Telecommunications 
System (UMTS) will 
enable rapid and coherent 
market development in 
Europe and elsewhere. 
and service developments, and European citizens the confidence in 
transborder use and the longer-term value of new investments. 
Similarly important achievements have also been reached in common 
digital video/TV standards and in image coding - also now widely used on 
the Internet. 
Stimulation of growth and employment 
The telecommunications and broadcasting sectors continued to grow at 
over 8% per year in 1997, well above the level in the economy as a whole. 
In addition, wider use of new communications systems contributes to 
growth and employment in the economy as a whole. ACTS RTD 
contributes directly to new forms of secure electronic commerce and to 
widening employment opportunities by allowing new ways to work, 
particularly various forms of teleworking. These developments are now at 
the centre of European and national strategies for employment and small 
business innovation. Digital television and 
Internet video services 
will open up new 
opportunities for 
European creativity, with 
a single set of technical 
standards underpinning 
rapid market deployment. 
The link between sustainable growth and the emergence of an 
information society was strengthened in 1997 through initiatives in the 
Information Society Forum and the ACTS programme. A group of 16 
projects have combined their efforts to promote the use of new 
communications systems for sustainability through common guidelines. 
In the area of electronic commerce, the common guidelines for 
interoperability and consumer protection published in 1998 build directly 
on cooperation within the ACTS programme framework. This agreement 
will further strengthen the single market and will stimulate faster take-up 
of new business practices by SMEs, with consequential benefits for 
employment. 
Work programme for 1998 
A major technical audit of all ACTS projects has already been carried out 
in late January 1998. This clears the way for both re-orientation of some 
work and for launching the new projects selected following the call for 
proposals in 1997. Commitments of budget resources will therefore be 
completed by mid-'98, and the focus of effort will then be on maximising 
benefits of the results, and in ensuring a smooth transition to the 
information society part of the Fifth Framework Programme. 
Cooperation with organisations in Central and Eastern Europe will be 
substantially strengthened with the new projects in 1998. In addition, 
science and technology agreements with Israel and the USA will underpin 
growing cooperation with major companies in these countries. New ways to work and 
electronic commerce 
offer new opportunities 
for millions of Europeans 
and small businesses. 
Over 500 major trials are 
being supported through 
ACTS projects in 1998. 
26 
3. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES (ESPRIT) 
ESPRIT fostered progress on two fronts - RTD and use of information 
technologies (IT) - and continued to contribute towards making all 
European industry more competitive. The accent was placed on involving 
users and suppliers at an early stage, while the choice of activities was 
dictated by the prospects for industrial application. Accompanying 
measures are an integral part of the RTD projects, the principal objective 
being to promote the take-up of IT in a wide variety of sectors. 
Activities in 1997 
Three new calls for proposals were published, based on a work 
programme updated annually with the twin objectives of taking account of 
the latest data on technological and industrial changes and of introducing 
a new thematic approach. This provides a means of overcoming the 
degree of fragmentation caused by a field-by-field approach and of 
focusing on finding answers to key issues such as electronic commerce, 
mobility, access to information and interfaces, apprenticeship and training 
in industry. Joint calls for proposals were also published, in conjunction 
with the industrial and materials technologies programme: one on 
intelligent manufacturing systems (an area also covered by international 
cooperation), the other on aeronautics. Finally, the ACTS and ESPRIT 
calls for proposals each allocated ECU 10 million to subjects related to 
satellite communications. These activities and the follow-up work on 
subjects such as intellectual property rights (IPR) and the Web ensured 
close coordination between the programmes concerned. 
Estimates put the proportion of new participants at around 30%. For the 
programme as a whole, the success rate over the period 1994 to 1997 for 
all procedures combined was around 20%. 
SMEs (around 85% of them employing fewer than 100 staff) are involved 
in 75% of the projects. They receive 25% of the total funding and 
represent 34% of all participations. Big companies receive 41% and make 
up 28% of the participations. Partnerships between small firms (suppliers) 
and big companies (users) are common. The number of exploratory 
awards is also increasing gradually and totalled 85 by the end of 1997. 
At the end of 1997 some 2% of the ESPRIT projects involved an 
organisation from a non-EU country. Nine of the twelve projects started 
on intelligent manufacturing systems included an EU organisation. Finally, 
53 new INCO projects on IT started in 1997, of which 33 were with 
Central and Eastern European countries and the New Independent States 
and 12 with Mediterranean countries. 
The PROSOMA multimedia database supplements the sectoral 
dissemination and information activities. It contains the results of 280 
ESPRIT projects but more are being added constantly and it should fill up 
considerably in the course of 1998. It is accessible on-line 
(http://www.cordis.lu/esprit/home.html). CD-ROMs are released regularly 
and publications are distributed at events such as the annual conference 
(EITC-97). Examples of results 
Electricity consumption by 
the key components of 
portable telephones has 
been reduced to one-fifth. 
Use of a multi-chip 
module, in turn, has 
allowed further big 
reductions in weight, size 
and thickness. 
Technological 
breakthroughs on large 
dimensions and high 
brightness have been 
achieved for flat active 
liquid crystal matrix 
displays and will be 
applied in television for 
professional use and the 
general public, for both 
front and rear projection. 
Considerable progress has 
been made with electronic 
signatures, confidentiality 
systems and cryptography. 
This greater security is the 
key to the success of 
electronic commerce. The 
results obtained from 
several projects are now 
being marketed in the 
USA, amongst other 
places. 
27 
The principal recommendations made in the five-yearly evaluation of the 
programme and during the annual monitoring are to bring together the 
ITC programmes in a single programme, to speed up the time to market 
the results, for example by shortening the projects from an average of 25 
months today to 18 months, to fund projects by infant companies, to 
develop a common view of RTD and market trends and, finally, to 
simplify and speed up the administrative procedures and make them more 
flexible. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
Strengthening Europe's science and technology base and industrial 
competitiveness 
ESPRIT provides companies in Europe with the means to acquire the 
technological know-how essential in order to achieve the highest 
competitiveness, with the aid of cooperation between some 4 210 
companies and 2 200 research centres and university teams. It supports 
important RTD activities in essential fields such as technologies for 
components and subsystems, software technologies, high-performance 
computing, on-board systems, multi-site and network applications, 
technologies for business processes and electronic commerce, multimedia 
systems, microprocessors, integration in manufacturing and long-term 
research. 
ESPRIT is open to all industries. Users account for around 60% of the 
industrial participation, a sure sign that the programme is spreading 
throughout the economic fabric. By way of example, microelectronic 
components and microprocessors now account for 20% of the value of 
electronic systems - a world market which will be worth an estimated 
US$ 1 160 billion by the year 2000. In many sectors it is vital for 
undertakings to have the capacity to incorporate the know-how specific to 
their products in silicon-based components combining hardware and 
software functions. ESPRIT can also have a strong potential impact on 
industrial competitiveness and employment. One study showed that 80% 
of the 400 projects analysed ended in industrial application within five 
years of completion. Another on a limited but representative sample of 
projects on high-performance computing (HPCN) showed a ratio of over 
8 between direct effects and Community funding and of over 2.4 for the 
indirect effects. It is widely recognised that ESPRIT plays a decisive role 
in progress in all IT in Europe. 
By encouraging first experimental use of microelectronics (FUSE), best 
software practice (ESSI), integration in manufacturing (IiM) and, more 
generally, take-up of IT in all the fields covered, ESPRIT provides firms 
from all sectors, particularly SMEs, with tangible means of increasing 
their industrial competitiveness. High-performance 
computing has 
substantially improved the 
efficiency of on-line visual 
inspection systems, for 
example in the steel or 
textiles industry, and for 
sorting and routing mail. 
Germany's young 
entrepreneurs' prize went 
to a participant in ESPRIT 
for an automated system 
for sorting coffee beans 
and other fruit, which is 
now exported to several 
countries. 
A post-production 
multimedia system for 
conversion of all recording 
formats was launched on the 
market in March 1998. It 
seems to be in a class of its 
own at the moment. It has 
won several international 
prizes already. 
An intelligent robot system 
for automatic paving and 
brick-laying is being used at 
various sites in Europe, 
where it has brought 
considerable productivity 
and quality gains. 
28 
Contribution to other Community policies 
ESPRIT contributes to completion of the single market on several fronts: 
with regard to general intellectual property and copyright issues, the 
specific nature of software and IT issues has been taken into account 
effectively and transparently. Looking ahead to the year 2000, a recent 
communication discussed smooth operation of transfrontier infrastructure, 
particularly for telecommunications, transport, energy and financial 
services. As for conversion to the euro, procedures have been established 
to identify common problems and to provide a channel for exchanging 
information on best practice. 
ESPRIT has helped to increase cohesion, thanks to 521 participations by 
organisations from objective 1 regions between 1995 and 1997, giving 
them access to over half the work carried out under this programme. 
ESPRIT not only organises numerous advanced training schemes on 
essential subjects ranging from microelectronics to software technologies 
but also helps to ensure wider Internet use in schools, for example in the 
form of "Netd@ys". It is supporting the establishment of a European 
network for schools (Schoolnet) and the rural world and a pilot project on 
an IT knowledge passport aiming at a target population of 100 000 
persons from 13 countries and extending to Eastern European countries. 
Several other ESPRIT projects are focusing on various environmental 
applications of IT: for effective crisis management (for fires, floods, etc.), 
appropriate treatment of water in the event of accidents causing pollution, 
various issues relating to energy saving, pollution control, etc. 
Finally, ESPRIT plays a role in humanitarian action, by allocating around 
ECU 15 million to the development of effective methods for detecting 
anti-personnel mines. 
Work programme for 1998 
The 11th and final call for proposals was published in March 1998. It 
covers three areas in the programme (TCS, HPCN and IiM) and has a 
budget of ECU 32.4 million. The annual conference/exhibition on the 
programme will be extended to the other ICT programmes and will be 
held outside Brussels for the first time - in Vienna from 30 November to 
2 December 1998 under the title "1ST '98 Vienna". As in 1997, it will be 
transmitted to several countries by satellite and will provide a setting for 
special events such as the Investment Forum and the presentation of the 
ITEA prizes. A large proportion of the activities in 1998 will be devoted 
to preparing the information society programme under the Fifth 
Framework Programme. A rethink of the chain 
between fishermen, 
wholesalers and retailers has 
led to the development of an 
electronic system, using IT 
and satellite 
communications, for selling 
catches from the fishing 
boat, revolutionising fishing 
and distribution conditions. 
The same system can be 
applied to other activities. 
The TEN 34 project (in 
collaboration with the 
Telematics and ACTS 
programmes) has 
established 34 Mbyte 
interconnections between 
the national research 
networks for researchers 
from all disciplines. 
Upgrades to 155 Mbytes 
are now being studied. 
Automatic lip-reading, 
combined with voice 
recognition, has resulted in 
commercial applications for 
dubbing of actors and 
teaching foreign languages. 
29 
INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES 
4. INDUSTRIAL AND MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES (IMT) 
Activities in 1997 
The main activity in 1997 was implementation and management of the 
calls for proposals for RTD projects, of the thematic networks and of the 
CRAFT projects and negotiation of the projects recommended for 
Community funding. The number of proposals received in 1997 was up on 
the previous year to 11*40 RTD projects, 156 thematic networks and 840 
CRAFT projects (both types). The percentage accepted by the evaluators 
was also up to around 37%, 55% and 60%, with funding totalling around 
ECU 702 million, ECU 54 million and ECU 74.6 million respectively. 
The efforts to stimulate basic research bore fruit and attracted an adequate 
response in terms of numbers and quality of proposals, easily attaining the 
target set (10% of the budget). A major milestone was also passed, with 
more than half the existing thematic networks set up in the course of 1997 
alone. 
The schemes started in 1996 to encourage SMEs to participate in 
CRAFT-type projects produced promising results, with the number of 
proposals up by 60% compared with 1996, the proportion rejected as 
ineligible down to under 15% and a selection rate of over 60%. These 
schemes continued in 1997. 
ECU 11 million was committed to preparatory, accompanying and 
support measures, particularly conferences, training grants, support for 
SMEs and workshops and studies in preparation for the Fifth Framework 
Programme. The seventh conference on industrial technologies was held 
in Toulouse, where the central theme was European research at the 
service of citizens, focusing on three areas of industrial research with an 
impact on everyday life: the urban environment, the factory of the future 
and aeronautics - three topics at the heart of the Fifth Framework 
Programme. 
In its 1997 report the monitoring panel found that the quality indicators 
used by the programme were an extremely useful tool for monitoring the 
performance and impact of projects. As regards take-up of results, the 
panel recommended placing greater emphasis on quantified application 
plans and economic forecasts during the research phase. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
Objectives such as industrial competitiveness, economic growth, quality 
of life, environmental protection and industrial safety are an integral part 
of the programme. The multidisciplinary projects are carried out by 
partnerships bringing together suppliers, manufacturers, universities and 
users, thereby ensuring application of the results in as many industries and 
countries as possible. Examples of results 
Safety of high-speed 
trains is a constant 
concern. A partnership of 
rolling stock 
manufacturers, research 
centres and railway 
operators from four EU 
countries has designed a 
new type of wagon with 
low distortion of the 
passenger compartments. 
A new European safety 
standard was proposed. 
An original application of 
laser beams provides a 
means of cleaning every 
nook and cranny of 
ancient monuments or 
other buildings. The laser 
beam, guided by optical 
fibres and set to the 
appropriate intensity, is 
capable of hitting precise 
small target zones and 
cleaning highly irregular 
surfaces. This innovation 
is fully compatible with 
the material cleaned and 
the environment and 
offers safer working 
conditions as well. 
30 
The 1997 evaluation of recently completed projects found that over 
three-quarters of the participants had fully attained their objectives in 
terms of strengthening industry's S&T base and that two-thirds 
considered the results of their projects ahead of the state of the art, in that 
they combined new scientific knowledge with technological 
developments. 
The same study demonstrated that the majority of the projects had an 
economic impact and* made the undertakings more competitive. In 
particular, almost half generate potential economic activity worth over 
ECU 5 million within five years of completion. To be more precise, this 
adds up to a total economic gain of over ECU 11 billion from all the 
industrial research projects selected during the current programme in 
return for Community funding totalling ECU 1.3 billion. 
Almost two-thirds of the projects analysed in 1997 produced results likely 
to bring environmental benefits: energy savings, lower discharges of 
hazardous products, smaller amounts of materials used, etc. They also 
brought spin-offs for health and working conditions in areas such as user 
safety, quality of the working environment and use of less hazardous 
products. 
The recent analysis of the projects completed showed that 36% offered 
potential for direct job creation by the partners responsible for application 
of the results. Only 10% could have adverse effects in this area. In all, by 
the end of the programme almost 500 industrial entities will be applying 
an implementation plan generating direct employment. 
The projects in the IMT programme, some of them with budgets of over 
ECU 10 million, seek to attain the critical mass necessary in order to 
tackle strategic technologies (see boxes for examples) and to produce 
practical results, particularly in fields requiring highly intensive research. 
For example, the economic importance of the boom in air traffic forecast 
during the next ten years has unleashed fierce competition between 
European and US manufacturers. Technological progress is a key factor 
in this competition. 
In 1997, the IMT programme granted 30 research projects in strategic 
fields for the European aviation industry Community support totalling 
ECU 85 million. Half focused exclusively on technologies relating to 
aircraft efficiency, one particularly competitive field of research. The vast 
majority of the European industrialists concerned are involved. Their own 
resources and the national funding for RTD in the aviation sector would 
not be enough for them to see this research through on their own. A joint project between 
the chemical and tanning 
industries has produced a 
new clean process for 
treating pelts producing 
high-quality leather while 
at the same time cutting 
production costs. This 
project enables the 
industry to adapt to the 
increasingly severe 
Community rules on 
environmental protection 
while remaining 
competitive. 
Nickel, particularly in 
jewellery and bracelets, is 
a prime cause of allergic 
reactions. In one CRAFT 
project, 15 jewellers and 
6 research bodies have 
developed a technology 
to limit the adverse 
effects of nickel and new 
alloys causing no allergy 
to replace it. This keeps 
these firms' activities in 
tune with public demand 
for healthier products. 
31 
This example vividly illustrates the European added value which the 
programme can generate, particularly in fields of strategic importance for 
the EU economy. 
Work programme for 1998 
The evaluation process will concentrate on: 
• the two joint calls for proposals published on 31 October 1997, one 
on water together with the Environment and Climate Programme, the 
other on concurrent engineering in aeronautics, together with the 
Information Technologies Programme; 
• the call for proposals published on 15 April 1997, in conjunction with 
the Information Technologies Programme, under the Agreement on 
international cooperation in research and development in the domain of 
intelligent manufacturing systems, as approved by the Council on 27 
January 1997; 
• technological stimulation in favour of SMEs (CRAFT), thematic 
networks and accompanying measures: the closing date for this call for 
proposals is 20 May 1998. 
Scientific monitoring of progress on the 823 RTD projects selected since 
1995 will, of course, continue to be one of the main activities in 1998. 
Preparation of activities under the Fifth Framework Programme will be 
another essential task. As last year, workshops and studies will be 
organised to contribute towards the preparations for the thematic 
programme on "Competitive and sustainable growth" under the next 
Framework Programme. Some industrial 
processes are at the 
mercy of fluctuating raw 
material quality, yet the 
quality of the end 
product must remain the 
same. One project used 
artificial intelligence in 
timber and pulp 
production to predict the 
quality of the end 
product from data on the 
raw material and on 
progress with the 
production process. 
Industrial users' energy, 
water and starch 
consumption and the 
volume of waste 
generated have plunged 
as a result. 
A new industrial process has sharply cut the cost of the chemicals used for recycling aluminium. The 
technology has been tested and should bring considerable economic benefits in the years ahead. The 
partners on this project are about to obtain a European patent. 
32 
5. MEASUREMENT AND TESTING 
Activities in 1997 Examples of results 
In 1997 over 300 proposals were evaluated, the majority on theme I in the 
programme - "measurements for quality European products" - and the 
targeted calls to support Community policies and European 
standardisation. A total of 145 projects received Commission funding 
totalling ECU 37 million in 1997. 
The procedure was completed for the following calls for proposals: 
RTD projects: 
Under the second call for theme I in the programme, 104 proposals were 
evaluated, 47 of which were selected. So far 39 projects have received a 
Community contribution totalling ECU 22 million. In response to the 
fourth and fifth targeted calls, 62 proposals were received, 34 of which 
were selected. The Commission granted a total of ECU 8 million to 
20 projects. Overall, at least one third of the partners in all these projects 
are from industry (50% SMEs). 
Technology stimulation for SMEs/CRAFT: 
There was a marked increase in the response from SMEs in 1997, with 
over twice as many proposals evaluated - 86 compared with 41 in 1996. 
The Commission granted 35 projects a total of over ECU 2 million. 
Thematic networks and accompanying measures: 
Under the continuously open call for proposals, funding totalling 
ECU 2 million was granted to 17 new networks and 34 accompanying 
measures received support totalling over ECU 2 million. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
The programme has contributed to several major Community policy 
objectives. The research supported by the programme has a strong impact 
on industry, trade and society in general and the results are a prime means 
of protecting consumers, health, public safety and the environment, as 
illustrated by the examples described in the boxes and below. 
Out of concern to improve the quality of suncreams on the world market, 
the European cosmetics industry has proposed a work programme to 
verify their efficacy against harmful ultraviolet radiation. The 
telecommunications industry in turn needs precise evaluation of the 
electromagnetic radiation emitted by portable telephones in order to 
define conditions ensuring greater reliability for users. These measures 
will make European industry more competitive by putting on the world 
market products inspected and labelled in accordance with recognised 
scientific methods. Turning to the measures to support standardisation, 
the results of a method for testing the performance of liquid solvents less 
harmful to the ozone layer, together with the establishment of the 
European network of police science laboratories, will incontestably 
generate Community added value, since all these measures concern key 
sectors for the European Union. Acoustical thermometry. 
measurement of 
temperatures from 1000°C 
to 1500°C. This 
thermometer uses ceramics 
capable of withstanding 
high temperatures. It 
provides a means of 
calibrating other 
thermometers. Lively 
interest has been shown in 
this innovation in the USA, 
where there is nothing of 
the kind on the market. 
Work is under way to 
extend the range of the 
thermometer beyond 
2000°C. At the same time 
this instrument is allowing 
decisive progress in 
manufacturing processes 
for ceramics (estimated 
market: ECU 5 million per 
year). 
Measurement of 
carcinogenic polycyclic 
hydrocarbons in table oils 
calls for highly 
sophisticated methods of 
analysis, for which it is 
essential to develop 
reference materials in 
order to verify the validity 
of the measurements. One 
project has allowed 
certification of the first 
two materials in this field. 
Some 2000 inspection 
laboratories are potential 
users of these materials 
(estimated market: 
ECU 2 million per year). 
33 
The Commission further underlined the advantages of standardisation in a 
communication entitled "Research and standardisation" drafted in 1997 
and adopted by the Commission on 27 January 1998 (COM(98) 31). The 
objective is to give greater consideration to the prenormative dimension at 
an early enough stage in the research and innovation programmes under 
the Fifth Framework Programme in order to make European industry 
more competitive and improve the quality of products and services to the 
benefit of consumers and citizens. 
Work programme for 1998 
The priority will be to make a start on the projects selected following the 
1997 calls for proposals with a view to building up Europe's metrology 
infrastructure, primarily in the fields of chemistry and biology, and 
defining the measurements and tests which customs laboratories require 
for monitoring trade in goods, for confirming the origin of products and 
for cultural heritage and forensic medicine purposes. 
Finally, to mark the 25th anniversary of the Community Bureau of 
References (BCR), a conference on measurements for tomorrow bringing 
together the leading players in the field of metrology from Europe and the 
rest of the world is planned in Brussels in November 1998. 
Commitment appropriations totalling ECU 43 million are available in 
1998, inter alia for funding the projects selected in response to the 1997 
calls for proposals and the sixth targeted call. ECU 9 million is earmarked 
for cooperative research projects (CRAFT), ECU 3 million for the final 
package of thematic networks and ECU 2 million for accompanying 
measures. Detection of steaming-up 
of goggles: The principal 
cause of eye injuries due 
to industrial accidents is 
the removal of goggles 
during dangerous work 
because they have 
steamed up on the inside. 
This project has 
developed a mini-camera 
capable of detecting the 
environmental conditions 
leading to steaming up. 
This method will 
supplement 
Directive 89/686/EEC 
relating to personal 
protective equipment. 
The project will help to 
reduce the number of 
accidents, which cost an 
estimated 
ECU 220 million every 
year. 
New collector for measuring low gas flows 
The margin of error in air pollution analyses is 25%, mainly due to unreliability on the part of the 
flowmeters. The Milogas project has developed a new instrument using a silicon collector 
manufactured with the aid of micromechanics. The principal applications are in medicine, air 
pollution analyses, mining, etc. The estimated market will be 10 000 instruments over the next 3 
years at a unit cost of ECU 200. The research and production costs will total ECU 1 million. 
34 
ENVIRONMENT 
6. ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE 
Activities in 1997 Examples of results 
Main programme implementation activities in 1997 related to the launch 
and evaluation of the final calls for proposals for the second phase of the 
programme (1997-1998). The second main call for proposals covering 
most areas of the programme, together with the call, for the relaunch of 
the ENRICH initiative (European Network for Research in Global 
Change) ultimately led to the selection of 306 high quality proposals, 
involving an EU contribution of ECU 205 million, for funding in 1997 and 
the early part of 1998. However, there was a disappointing outcome in 
the number and quality of proposals submitted for the potential 
operational instruments theme of the space techniques area and ENRICH. 
Consequently, calls for these activities were reopened in the second half 
of 1997 and associated awareness campaigns succeeded in producing 
better quality proposals. A call for the Centre for Earth Observation 
(CEO) was also launched in the middle of 1997. These further space calls 
led to 32 RTD projects for an EU contribution of ECU 32 million being 
selected for funding in 1998 for CEO activities and pre-development of 
new space sensors in various domains such as forest fire or vegetation 
monitoring. 
Core horizontal and support activities have continued to provide the vital 
underpinning for implementing the strategic objectives of the programme. 
The concerted campaign undertaken by the Commission services, with the 
assistance of national focal points, to make SMEs aware of the 
opportunities to participate in RTD at EU level has now started to 
produce significant, increased responses: as many exploratory and 
CRAFT awards were granted in 1997 under the technology stimulation 
measures as in the whole of the first phase of the programme (46 
exploratory awards and 11 CRAFT awards have now been made 
available). Improving the human research potential, particularly through 
assuring an appropriately qualified environmental scientific community, 
has continued to be a focus of the programme, with financial support 
being provided in 1997 for a further 37 training grants (72 so far under 
the programme), 13 advanced study courses (22 in total under the 
programme) and a significant number of workshops, seminars and 
conferences organised or sponsored under the programme. 
Introduced in 1997 were a new evaluation manual (made available in 
advance to proposers and aiming at greater transparency and objectivity), 
a pre-checking service for potential proposers, as well as the scrutiny by 
independent observers of the new evaluation procedures. The observers 
have been broadly supportive and positive towards the new evaluation 
manual, the process and its implementation. 
Over 80% of all A-rated proposals and one out of every two high quality 
proposals (A and B-rated) have been funded since the programme started 
- overall 684 RTD projects and concerted actions have to date been 
evaluated positively for funding under the programme. But a specific The PROVOST project 
forecasts global rainfall 
probability. The partners 
have been remarkably 
successful in producing 
six-month forecasts of El 
Nino and associated 
global impacts (e.g. dry 
and wet conditions). 
In May, the first scientific 
conference of ELOISE 
(European Land Ocean 
Interaction Studies) 
assembled 150 scientists 
from 15 projects. IGBP 
- LOICZ is recognising 
ELOISE as the ÈU 
contribution to global 
change research in the 
coastal zone. 
The first "European 
Conference on research 
for the protection of 
cultural heritage: 
Opportunities for 
European Enterprises" 
(Rome, December 1997), 
consolidated the 
European networks 
established under EU 
projects and contributed 
to reinforcing SME 
competitiveness in this 
area. 
35 
problem relates to ensuring that only good proposals addressing the 
targets and objectives of calls are submitted. Despite the detailed 
evaluation criteria set out in the new evaluation manual, the pre-checking 
offered by the Commission services, and encouraging potential proposers 
to auto-evaluate their proposals before* submission, more than half of the 
proposals evaluated in 1997 did not pass the threshold for scientific and 
technical quality and project management. Considerable resources are 
devoted to proposal preparation and evaluation, and all involved in RTD, 
including European and national focal points, networks disseminating 
information on the programme and Member States, must discourage 
submission of lower quality proposals. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
Contribution to the reinforcement of the S&T bases in industry and of 
competitiveness: many of the outputs of the programme have significant 
potential for subsequent application and development for global 
exploitation, especially in relation to environmental technologies and 
sustainable development. Pockets of high industrial participation are 
found in the areas perceived to be of more direct relevance to industry, 
such as environmental technologies and space where two-thirds of the 
projects selected for funding to date involve one industrialist or more, 
including one SME or more in about 44% of the projects. Almost a 
quarter of all the participants funded in these areas involve industrialists 
(13% SMEs). 
Contribution to other Community policies: ongoing activities under the 
programme and the organisation of a series of seminars provided key 
inputs to the Kyoto negotiations on the UN Convention on Climate 
Change and will continue to be a major basis in the preparation for the 
follow-up Buenos Aires conference, particularly on the tradable permits 
and "sinks" issues. The breadth of projects continues to provide the 
sound scientific basis needed for the development of environmental 
policies, the implementation of the Fifth Environmental Action 
Programme and the preparation of its follow-up. Work under the space 
techniques area of the programme will provide the platform in 1998 for 
identifying the information needs of the EU for future operational space 
missions, for the preparation of a Commission action plan for earth 
observation by satellite, and for developing a European policy (with 
Member States, ESA and EUMETSAT) and an integrated strategy 
(CEOS) for earth observation. 
Work programme for 1998 
The major activities in 1998 for the programme under the 4th Framework 
Programme will centre around the remaining open calls, in particular, 
relating to the supplementary funding of ECU 7 million decided by the 
Council and European Parliament on 1 December 1997 for activities 
relating to water, a further "tranche" for advanced study courses, the final 
selection round for the CRAFT awards for SMEs closing on 1 April 1998, 
and two further selection rounds for training grants. 
Attention will also be given to management issues which have arisen in 
the existing programme or highlighted by annual monitoring panels. Floods have increased in 
Europe. A major 
concerted action 
RIBAMOD has defined 
best practices for flood 
plain management 
For green accounting, an 
approach of an 
environmentally adjusted 
national product has 
been developed to orient 
statistical and empirical 
modelling for measuring 
future economic -
environmental 
performance. 
Satellite remote sensing 
is helping regional and 
national governments 
decide the limits of new 
nature reserves, and 
managers of established 
reserves to plan 
developments, by 
mapping land cover and 
monitoring the health of 
the vegetation in their 
areas. Europe is now 
placing itself as a major 
and highly experienced 
contender in projects of 
this kind throughout the 
world. 
36 
Further efforts will be made to ensure that research results are made 
available, quickly and in an understandable way, to potential users ranging 
from policy-makers to the business, industrial and scientific communities. 
The necessary instruments and tools will be developed for the smooth 
transition to the integrated and problem-solving approaches to be adopted 
for environmental activities proposed for the Fifth Framework 
Programme. 
Projects have shown how regulatory policies could 
be designed to promote cleaner technologies with 
both economic and environmental advantages over 
traditional strategies. They show how 
environmental sustainability objectives can be 
coupled with competitiveness. The VEGETATION 1 
space instrument in 
which the EU has 
invested ECU 50 million 
was launched on SPOT 
4 in March 1998 and the 
first data received from 
April 1998 onwards will 
be used for the benefit of 
EU policies. 
37 
7. MARINE SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES 
Activities in 1997 
• In response to the second general call for proposals (closing date. 
15 October 1996), work was started on an initial package of 34 RTD 
projects, 5 of them in research area A of the programme ("Marine 
science"). The largest project (OMEX-II, involving 33 laboratories 
from 10 European countries) is a multidisciplinary study into the 
margin between the continental shelf and the deep seas in the North-
East Atlantic (see box). Eight of the 11 projects in research area B 
("Strategic marine research") focus on management of coastal zones 
and studying typical physical phenomena there (sediment transport, 
wave patterns), while the other three are developing improved designs 
for various coastal protection structures (sea walls and breakwaters). 
Finally, area C ("Marine technology") was covered by 18 projects on 
such diverse subjects as communications and underwater acoustics, 
seafloor characteristics, measurement and sampling instrumentation 
(including a new core sampler for sediments), remotely operated 
underwater vehicles (ROVs) and also research to find bioindicators of 
the state of the marine environment. 
• On 17 June 1997 a call for proposals was published to supplement 
activities under the predictive oceanography programme. In 1998 
work will start on the projects selected. 
• Five projects were started as the MAST programme's contribution to 
the ENRICH network, run jointly with the Environment and Climate 
and INCO programmes. 
• Under this programme, 16 scholarships were granted and four 
advanced courses funded on ocean forecasting, the role of methane in 
the marine environment, the dynamics of the wave-breaking zone along 
rocky coasts, and living communities in the vicinity of deep-sea 
hydrothermal springs. 
• A major international conference on recent advances in océanographie 
research in the Mediterranean region was held in Rome from 17 to 19 
November. A special session entitled "From océanographie science to 
society" rnarked the start of a dialogue between naturalists and 
sociologists, two sides of a single system requiring a holistic approach. 
In January all the coordinators of the marine technology projects met in 
Aberdeen to discuss, with the Commission, scientific topics, project 
management and ways of improving dissemination of the results. The 
annual meeting on the ELOISE (European Land-Ocean Interaction 
Studies) programme was held in Arcachon in May. 
• The 1997 monitoring report made recommendations for measuring the 
long-term impact of the projects. It also advocates continuing the 
approaches made to SMEs and greater focusing of the advanced 
training. Examples of results 
The EN AM (European 
North Atlantic Margin) 
project combines the 
efforts of 14 research 
bodies acting with the 
agreement of a partnership 
of oil companies operating 
off Norway. It is focusing, 
in particular, on identifying 
areas of the continental 
slope posing a risk of 
instability and should help 
the offshore industry with 
siting of operations. 
The OMEX (Ocean 
Margin Exchange) project 
is studying and attempting 
to quantify exchanges of 
water and materials 
between the European 
continental shelf and the 
open seas of the North 
Atlantic. The CANIGO 
project in turn is looking 
into the region under the 
direct influence of the 
current from Gibraltar. A 
sound knowledge of these 
interactions and flows is 
necessary to evaluate the 
contribution made by the 
European margin and the 
Mediterrranean to the 
processes leading to global 
change. 
38 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
• Work on the four major regional projects (MATER for the 
Mediterranean, BASYS for the Baltic, OMEX for the North-East 
Atlantic and CANIGO for the Canary Islands-Azores-Gibraltar region) 
continued. Both BASYS and MATER cover geographical areas with 
fragile ecosystems under extremely heavy pressure from human 
activities. They are,therefore key projects for acquiring the scientific 
base for the Union's environment policy in the regions concerned. 
• All the projects in progress reflect the European dimension of RTD in 
various ways: scale (in the case of regional projects), geographical 
complementarity of sites studied, opportunity to set up networks of 
laboratories on-leading-edge subjects such as biodiversity and marine 
microbiology, the design of unmanned underwater vehicles and 
underwater laboratories, drilling techniques adapted to the increasing 
depth required for offshore oil exploration or, finally, marine 
biotechnologies. 
• Six of the projects completed in 1997 concerned physical 
oceanography (currents, transport of materials and C02 absorption) in 
the North Sea and North Atlantic and seven were on coastal zones 
(impact of storms, restoration of beaches, breakwater design, mapping 
of seabed). 
• The products emerging from this research in 1997 included several 
CD-ROMs containing data and final reports, a guide to electronic 
publication of project data and the development of a website on 
MAST. 
Work programme for 1998 
• Start of the second package of projects selected after the second 
general call for proposals. 
• Start of the projects selected following the 1997 calls for proposals on 
operational oceanography, supporting initiatives and ENRICH. 
• Funding of a new set of scholarships and advanced courses and aid for 
small firms (exploratory awards and CRAFT projects). 
• Drafting of work programmes on the key actions making up the marine 
sciences component of the Fifth Framework Programme. 
• Organisation of the third European Conference on Marine Sciences 
and Technologies (former "MAST Conference") in May 1998. The CHABADA (Changes 
of bacterial diversity and 
activity in eutrophied 
Mediterranean waters) 
project under the ELOISE 
programme on coastal 
ecosystems has 
demonstrated the adverse 
impact of pollutants on 
bacterial biodiversity and, 
hence, on the food chains 
in the seas concerned. 
The GEOSTAR 
(Geophysical and 
océanographie station for 
abyssal research) project 
aims at developing a 
prototype underwater 
observatory capable of 
long-term measurements 
of the principal 
geophysical and 
environmental parameters 
at depths of down to 
4000 metres. It is 
conceived as the first link 
in a monitoring network 
for, in particular, 
earthquake prediction. 
The BENGAL project recently discovered abrupt and totally unexpected major changes in the fauna 
almost 5000 metres down in the Atlantic. The next question is whether they were due to natural 
causes or human activity. 
39 
LIFE SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES 
8. BIOTECHNOLOGY 
Activities in 1997 
Objectives: 
In 1997 the specific programme on biotechnology continued to pursue its 
original objectives: to understand the mechanisms which make the living cell 
so productive and to generate the knowledge needed for industrial progress in 
the areas targeted for Community intervention. 
To concentrate on what distinguishes biotechnologies from other modern 
technologies, the programme focuses on the following research areas: the cell 
factory, genome analysis, plant and animal biotechnology, cell communication 
in neurosciences, immunology and generic vaccinology, structural biology, 
prenormative research, biodiversity and social acceptability, infrastructure and 
horizontal activities (demonstration activities; ethical, social and legal aspects; 
public perception; and socio-economic impact). 
RTD projects: 
Following the third call for proposals published on 15 June 1996, 
contracts were concluded to grant a total of ECU 113.5 million to 96 
projects (eight of them demonstration projects) covering ten areas, 
including somatic gene therapy, immunological substances, in-vitro 
pharmaco-toxicology or biotechnology for the environment. The 
demonstration projects concerned prototype vaccines against malaria or 
HIV inter alia. 
The fourth call for proposals issued on 17 June 1997 attracted 572 
proposals which were evaluated by independent experts in 
November 1997. They included 75 proposals for demonstration projects. 
Biodiversity, biosafety, generic vaccinology, neurosciences, animal 
models, sequencing and cell factories were amongst the subjects covered. 
A joint call for proposals on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies 
was launched on 29 April 1997, in conjunction with the two other life 
sciences programmes. From the 66 proposals evaluated in July 1997, a 
total of 22 proposals (seven of them on biotechnology) were selected 
under the three life sciences programmes and will receive a total of 
ECU 21.3 million. The biotechnology projects concern prion transmission 
and propagation, evaluation of the risk of transmission of bovine 
spongiform encephalopathy to man via contaminated food and the 
development of methods of diagnosis and of inactivation of the infectious 
agent causing transmissible spongiform encephalopathy in particular. 
Technology stimulation measures for SMEs 
In 1997, exploratory awards were granted to 35 proposals covering 
subjects such as somatic gene therapy to treat neurodegenerative diseases Examples of results 
1997 marked the end of 
the project on sequencing 
of the Bacillus subtilis 
genome. The decoding of 
the 4000 or so genes of 
this bacterium opens the 
way for numerous 
applications in the agri-
food, pharmaceutical and 
detergents industries. 
The COLDZYME project to 
explore the properties of 
microbes living in 
extremely cold 
environments has 
discovered and patented 
an enzyme active at low 
temperatures. This 
provides a means of 
cutting energy costs for 
processes in the food or 
pharmaceutical industries. 
One practical example 
would be a washing 
powder effective in the 
cold. 
40 
(Alzheimer's, Parkinson's or Huntington's diseases) or the synthesis of 
peptides for use as new immunosuppressive agents. The third and fourth 
calls for proposals in turn reflected the growing interest shown in 
biotechnologies by SMEs (which accounted for 40% of the proposers). 
Research training grants 
In 1997 a total of 133 research training grants were awarded. In addition, in 
April 1997 the biotechnology programme paid for 100 of these grantholders 
to participate in a meeting with representatives of the European industry to 
present the opportunities offered by the biotechnology sector in Europe. 
Other accompanying measures 
A workshop on the spirit of enterprise in biotechnology was organised 
under the biotechnology programme in June 1997. It brought together 
100 or so participants from the world of academic research, the 
biotechnology industry, risk capital providers, business start-up agencies 
or science parks in Europe to address questions such as: Which sectors of 
biotechnology research are the most conducive to business start-ups? 
Which measures must be taken iu encourage the spirit of enterprise? 
Which type of project is best suited to business start-ups? What can be 
done to improve interactions between the leading players in the 
development of biotechnology firms? 
Following a call for proposals for training grants for practical courses in the 
field of biotechnology, published on 17 December 1996, one grant was 
awarded in 1997. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
Biotechnology opens up numerous opportunities to improve the quality of 
life in sectors such as health care, chemical manufacture, agriculture and 
the environment. In the case of the environment, the knowledge acquired 
in fields such as microbial diversity or biosafety helps to answer the 
relevant ecological issues. One of the principal areas of activity is 
bioremediation of polluted compounds in the environment using 
genetically modified organisms. 
Finally, the increase in industry's response to the third call (77%) indicates 
that the biotechnology programme is moving increasingly towards 
strengthening the science base, enabling industry to become more 
competitive at international level. 
Work programme for 1998 
A second joint call for proposals on transmissible spongiform 
encephalopathies was published on 17 March 1998 and will close on 
17 June 1998. 
All the contracts based on the fourth call and on the two joint calls on 
transmissible spongiform encephalopathies will be negotiated and concluded 
by the end of the vear. A budget of around ECU 156 million will be set aside 
in 1998 for the RTD projects, research training grants and other 
accompanying measures Finally, the first conference of the "Biotechnology' 
and Finance Forum" is to held from 12 to 14 Mav 1 Q^S Scientific progress, 
combined with 
optimisation and 
standardisation of 
methods, enabled 
QlAGEN to place kits for 
the detection and 
evaluation of plant 
biodiversity on the 
market in 1997. 
Practical applications 
include verification of the 
origin of certain types of 
wood used in 
winemaking. 
Gene therapy provides a 
means of making up for 
genetic deficiencies. One 
pioneering project on 
muscular dystrophy, for 
example Duchennes 
disease, holds out hope 
of treatment. This new 
approach uses bone 
marrow cells to 
compensate for the loss 
of muscle cells. 
9. BIOMEDICAL AND HEALTH RESEARCH (BlOMED) 
Activities in 1997 
Following the second call for proposals, 125 projects were funded for an 
amount of ECU 88 million. 
The evaluation of the proposals received for the third (and final) call for 
proposals was organised in March 1997 and concerned: cancer research; 
cardiovascular research; chronic diseases, ageing and age-related diseases; 
occupational and environmental health; rare diseases; public health 
research; biomedical ethics; ethical, legal and social aspects; and 
demonstration projects. 
From a total of 1002 proposals, 159 (approximately 16%) have been 
selected for a total EC contribution of ECU 72.4 million (to be funded 
from the 1998 budget). Another 36 proposals were put on a reserve list. 
On the issue of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE), a joint 
call for proposals for RTD activities within the BIOTECH, FAIR and 
BIOMED specific research programmes was launched on 29 April 1997. 
As a result of the evaluation, 12 proposals in the field of BIOMED have 
been shortlisted for an EC contribution of ECU 12 million. 
The report of the "Life Sciences and Technology interprogramme group 
on vaccines" established the first inventory of all vaccine research 
undertaken with Community support together with an analysis of R&D 
activities currently being undertaken in the Member States in this field. 
A workshop on synthetic drugs was organised in September 1997 which 
helped to define future priorities for research on medical, pharmacological 
and toxicological issues of synthetic drug abuse. 
A conference under the title "Diabetes in Europe - A Major Health 
Problem and a Research Opportunity" was organised by the Commission 
in March 1997 to discuss future RTD priorities in this field. 
An invitational conference on the occasion of the Netherlands EU 
presidency on "Innovative research and appropriate health care for the 
citizens of Europe", held in April 1997 in Noordwijk, assembled scientists 
and decision-makers around the question of how public health research 
can meet, in a European perspective, the health needs of the European 
population. 
As a follow-up to the recommendations of the monitoring exercise in 
1996 the programme has endeavoured to improve even more the existing 
review process notably by increasing the transparency of the evaluation 
and ameliorating the feedback to the applicants. Furthermore strong 
emphasis has been put on the monitoring of ongoing BIOMED projects 
by setting up a new project review board consisting of internationally 
recognised experts. Examples of results 
A European multi-centre 
study on schizophrenia 
involving eight European 
Member States resulted 
in the identification of an 
association between a 
specific serotonine 
receptor gene and 
schizophrenia which can 
be considered as a 
significant breakthrough 
in the field of psychiatric 
genetic research. 
A European group of 
geneticists working on 
human inherited 
neurosensorial deafness 
were able to clone the 
first two genes 
responsible for isolated 
forms of deafness. 
Moreover the consortium 
was able to give a first 
insight into the molecular 
epidemiology of 
deafness.The frequent 
involvement of one of the 
numerous deafness genes 
in the European 
population offers for the 
first time the opportunity 
to develop a molecular 
diagnostic test for 
counselling. 
42 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
Research in the cancer area is covering a very large area from basic 
science to pure clinical proposals. Gene therapy approaches are 
considered in both basic molecular science projects and for use in clinical 
practice. Particularly strong proposals in tumour immunology involve 
pharmaceutical companies. 
In the cardiovascular area excellent European expertise is developing in 
the areas of: cellular and molecular mechanisms (e.g.. role of growth 
factors); genetic basis of diseases of high prevalence such as hypertension, 
coronary heart disease and stroke; and clinical research including clinical 
trials and identification of pertinent risk factors. 
Research in the area of chronic diseases, ageing and age-related diseases 
puts special emphasis on chronic inflammatory diseases, diabetes and 
genetic predisposition of age-related changes. Occupational and 
environmental health research proposals relate to musculoskeletal 
disorders, sensitisation against occupationally induced allergens and 
occupational cancer risk. 
Several proposals in the area of rare diseases are focusing on severe 
childhood diseases. One project aims at creating a European network of 
information centres for rare diseases. 
The proposals selected in the area of public health research cover topics 
such as prevention and surveillance (notably on Creutzfeld Jacob 
Disease); cost benefit and socio-economic research on therapeutic 
outcomes; the use of new or known technologies and the quality of health 
care and health services research. A group of European 
scientists examined the 
role of hypoxia on 
changes in the arterial 
wall that might be 
atherogenic and 
discovered that vascular 
endothelial growth factor 
(VEGF) might protect 
against atherosclerotic 
damage in the adult 
artery. This research 
gave rise to an 
international patent for a 
potential new treatment 
for arterial disease using 
VEGF. As a follow-up a 
company "Eurogene' 
was set up with venture 
capital, which funds a 
relevant Phase I clinical 
trial but also further 
research for new 
patentable agents and 
new pharmaceuticals in 
four research institutes in 
Europe. 
In biomedical ethics research focuses on: end of life and palliative care; 
autonomy and consent for vulnerable patient groups; and ethical aspects 
of decision-making procedures in various health settings. 
The horizontal activity 'Ethical, Legal and Social Aspects'(EL S A) reflects 
research into fundamental values and methodologies in bioethics, embryo 
and foetus protection, and social implications of human genome research. 
Finally the selected demonstration projects aim to prove the viability of 
new medical practices such as a new test for a reliable indicator of 
cardiovascular risk, a new biomedical technology (hybrid-liver support), 
and innovative surgical practices using new biodegradable implants for 
corrective surgery of rare craniofacial syndromes. 
The selection of the BIOMED-TSE proposals in the joint call strengthens 
and complements the previous BIOMED selections in this field. It also 
allows the development of a comprehensive European research effort in 
essential issues such as the epidemiology and surveillance of human SEs, 
the harmonisation of clinical and diagnostic procedures and the 
characterisation of the role of the infectious agent in the development of 
the disease(s). European scientists have 
developed a simple, 
sensitive and inexpensive 
method for recording the 
activity of individual 
neuronal synapses in the 
brain. This technique will 
make it possible to assay 
the action of drugs and 
toxic substances on brain 
functions such as learning 
and memory. 
J 
43 
Work programme for 1998 
The contracts from the third call for proposals are being prepared. 
Specific efforts will be made to disseminate and publish the results of the 
completed projects. Implementation of the Fifth Framework Programme's 
thematic programme on "Quality of life and management of living 
resources" will be prepared, notably by drawing up the specific 
programme, work programme, calls for proposals and information 
packages. The first Life Sciences Demonstration Conference will take 
place in Uppsala in 1998. Its aim is to help maximise the outcome of the 
life sciences demonstration projects under the Fourth Framework 
Programme. Participants from all BIOMED demonstration projects will 
be invited. 
44 
10. AGRICULTURE AND FISHERIES (including agro-industry, food technologies, forestry, 
aquaculture and rural development) 
Activities in 1997 
In 1997 the specific programme for agriculture and fisheries continued to 
pursue its original objectives: to increase the competitiveness, efficiency 
and sustainability of agriculture and the fishing industry, to support the 
Community policies in these fields and to meet the demand from 
consumers for wholesome food. 
RTD projects, demonstration projects and concerted action: 
Following the fourth and fifth calls for proposals, on 13 February and 
29 July 1997 the Commission adopted decisions selecting 147 research 
projects, 16 demonstration projects and 45 concerted actions or thematic 
networks for funding from the 895 proposals received. The special call for 
proposals targeted on transmissible spongiform encephalopathies attracted 
24 proposals. On 18 July the Commission adopted a decision selecting 
eight of these projects on the development of methods of diagnosis of 
TSE and of combating the illness in sheep, goats and cattle. 
A joint call for proposals on TSE under the biomedicine, biotechnology 
and agriculture and fisheries programmes was published on 29 April and 
closed on 15 July 1997. From the 66 proposals received, 22 (three of 
them under the agriculture and fisheries programme) were selected and 
granted a total of ECU 21.3 million. This was made possible by the 
agreement reached between Parliament and the Council on 
1 December 1997 to allocate a further ECU 115 million to the Fourth 
Framework Programme, ECU 35 million of which was earmarked for 
research on TSE. 
Technology stimulation measures for SMEs: 
Contracts were concluded on 118 projects (109 exploratory awards and 9 
cooperative projects). The total number of SMEs participating rose from 
251 (22% of all participants) in 1996 to 328 (32%) in 1997. 
Research training grants: 
In 1997 a total of 99 research training grants were awarded 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
Producing wholesome foods and strengthening industrial competitiveness: 
Food projects are, by nature, interdisciplinary, often bringing together 
researchers from the fields of nutrition, medical science and food 
technology. Industry is represented (by at least one partner) in virtually all 
the projects on "integrated production and processing chains" and 
collaboration between partners from northern and southern Europe is 
particularly close. High value-added products are obtained from wood, 
natural fibres, carbohydrates and oils to create new markets or replace 
synthetic products. Examples of results 
One concerted action 
produced a set of 
practical 
recommendations to 
safeguard 
microbiological safety all 
along the 
meat-production chain, 
from the farm to the 
slaughterhouse and then 
throughout processing 
and distribution. They 
will be extremely 
valuable for meat 
producers and 
distributors and for 
national and Community 
inspectors. 
The STORMS project 
for the forestry and 
timber industry has 
developed forest 
management strategies to 
minimise damage by 
wind, snow and fire 
without diminishing the 
quality or quantity of 
timber produced. These 
results have been applied 
already for forest 
management in Sweden, 
Finland and the 
United Kingdom and 
should be adopted all 
over Europe very soon. 
45 
Contribution to the reformed common agricultural policy (CAP) and 
Community rural development policy: 
The projects in this field contribute to a better balance between 
production and utilisation of biological raw materials, meeting the 
demands of the end-users, particularly with regard to raw material quality. 
The projects respond to the socio-economic issues facing the communities 
concerned and the safety, quality, health and environmental implications 
of new food and non-food products. They are based on comprehensive 
approaches and the multi-functional and sustainable management of the 
environment and optimum use of the resources of the rural world. 
Support for the objectives of the common fisheries policy (CFP): 
The projects selected will help to support various aspects of the CFP. On 
the environmental side, they will help to promote sustainable fishing and 
aquaculture, notably by reducing the impact of trawls and other dragnets 
on the seabed and offish escaping from fish farms on wild fish. Turning to 
management of fishing activities in Europe, the socio-economic aspects 
and improved methods for fish stock assessment are also covered. Finally, 
work has been stepped up on the health and genetic aspects of 
aquaculture. 
Work programme in 1998: 
A second joint call for proposals on transmissible spongiform 
encephalopathies will be published on 17 March 1998 and close on 
17 June 1998. The call for proposals for measures in favour of SMEs 
open continuously since 16 December 1994 will close on 8 April 1998 in 
the case of cooperative research projects. As for the projects from the 
fifth and sixth calls, the two joint calls on TSE and the call for cooperative 
research projects, these contracts will be negotiated and concluded by the 
end of the year. A budget of around ECU 179 million is earmarked in 
1998 for RTD and demonstration projects, concerted action, research 
training grants and other accompanying measures. The AQUA-FLOW 
network was set up to 
disseminate the results of 
Community research 
projects in the field of 
aquaculture. It will 
provide a channel for 
transferring knowledge 
and sharing relevant 
information between 
scientists and industry'. 
One project has 
contributed to 
development of optimum 
agricultural production of 
spelt, an ancient but 
limited variety of wheat 
requiring little fertiliser 
and ideally suited to the 
less favoured regions of 
the Community. It also 
provides a more 
environmentally 
sustainable alternative to 
common wheat. 
One project is expected to develop a typology of rural areas and to 
analyse the socio-economic characteristics of such areas using national 
and European databases. In particular, it will examine the interactions 
between local agricultural activities, other sectors of the economy and the 
public authorities in the EU regions which have managed to maintain or 
create extra jobs over the last ten years. 
46 
ENERGY 
11. NON-NUCLEAR ENERGY 
R&D component: JOULE 
Activities in 1997 
The programme continued to focus on priority themes relating to energy 
technologies and to define the qualitative and quantitative objectives of 
each call for proposals. A substantial proportion of the budget, some 
ECU 195 million, was spent in 1997 and two calls for proposals for 
shared-cost action, covering all the fields of science in the programme, 
were closed. Over 600 proposals were evaluated and 231 were selected 
for Community funding totalling ECU 119 million, 62% of them on 
renewable energy sources. 
The JOULE programme made an active contribution to the preparations 
for the Kyoto conference on climate change and to several Commission 
communications, including one on "green accounting". 
The monitoring report recognised the efforts made on the transparency 
and openness of the programme and the experts noted the introduction of 
a quality management system. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
The R&D supported by JOULE is designed to provide substantial support 
for the development of renewable energy sources, such as solar energy, 
windpower or energy from biomass, thereby contributing to sustainable 
energy supplies for Europe, while preserving the environment. The 
growing participation in the research projects by partners from industry 
and users helps to foster technological progress in Europe and to keep 
these emerging sectors competitive. 
More efficient use of energy and management of lighting in buildings will 
help to improve living conditions while the development of propulsion and 
energy-storage systems for zero-emission vehicles offers the prospect of a 
cleaner, quieter urban environment. 
Work programme for 19f)8 
The final touches will be put to implementation of the current framework 
programme by selecting concerted action projects and schemes to provide 
support for training and SMEs. 
A large proportion of the activities in 1998 will be concerned with 
providing input for definition of the next framework programme. 
Support for the development of new processes based on parallel 
optimisation of water and energy consumption has produced a 40% 
water saving and 70% energy saving in the agro-food and paper pulp 
industries, two traditionally heavy consumers of these resources. Examples of results 
Techno-economic models 
supported by the 
programme have allowed 
worldwide comparison of 
costs and emissions of 
pollutants. These results 
have made it possible to 
estimate the costs of 
technological measures to 
meet the target set at the 
Kyoto conference on 
climate change, i.e. a 15% 
reduction in emissions of 
greenhouse gases. 
Trials on a dual-fuel 
diesel/electric-powered 
bus obtained by converting 
a conventional diesel bus 
have proved that very 
substantial fuel savings can 
be made, while causing no 
pollution and very little 
noise. The industrial 
partners in the project are 
now studying how to put 
this technology on the 
market. 
ZF Friedrichshafen AG has 
set up a new department 
especially for this purpose. 
47 
Demonstration component: THERMIE 
Activities in 1997 
THERMIE is focused on the cost-effective and environmentally friendly 
demonstration and promotion of clean and efficient energy technologies. 
These consist of renewable energy technologies, rational use of energy in 
industry, buildings and transport, a clean and more efficient use of fossil 
fuels and better exploration, distribution and transport of hydrocarbons. 
In 1997 the programme allocated over ECU 148 million to action, often 
as a follow-up to JOULE results, aimed at proving the technological and 
economic viability of energy technologies by highlighting their benefits 
and by supporting a wider replication and market penetration both in the 
EU and beyond. 
THERMIE also provided support for associated measures 
(ECU 11.5 million) aimed at raising the awareness of the results of the 
demonstration projects and removing barriers to wider market 
penetration. Special attention was paid to SMEs by supporting initiatives 
in which training and information are offered and facilities for project 
investment are provided. SME involvement in demonstration projects 
increased significantly: 65% of the proposals in the building sector 
involved SMEs and participation reached 72 and 76% respectively in the 
wind and biomass sectors. All in all, 749 proposals were submitted to the 
THERMIE programme, 275 new contracts were awarded and around 800 
running projects were monitored. 
In the field of international cooperation, 45 (out of 183) associated 
measures were supported. Among these measures, three feasibility 
studies for project implementation within priority areas in China, using 
innovative EU technologies in the fields of biomass gasification, energy 
use in buildings and clean coal combustion; two actions targeting the use 
of renewable energy, specifically rural electrification and energy efficiency 
in industry, with South Africa; and a business seminar in the renewable 
sector as a follow-up to the World Solar Summit Programme, initiated by 
UNESCO. 
Following the report of the 1996 monitoring panel, a number of measures 
were undertaken. Priority was given to site-management control of 
problematic or risky projects; enormous efforts were allocated to the 
development of a new computerised programme information system 
designed to support the whole cycle of management activities from 
proposal submission to technical and financial project monitoring; 
enhanced contract negotiations and accurate administrative follow-up of 
the associated preparatory procedures are now performed under the 
responsibility of a Task Force on Contracts (TFC); a new strategy for 
disseminating and publicising the results was agreed and implemented; 
new initiatives concerning the participation of SMEs were launched; and 
success stories for promoting emerging energy technologies are now 
widely disseminated through the OPET - Organisation for the Promotion 
of Energy Technologies- (joint initiative with the Innovation programme) 
and FEMOPET -Fellow Members of the OPET - networks in the EU and 
Central and Eastern European countries respectively. Examples of results 
The establishment of major 
demonstration sites 
focusing on 
energy/environment in 
cities and residential and 
commercial buildings are 
the result of an important 
contribution by the 
programme. The 
Greencities and RE­
START projects have been 
implemented in many cities 
in Europe, and include 
over 32 500 buildings. 
These large-scale projects 
have the capacity to 
transform urban design 
development. 
Eight European cities have 
decided to take an active 
role in promoting the use 
of low and zero emission 
vehicles. Between them 
these cities have over 20 
million inhabitants. Energy 
reductions from the 
outcome of this project are 
expected to be about 20%, 
depending on the type of 
vehicle fleet and other 
measures taken in the city. 
Substantial reductions in 
emissions of carbon 
monoxide, carbon dioxide 
and NOx are also 
expected. 
48 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
The actions supported under the umbrella of the THERMIE programme 
have contributed to promote the innovative use of energy technologies 
and to maximise the efficiency of their development. The programme 
focuses investments on the technologies which will produce the maximum 
benefit for EU citizens and maximises the security and diversity of 
supplies by improving efficiency of energy production, transport and use 
and by increasing the use of renewable sources. It accelerates the rate of 
development and uptake of energy technologies in order to maximise the 
long- and short-term competitiveness of European industries in EU and 
global markets. 
The many developments included cost reductions and small-scale systems 
for wind energy and photovoltaics, demonstration plants for energy from 
biomass and wastes, energy efficiency in industry and combined heat and 
power production, best practices in buildings, alternative fuels in 
transport, new burners of solid fuels and co-combustion with biomass. 
Work programme for 1998 
The THERMIE programme will provide funding estimated at 
ECU 96 million for the demonstration of clean and efficient energy 
technologies and it will support, to the tune of up to ECU 14 million, 
complementary associated measures designed to propagate and encourage 
at the appropriate moment the future use of demonstrated results. Support is given to the 
construction of a 37.5 MW 
wind farm on a sandbank 
approximately 3 km off the 
east coast of England. This 
will be the largest offshore 
wind farm constructed in 
Europe to date. 
Other examples from THERMIE 
In the hydrocarbons area, installing and decommissioning deck units in the open sea 
together with direct validation of the structural integrity of floating production, storage 
and offloading units (FPSOs) made significant steps towards the safety and 
competitiveness of European offshore energy technology. 
Important progress has been made by a number of completed projects focusing on 
biomass gasification within existing/conventional coal-fired power stations and/or 
boilers. 
The China-EU Renewable Energy Technology Conference was attended by 90 
representatives from Chinese institutions and companies and by over 35 EU renewable 
energy technology manufacturers. 
49 
12. NUCLEAR FISSION SAFETY 
General objectives 
The programme is part of the 1994-1998 Euratom framework programme 
for research and training and is active in: innovative approaches in reactor 
safety passive decay heat removal and innovative nuclear fuel cycle 
concepts (partitioning and transmutation); reactor severe accident 
phenomena and mechanisms to develop accident management measures, 
with emphasis on mitigation techniques; safety evaluation methods and 
feasibility of concepts 'for radioactive waste management and disposal; 
technology and strategy for the decommissioning of nuclear installations; 
radiological impact on man and the environment, radiation mechanisms 
and epidemiology, radiation risks and exposures; the mastering of events 
of the past (faOctors influencing health, contaminated territories and 
emergency management approaches). 
Activities in 1997 
The programme was implemented by a single call with two deadlines for 
submission of proposals on shared-cost projects (20 March 1995 and 28 
February 1996), while a call on concerted action was continuously open 
until 1 November 1997. In total, 66 proposals for concerted action were 
received in 1997 (16 on 15 February and 50 on 1 November) and 
evaluated with the assistance of external experts. At the end of the year, a 
first set of 11 contracts were signed, while the selection procedure for the 
last 50 proposals was started. 
From the beginning of the programme up until the end of 1997, 190 multi-
partner contracts were signed (out of 461 proposals in total). Projects 
with related research subjects were combined into 38 clusters to ensure 
better project management and to facilitate the exchange of results among 
specialists. 
Where appropriate, mid-term reviews have been carried out for adjusting 
project plans or for setting-up the programme for a second phase of the 
projects. 
Four EUROCOURSE training sessions were organised: three courses in 
the field of radiation protection and one course on reactor severe 
accidents. 
Accompanying measures (conferences, workshops, grants) were 
organised, developing a wide forum for discussion/exchange of results 
and offering attractive prospects for young scientists and researchers. 
Major achievements in 1997 (in addition to the examples in the boxes) 
included: 
• the progress in the assessment of partitioning and transmutation 
strategies to reduce the long-lived radionuclide inventories using LWR 
and/or FNR; 
• the feasibility studies for innovative safety techniques like passive 
decay heat removal systems for both RPV and containment; 
• the improvement of knowledge and harmonisation of predictive tools 
for irradiation induced ageing phenomena; Examples of results 
Design/equipment and 
operating procedures are 
being developed in 
cooperation with 
industries to cope with 
the main risk issues in 
case of reactor severe 
accidents (i.e. molten 
corium, fission product 
releases and hydrogen 
combustion). 
Completion of the 
RODOS decision support 
system for the off-site 
management of nuclear 
accidents in the early 
phase: this version is 
being implemented for 
pre-operational use in 
emergency centres in 
Hungary, Poland, 
Slovakia and the Ukraine 
with assistance from the 
ECHO and TACIS 
programmes (interest in 
its use has also been 
expressed by several EU 
countries). 
50 
the research carried out on waste volume minimisation, 
characterisation of waste forms, host-rock and backfill materials; 
the conclusion of Phase I of the Palmottu project for characterising and 
understanding the general flow system at the site; 
the further development of the databank on decommissioning of 
nuclear installations; 
the concerted action aimed at providing a forum for dialogue between 
industry, regulators and academia on risk governance, particularly in 
terms of acceptability and efficacy; 
the development and use of multi-step cancer models to analyse 
epidemiological data; 
the development of methodologies for vulnerability assessment of 
ecosystems; 
the publication of a series of documents giving guidelines and 
protocols for quality criteria for different common diagnostic 
procedures; 
the development and implementation of a decentralised approach for 
management and improving living conditions in contaminated 
territories. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
The nuclear fission programme contributes to the improvement of the 
safety of nuclear reactors and of the competitiveness of the nuclear 
industry in particular through research concerning major accidents, 
advanced techniques for the decommissioning of nuclear facilities and 
methods for the safe management of radioactive waste. It also aims at 
protecting the public and the environment against the possible adverse 
effects of radiation which can result from the use of nuclear energy and 
the medical applications of radiation. 
Work programme for 1998 
The implementation of the programme will be completed by a selection of 
concerted action and accompanying measures for training and 
dissemination of results. Five training courses will be organised by the 
programme in the fields of reactor safety and radiation protection. 
The nuclear fission safety components of the Fifth Framework Programme 
will be prepared as well as the corresponding implementation instruments. Improvement of the 
technical feasibility of 
geological disposal 
concepts and of the 
performance assessment 
study for spent fuel 
disposal concepts 
(implementation of the 
FEBEX project, start of 
the operational phase of 
DEBORA and definition 
of the SPA-source term 
model). 
A decentralised approach 
to the long-term 
management of 
contaminated territories 
has been developed and 
piloted in a village in 
Belarus. While the 
project is continuing, the 
success already achieved 
is such that consideration 
is already being given to 
the wider dissemination 
of the approach to 
Chernobyl affected areas. 
51 
13. CONTROLLED THERMONUCLEAR FUSION 
Activities in 1997 
The long-term objective of the programme, which embraces all the 
activities undertaken in the Member States (plus Switzerland) in the field 
of fusion with magnetic confinement, is "the joint production of safe, 
environmentally sound prototype reactors". After the tokamak known as 
JET (Joint European Torus), the proposed strategy towards the prototype 
reactor includes an experimental reactor ("Next Step") which is now 
being designed in detail in the context of the quadripartite cooperation 
between Euratom, Japan, Russia and the USA referred to as ITER-EDA 
(International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor - Engineering Design 
Activities) and a demonstration reactor (DEMO). 
"Next Step" activities: in 1997 the engineering design activities of the 
central project team (San Diego, Naka and Garching) and the four partner 
teams collaborating in the ITER-EDA made it possible to optimise the 
solutions selected for the ITER. At the end of December the central team 
submitted the final report on the project to the partners involved in the 
ITER for an internal assessment. Europe has been given the task of 
coordinating three of the seven major RTD projects for the ITER 
(prototype toroidal magnet, shielding for the blanket and remote handling 
system for the divertor) and is contributing actively to work on them. The 
NET, JET and JRC teams together with the associated fusion laboratories 
("associations") each made a substantial contribution to the work on 
physics and technology applicable to the ITER. JET, the only reactor in 
the world capable of using tritium, provided a means of studying fusion 
plasmas in the conditions planned for the "Next Step". 
Concept improvement: operation of specialised devices allowed 
consolidation of the database required for the Next Step and concept 
improvements which, in the long term, will allow definition of DEMO. 
The TJ-II stellarator in Madrid entered into service. Approval was given 
for the installation of new equipment at the TORE SUPRA tokamak in 
Cadarache and the TEXTOR tokamak in Jiilich and of the heating system 
at a third (the MAST tokamak under construction at Culham). 
Long-term technology: work continued on long-term technology, 
particularly on the tritium breeding blanket (procedure launched for the 
provision of reference structural material), evaluation of the conceptual 
design of a neutron source, start of new safety and environmental studies 
and of socio-economic research on fusion (including questions relating to 
public acceptability). Finally, in September Parliament held an STOA 
conference on the operating conditions required for a commercial fusion 
reactor to consult experts from Europe's leading electricity distributors. 
Industrial participation: European industry has long been involved in 
supplying the components and prototypes required for the construction 
and operation of fusion devices. Examples of results 
JET recently operated 
with the fuel and 
conditions envisaged for 
the fusion reactors of the 
future. It set world 
records (16 MW of 
fusion power, equivalent 
to two thirds of the 
injected power; 21 MJ of 
fusion energy). The 
results obtained indicate 
that some of the 
conditions necessary for 
the reactor (particularly 
the minimum power for 
access to high 
confinement regime) are 
easier to meet than 
originally thought. 
Projections of economic 
and social scenarios, 
economic prospects and 
public acceptance aiming 
at raising awareness of 
fusion as a potential 
energy source. 
52 
In April representatives of the industry exchanged views with 
representatives of ITER on the organisational aspects of eventual 
construction of such a reactor. 
Implementation: the programme is implemented in the form of contracts 
of association with the Member States (plus Switzerland), the JET joint 
undertaking and the NET (Next European Torus) Agreement which 
includes Euratom's participation in ITER-EDA, contracts with industry 
and other contracts of limited duration. The Community contributed 25% 
towards the current expenditure of the Associations and the contracts of 
limited duration and 45% of the investment costs of priority projects 
approved by the Consultative Committee for the Fusion Programme. Up 
to 100% may be granted for certain specific tasks (in industry). As part of 
the activities to keep in touch with inertial fusion technology, a start was 
made on coordinating civil research in this field. The Commission 
proposal for the Framework Programme for 1998-2002 includes fusion as 
one of the key actions and maintains the strategy for integrated research 
with a view to the reactor. In its 1997 report the monitoring panel found, 
amongst other things, that the fusion programme had been administered 
and implemented fully in line with the Council guidelines. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
As with the other fusion programmes elsewhere in the world, the 
European Union's programme is directed towards the Next Step, which 
will incorporate all the key aspects of physics and technology necessary 
for the "combustion" of long-pulse fusion plasma. Europe has made a 
valuable contribution to progress with research in this field, particularly 
with JET. 
By placing an obligation on laboratories to publish Europe-wide calls for 
tenders to carry out priority projects, the fusion programme has 
encouraged a two-way flow of information between the fusion and 
industry sides and helped to reinforce European industry's S&T base. In 
turn the system for qualification of firms in the 15 specific technologies 
required for fusion has helped to make European industry more 
competitive against its rivals for collaboration on ITER. 
The integrated structure of the programme guarantees the cohesion of 
European research on fusion. Irrespective of any transfers of technology 
which could be generated in the short term, the long-term aspect of this 
research was underlined by stepping up the public awareness campaign on 
the safety and environmental advantages of fusion as an energy option. 
Work programme for 1998 
The Associations will continue their activities and new systems for 
installation on certain devices (particularly ASDEX Upgrade) will be 
examined. To support the experimental work in all the laboratories, 
theoretical work will continue. The research on JET, particularly on the 
divertor concept applicable to the ITER, will continue as planned. As 
requested by Parliament, the Commission will submit a strategy paper on 
the possibility of continuing to use JET after December 1999 and on the 
framework for its future programme. As regards ITER-EDA, originally 
planned to run until July 1998, a three-year extension has been proposed 
to undertake joint activities in various fields (adaptation of ITER 
53 Important scientific 
results have been 
obtained at the 
associated fusion 
laboratories, particularly: 
successful operation of 
the Lyra divertor in the 
ASDEX Upgrade 
tokamak; progress in 
optimisation of the 
bootstrap current and of 
non-induced current 
drive in the TORE 
SUPRA tokamak; use of 
high atomic number 
materials with ECRH 
(electron cyclotron 
resonant heating) in the 
FTU tokamak; high 
confinement regimes in 
the TEXTOR tokamak; 
determination of 
reference parameters in 
the TCV tokamak; 
magnetic surfaces in 
accordance with 
predictions in the TJ-II 
stellarator; start of 
construction of the 
Wendelstein 7-X 
stellarator and 
production of prototype 
coils for this device, etc... 
engineering design to actual conditions at specific potential sites, safety 
assessments and preparatory work for applications for consent, tests on 
prototype components, etc.). Preparations will start for a study on the 
reference design for DEMO. Like last year, Marie Curie fellowships will 
be granted (between 10 and 15 per annum) and strong support will be 
given to the mobility of researchers (between 300 and 400 secondments 
per annum). The final touches are now being made to establish bilateral 
collaboration with Russia, Ukraine and Kazakhstan. 
54 
14. TRANSPORT 
Activities in 1997 
With the 109 new contracts which were signed in 1997 from the 
implementation of the second and third calls for proposals, the Transport 
RTD Programme has now financed some 244 projects of which 26 were 
completed with a number of significant results delivered. 
The new contracts signed in 1997 cover the following areas of the 
Programme: 
• Strategic research: 13 projects, with emphasis on information systems 
(including definition of transport databases) and policy assessment 
(including the extension of the trans-European networks to eastern 
Europe); 
• Rail transport: 10 projects, focusing on interoperability of train systems 
and on more efficient and faster freight transport; 
• Integrated transport chains: 12 projects, addressing the improvement 
of the quality of the intermodal transport network (6 projects) and 
terminals (6 projects); 
• Air transport: 17 projects, the majority of which (10 projects) 
contribute to the definition of technical and operational solutions to 
improve the efficiency of the air traffic management system; 
• Urban transport: 12 projects, with emphasis on the enhancement of 
intermodality in urban transport through the improvement of 
interchange and through legal and regulatory measures; 
• Waterborne transport: 24 projects, including projects aiming at 
improving the efficiency and safety of maritime operations and projects 
focusing on the improvement of working conditions; 
• Road transport: 19 projects, aiming at improving road transport 
performance, reliability and safety, while minimising the negative 
impact on the environment; 
• Accompanying measures: 2 projects which will develop and implement 
an intensive dissemination and exploitation plan for the Transport 
Programme aiming at maximising the impact of the programme results. 
In 1997, the programme provided major contributions for the 
development of important policy documents such as the Green Paper on 
ports and maritime infrastructure, the forthcoming White Paper on 
infrastructure charging, the communications on trans-European rail freight 
freeways and intermodal freight transport. 
Other challenges in the field of transport, such as congestion, safety and 
environmental aspects continue to be tackled, both in ongoing projects 
and in the fourth call for proposals launched in December 1997. The 
particular transport challenges of the accession of Central and Eastern 
European countries are also being addressed through increased 
participation from organisations from these countries and local 
dissemination events. Substantial efforts were devoted to ensure the 
transferability of results, the involvement of relevant end-users and the 
acceptance of new systems and methods. This is being tackled through 
encouraging the creation of formal and informal networks and by the 
establishment of concerted action (13 projects as a result of the first three 
calls). 
55 Examples of results 
ERTMS 
Test sites in Germany, 
France and Italy have been 
made available for the full-
scale testing of the 
developed European Rail 
Traffic Management 
System (ERTMS). 
European standardisation 
activities necessary for 
implementing the ERTMS 
started in 1997. 
MBB 
A maritime black box 
(MBB) similar to the ones 
used in aeroplanes has 
been developed to record 
accident data. Improved 
accident investigations will 
increase the safety of ship 
operations. Further 
development of the MBB 
into a cargo black box is 
envisaged to track 
shipments and facilitate 
short-sea shipping and the 
exchange of 
documentation. 
TAPE 
The project developed a 
software prototype to 
determine the interaction 
of landside and airside 
operations in airports, to 
optimise the total airport 
performance in terms of 
efficiency and capacity. 
The 1997 monitoring panel on the Transport RTD Programme concluded 
that the programme is being managed in a professional and transparent 
way, although it was concerned by the continuing staff shortages in some 
areas of the programme. The panel made seven valuable recommendations 
for the future management of the programme to further strengthen results 
delivery, which are being taken on board. They are mainly focused on the 
dissemination and exploitation of results and future elements of transport 
RTD activities. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
The general objective of the research carried out under the Transport 
RTD Programme is to reach conclusions opening up new policy options 
and to facilitate the implementation of new generic technologies. The 
objectives of implementing new technologies to increase the efficiency, 
safety and sustainability of the transport system have also been or will be 
achieved through a series of projects like ERTMS (European Rail Traffic 
Management System), MBB (Maritime Blacjc Box), and ATM (Air 
Traffic Management) related projects. 
The 1997 monitoring panel noted the potential benefits to European 
industry from achievements like European standardisation of railways' 
signalling systems resulting from the ERTMS projects. The potential 
impact of these results could lead to a 20-30% reduction of equipment 
costs, together with a significant increase in European railway 
manufacturing competitiveness in world transport markets. Another 
example of strengthening the competitiveness of European industry is the 
establishment of integrated ship control standards. These projects 
(ATOMOS II and DISCI) are an important effort to unite the fragmented 
European industries involved in this domain and at the same time to set 
universal standards. Other examples of research work contributing to 
Community objectives are projects in the strategic area assessing the 
impact of the trans-European transport networks on accessibility and 
cohesion. A series of urban transport projects aim at the improvement of 
urban public transport and have already delivered valuable results (e.g. 
ISOTOPE project). 
Work programme for 1998 
The fourth call for proposals and the joint call by the Transport and 
Telematics Application Programmes on transport intermodality, for which 
a Community budget of some ECU 12 million was allocated, both closed 
on 16 March 1998. The submitted proposals will be evaluated and 
subjected to contract negotiation. The fourth call for proposals should 
result in a number of actions to consolidate results arising from projects 
from the previous calls and to prepare future Transport RTD activities. As 
a result of the joint call on intermodality a series of large-scale 
demonstration projects building upon the results of ongoing research 
work in the area of intermodality should arise. The first projects are to 
start towards the end of 1998. A number of projects already financed will 
conclude their work and present their results in a series of planned 
dissemination events. A programme-wide dissemination and exploitation 
strategy will be implemented to ensure the concrete deployment of the 
RTD results. ISOTOPE 
The project described the 
advantages and dis­
advantages of the various 
organisational forms of 
public transport services 
and gives 
recommendations on 
adequate contractual and 
legal frameworks. Data 
has been examined from 
109 urban transport 
networks in Europe. 
Air Traffic Management: 
Several projects in this 
domain have been 
completed and the results 
have been fed into the 
development of the future 
European Air Traffic 
Management System 
(EATMS) to be demon­
strated in the Fifth 
Framework Programme. 
Information Systems: 
Concerted action has been 
started, involving a series 
of ongoing projects and 
policy-makers and 
statisticians from all 
Member States. It will 
establish synergies and lay 
the ground for the creation 
of a European transport 
information system 
facilitating the exchange of 
and access to transport 
data, in support of policy 
decision-making. 
56 
15. TARGETED SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESEARCH 
Activities in 1997 
1997 marked a major turning point in the evolution of the TSER 
programme. Introduced in 1994 as a new element to the Framework 
Programme much work had to be done in the early stages of the 
programme to sensitise researchers and policy-makers to the importance 
of European level socio-economic research in areas of S&T policy, 
education and training and social integration and exclusion. However, the 
recent selection of successful second call projects and the launching in 
September 1997 of the third and final call means that attention is turning 
to the consolidation and follow-up of funded activities. Indeed, the 
programme now comprises a broadly-based portfolio of complementary 
activities ranging from collaborative research projects and thematic 
networks, studies and support for conferences in key areas, to specific 
ET AN initiatives, and to the programme's participation in the Educational 
Multimedia Task Force. 
Given the current stage of development of the programme, and the 
improvements made both in terms of the policy relevance and in the 
execution of successive calls, the recommendations made in the 1997 
TSER monitoring report primarily concern take-up and dissemination 
activities. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
A characteristic of this programme is that all its activities are expected to 
lead to policy relevant insights. Following the second call a total of 112 
shared cost actions, dealing with topics such as the European information 
society, industrial dynamics and employment, and social integration 
policies in Europe, will have received Community support. This number 
will increase by 50-60 new activities arising from the evaluation and 
selection of third call proposals. Moreover the third call itself was 
launched on the basis of a revised work programme focusing on three 
strategic orientations: competition, change and dialogue; work, welfare 
and employment; and innovation and institutional change. These 
orientations demand a multidisciplinary approach and thus the third call, 
which closed in January 1998, set out to solicit proposals which would 
combine research tasks from two or more of the programme's main 
research areas. 
In addition to this, some 39 grants were awarded in 1997 for 
accompanying measures. Funded activities include studies on the effects 
of labour markets on employment, the redistribution of work, the 
problems and possibilities for self-employment, and support for various 
fora dealing with topics such as immigrant integration and ethnic conflicts, 
women in science, and approaches to cultural diversity within educational 
institutions in Europe. 
As regards ETAN (European Technology Assessment Network, 
supported under area I of the evaluation of S&T policy options in Europe 
programme), expert working groups were held on the first of a series of 
topics: ageing population and technology - challenges and opportunities 
and technology policy in the context of internationalisation. The experts' 
reports will be presented to policy-makers in the course of 1998. 
57 Examples of results 
EVALUE has , 
developed and 
produced a CD-ROM 
and Internet media on 
the (self-)evaluation of 
universities in Europe. 
The information 
available includes case 
studies, national 
indicators as well as a 
flexible evaluation 
tool. 
Following a 
conference in 
November 1997 the 
"Technology, 
Economic Integration 
and Social Exclusion" 
project has published 
leading-edge articles 
on world trading 
environment, regional 
technology gaps in 
Europe and 
competitiveness. 
The LoWER project 
has established a 
European database on 
low-wage 
employment and 
published a report on 
"Statistical data 
available on low-wage 
employment in the 
European Union and 
its Member States". 
LoWER publishes a 
newsletter and has a 
site on the Internet. 
A further significant event in 1997 was the launch of five projects, part-
funded by the TSER programme, submitted under the Educational 
Multimedia Task Force's joint call for proposals. These projects, dealing 
with the processes of learning, the effectiveness of the introduction of 
multimedia technology and the attendant socio-economic consequences, 
demonstrate the importance of the social shaping of technology and serve 
as examples of the more integrative approach to combining social sciences 
with technology development which is being proposed for the Fifth 
Framework Programme. 
Work programme for'1998 
A major activity for 1998 will be the introduction of measures for 
disseminating and enhancing the impact of insights arising from the RTD 
projects and networks funded. In addition to the normal mechanisms for 
dissemination of results at the project level, a number of activities at the 
level of the programme itself are being planned. An important initiative 
will be a TSER programme conference planned for the end of 1998. This 
conference will bring together researchers and policy-makers and will 
itself be underpinned by a series of policy relevant workshops organised 
around the thematic clustering of first and second call projects - a concept 
which was successfully tested in 1997. 
Third call activities will centre on negotiating and issuing contracts for 
projects selected for funding. And a number of possible new ET AN 
initiatives are under consideration in the areas of global climate change, 
intellectual property, the assessment of the impact of RTD, indirect 
support to RTD employment, and women and science. 
Furthermore it is anticipated that four more projects submitted under the 
Educational Multimedia joint call, involving the financial participation of 
the TSER programme, will be launched. 
Work on finalising the role of socio-economic research in the Fifth 
Framework Programme will take place alongside the above activities. 
The REGIS project has found that innovation in Europe tends to be 
market driven by cost and quality considerations and that pure innovation 
is rare since the process is characterised more by the recombination of 
non-original technologies - thus demonstrating the need for better 
integration of technology centres and universities within the innovation 
process. . The RTD networks 
and high-tech SMEs 
project has found 
evidence which links 
successful 
globalisation with a 
high level of local 
networking suggesting 
the importance of 
access to locally 
developed 
technologies. 
The globalising 
learning economy: 
implications for 
innovation policy is a 
report based on the 
preliminary 
conclusions from 
several related TSER 
projects (example of 
cluster activity). 
The KISINN network 
has produced a review 
of private sector 
knowledge intensive 
services drawing on 
existing international 
expertise with special 
emphasis on the 
transmission and 
application of technical 
and management 
innovation including the 
implications for policy 
implementation. 
58 
2ND ACTIVITY OF THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 
COOPERATION WITH THIRD COUNTRIES AND INTERNATIONAL 
ORGANISATIONS 
Activities in 1997 
RTD projects 
As part of the cooperation with the Central and Eastern European 
countries and the New Independent States from the former Soviet Union, 
ECU 26.3 million was earmarked to fund 110 contracts concluded 
following the 1996 call for proposals. A call for proposals published in 
1997 (main areas covered: environment, health and industry) attracted 
1 300 research proposals worth a total of ECU 398 million. 
The international cooperation programme (INCO) also continued to 
provide support for Eastern European countries to participate in the 
specific programmes under the 4th Framework Programme. 
Around ECU 700 000 was earmarked for accompanying measures, 
particularly support to enable scientists from these countries to participate 
in conferences. INTAS, funded primarily by the Community, granted 
ECU 18.8 million to 321 projects covering all fields. And the 
International Science and Technology Centre (ISTC) set up in Moscow to 
help with the redeployment of military researchers from the New 
Independent States from the former Soviet Union received support 
totalling ECU 13.5 million from the EC for civil projects in 1997 (a total 
of 19 000 scientists have taken part since 1994). 
As for S&T cooperation with developing countries (INCO-DC), in 1997 
ECU 65.6 million was set aside to fund 125 contracts. A call for 
proposals published in 1997 on management of renewable natural 
resources, agriculture, agro-industry, health and information technologies 
attracted 1 020 proposals. 
Twenty-five new COST projects also began, bringing to 159 the total 
number of projects in progress in 17 areas (food science, chemistry, 
transport, etc.). In 1997 the Commission was involved in 11 EUREKA 
projects. 
The monitoring panel stressed the high quality achieved in 1997 in all the 
fields covered by the programme. 
S&T agreements and scientific contacts 
The agreement on scientific and technical cooperation between the EU 
and the USA was signed, the one with South Africa entered into force and 
negotiations started on a nuclear research agreement between Euratom 
and Canada. In 1997 negotiations started on an S&T cooperation 
agreement with Russia and the first expressions of interest were received 
from certain countries which wish to be associated with the 5th 
Framework Programme. Examples of results 
A European first in the 
campaign against 
parasitic infections: a 
number of research 
projects bringing 
together scientists from 
developing countries and 
Europe have been started 
to discover why some 
people are more 
vulnerable than others to 
parasitic infections. This 
is the key to an 
efficacious response. 
Collaboration with Brazil 
has demonstrated that 
genetic factors are to 
blame for vulnerability to 
bilharziasis (an illness 
caused by trematode 
worms). Scientists have 
discovered that gene 
Sml on chromosome 5 
controls resistance or 
sensitivity to the disease. 
Another gene 
determining sensitivity to 
fibrosis of the liver has 
also been identified. 
These breakthroughs 
could pave the way for 
the development of new 
treatments to provide 
relief for sufferers from 
these illnesses. 
59 
To promote relations with Japan and Korea in the field of science and 
technology, 74 European researchers received grants in 1997, taking the 
total number of EU researchers assisted to work in these two countries to 
490. 
Technical or political contacts were maintained with non-EU countries 
and regional groupings. Over 100 seminars, workshops or conferences 
involving developing countries received support (for example, on soil 
fertility in Asia and on Aids in Africa). The political dialogue with the 
EU's Mediterranean partners continued via the secretariat of the Euro-
Mediterranean RTD Committee and a formal meeting of the Committee. 
Thinking about future guidelines 
A communication on the European initiative for agricultural research for 
development (EIARD) was adopted to improve coordination between the 
18 partners involved. Another communication entitled "Scientific and 
technological research - a strategic part of the European Union's 
development cooperation with developing countries" was also adopted 
and then endorsed by the Council. 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
INCO contributes in many ways to promoting the competitiveness of the 
European economy as a whole. For example, by giving extra value added 
to Union RTD or helping to define other EU policies (e.g. on transport, 
energy or fisheries) in the light of the experience of non-EU countries or 
thanks to the "large market effect" generated as S&T cooperation opens 
up prospects for commercial cooperation. 
International RTD cooperation provides access to know-how, researcher 
networks and installations (for example, by sending European researchers 
to Japan). Beyond the strictly scientific benefits, this cooperation 
contributes to the influence of European science and technology 
worldwide. 
In connection with EU enlargement policy, modernisation of the RTD 
arrangements in the Central and Eastern European countries together with 
the support provided by INCO for participation by these countries in the 
EU RTD programmes helps these countries to prepare to fit into the 
Union. 
INCO-DC has helped to strengthen Europe's research capacity in areas 
related to development and to stimulate RTD in the developing countries 
(in 1997 by providing support for networks on malaria and tropical forests 
in particular), thus backing up the Community's development aid policy. 
Another example of the contribution to foreign policy is the International 
Science and Technology Centre in Moscow (ISTC) which supports the 
efforts to redeploy Russian military researchers to civil activities. 
Work programme for 1998 
The main activities in 1998 will be to monitor the 1600 ongoing contracts 
(including the preparatory, accompanying and support measures) and the 
1997 INCO-COPERNICUS and INCO-DC calls for proposals, to 
conclude contracts on the participation of non-EU countries in the 1st, 
60 Study of marine 
pollution: the Black Sea 
is ideal for a case study 
of the impact of pollution 
on biodiversity. A 
project involving 
Romania, Bulgaria, 
Russia and seven 
Member States has 
already brought a fuller 
understanding of the 
decline in biodiversity in 
the Black Sea. A model 
for predicting the 
response of the coastal 
system to attacks on the 
environment is now being 
devised. 
Fisheries and sustainable 
development: 15 
research projects 
focusing on new 
aquaculture techniques, 
shellfish farming and 
management of coastal 
ecosystems were 
launched in 1997 in 
conjunction with the 
EU/ACP fisheries 
initiative based on the 
resolution adopted by the 
ACP-EC Joint 
Committee. The 
objective of this initiative 
is to promote targeted 
research on aquaculture 
and sustainable 
management of fisheries. 
3rd and 4th activities of the Framework Programmes and to select and 
monitor grantholders (in Japan and Korea). 
Other activities will include analyses of the impact of the S&T 
cooperation agreements, the meeting of the various joint committees 
responsible for monitoring the cooperation agreements and the Europe-
Japan Science and Technology Forum. As recommended by the 
monitoring panel, a management information system will be implemented 
and the publicity campaign on INCO will continue in various forms: 
written (success stories, catalogue of INCO projects, etc.), audiovisual 
(slides, etc.) and electronic (INCO homepage on Cordis-Europa). 
The political priorities will be to prepare for enlargement, particularly by 
encouraging full association of the applicant countries in the Fifth 
Framework Programme, and to build closer relations with the non-
associated Central and Eastern European countries. The S&T agreements 
between the EU and the USA and Russia will also be concluded. 
Looking ahead to implementation of the Fifth Framework Programme, 
there are plans to amend various S&T agreements (the EEA Agreement 
must not only be extended to the Fifth Framework Programme but also 
adjusted to take account of the supplementary funding for the Fourth 
Framework Programme). 
Coordination of S&T with the Member States will be stepped up, for 
example via the secretariat for the European initiative for agricultural 
research for development, by coordinating individual Member States' 
health programmes, via the Member States' contact group and within the 
biotechnology network set up as part of the cooperation on S&T with 
China. Efforts will also be made to obtain a fuller picture of cooperation 
in the RTD field between the Member States and non-member countries 
and international organisations (INCOPOL study). 
The redeployment of international cooperation in the Fifth Framework 
Programme will call, inter alia, for defining the interactions between the 
INCO programme and the other programmes in the Framework 
Programme and producing stronger synergies between COST, EUREKA, 
international organisations and the Framework Programme. Bone marrow donors: 
with the help of a partner 
from the Netherlands, 
both Hungary and the 
Czech Republic were 
linked up to an 
international database on 
bone marrow donors. 
This link-up has added 
6 000 extra donors from 
these two countries to 
the database. Given the 
success of the operation, 
there are now plans to 
extend the scheme to 
three more Eastern 
European countries. It is 
being introduced in 
Slovakia already. 
Recycling of 50 tonnes of plutonium from military plants in Russia: 
In Moscow in April 1996 the G7 countries and Russia decided to cooperate 
more closely on the downgrading of plutonium from the dismantling of Russia's 
nuclear weapons. 
The Community is making an active contribution to putting these G7 
conclusions into action, by financing projects run by the ISTC in Moscow. 
61 
3RD ACTIVITY OF THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 
DISSEMINATION AND OPTIMISATION OF RESULTS 
(INNOVATION PROGRAMME) 
Activities in 1997 
Activities in 1997 focused on the implementation of (i) the First Action 
Plan for Innovation (see above chapter I - paragraph 3 of the report) and 
the specific programme corresponding to the third activity, the 
INNOVATION Programme. 
Implementation of the INNOVATION Programme concentrated on (i) the 
follow-up to the network of Innovation Relay Centres and CORDIS, 
(ii) intellectual property and the financing of innovation, (iii) the 
technology transfer and technology validation demonstration projects and 
(iv) support for regional innovation infrastructures. 
A mid-term evaluation of the network of Innovation Relay Centres (ERCs) 
was carried out in 1997 prior to its extension for two additional years. 
Client satisfaction was a major criterion used in the evaluation. It 
indicated that the network is functioning well and is likely to still further 
increase its performance during the next two years. The performance of 
29 Relay Centres out of 52 (i.e. 56 %) was rated very good. Seven 
centres (i.e. 14 %) were evaluated as performing below expectations. 
Following this evaluation, the network of IRCs is being extended for two 
years and those IRCs rated as performing poorly were restructured. 
As regards CORDIS, a user survey was carried out by a professional 
market research organisation at the beginning of 1997. The survey 
indicated that CORDIS is known as the major information service for 
Community R&D and that it is used regularly by the vast majority of 
intermediaries active in this field. The survey also led to 10 
recommendations related to future developments of the system, most of 
which, after discussion with the programme committee, were taken into 
account in the call for tenders for provision of the CORDIS service over 
the next two years (OJ S 247, 19.12.1997, p. 27). A new type of user 
service was introduced, called Rapidus, allowing users to receive 
automatically, via e-mail, information tailored to their expressed needs. 
The main activity in the area of financing innovation has been the launch 
of the I-TEC pilot project in cooperation with the European Investment 
Fund. I-TEC is to support the establishment of an adequate availability of 
skilled human resources able to appraise and follow up early stage, 
technology investments, and thus, in the medium to long term, to 
encourage venture capital investment in such projects. 
Also a call was launched inviting proposals for the transnational transfer, 
promotion and dissemination of measures, schemes and good practices, to 
bring together financiers, technologists and SME support organisations 
and to stimulate the creation of firms by researchers (public and private). 
One of the proposals selected is a consortium consisting of National 
Westminster Bank (UK), Deutsche Bank (Germany), ING Bank (NL), the 
Innovation Partnership (UK) and the Fraunhofer Gesellschaft (Germany) 
which seeks to further develop and disseminate the Dutch "technology 
rating system" for technology-based SMEs. 
62 Example of results 
INNOVATION'S various 
activities in the area of 
intellectual property 
including the IPR parts 
of the First Action Plan 
for Innovation and the 
collaboration with the 
European Patent Office 
have given a -if not the-
major impulse to 
important new European 
initiatives in the area 
such as the Green Paper 
on intellectual property 
and the decision by the 
European Patent 
Organisation to set up a 
web-based pan-European 
patent information 
service. 
Inl997theCORDIS-
website registered 10 
million visits compared 
to 2.2 million in 1996. 
Also the average number 
of active users (using 
CORDIS at least twice a 
month) nearly doubled to 
47500 in 1997 compared 
to 25000 in 1996. 
Circulation of CORDIS 
Focus increased to 32000 
in 1997, compared to 
22000 in 1996. 
Activities in the area of intellectual property included : 
- the development of the concept of IPR helpdesk for EU RTD results 
and the launch of a call for tenders for establishing such a helpdesk; 
- the second round of the "Quick Scan" pilot operation which in 
collaboration with the European Patent Office checks the novelty of 
technologies in technology transfer and technology validation projects; 
- the completion of the Straus report on the present state of the patent 
system in the EU; 
- the organisation of the PATINNOVA conference (May 1997), one of 
the major get-togethers of patent professionals in Europe; 
- the organisation of the second series of training seminars on IPR 
involving more than 100 project officers; 
- the administration of the Community patent portfolio (approximately 
1500 patents) and safeguarding of the European trademarks and logos. 
In technology transfer and validation, two calls were evaluated in 1997, 
bringing to 230 the total number of proposals supported for a definition 
phase since the beginning of INNOVATION. It is expected that about 
150 of them will lead to a larger demonstration phase. SMEs participate 
in 90 % of the demonstration phases and coordinate 60 % of them. The 
ultimate objective of these projects is to be test-beds for transnational, 
often also intersectoral, technology validation and/or transfer and to 
demonstrate good practice. As such the demonstration phases are built 
around the following pillars : (i) managing transnational technology 
validation and/or transfer, (ii) intellectual property, (iii) absorbing or 
assimilating new technologies, (iv) mastering technological know-how. 
Regional actions include audits of regional infrastructures to support 
innovation and technology transfer. Following the 1997 call for proposals 
about 90 regions have been participating in this scheme since 1995. Three 
main types of results are emerging from these projects : 
- boosting innovation finance capabilities in regions (e.g. Poitou-
Charentes, Hamburg, Wiener-Neustadt); 
- development (or reorganisation) of innovation support organisations, 
in particular technology centres, to better adapt them to SME needs 
(e.g. Highlands and Islands, Umbria, Extremadura); 
- improving links between vocational training and SMEs. 
Furthermore some of the participating regions are using the results of 
these audits to maximise the benefits of EU structural funds' interventions 
in order to strengthen a homogeneous regional economic and innovation 
policy (Limburg/NL, Halle/Leipzig/Dassau). 
Work programme in 1998 
Activities will focus on managing the projects selected in the previous 
years, the implementation of the continuation of CORDIS, the further 
development of the IPR and Innovation Financing Helpdesks for EU 
RTD-results, the preparation and launch of the horizontal programme on 
"Innovation and Participation of SMEs" under the 5th Framework 
Programme. The cycle of conferences on "Innovation, creation of new 
businesses and employment" which was started by the conference in Paris 
(December 1997), will be continued and involve major conferences in 
Luxembourg (May 1998) and Vienna (November 1998). The network of 52 
Innovation Relay 
Centres, during the first 
16 months of operation 
(i.e. from October '95 till 
February '97) was 
contacted more than 
120000 times for advice 
related to technology 
transfer and/or 
submission of proposals 
to EU programmes, 
performed 7500 audits 
for clients wishing to 
offer or requiring 
technology, negotiated 
1250 transnational 
technology transfer 
agreements of which 190 
were signed. In addition 
the IRCs contributed 
more than 2750 
proposals that were 
submitted for EU RTD 
programmes of which 
700 were accepted for 
funding. More 
importantly the trends in 
these numbers are 
increasing. 
The first nine venture 
capital funds selected 
under I-TEC will invest 
ECU 186 million of 
(private) venture capital 
for early stage 
technology investments 
in SMEs over the next 
three years. (For 
comparison, in 1996, 
ECU 441 million was 
invested in early stage 
projects in Europe by the 
venture capital profession 
as a whole (source: 
EFVA). 
63 
4TH ACTIVITY OF THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME 
STIMULATION OF THE TRAINING AND MOBILITY OF RESEARCHERS 
(TMR) 
Activities in 1997 
Implementation of the TMR programme and of the contracts still in 
progress under the Human Capital and Mobility (HCM) and Science 
programmes continued in 1997. 
Under the TMR programme, 1 190 contracts were concluded in 1997, of 
which 980 were for Marie Curie Fellowships, 64 for research networks, 
ten for concerted action on large-scale facilities and 136 for 
Euroconferences, summer schools and practical courses. Funding was 
also approved for 83 new research network projects. 
A more active approach was taken to apply the results of the TMR 
programme and of its predecessors - the HCM and Science programmes. 
Another major concern throughout the year were the preparations for the 
specific programme on improving the human research potential. 
The accompanying measures for this programme included, in particular, 
organisation of the 9th European contest for young scientists aged 
between 15 and 20 in Milan from 9 to 14 September, establishment of the 
Marie Curie Association to keep in touch with fellows and sound out their 
opinion on, for example, new Commission proposals, the study by the 
working party on industry on industrial participation in the programme 
and the call for proposals to study the role of women in research. 
Other action in the course of the year focused on the need to find 
appropriate solutions to the disparities in the treatment of researchers 
awarded Marie Curie grants by the Community. 
In 1997 big improvements were made in implementation of the 
programme, as confirmed in the 1997 report by the monitoring panel for 
the TMR programme. These included: 
• considerable shortening of the delays between submission of proposals 
and notification of the decision to the proposers and signature of the 
contracts; 
• the setting of annual objectives for all units in the programme 
concerning, in particular, processing of proposals, management of the 
evaluation panels and management of contracts; 
• tighter monitoring of contracts, particularly on-the-spot inspections; 
• wider public information on the programme, particularly via Internet; 
• improvements in the evaluation procedures, e.g. interdisciplinary 
approach and greater transparency on points awarded by the 
evaluators. Examples of results 
A young trainee 
researcher in one 
network developed 
instant teleportation of 
the quantum state of 
photons. This should 
allow consequent 
improvements in 
quantum computers. 
The NEUROS network 
is working on restoring 
the mobility of 
paraplegics with the aid 
of implants stimulating 
muscles. Six young 
trainee researchers in this 
network are each 
working in two different 
teams and cooperating 
with the industrial 
partner. 
One young grantholder 
was given an opportunity 
to continue his research 
on functioning of the 
brain during epileptic fits, 
particularly on the 
potential adverse side-
effects of long-term 
treatment with anti­
convulsives. The results 
hold out hope of 
improvements in the 
active agents in anti­
convulsives to reduce the 
adverse effects. 
64 
Contribution to Community RTD objectives 
The programme management measures adopted have significantly boosted 
industrial participation in the projects. Industrial participation in the 
"research networks" activity in particular has doubled since the first call 
for proposals published at the start of the programme and more than 
trebled compared with the Human Capital and Mobility programme. 
There are also plans, to introduce industrial fellowships in the 5th 
Framework Programme. 
Participation by entities from the less-favoured regions of the Community 
also increased, from its already high level. 
Employment: By the end of implementation of the TMR programme, 
grants equivalent to 5 600 researcher-years will have been granted plus a 
further 6 500 or so under the training and networks activities. Another 
point which must be stressed is that these grants boost the young 
researchers' chances of finding a stable job in the research sector at the 
end of their fellowship. 
Work programme for 1998 
Work on the TMR programme will continue in 1998, together with 
completion of the HCM and Science programmes. 
In the case of the individual grants, the programme introduced in 1997 for 
systematic monitoring of the contracts, under which 50% of the 
grantholders have been contacted, will be completed. 
The top priority for the activities on networks and large facilities will be 
to organise the mid-term evaluations of each contract by panels of 
independent experts. A conference will also be held on the networks 
activities to allow closer examination of the performance of a number of 
them. 
Amongst the accompanying measures, preparations will be made to award 
the first Descartes prize to a group of research teams from different 
Member States or associated countries which have made a substantial 
contribution to solving a scientific or technological problem with the aid 
of transfrontier cooperation and to individual researchers who have 
attained scientific success in a laboratory or university outside their 
country of origin. 
With a view to coordination with other training activities, the programme 
will continue to provide its input to the action plan on the Green Paper 
entitled "Education - Training - Research. The obstacles to transnational 
mobility." 
Finally, as recommended by the monitoring panel, a call for proposals will 
be published in 1998 to farm out to an outside agency some of the routine 
tasks entailed in processing proposals and managing the contracts for the 
proposals selected. And, of course, preparations for the Fifth Framework 
Programme will continue. 
65 One young Italian 
grantholder built an 
autonomous robot 
capable of learning 
simple tasks adapted to 
the real world. This 
project has been warmly 
welcomed. It won the 
Italian prize for artificial 
intelligence. The 
designer has been taken 
on as a researcher by his 
host institute. 
One young grantholder 
was able to take his 
research on 
superconductivity a stage 
further towards opening 
the way to transporting 
electric currents long 
distances. He focused in 
particular on adaptation 
of the materials to large-
scale applications, for 
example cables and 
transformers. Having 
met this challenge this 
researcher was offered a 
five-year post by his 
previous research 
institute. 
ipINT RESEARCH CENTRE (JRC) 
The Joint Research Centre is the European Union's scientific and 
technical research laboratory, with headquarters in Brussels. Five separate 
sites, located in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain, 
house seven research institutes, each with its own focus of expertise: 
Reference Materials and Measurements, Transuranium 'Elements, 
Advanced Materials, Systems, Informatics and Safety, Environment, 
Space Applications, and Prospective Technological Studies. 
Mission 
The JRC promotes and carries out customer-driven research of the 
highest quality and integrity in support of Community policies. It is an 
integral part of the Community RTD system. It executes research 
programmes funded from the Framework Programmes and engages itself 
in competitive activities, participating in joint projects with industry, 
research organisations and universities of the Member States. 
More than 2000 scientists, engineers and other professionals are employed 
on a full-time basis under different contractual arrangements: temporary 
researchers, grant holders, visiting scientists, industry or national 
government secondments, officials, etc. 
The overall credits committed in 1997 were of around ECU 291 million; 
of these, about ECU 246 million were funded by the Commission budget, 
about ECU 37 million came from diverse competitive activities and about 
ECU 8 million from specific funding to the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in 
Petten (NL). 
The year 1997 
1997 was a year of strong evolution towards the customer-driven 
approach undertaken in previous years. Some achievements of 1997 are 
highlighted in this report. In particular, an innovative form of radiotherapy 
was for the first time tested on patients suffering from brain cancer, and 
preliminary clinical trials have shown promising results in treating 
leukaemia with alpha-immunotherapy. 
A Technology Transfer Initiative was proposed, including collaborative 
agreements for sharing large installations, a capital fund, training and 
education initiatives, a telematics network for technology transfer, and 
procedures for bringing forward new technologies to production stage. 
Research activities 
The JRC research activities, as described by the Council, are those for 
which the JRC has expertise and special, if not unique facilities in the 
Community, and which contribute to the implementation of the research 
and technological development policy of the Community. 
These in-house research activities amounted to 65% of the JRC 
programme budget in 1997. As established by the Council Decisions, 
JRC research covered subjects such as advanced materials, surface 
engineering, non-destructive evaluation techniques for the inspection of 
industrial structural components, reference measurements and materials, 
the assessment of the reliability of buildings and civil engineering 
structures, the atmosphere, soil, water and waste pollution, the setting-up 
66 Examples of results 
Alpha-immunotherapy: 
An alpha-emitting radio­
isotope, bismuth-213, was 
prepared and adapted to a 
new kind of 
immunotherapy against 
cancer. It is a by-product 
of nuclear energy, derived 
from nuclear waste, and 
decays rapidly into a non­
radioactive substance. 
Early clinical trials carried 
out at the Memorial Sloan-
Kettering Cancer Center in 
New-York, USA, on 
leukaemia patients, 
showed for the first time 
that alpha-particle therapy 
could be feasible and safe. 
Standards and norms for 
materials: 
Standards and norms are 
of vital importance for 
industry, in particular 
when reliability and quality 
are at stake. The JRC has 
contributed to new 
standard test methods for 
mechanical performance 
assessment of technical 
ceramics and composites, 
thermo-mechanical fatigue, 
damage tolerance of 
ceramic composites and 
residual stress, and to the 
improvement of existing 
standards. JRC 
collaborates closely with 
CEN (Comité Européen de 
Normalisation), VAMAS 
(Versailles project on 
Advanced Materials and 
Standards) and ESIS 
(European Structural 
Integrity Society). 
of the Centre for Earth Observation (CEO), applications of remote 
sensing techniques; materials for clean technologies, standardisation of 
photovoltaic devices; the science and technology observatory function and 
prospective work in which the essential role of the JRC is to analyse, 
process and integrate factual information on technological trends for 
decision-makers; studies on reactor safety, nuclear safeguards, fissile 
materials management, safety of nuclear fuels, fundamental research into 
actinides, and support to the ITER project. 
Support activities 
The activities to support the services of the Commission accounted for 
35%> of the JRC programme budget in 1997. They were related to 
information technologies, environment and climate, agriculture and 
fisheries, targeted socio-economic research, and nuclear safety and 
safeguards. They correspond to activities which necessitate the neutrality 
of the JRC and respond to requirements arising from EU directives, 
decisions of the Commission and the Council, or obligations stemming 
from the Euratom Treaty. 
The support activities continued to be implemented in three main lines: 
The support to the environmental policy which accounted for 43% of 
the support budget, provided DG XI (Environment, Nuclear Safety and 
Civil Protection) with scientific and technical assistance for the 
implementation of the legislation on atmospheric pollution, chemical 
pollutants, chemical waste, water quality, industrial risks and nuclear 
safety. This is part of the 5th EC Action Programme on the Environment. 
The support to the common agricultural policy (DG VI), which 
accounted for 17% of the support budget, concentrated on applications of 
remote sensing for agricultural statistics, monitoring and control of the 
common agricultural policy and implementation of Community legislation 
and prevention of fraud, including the IDEA project for the electronic 
identification of animals. 
The support for nuclear safeguards (Euratom safeguards in support of 
DG XVII, Energy, IAEA safeguards support of DG I-External Relations) 
accounted for 28% of the support budget in areas such as training of 
inspectors, completion of the design phase of the on-site laboratories for 
safeguards analysis at the reprocessing plant at La Hague and Sellafield, 
and work on testing of safeguards equipment together with sealing and 
identification techniques. 
Competitive activities 
Competitive activities are becoming an integral part of the JRC corporate 
culture and a significant increase in revenue from new contracts has been 
accomplished in respect of the two previous years. Where its neutrality is 
not compromised, JRC develops competitive activities in order to enter 
new areas, diversify and strengthen its competences. 
Under the Community RTD Framework Programmes, the JRC 
participated in shared-cost action funded by other Community research 
programmes in association with partners from Member States, for a total 
contract value of ECU 15.5 million, and obtained contracts for a total 
value of ECU 18.5 million from the programme for competitive scientific Boron neutron capture 
therapy (BNCT) against 
malignant brain tumors: 
BNCT is an innovative 
form of radiotherapy 
which is being tested for 
the first time in Europe at 
the JRC's HFR reactor at 
Petten (Netherlands). This 
new therapy is only at the 
clinical trials stage (5 
patients have been treated 
with clinical tests that 
began in October 1997). 
These tests are also a first 
case of multi-national 
clinical application in 
Europe: patients from one 
country are treated in 
another country by 
physicians from a third 
country. 
Environmental sampling: 
The JRC is actively 
contributing to the EU 
policy to support and 
strengthen the 
International Atomic 
Energy Agency's activities 
in nuclear safeguards as a 
member of its network of 
laboratories for the 
analyses of environmental 
samples. JRC is also 
providing similar support 
to the Commission's 
Euratom Safeguards 
Directorate (ESD) in the 
area of high performance 
trace analysis. 
67 
and technical support activities described in the next section, in response 
to invitations to tender. 
Outside the Framework Programmes, the JRC obtained new contracts 
from third parties (mainly research services to industrial companies), for a 
total of ECU 11.1 million. It participated in various other Community 
activities that are put out to tender such as PHARE, TACIS and 
cooperation with developing countries for a total contracted value of 
ECU 6.1 million. 
High Flux Reactor (HFR) supplementary programme 
The HFR is operated by the JRC in Petten (Euratom/Netherlands 
agreement of 25 July 1961 and Council Decision of 27 June 1996 for a 
supplementary research programme covering 1996-1999). Besides its 
traditional work for the nuclear R&D and industry, a large part of HFR 
activities are dedicated to medical applications such as the implementation 
of Boron Neutron Capture Therapy (BNCT) and the production of 
medical radioisotopes for the European radio-pharmaceutical industry. 
Another significant achievement is the upgrading of a beam tube, used for 
the measurement of residual stress in materials by neutron diffraction. This 
technique is applicable to a wide range of components used in industrial 
plants, aeronautics, or the car industry. 
Communication, collaboration, publications and conferences 
The JRC promotes collaborative research and networks with partnerships 
from all the EU Member States and around the world. The JRC is 
involved in collaboration agreements with research organisations, 
universities, and private industries. It now has more than 1000 partners, 
out of which 875 are from the European Union. 
In 1997 the JRC published a total of 1 333 papers, the detailed list being 
published each year in the "Publications Bulletin". The latest issue, No 17 
of March 1997, lists all publications issued in 1996. 
In addition to publications, there were 23 patents granted in 1997, a 
considerable increase in comparison with previous years . 
Each year, the JRC organises a number of conferences, workshops and 
seminars at its five sites in Europe and information days in the Member 
States. The numerous visitors show the constant interest of the scientific 
community in the contributions made by the Joint Research Centre to 
research and development. Its achievements received considerable media 
attention during 1997. 
More detailed information can be found in the 1997 JRC Annual 
Report. 
Work programme for 1998 
1998 will be a most important year when, on the one hand, objectives set 
forth at the beginning of the Fourth Framework Programme will be 
accomplished and, on the other hand, the transition to the new priorities 
foreseen for the JRC activities in the Fifth Framework Programme needs 
to be initiated. The work programme of the JRC for 1998 was approved 
by the board of governors in December 1997. Safeguards plant at 
Obninsk: 
JRC, with the Institute for 
Physics and Power 
Engineering (IPPE) at 
Obninsk, Russia, has been 
given the task of designing 
and implementing the 
Safeguards 
Methodological and 
Training Centre in IPPE. 
The principal tasks of the 
Centre are the training of 
plant operators and of 
inspectors of the Russian 
authorities to help in the 
development and 
implementation of 
upgraded approaches for 
accounting and 
safeguarding fissile 
materials. The project is 
financed by the TACIS 
Programme to improve 
nuclear material 
accountancy and control in 
Russia. 
Technology transfer and 
intellectual property: 
mechanisms have been 
proposed for providing 
technology users across 
Europe with access to JRC 
facilities, results, 
intellectual property, 
expertise and know-how. 
They offer flexible options 
such as collaboration 
agreements and 
innovation-oriented 
actions. An effort was 
made in 1997 to increase 
the awareness of the JRC 
staff on intellectual 
property issues and patent 
coordinators were trained. 
68 
ANTI-PERSONNEL MINE DETECTION SYSTEM 
AND STRATEGIES 
JRC set up an outdoor test range for establishing 
standards to validate the performance of mine detection 
sensors (e.g. metal detectors, ground penetrating radars 
and thermal infrared sensors). The facility has been used 
by Various mine-detection sensor producers, and in 
feasibility studies of a multi-sensor system for anti­
personnel mine detection and identification. The 
standards obtained will be applied to subsequent tests, as 
well as to mine clearance projects suppoted by the 
European Commission in mine-infected countries. 
QUICK RESPONSE TO CONSUMER CONCERN: 
SAFETY OF EURO COINS 
In the field of heavy metal traces of environmental or 
biomedical relevance, analytical research was carried out 
on the release of nickel from euro coins. Concern had been 
raised by the European Bureau for Consumer Protection 
about the potential of nickel released from such coins to 
provoke allergies while being handled by consumers. The 
JRC carried out the necessary chemical reference 
measurements and found that the nickel released from the 
new euro was similar to that of many coins currently in 
circulation, and substantially lower than some of them. 
69 
COMPÉTITIVE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES 
Examples of results 
The TREES II project 
entered its third year in 
1997. The objective is to 
develop a prototype 
system for monitoring 
tropical rainforests 
worldwide. The Fourth RTD Framework Programme provided for a competitive 
approach for scientific and technical support to Community policies. 
These support activities come under a separate specific programme 
adopted by the Council on 15 December 1994 (Decision 94/918/EC). 
These activities cover the work carried out for the Commission's 
Directorates-General and which, since 1995, may be carried out either by 
a research organisation from a Member State or by the JRC (competitive 
approach), where the neutrality and independence of a Commission 
service is not required. 
These activities are implemented in two stages: 
« re-allocation on an annual basis of the appropriations available between 
the various Commission Directorates-General and services; 
• administration of these resources by each Directorate-General or 
service concerned. 
In order to guarantee appropriate transparency and satisfy the needs, the 
resources are allocated by an interdepartmental group representing all the 
Directorates-General and services concerned and convened and chaired by 
the Commission's Secretariat-General. It meets on an ad hoc basis, but at 
least twice a year. 
This group examines the needs identified by the Directorates-General. It 
analyses requests, verifies compatibility with the objectives of the 
Framework Programme and decides on an annual allocation within the 
limits of the available budget (budget heading B6-792). Account is also 
taken of any funding available from other programmes and scope for 
integration or convergence between several projects. 
The Directorates-General and services whose proposals are selected are 
responsible for managing the funds allocated. They bring into play 
competition between suppliers (which may include the JRC) in order to 
secure the best terms in the light of their requirements. The resources 
allocated are managed in accordance with the relevant rules in force, in 
particular the provisions of the financial regulation applicable to the 
general budget of the European Communities. 
From financial commitments totalling almost ECU 38 million available in 1997, the 16 spending 
departments funded 99 new or ongoing projects (one project may give rise to several contracts) 
totalling ECU 36 million, i.e. an implementation rate of 95%. 
A total of ECU 23.7 million was paid out for all the projects in progress in 1997 to research institutes, 
universities, bodies, other contract signatories and to the JRC, all selected on a competitive basis. 
Following the participation of two additional services in the activities covered by the budget heading in 
1997, three new services submitted requests for 1998. Altogether 20 Directorates-General and services 
will draw on the commitment and/or payment appropriations for competitive scientific and technical 
support activities in 1998. In the ECCAIRS-4 
project to improve safety 
by creating a new 
instrument for detecting 
safety deficiencies in civil 
aviation, a system for 
pooling data gathered at 
national level under the 
system for compulsory 
submission of incident 
reports by air operators 
has been developed and 
brought into service. 
70 
ANNEXII 
„Àm 
STATISTICAL AND FINANCIAL DATA; 1997A^tfALfiASis 
,,/' AND FRAMEWORK PKOGRAMMES 
Description of tables 72 
Table 1 EC FP4 + Euratom FP; EC FP2 + FP3 73 
Table 2 Specific programmes (EC FP4 + Euratom FP): all projects 
(contracts signed in 1997) 74 
Table 3A Specific programmes under EC FP3: all projects 
(contracts signed in 1997), all types of projects 75 
Table 3B Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP: all projects 
(contracts signed), all types of projects 76 
Table 4 Calls for proposals evaluated by the Commission in 1997 by specific 
programme under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 77 
Table 5A Breakdown of the Community contribution and number of participations by 
type of organisation: Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP; 
shared-cost actions (SCA): new projects (contracts signed in 1997) 81 
Table 5B Share (%) of the Community contribution and number of participations 
by type of organisation: Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP; 
shared-cost actions (SCA): new projects (contracts signed in 1997) 82 
Table 6 Access to European research for Objective 1 regions: specific programmes 
under EC FP4 + Euratom FP: shared-cost actions (SCA); new projects 
(contracts signed in 1997) 83 
Table 7 Intra-country and inter-country collaboration links, excluding international 
organisations: specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP: 
shared-cost actions; new projects (contracts signed in 1997) 84 
Table 8 1998 timetable for calls for proposals and the selection procedure; 
budget - specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 85 
Table 9 Funding of the 4th EC framework programme and of the Euratom 
framework programme (million ECU) (including decisions on 
enlargement and additional funding) 89 
Table 10 Development of Community research commitments - period 1984-1998 
(million ECU, current prices) 90 
Table 11 Development of Community research commitments - period 1984-1998 
(million ECU, 1992 prices) 91 
71 
DESCRIPTION OF TABLES 
Tables 1-8 provide an overview of Community RTD activities in 1997 under each 
specific programme in quantitative terms (number and nature of projects, number of 
participations, level of funding, etc.). The figures refer to all indirect activities under 
the third and fourth framework programmes for all projects. The figures relating to 
payments made are based on budgetary data (Sincom) and not on the contracts signed. 
The data take account of the participation of Member States and of countries having 
concluded specific agreements with the European Union: European Economic Area, 
and Israel. 
Tables 1 and 2 concern all shared-cost actions, special measures, concerted actions, 
and preparatory, accompanying and support measures. 
Tables 3A and 3B indicate the number of contracts signed and the associated 
Community contribution since the beginning of the 3rd and 4th framework 
programmes respectively. The number of projects under way and payments are also 
given: as in Table 1, payments are based on budgetary data (Sincom) and not on the 
contracts signed. 
Tables 5A-7 concern shared-cost actions only. 
Tables 5A and 5B indicate amounts and percentages respectively. 
Table 6 concerns access to research for Objective 1 regions, and indicates the number 
of projects and the associated Community contribution to which the Objective 1 
regions have access, and the number of participations from Objective 1 regions. 
Table 7 indicates the number of collaboration links between countries and between 
participants from the same country. It excludes international organisations, which 
generated a further 412 links. 
(To understand Tables 6 and 7, please read the footnotes carefully.) 
Tables 4 and 8 concern calls for proposals made in 1997 and 1998 respectively. They 
are not generated from a database, but are compiled on an ad hoc basis from the most 
exhaustive information available. 
Tables 9. 10 and 11 concern budgetary commitments. 
Table 9 concerns the funding of the fourth framework programme and takes account 
of enlargement and the additional funding. 
Tables 10 and 11 indicate the trend of Community research commitments in current 
prices and in 1992 prices respectively, in accordance with the Edinburgh summit, 
which covered the period 1992-1999. 
N.B. For the sake of simplicity, the programme on agriculture and fisheries, 
including agro-industry, food technologies, forestry, aquaculture and rural 
development, is sometimes referred to simply as the agriculture and 
fisheries programme. 
72 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 1: EC FP4 + Euratom FP; EC FP2 + FP3 
Shared cost actions (1) 
Concerted actions (1) 
Preparatory, accompanying 
and support measures (1) 
TOTAL (7) New projects 
(contracts signed (2) in 1997 - EC FP4 + Euratom FP) 
Community 
contribution 
(ECU million) 
(4) 
2209.11 
41.18 
354.32 
2604.61 Number of 
projects 
4072 
129 
2141 
6342 Number of 
participations 
17900 
1631 
4246 
23777 Average number of 
participations per 
project 
4.40 
12.64 
1.98 
3.75 Average number 
of MS per project 
(5) 
2.87 
7.79 
1.58 
2.56 Average 
Community 
contribution per 
project 
(ECU million) 
0.54 
0.32 
0.17 
0.41 AH projects under way (3) 
(EC FP2 + FP3 + FP4 + Euratom FP) 
Number of projects 
under way at 31.12.97 
(6) 
8064 
453 
2542 
11059 Total payments 
1997 
(ECU million) 
2109.67 
39.34 
338.47 
2487.48 
(1) Special measures are attached either to shared-cost actions, or to concerted actions, or to preparatory, accompanying and support measures, as appropriate. 
(2) Contracts signed in 1997, whether or not amended by supplementary contracts signed in 1997: see (7). 
(3) All signed contracts under way (completion date after 31.12.1997) for all specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP; EC FP2 + FP3. 
(4) Sum of the total Community contributions to all new projects, as stipulated in the contracts (i.e. for the entire duration of each project). 
(5) MS = Member States 
(6) Projects under way at 31.12.1997 = contracts and supplementary contracts signed before 1.1.1998 with a completion date for research work after 31.12.1997. 
(7) The 1 079 supplementary contracts signed in 1997, amending contracts originally signed in 1995 and 1996, accounted for a further ECU 381.29 million. 
Direct action - JRC : ECU 246.000 million in commitments 
73 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 2: Specific programmes EC FP4 + Euratom FP: 
AH projects (contracts signed in 1997) 
Names of specific programmes 
(EC FP4 + EURATOM FP) 
Telematics applications 
Communication technologies 
Information technologies 
Industrial and materials technologies 
Standards, measurements and testing 
Environment and climate 
Marine science and technology 
Biotechnology 
Biomcdicinc and health 
Agriculture and fisheries 
Non-nuclear energy 
Transport 
Targeted socio-economic research 
International cooperation (5) 
Dissemination and utilisation of the results (6) 
Training and mobility of researchers 
Nuclear fission safety 
Controlled thermonuclear fusion 
TOTAL (7) Total new projects (contracts signed (2) In 1997; EC FP4 + Euratom FP) 
Community 
contribution 
(ECU million) 
(3) 
102.79 
1.15 
520.77 
492.64 
43.10 
126.87 
50.03 
130.24 
92.01 
142.18 
251.71 
77.89 
38.83 
163.03 
72.5 
178.74 
4.24 
115.89 
2604.61 Number of 
projects 
102 
3 
734 
944 
182 
298 
92 
309 
212 
347 
492 
109 
108 
797 
202 
1193 
47 
171 
6342 Number of 
participations 
1107 
25 
2835 
4490 
828 
1203 
316 
878 
1229 
1674 
2097 
1010 
485 
2695 
822 
1725 
170 
188 
23777 Average number of 
participations per 
project 
10.85 
8.33 
3.86 
4.76 
4.55 
4.04 
3.43 
2.84 
5.80 
4.82 
4.26 
9.27 
4.49 
3.38 
4.07 
1.45 
3.62 
1.10 
3.75 Average number 
of MS per project 
(4) 
5.00 
4.00 
3.59 
2.69 
3.05 
2.69 
2.21 
2.89 
3.40 
4.82 
2.83 
5.18 
3.68 
1.60 
2.50 
1.28 
2.66 
1.09 
2.56 Average 
Community 
contribution per 
project (ECU 
million) 
1.01 
0.38 
0.71 
0.52 
0.24 
0.43 
0.54 
0.42 
0.43 
0.41 
0.51 
0.71 
0.36 
0.20 
0.36 
0.15 
0.09 
0.68 
0.41 Shared-cost 
actions ( 1 ) 
Community 
contribution 
(ECU million) 
79.31 
0.46 
355.39 
482.11 
39.67 
116.12 
47.03 
117.14 
79.14 
124.84 
238.35 
60.67 
37.06 
128.23 
19.45 
168.73 
0.99 
114.42 
2209.11 Average Community 
contribution per 
project 
1.09 
0.46 
1.36 
0.60 
0.29 
0.70 
1.09 
0.92 
0.62 
0.58 
0.72 
0.71 
0.57 
0.37 
0.18 
0.16 
0.33 
0.85 
0.54 Concerted 
actions (1) 
Community 
contribution (ECU 
million) 
0.20 
0.00 
0.63 
0.00 
0.20 
3.95 
0.20 
1.02 
11.59 
12.66 
0.00 
2.63 
0.00 
4.12 
0.00 
2.00 
1.98 
0.00 
41.18 Accompanying 
measures ( 1 ) 
Community 
contribution (ECU 
million) 
23.28 
0.69 
164.75 
10.53 
3.23 
6.80 
2.80 
12.08 
1.28 
4.68 
13.36 
14.59 
1.77 
30.68 
53.05 
8.01 
1.27 
1.47 
354.32 
(1) Special measures arc attached either to shared-cost actions, or to concerted actions, or to preparatory, accompanying and support measures, as appropriate. 
(2) Contracts signed in 1997, whether or not amended by supplementary contracts signed in 1997: see (7). 
(3) Sum of the total Community contributions to all new projects, as stipulated in the contracts (i.e. for the entire duration of each project). 
(4) MS = Member States 
(5) Horizontal international cooperation actions permitting certain non-member countries (e.g. those of Central and Eastern Europe) to participate in projects under specific programmes account for a further Community contribution of ECU 15.1 million. 
(6) "Special measures" (79 projects - ECU 49.45 million) designed to support the establishment of infrastructure and innovation support networks are attached to the "preparatory, accompanying and support measures". 
(7) The 1 079 supplementary contracts signed in 1997, amending contracts originally signed in 1995 and 1996, accounted for a further ECU 381.29 million. 
74 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 3A: Specific programmes under EC FP3: AH projects (contracts signed in 1997), 
all types of project 
Names of specific programmes under EC FP3 
Information technologies 
Communication technologies 
Telematics applications of common interest 
Industrial and materials technologies 
Measurements and testing 
Environment 
Marine science and technology 
Biotechnology 
Agriculture and agro-industrial research, fisheries 
Biomedicine and health 
Life sciences and technologies for developing countries 
Non-nuclear energy 
Nuclear fission safety 
Controlled thermonuclear fusion 
Human capital and mobility 
Centralized action for diffusion and utilization of results 
TOTAL Number of projects 
under way at 31.12.97 
(1) 
9 
0 
0 
48 
21 
5 
5 
0 
133 
14 
39 
5 
0 
8 
150 
6 
443 Overall number of 
projects (2) 
715 
123 
312 
1655 
202 
659 
145 
374 
578 
627 
355 
506 
125 
396 
3461 
207 
10440 Total payments 1997 
(ECU million) 
45.57 
17.36 
5.51 
55.05 
6.26 
14.97 
6.29 
14.81 
36.19 
13.37 
11.95 
10.72 
1.55 
7.80 
36.34 
1.08 
284.82 Overall Community 
contribution (ECU million) 
(3) 
1488.00 
521.60 
379.00 
761.42 
57.69 
305.72 
107.72 
174.77 
350.06 
144.26 
121.59 
242.14 
46.28 
465.94 
548.06 
60.76 
5775.01 
(1) Projects under way at 31.12.1997: contracts signed before 1.1.1998 with a completion date for research work after 31.12.1997. 
(2) Total number of projects since the beginning of the third framework programme, including those which have already been completed. 
(3) Overall Community contribution over the whole duration of the framework programme. 
N.B.: Data on the Thermie programme arc not included in this table, since up to 1994 Thermie was not covered by FP3. 
75 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 3B: Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP: All projects (contracts signed (1)) 
All types of project 
Names of specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
Telematics applications 
Communication technologies 
Information technologies 
Industrial and materials technologies 
Standards, measurements & testing 
Environment and climate 
Marine science and technology 
Biotechnology 
Biomedicine and health 
Agriculture and fisheries 
Non-nuclear energy 
Transport 
Targeted socio-economic research 
International cooperation 
Dissemination & utilization of the results 
Training and mobility of researchers 
Competitive S/T support 
Nuclear fission safety 
Controlled thermonuclear fusion 
TOTAL Number of projects under 
way at 31.12.97 
(2) 
420 
145 
1109 
1158 
290 
574 
145 
433 
487 
614 
1143 
218 
127 
846 
351 
2127 
215 
213 
10615 Overall number of 
projects (3) 
508 
154 
1762 
1802 
402 
790 
224 
739 
663 
940 
1371 
244 
160 
1756 
646 
3016 
251 
529 
15957 Total payments 1997 
(ECU million) 
189.7 
150.02 
380.71 
320.33 
30.91 
114.61 
51.03 
83.69 
83.11 
88.28 
155.07 
66.82 
23.28 
93.18 
51.70 
104.18 
18.96 
27.66 
154.41 
2187.65 Overall Community 
contribution (ECU million) 
(4) 
638.26 
477.80 
1400.77 
1127.98 
120.75 
380.97 
170.84 
424.12 
250.81 
445.37 
725.91 
224.17 
61.10 
297.36 
194.10 
556.73 
132.42 
• 547.00 
8176.45 
(1) Except where a specific programme provides otherwise, a project includes the initial and any supplementary contracts. 
(2) Projects under way at 31.12.1997: contracts signed before 1.1.1998 with a completion date for research work after 31.12.1997. 
(3) Total number of projects since the beginning of the fourth framework programme, including those which have already been completed. 
(4) Overall Community contribution over the whole duration of the framework programme (including supplementary contracts). 
7« 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 4 : Calls for proposals evaluated by the Commission in 1997 by specific programme under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
yy.i:::.y::::.X6*:y:$Z 
Telematics applications (excluding telematics engineering and support activities) 
Educational multimedia 
Integrated applications for digital sites 
Research networks 
fCOMMUNÏCATION TECHNOLOGIES (ACTS) 
INFORMATION TBCHNOLOGIRS («SHUT) 
Open microprocessor systems initiative - Technologies for business processes - Integration in manufacturing - IT for mobility • 
Electronic commerce 
Technologies for components and subsystems - Long-term research - High-performance computing and networking 
Software technologies: ESS I 
Software technologies - Multimedia systems - Long-term research - Open microprocessor systems initiative - Integration in 
manufacturing + satellite communications + information access - IT for learning and training in industry' 
Technologies for components and subsystems - Multimedia systems - Long-term research - High-performance computing and 
networking 
Accompanying measures and various tasks (open call), including measures for SMEs 
INDUSTRIAL AND MATERIALS TECHNOLOGIES (Btft* Em-am) 
Thematic networks 
Accompanying measures 
Intelligent manufacturing systems 
Technology stimulation actions for SMEs C381/22 (17/12/96) 
C381/18 (17/12/96) 
C3 81/20 (17/12/96) 
C84/5 (13/03/97) 
CI83/22 (17/06/97) 
C84/12 (15/03/97) 
CI83/06 (17/06/97) 
C280/09 (16/09/97) 
C357/07 (15/12/94) 
C381/19 (17/12/96) 
C357/03 (15/12/94) 
C357/03(15/12/94) 
CI 17/15 (15/04/97) 
C357/03 (15/12/94) 712 
Stage 1: 837 
Stage 2: 107 
Stage 1: 79 
Stage 2: 26 
Stage 1: 6 
Stage 2: 1 
193 
300 
157 
526 
698 
306 
605 
271 
1140 
156 
90 
1 
840 702 
805 
106 
76 
26 
6 
1 
193 
297 
144 
516 
654 
297 
598 
252 
1081 
156 
90 
1 
729 /& ' t?*X?J'l V 
246 
n/a(2) 
47 
n/a 
24 
n/a 
1 
117 
93 
13 
190 
74 
400 
86 
67 
1 
436 jp*fX»*tt 
35 
n/a 
44 
n/a 
92 
n/a 
100 
46 
27 
22 
32 
29 
37 
55 
74 
100 
60 163.7 
n/a 
22.1 
n/a 
50.8 
n/a 
8.6 
79.7 
124 4 
520 
25.2 
92 4 
7 8 
4.5 
702.5 
540 
22 
44 
74.6 
(1) Including the reserve list, where appropriate. 
(2) n/t: not applicable 
77 
RTD activities in 1997 
Tabic 4 (continued): Calls for proposals evaluated hv the Commission in 1997 hv specific programme under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
Names *f $p*et&c prograaimtt (EC ¥P* + I!wr*t»tt* Ft*) 
* *«4 »ro» ftfwfQrk programme 
STANDARDS, MEASUREMENT AND TESTING 
Measurements for quality European products, including written standards for industry 
Measurements for quality European products, including written standards for industry 
Research related to written standards and technical support to trade, measurements related to the needs of society 
Thematic networks (open call) 
Accompanying measures (open call) 
Technology stimulation actions for SMEs (open call) 
ENVIRONMENT AND CUMATE 
Research into the natural environment, environmental qualitv and global change - Environmental technologies - Space techniques 
applied to environmental monitoring and research (excluding Area 3 3 CEO) - Human dimension of environmental change 
ENRICH (European Network for Research in Global Change) in the fields of environment and climate, and marine science and 
technology 
First call 
Advanced study courses 
Space techniques applied to environmental monitoring and research (Area 3 3 Centre for Earth Obsenation) 
Space techniques applied to environmental monitoring and research (.Area 3 2) 
Technology stimulation actions for SMEs (open call): exploratory awards 
Cooperative research 
MARINE SCIKWfcAND TECHNO W>GY (MAST) 
Support initiatives 
Strategic marine research in coastal and shelf seas - Structure and dynamics of shelf ecosystems (.Area B 1 2) 
Advanced study courses 
Marine science (Area A 1 1 only) - Strategic marine research (excluding areas B 1 2 and B 2 1) - Marine technology (Area C 2 onlv) 
Supporting initiatives (Area D 3 only) 
Technology stimulation actions for SMEs (open call) Notice N« and QJf dates «f 
tattt 
far proposal* 
C171/24 (15/06/96) 
CI71/23 (15/06/96) 
C381/24 (17/12/96) 
C357/06 (15/12/94) 
CI48/06 (15/06/95) 
C357/06 (15/12/94) 
C271/18(17/09'96) 
C306.09 (15/10/96) 
C381/21 (17/12/96) 
C183'10(17/06'97) 
CI 83/11 (I706'97) 
C381/21 (17/12/96) 
C271/18 (17/09/96) 
C075/05 (15/03/96) 
CI 10/10 (16/04/96) 
C381/26 (17/12/96) 
CI 83/15 (17/06/96) 
CI 83/16 (17/06/97) 
C357/19 (11/06/97) Number of . 
proposals 
rwehrd 
129 
40 
31 
56 
100 
1182 
62 
40 
100 
23 
111 
9 
11 
26 
12 
37 
3 
14 Number of 
eligible 
proposal* 
104 
39 
31 
56 
86 
1177 
61 
40 
97 
23 
107 
9 
11 
26 
12 
32 
3 
14 Fropwa 
Nfanab«r 
47 
12 
17 
36 
39 
291 
20 
13 
7 
44 
9 
8 
5 
3 
7 
6 t» wkctai by the Commissiaa (t) 
44 of fofat eligible 
proposal* 
45 
55 
56 
55 
64 
45 
25 
33 
33 
26 
30 
41 
100 
73 
19 
25 
67 
43 EC tftftfributfon 
. (E€l? million} 
30,4 
7,7 
8,5 
2,6 
2,9 
3.1 
203,0 
2,0 
0,9 
18,7 
13,6 
1.8 
3.5 
5.3 
6,5 
0,2 
12,5 
0,9 
0,3 
(1) Including the reserve list, where appropriate 
78 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 4 : Calls for proposals evaluated by the Commission in 1997 by specific programme under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
(1) Including the reserve list, where appropriate Cell factories - Genome analysis - Plant biotechnology - Immunology and trans-disease vaccinology - Structural biology - Pre-
normative research - Biodiversity and social acceptance - Infrastructures - ELSA 
Training grants (open call) 
Training grants for advanced workshops (open call) 
Technology stimulation actions for SMEs (open call) 
BIOMEmCINE AND HEALTH (BJOMKD) *>.-*'.-.*.,*, 
Cancer research - Research on cardiovascular diseases - Research on chronic diseases, ageing and age-related diseases - Research on 
occupational and environmental health - Rare diseases - Public Health research, including health services research - Research on 
biomedical ethics - Horizontal activity: ethical, legal and social aspects - Horizontal activity: demonstration 
Joint call for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies 
Marie Curie research fellowships 
Technology stimulation actions for SMEs 
AcasueiJLTtjREANnns^^ , 
devriop*0eM)<FA!R) \*y''-- .-" 1**.'; /-
Scaling-up and processing methodologies - Generic science and advanced technologies for nutricious foods 
Integrated production and processing chains - Agriculture, forestry and rural development - Concertation activities 
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathies 
Mobility and training fellowships (open call) 
Technology stimulation actions for SMEs (open call) 
NON-NUCLEAR ENERGY #QU*JK*TTHERMIE} *V-.«-;\ /: >. ''""-
JOULE 
open call 
THERMIE type A: demonstration projects 
THERMTE type B: accompanying measures (open call) 
THERMIE type B: measures for SMEs C171/27 (15/06/96) 
C171/28 (15/06/96) 
C381/25 (17/12/96) 
C240/09 (15/09/95) 
C271/08 (17/09/96) 
CI 34/07 (29/04/97) 
C12/06 (17/01/95) 
CI2/06 (17/01/95) 
CI 71/14 (15/06/96) 
C381/19 (15/12/96) 
C381/17 (17/12/96) 
C357/10(15/12/94) 
C357/19 (15/12/94) 
C271/13 (17/09/96) 
CI 8/05 (17/01/97) 
C357/11(15/12/94) 
C271/13 (17/09/96) 
C357/11 (15/12/94) 
C357/11 (15/12/94) ^jtàmber*f , 
4 ,i\^êhf/'r'' 
391 
213 
3 
55 
1002 
39 
110 
98 
264 
631 
24 
272 
227 
250 
353 
2 
289 
403 
57 'NMmWo* , 
391 
213 
3 
55 
988 
39 
110 
95 
252 
627 
18 
272 
218 
241 
324 
2 
286 
401 
56 ProfH^wdc^ty^ 
107 
125 
1 
36 
195 
13 
36 
42 
76 
143 
8 
99 
109 
107 
124 
1 
175 
266 
27 %«ftB<*Ur#W< 
27 
59 
33 
65 
20 
33 
33 
44 
30 
23 
44 
36 
50 
44 
38 
50 
61 
66 
48 1 £c<*Wib<*fc>«, 
126 9 
90 
0.05 
1.4 
914 
13.0 
2.8 
56 
59.2 
103.3 
8.8 
8.5 
17.9 
97.0 
98.0 
0.4 
162.0 
27.3 
1.1 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 4 (continued): Calls for proposals evaluated by the Commission in 1997 by specific programme under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
(•) The call for proposals had two closing dates. This information concerns the last closing date. i.e. 13/9/96. 
(•*) The call was published in January 1995 for 2 years (réf. 95/C12 page 9 published on 17/1/95): this call concerns the extension for 2 years of the 52 centres selected in 1995. 
(1) Including the reserve list, where appropriate. 
80 Strategic research 
Hail transport 
Integrated transport chains 
Air transport 
Urban transport 
Water-borne transport 
Road transport 
Accompanying measures 
TARGETED SOCIOECONOMIC RESEARCH 
COPERNICUS 
Training (Fellowships Japan/Korea) 
Developing countries 
T*DWK*DmTiOJ«AW€»^^ 
European networks and services (*) 
Network of innovation relay centres (•*) 
Validation and technology transfer projects 
TRAINING AND MOBttJTY OF RESEARCHERS 
Access to large-scale facilities (concerted actions) 
Research networks 
Accompanying measures (Euroconferences, summer schools and practical training courses) 
Marie Curie training grants 
NUCLEARSAFETY , C381/10(17/12/96) 
C306/10 (15/10/96) 
Cl 17/14 (15/04/97) 
C38/08 (15/02/95) 
Cl 17/13 (15/04/97) 
C337/24 (15/12/95) 
C12/08 (17/01/95) 
C271/09 (17/09/96) 
C271/10 (17/09/96) 
C271/17 (17/09/96) 
C381/16 (17/12/96) 
C271/12 (17/09/96) 
C84/07 (15/03/97) 
C12/03 (17/01/95) 
C38/10(15/02/95) 
Corrigendum 
Cl2/03 (17/01/95) 
C38/10 (15/02/95) 
Corrigendum 28 
14 
29 
32 
43 
70 
51 
17 
308 
1298 
101 
1020 
82 
52 
314 
11 
1071 
166 
2192 
2124 
16 
50 24 
13 
24 
31 
41 
65 
51 
16 
301 
1248 
98 
790 
80 
52 
302 
10 
1067 
161 
2050 
1979 
16 
50 11 
7 
10 
11 
10 
29 
11 
2 
74 
304 
79 
236 
16 
52 
92 
10 
147 
68 
553 
511 
11 
26 46 
54 
42 
35 
24 
45 
22 
13 
25 
24 
81 
30 
20 
100 
30 
100 
14 
42 
27 
26 
69 
52 ^SCcMrtrifotton 
80 
4.3 
61 
80 
74 
15.8 
5.2 
2.5 
33.7 
690 
4.9 
117 
4.9 
23.7 
35.0 
20 
81 2 
38 
48.9 
446 
16 
30 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 5A: Breakdown of the Community contribution (in ECU million) and number of participations by type of organisation: 
Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
Shared-cost actions (SCA) (1): new projects (contracts signed (2) in 1997) 
(1) On account of their nature, some special measures are attached to the shared-cost actions. 
(2) Contacts signed in 1997. whether or not amended by supplementary contracts signed in 1997 contracts signed in 1995 and 1996 which have been amended by supplementary contracts signed in 1997 are not included 
(3) LE: Large enterprises. . 
(4) SME: enterprises which have fewer than 500 employees, not more than t third of whose capital is controlled by a large enterprise and with a turnover not exceeding ECU 38 million (ECU 50 million for information technologies) 
(5) REC: Research bodies (private/public/mixed), including the JRC. 
(6) EDU: Higher education institutes. 
(7) Other E1G, EEIG, non-pro6t-making bodies, etc. 
(8) Int. Org.: International organizations. 
(9) Third countries: countries not belonging to the European Union. 
81 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 5B: Share (%) of the Community contribution and of the participations bv type of organisation: 
Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
Shared-cost actions (SCA) (1): new projects (contracts signed (2) in 1997) 
Type »f organlsatUa 
Namef of specific programmes 
(EC FP4 + Euratom FP) 
Telematics application! 
Communication technologies 
Information technologie» 
Industrial and materials technologies 
Standards, measurements and testing 
Environment and climate 
Marine science and technology 
Biotechnology 
Biomedicine and health 
Agriculture and fisheries 
Non-nuclear energy 
Transport 
Targeted îocio-economic research 
International cooperation 
Dissemination and utilization of the results 
Training and mobility of researchers 
Nuclear fission safety 
Controlled thermonuclear fusion 
TOTAL RESEARCH European Union 
LE(3) 
Comm. 
contrlb. 
1364 
n/a 
47.12 
31.98 
14.57 
1.58 
3 19 
431 
2.73 
4.21 
35.14 
21 19 
000 
073 
8.79 
232 
13 13 
1 98 
2081 Participations 
11.06 
n/a 
37.33 
21.76 
13.04 
1.57 
3 11 
694 
3.44 
5.91 
20.33 
20.29 
000 
1 29 
6.77 
2.02 
1333 
265 
13.47 SME(4) 
Comm. 
contrlb. 
2555 
n/a 
19.44 
2199 
24.80 
7.31 
1484 
866 
8 10 
9.78 
29 19 
3030 
1.43 
206 
31.67 
1.50 
29.29 
246 
15 96 Participations 
23.69 
n/a 
24.10 
40.77 
29.60 
8 18 
2023 
19.61 
15.99 
31.78 
37.70 
2888 
1 58 
292 
46.28 
1 48 
23.33 
2.65 
24.24 REC(5) 
Coram, 
contrlb. 
9.72 
n/a 
1351 
1838 
35.80 
4079 
2885 
32.34 
25.55 
35.59 
11.31 
1855 
2267 
16.00 
961 
2555 
48 48 
32 58 
21.37 Participations 
8 04 
n/a 
11.53 
15.53 
35.72 
39.03 
28.79 
27.45 
23.92 
26.36 
1462 
13.72 
20.59 
15.21 
11.74 
2468 
53.33 
63 58 
19.57 EDU(6) 
Comm. 
contrlb. 
23.82 
n/a 
13.49 
23.96 
2201 
4448 
48.73 
49 60 
5560 
46.51 
11.72 
1781 
6632 
27.72 
11.31 
67.09 
909 
0.28 
29 00 Participations 
22.35 
n/a 
14.15 
17.24 
14.47 
3935 
38.52 
37.86 
47.53 
30.43 
12.74 
16.35 
63.57 
23.93 
13.77 
6685 
1000 
5.96 
26.69 Other (7) 
Comm. 
contrlb. 
22.30 
n/a 
4.10 
209 
2 19 
0.92 
0.55 
1 13 
494 
2.19 
9.21 
840 
4 43 
087 
36.40 
0.16 
0.00 
6.32 
439 Participations 
27.26 
n/a 
7.33 
1.75 
326 
1 89 
1 95 
181 
4 19 
1.84 
890 
10 86 
769 
1 34 
17.16 
0.20 
0.00 
20.53 
5.16 Int. Org. (8) 
Comm. 
contrlb. 
1.03 
n/a 
009 
0.04 
0.28 
0.46 
0.00 
2.39 
0.91 
0.14 
0.00 
0.51 
038 
0.21 
0.46 
1.62 
0.00 
55.86 
3.31 Participations 
1.56 
n/a 
0.07 
. 0.02 
0 13 
0 84 
0.00 
1.36 
0.60 
0.10 
0.00 
0 84 
023 
0.30 
1.13 
1.61 
0.00 
1.32 Third countries (9) 
Coram, 
contrlb. 
3.94 
n/a 
2.24 
1.56 
035 
4.46 
383 
1.57 
2.17 
1 59 
. 3.42 
3.26 
4.78 
52.42 
1.75 
1.77 
0.00 
0.52 
0.47 5.18 Participations 
603 
n/a 
5.50 
2.93 
3.78 
9.13 
7.39 
498 
4.33 
359 
5.72 
9.07 
633 
5500 
3.16 
3 16 
0.00 
331 
10.38 Total 
Coram, 
contrlb. 
100.00 
n/a 
100.00 
100 00 
100.00 
100.00 
100 00 
100 00 
100 00 
100.00 
100.00 
100 00 
100 00 
100 00 
100.00 
10000 
100.00 
100.00 
100 00 Participations 
100 
n/a 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
100 
( 1 ) On account of their nature, some special measures are attached to the shared-cost actions. 
(2) Contracts signed in 1997, whether or not amended by supplementary contracts signed in 1997: contracts signed in 1995 and 1996 which have been amended by supplementary contracts signed in 1997 are not included 
(3) LE: Large enterprises 
(4) SME enterprises which have fewer than 500 employees, not more than a third of whose capital is controlled by a large enterprise and with a turnover not exceeding ECU 38 million (ECU 50 million for information technologies). 
(5) REC: Research bodies (private/public/mixed), including the JRC. 
(6) EDU Higher education institutes. 
(7) Other. E1G, EEIG, non-profit-making bodies, etc. 
(8) Int. Org : International organizations. 
19) Third countries: countries not belonging to the European Union. 
8? 
RTD activities in 1997 
Table 6: Access to European research for Objective 1 regions: 
Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
Shared-cost actions (SCA) (1); New Projects (contracts signed (2) in 1997) 
Names of specific programmes 
(EC FP4 + Euratom FP) 
Telematics applications 
Communication technologies 
Information technologies 
Industrial and materials technologies 
Standards, measurements and testing 
Environment and climate 
Marine science and technology 
Biotechnology 
Biomedicine and health 
Agriculture and fisheries (DG VI and XII) 
Non-nuclear energy 
Transport 
Targeted socio-economic research 
International cooperation 
Dissemination and utilization of the results 
Training and mobility of researchers 
Nuclear fission safety 
Controlled thermonuclear fusion 
TOTAL DISTRIBUTED 
TOTAL RESEARCH Number of projects (3) 
Total 
73 
1 
262 
801 
136 
165 
43 
128 
128 
(165) 214 
329 
85 
65 
351 
107 
1047 
3 
134 
4.022 
4.072 Objectiye 1 
35 
n/a 
115 
319 
48 
75 
27 
57 
40 
(56) 
121 
51 
46 
88 
49 
170 
1 
4 
1302 Number of participations (4) 
Total 
895 
7 
1527 
4339 
767 
953 
257 
663 
669 
(824) 1032 
1382 
838 
442 
2018 
443 
1487 
30 
151 
17.685 
17.900 Objectiye 1 
122 
n/a 
178 
588 
70 
113 
53 
66 
46 
(83) 
175 
96 
75 
284 
79 
203 
1 
6 
2238 Total Community contribution to the 
projects (ECU million) (5) 
Total 
79,31 
0,46 
355,39 
482,11 
39,67 
116,12 
47,03 
117,14 
79,14 
(101,79) 124,84 
238,35 
60,67 
37,06 
128,23 
19,45 
168,73 
0,99 
1 14,42 
2185,60 
2.209,11 Objectiye 1 
41,01 
n/a 
182,68 
283,21 
20,04 
55,84 
33,88 
61,43 
28,88 
(44,71) 
90,87 
36,75 
27,39 
33,96 
7,50 
77,54 
0,20 
0,13 
1026,02 
(l)On account of their nature, some special measures are attached to the shared-cost actions. 
(2) Contracts signed in 1997, whether or not amended by supplementary contracts signed in 1997: contracts signed in 1995 and 1996 which have been amended by supplementary contracts signed in 1997 are not included. 
(3) Total number of projects, and number of projects with at least one participant based in an "Objective 1" region. 
(4) Total number of participations, and number of participations by participants based in "Objective 1" regions. 
(5) Total Community contribution to all projects, and to projects with at least one participant in an "Objective 1" region. 
83 
RTD Activities in 1997 
Table 7: Intra-countrv and inter-countrv collaboration links (3), excluding international organisations (4): 
Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
Shared-cost actions (SCA) (1); New projects (contracts signed in 1997 (2)) 
Melgnim 
Denmark 
i iennany 
Greece 
Spain 
Trance 
Ireland 
Italy 
Luxembourg 
Netherlands 
Austna 
Portugal 
Finland 
Sweden 
United Kingdom 
Total F.IK 15 
Liechtenstein 
Iceland 
Norway 
Israel 
Switzerland 
Rest of the world 
CRANDTOTAL Belgium 
313 
150 
"6-1 
ri 
330 
839 
96 
-139 
35 
•183 
123 
141 
184 
269 
871 
5.208 
5 
10 
105 
25 
66 
269 
5.688 Denmark 
150 
186 
51 -
116 
219 
366 
"1 
307 
14 
272 
106 
85 
155 
252 
616 
3.432 
3 
15 
177 
15 
54 
113 
3.809 Germany 
"64 
517 
1 83-
520 
1.087 
2.504 
241 
1.769 
49 
1.3-6 
506 
349 
5-4 
938 
2958 
15.989 
5 
26 
418 
80 
332 
652 
17.508 Greece 
171 
116 
520 
220 
324 
489 
61 
508 
15 
240 
96 
165 
140 
139 
676 
3.880 
2 
13 
122 
18 
49 
226 
4.J10 Spain 
330 
219 
1 OR-
324 
-01 
987 
130 
1.105 
13 
446 
143 
437 
214 
480 
1.479 
8.095 
3 
20 
149 
26 
75 
206 
8.574 France 
839 
366 
2.504 
189 
987 
1 543 
224 
1 644 
39 
998 
219 
351 
307 
6"0 
2.603 
13.783 
3 
17 
2 75 
83 
237 
615 
15.013 Ireland 
96 
71 
241 
61 
130 
224 
45 
168 
4 
120 
54 
62 
47 
114 
430 
1.867 
0 
8 
66 
10 
22 
67 
2.040 Italy 
439 
307 
1"69 
508 
1.105 
1 644 
168 
927 
24 
643 
238 
336 
274 
517 
1-66 
10.665 
5 
10 
1"3 
52 
150 
427 
11.482 Luxemb. 
35 
14 
49 
15 
13 
39 
4 
24 
4 
9 
14 
9 
7 
1" 
34 
287 
0 
1 
23 
0 
8 
7 
326 Netherlands 
481 
2~2 
1 Vf 
240 
446 
998 
120 
643 
9 
606 
183 
l~6 
276 
414 
1 448 
7.690 
1 
28 
212 
38 
120 
295 
8.J84 Austria 
123 
106 
506 
96 
143 
219 
54 
238 
14 
183 
13' 
'O 
90 
128 
311 
2.418 
2 
10 
45 
6 
62 
98 
2.641 Portugal 
141 
85 
349 
165 
437 
351 
62 
336 
9 
176 
"0 
211 
105 
124 
535 
J. 156 
1 
16 
79 
10 
42 
131 
3.435 Finland 
184 
155 
5-4 
140 
214 
307 
47 
2 ".I 
-
2"ti 
90 
105 
244 
281 
581 
3.479 
1 
II 
145 
3 
43 
164 
J.846 Sweden 
269 
252 
938 
139 
480 
6"0 
114 
M" 
P 
414 
128 
121 
281 
404 
1.155 
5.902 
3 
31 
216 
14 
81 
175 
6.422 United 
Kingdom 
871 
616 
2 958 
676 
1.479 
2*03 
430 
1 766 
34 
1 448 
311 
535 
581 
1.155 
2.132 
17.595 
5 
34 
583 
67 
266 
786 
19.336 TOTAL 
EUR IS 
5.208 
3.432 
15.989 
3.880 
8.095 
13.783 
1.867 
10.665 
287 
7.690 
2.418 
3.156 
3.479 
5.902 
17.595 
56.478 
39 
250 
2.788 
453 
1.607 
4.231 Liechtena 
5 
3 
5 
2 
3 
3 
0 
5 
0 
1 
2 
1 
1 
3 
5 
39 
0 
0 
1 
0 
0 
1 
« Iceland 
10 
15 
26 
13 
20 
1" 
8 
10 
1 
28 
10 
16 
II 
31 
34 
250 
0 
16 
23 
0 
4 
3 
296 Norway 
105 
177 
418 
122 
149 
775 
66 
173 
23 
212 
45 
79 
145 
216 
583 
2.788 
1 
23 
193 
4 
23 
56 
3.088 Israel 
25 
15 
86 
18 
26 
83 
10 
52 
0 
38 
6 
10 
3 
14 
67 
453 
0 
0 
4 
22 
9 
31 
5,9 Switzerland 
66 
54 
332 
49 
75 
237 
22 
150 
8 
120 
62 
42 
43 
81 
266 
1.607 
0 
4 
23 
9 
33 
33 
1.709 Rest of (he 
world 
269 
113 
652 
226 
206 
615 
67 
427 
7 
295 
98 
131 
164 
175 
786 
4.231 
1 
3 
56 
31 
33 
3.015 
7.370 TOTAL 
5.688 
3.809 
17.508 
4.310 
8.574 
15.013 
2.040 
11.482 
J26 
8.384 
2.641 
J.435 
J.846 
6.422 
19.336 
41 
296 
3.088 
519 
1.709 
7J70 
65.846 
. 11 (lii ictout* of their nature, some special measures are attached to the shared-cost actions 
1: 1 Contract! signed in 199? not amended by supplementary conlracti signed in 1997: contracts signed in 1995 and 1996 which have been amended by supplementary contracts signed in 199" are not included 
11 A collaboration lirak between : participant! from the same country is counted once only A collaboration link between 2 different countries is counted twice, once for each country. 
Coinllng each Intra EU Snk once only gives a total of 5* i"S Bnks for the whole of the European Union (the bolts between the thick ane and the EUR IS lane). 
Cowling each Intra EEA Ink once only gives a total or 59 "88 links for the whole or the European Economic Area (the botes below the thick fete for members of the EEA). 
t'ouifing each tntra Ft! and extra. TU Ink once only g Kes a total or 65 846 inks bill countries (»B boles below the thick fete), 
i 11 Tli« JKt'uf (?>. tables SA and .Mil is included under the address of thecerrtrc carrying out Ihe research, as the host Member Slate benefits indirectly from hosting the JRC caifrc. 
Miiitha 421 IOIIIIMMXIOTI I,,*, with internal ioml organisations (Kll oilier thai the JRC (links between two Ids or between an l(> and a country) are not included in this table 
84 
RTD activities in 1998 
Table 8 : 1998 timetable for calls for proposals and the selection procedure; Budget 
Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
Telematics applications j.1fe>% ^~>?r-.^a 
Communication technologies (ACIS)-v*y**>t:. 
Infomatkm techiwlog^ .^--ft*»!^^ 
Call in 1 stage in the following fields: technologies for components and subsystems (TCS), high 
performance computing and networking (HPCN), integration in manufacturing (IiM) 
Industrial and materials technologies(Brit^uRam) 
Thematic networks (9th series, exploratory stage and implementation stage) 
Technology stimulation action's for SME (10th series, cooperative research) 
Technology stimulation actions for SME (11th series, cooperative research) 
Accompanying measures 
Standards, measurements and testing 
Call for research related to written standards and technical support to trade; measurements 
related to the needs of society 
6th targeted call (CEN, ETSI, CENELEC) for support for Union policies 
Open call for thematic network projects 
Accompanying, preparatory and support measures 
Technology stimulation actions for SME (cooperative research) 17/3/98 
C82 
15/12/94 
C357 
15/12/94 
C357 
15/12/94 
C357 
15/12/94 
C357 
17/06/1997 
C183 
17/06/1997 
C183 
15/12/94 
C357 
15/06/95 
C148 
15/12/94 
C357 UL4t #4?'*4y WiFK^fefW*?-^- Ufa 
Dd^ftnes/datesforj 
30-Jun-98 
31-Dec-97 
31-Dec-97 
30-Apr-98 
20-May-98 
27-Nov-97 
27-NOV-97 
17-Dec-97 
23-Jan-98 
30-Jul-98 
11-Dec-97 
08-Apr-98 Juty-September 
February 
January 
May 
In 1998 
January-February 
January-February 
January-February 
January-February 
September 
January 
May September-October 
April 
February 
June 
In 1998 
May-June 
May-June 
May-June 
May-June 
October-November 
April-May 
September-October September 
June 
April 
September 
In 1998 
July 
July 
July 
July 
November 
June 
October ^Toblî998 Budget 
{BCUmfltfon) I 
32.4 
12.0 
320 
700 
300 
13.5 
50 
30 
1.7 
7.3 
RTD activities in 1998 
Table 8 (continued) : 1998 timetable for calls for proposals and the selection procedure: Budget 
Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
86 ENRICH (European Network for Research in Global Change) in the fields of the environment, 
climate, and marine science and technology 
Water use and water management in the fields of the industrial and materials technologies 
programme and the environment and climate programme 
Advanced study courses 
Training grants 
Technology stimulation actions for SME (cooperative research) 
Marine science and technology (MAST) 
Supporting initiatives 
Training grants 
Biotechnology. 
Cell factories; genome analysis; plant biotechnology, cell communication in neurosciences; 
immunology and trans-disease vaccinology, structural biology; prc-normative research, 
biodiversity and social acceptance; infrastructures; ELSA 
Joint call for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies 
Biontedicine and health (BIOMED) 
Joint call for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies 
Technology stimulation actions for SME (cooperative research projects) 
Marie Curie research fellowships 
Technology stimulation actions for SME (cooperative research projects) D*<*» and 0J reference* 
«fddb lor jpjroj>o»«l« (ot 
16/9/97 
C280 
31/10/97 
C329 
31/10/97 
C381 
15/12/95 
C337 
31/10/97 
C271 
17/06/97 
C183 
17/12/96 
C381 
17/06/1997 
C183 
29/04/1997 
C134 
29/04/1997 
C134 
17/01/95 
C12 
17/01/95 
C12 
29/04/1997 
C134 ; D^adtlii^dates for-, 
•'iipcttol'^pro^ : 
16-Dec-97 
02-Feb-98 
16-Mar-98 
20/03/98 
August 98 
01-Apr-98 
12-Jun-98 
20-Aug-98 
15-Oct-97 
30-Jul-97 
15-Jul-97 
January 
31-Dec-97 
April Vkyaiuation^ 
February-June 
March-June 
March-July 
April-September 
February 
June-July 
September 
November-March 
July-February 
July 
January 
May 
May l?u«3£»^BssntsaKj93KW3sV 
July-September 
July-October 
August-November 
June-November 
June 
September- October 
October-November. 
May-September 
March 
March-April 
May-June 
June-July 
September Anticipated date of 
^fe'^i^tracte ^-Jl 
7wls^s^^^>J i^Jb^' !H".SA %v #" 
July 
September 
December 
June-November 
July 
December 
December 
July 
April 
May-June 
September 
October 
November-December total 1998 Budget 
1.8 
100 
0.8 
38 
26 
09 
02 
1379 
66 
120 
2.1 
5.5 
RTD activities in 1998 
Table 8 (continued) : 1998 timetable for calls for proposals and the selection procedure; Budget 
Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
Agriculture and Fisheries(FAIIQ;^:^^^:V^&v^?ie;:n^-fW§r 'ï-ïïW'<"'r^ ••'•:'•*:^ • ?* 
Generic science and advanced technologies for nutritious foods, agriculture, forestry and rural 
development, fisheries and fish-farming 
Technology stimulation actions for SME (exploratory awards); open call for cooperative 
research 
Call for transmissible spongiform encephalopathies 
Marie Curie research fellowships 
Non-nuclear energy (JOULE-THERMIE) 
JOULE: technology stimulation actions for SME (exploratory awards restricted to cooperative 
research projects) 
JOULE: training grants 
THERMIE: preparatory, accompanying and support measures (development and 
implementation of specific energy RTD strategies; dissemination of energy technologies; 
concerted actions and concerted networks; measures for SME) 
THERMIE: Demonstration projects in the fields of the rational use of energy, renewable 
sources of energy, and fossil fuels 
Transport 
Air transport, road transport, measures to consolidate the results of transport research under 
the 4th FP, measures/studies targeted on policy issues, tasks preparing for future activities in 
the field of transport research 
Intermodal transport: demonstration projects in the field of freight and passenger transport —,oiintfèr«wf)J 
15/10/97 
C313 
15/12/94 
C357 
17/03/1998 
C134 
15/12/94 
C357 
15/12/94 
C357 
15/6/96 
C171 
15/12/94 
C357 
16/9/97 
C280 
16/12/97 
C381 
16/12/97 
C381 16-Jan-98 
15-Dec-97 
08-Apr-98 
17-Jun-98 
15-Dec-97 
08-Apr-98 
01-Jul-98 
17-Dec-97 
30-Jan-98 
16-Mar-98 
16-Mar-98 > v „i </ |r;\.'« 
Anticipated dète of *&&§/' 
f^I^'Budget 
ÎCUBuTïion) 
March-June 
January-March 
May-June 
June-September 
February-April June-November 
April-July 
July-November 
September-
November 
May-June September 
June 
October 
November 
June 
May 
Jury 
January-February 
February-March September 
October 
M ay-June 
May-June December 
January 
September 
September 
April 
April July-December 
July-December September 
September 160.0 
7.0 
10.0 
27 
2.5 
08 
140 
960 
120 
120 
R7 
RTD activities in 1998 
Table 8 (continued) : 1998 timetable for calls for proposals and the selection procedure; Budget 
Specific programmes under EC FP4 + Euratom FP 
WkM *t«» fori mm T>p! 3998 Budget 
41 m$*? 
Targeted aocio^ècwio^ "'•*-' /<¥-••?": 
Science and technology policy options, research on education and training, research on 
integration and social exclusion (certain sub-areas only) 16/9/97 
C280 15-Jan-98 January-May' June-September September 300 
International cooperation (INCO) \ -, , ir ,.+ J ~. ' _ : ! "*-
INCO-COPERNÏCUS: cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the 
newly independent States (DGs III, XII, XIII, XVII) 15/04/97 10-Oct-97 November March June 7.3 
Dissemination and optimisation of the results (INNOVATION) 
Validation and technology transfer projects 
European networks and services 
Regional measures 17/6/97 
C183 
16/9/97 
C280 
16/9/97 
C280 06-Oct-97 
15-Dec-97 
15-Dec-97 January 
January-March 
January February-March 
April-M ay 
April-May April 
May 
May 180 
55 
11.5 
Training and mobility of researchers 
Access to large-scale facilities 
Accompanying measures (Euroconferences, summer schools, training courses) 
Accompanying measures (Euroconferences, summer schools, training courses) 
Training through research 
Nuckar fission safety 
Concerted actions 15/03/1997 
C84 
17/6/97 
C183 
16/12/97 
C381 
16/9/97 
C280 16-Jun-97 
30-Sep-97 
31-Mar-98 
15-Dec-97 Jury-August 97 
October-March 
April-September 
February-M arch January-March March 
March 
September 
June 
17/1/95 
C12 01-Nov-97 December-March 
98 April-June 98 Jul-98 400 
48 
48 
540 
30 
88 
Table 9: Funding of the Fourth EC Framework Programme and 
of the Euratom Framework Programme (ECU million) 
(including decisions on enlargement and additional funding) 
* 
FIRST ACTIVITY 
Research, technological development 
and demonstration activities 
Information and communication 
technologies 
1. Telematics applications 
2. Communications technologies 
3. Information technologies 
Industrial technologies 
4. Industrial and materials technologies 
5. Measurement and testing 
Environment 
6. Environment and climate 
7. Marine science and technology 
Life sciences and technologies 
8. Biotechnology 
9. Biomedicine and health 
10. Agriculture and fisheries 
Energy 
11. Non-nuclear energy 
12. Nuclear fission safety 
13. Controlled thermonuclear fusion 
14. Transport 
15. Targeted socio-economic research 
SECOND ACTIVITY 
Cooperation with third countries and 
international organisations 
THIRD ACTIVITY 
Dissemination and utilisation of results 
FOURTH ACTIVITY 
Stimulation of the training and mobility 
of researchers 
TOTAL 
MAXIMUM OVERALL AMOUNT Fourth Framework Programme 
Decisions 1110/94/EC,616/96/EC 
2535/97/EC 
Indirect actions 
9425 
3 646 
913 
671 
2 062 
1921 
1737 
184 
816.5 
573.5 
243 
1627.5 
595.5 
374 
658 
1039 
1039 
263 
112 
575 
312 
792 
11104 JRC 
639 
11.5 
11.5 
208.5 
96 
112.5 
313 
313 
50 
50 
21 
21 
35 
639 Support for DGs 
96 
10.5 
10.5 
10.5 
10.5 
27.5 
27.5 
31.5 
31.5 
16 
16 
40 
136 
11879 Euratom Framework 
Programme 
Decisions 94/268, 
96/253/Euratom 
Indirect 
actions 
1 016,5 
170.5 
846 
1 016,5 JRC 
319.5 
270.5 
49 
319.5 
1336 TOTAL 
913 
671 
2084 
1833 
307 
914 
243 
595.5 
374 
739.5 
1076 
441 
895 3668 
2140 
1157 
1709 
2412 
263 
147 
575 
352 
792 
13215 
89 
Table 10: Development of Community research commitments 
Period 1984 - 1998 
(ECU million, current prices) 
Situation at 01.05.98 
YEARS 
1984-87 FP 
1987-91 FP 
1990-94 FP 
90-94 FP additional funding 
1994-98 FP(») 
RTD PROGRAMMES 
APAS 
RTD+APAS 
SPRINT 
ECSC 
80% of THERMIE 
Total for ail research ( 1 ) 1984 
593.0 
593.0 
593.0 
593.0 1985 
735.0 
735.0 
735.0 
735.0 1986 
874.0 
874.0 
874.0 
874.0 1987 
701.8 
188.1 
889.9 
49.4 
939.3 
939.3 1988 
260.8 
810.6 
1071.4 
56.6 
1128.0 
1128.0 
4269.3 i.e. 2.42% of the budget 1989 
101.1 
1241.3 
1342.4 
69.8 
1412.2 
1412.2 1990 
4.9 
1596.9 
1601.8 
113.1 
1714.9 
16.0 
17.5 
36.0 
1784.4 1991 
1270.7 
296.0 
1566.7 
168.8 
1735.5 
16.0 
17.5 
118.4 
1887.4 
7151 i.e. 3.18% of the budget 
1 1992 
230.9 
2160.5 
2391.4 
308.4 
2699.8 
17.0 
17.5 
128.9 
2863.2 1993 
14.8 
1929.5 
150.0 
2094.3 
440.2 
2534.5 
17.5 
139.2 
2691.2 1994 
3.9 
' 1264.7 
750.0 
0.0 
2018.6 
571.8 
2590.4 
17.5 
145.6 
2753.5 
11980 i.e. 4.05% of the budget 1995 
0.2 
1.0 
3017.5 
3018.7 
2.1 
3020.8 
3020.8 1996 
* 
3201.5 
3201.5 
3201.5 
3201.5 1997 
3485.4 
3485.4 
3485.4 
3485.4 1998 (2) 
3491.0 
3491.0 
3491.0 
3491.0 
| 15952 i.e. 3.98% of the budget TOTAL 
3270.6 
5357.4 
5651.7 
900.0 
13195.4 
28375.1 
1780.2 
30155.3 
49.0 
87.5 
568.1 
30859.9 
EC budget (current prices) 
Total research as % of budget 28905 
2.1 29925 
2.5 35842 
2.4 38392 
2.4 43080 
2.6 42569 
3.3 45057 
4.0 56111 
3.4 61232 
4.7 67760 
4.0 65929 
4.2 75355 
4.0 82125 
3.9 87651 
4.0 89503 
3.9 
(*) The amounts of the 1994-1998 FP are those adopted following EU enlargement. 
(1) RTD + THERMIE + ECSC + SPRINT + APAS. 
(2) Budget for 1998. 
90 
Table 11: Development of Community research commitments 
Period 1984 - 1998 
(ECU million - 1992 prices) Situational 01.05.98 
YEARS 
1984-87 FP 
1987-91 FP 
1990-94 FP 
90-94 FP additional funding 
1994-98 FP(») 
RTD PROGRAMMES 
APAS 
RTD+APAS 
SPRINT 
ECSC 
80% of THERMIE 
Total for all research (1) 1984 
848.4 
848.4 
848.4 
848.4 1985 
991.9 
991.9 
991.9 
991.9 1986 
1139.5 
1139.5 
1139.5 
1139.5 1987 
886.1 
237.5 
1123.6 
62.4 
1186.0 
1186.0 1988 
317.7 
987.3 
1305.0 
68.9 
1373.9 
1373.9 
i 
• 
5539.7 i.e. 2.41% of the budget 1989 
117.1 
1438.4 
1555.5 
80.9 
1636.4 
1636.4 1990 
5.4 
1770.4 
1775.8 
125.4 
1901.2 
17.7 
19.4 
39.9 
1978.2 1991 
1339.0 
311.9 
1650.9 
177.9 
1828.8 
16.9 
18.4 
124.8 
1988.9 
8163 i.e. 3.15% ofthe budget 1992 
230.9 
2160.5 
2391.4 
308.4 
2699.8 
17.0 
17.5 
128.9 
2863.2 1993 
14.6 
1901.0 
147.8 
2063.4 
433.7 
2497.1 
17.2 
137.1 
2651.4 1994 
3.8 
1224.3 
726.0 
0.0 
1954.1 
553.5 
2507.6 
16.9 
140.9 
2665.4 
12147 i.e. 4.04% ofthe budget 1995 
0.2 
1.0 
2887.6 
2888.8 
2.0 
2890.8 
2890.8 1996 
v 
2969.9 
2969.9 
2969.9 
2969.9 1997 
3148.5 
3148.5 
3148.5 
3148.5 1998(2) 
3092.1 
3092.1 
3092.1 
3092.1 TOTAL 
4306.1 
6022.1 
5598.7 
873.8 
12098.1 
28898.8 
1813.1 
30711.9 
51.6 
89.4 
571.6 
31424.5 
1 
14767 i.e. 3.98% ofthe budged 
EC budget (1992 prices) 
Total research as % of budget 
Deflation factors (**) 
Annual inflation (%) 41352 
2.1 
0.699 40385 
2.5 
0.741 
6.0 46730 
2.4 
0.767 
3.5 48475 
2.4 
0.792 
3.3 52473 
2.6 
0.821 
3.6 49327 
3.3 
0.863 
5.1 49952 
4.0 
0.902 
4.5 59126 
3.4 
0.949 
5.2 61232 
4.7 
1.000 
3.5 66759 
4.0 
1.015 
1.5 63823 
4.2 
1.033 
1.8 72110 
4.0 
1.045 
1.2 76183 
3.9 
1.078 
3.2 79179 
4.0 
1.107 
2.7 79276 
3.9 
1.129 
2.0 
(*) The amounts ofthe 1994-1998 FP are those adopted following EU enlargement. 
(**) The deflation factors used from 1995 take account ofthe enlargement ofthe Union from to 15 Member States (COM(96)65). 
(1) RTD + THERMIE + ECSC + SPRINT + APAS. 
(2) Budget for 1998. 
91 
1 "">- : ANNEXIII I 
Main reports relating to Community Research Activities 
1. Main documents relevant to the current Community RTD activities issued by the European 
Commission: 
• Five-Year Assessment Reports of: 
(i) The Fourth RTD Framework Programme/Euratom Framework Programme ( 1994-
1998), EUR 17644 ( 1997); and 
(ii) Specific Programmes: 
Telematics Applications, EUR 17603 (1997) 
Advanced Communication Technologies and Services, EUR 17602 (1997) 
Information Technologies (ESPRIT), EUR 17601 (1997) 
Industrial and Materials Technologies, EUR 175 87 ( 1997) 
Measurements and Testing, EUR 17588 (1997) 
Environment and Climate, EUR 17589(1997) 
Marine Sciences and Technologies, EUR 17590 (1997) 
Biotechnology, EUR 17591 (1997) 
Biomedicine and Health, EUR 17592 (1997) 
Agriculture and Fisheries, including Agro-Industry, Food Technologies, 
Forestry, Aquaculture and Rural Development, EUR 17593 (1997) 
Non-Nuclear Energy, EUR 17594 ( 1997) 
Transport, EUR 17595 (1997) 
Targeted Socio-Economic Research, EUR 17596 ( 1997) 
Cooperation with Third Countries and International Organisations, 
EUR 17597 (1997) 
Dissemination and Optimisation of Results (Innovation), EUR 17600 (1997) 
Stimulation of Training and Mobility of Researchers, EUR 17598 (1997) 
Nuclear Fission Safety, EUR 17599 ( 1997) 
Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion, EUR 17521 (1996) 
(In addition, Annual Monitoring Reports have been produced for all the above-mentioned 
Programmes, for the years 1995, 1996 and 1997.) 
• Joint Research Centre: 1997 Annual Report (forthcoming) 
• Evaluation ofthe Joint Research Centre 1992-1996, Communication from the Commission, 
COM(97) 164 final. 
• Commission's Responses to the Recommendations ofthe Independent External Assessments ofthe 
Last Five Years of Activities in the Domains covered by the Specific Programmes and the JRC 
Institutes under the Fourth Framework Programme and Euratom Framework Programme, 
Communication from the Commission, COM(97) 149 final. 
• Second European Report on S&T Indicators 1997, EUR 17639 (1997). 
• Research and development : annual statistics 1997 - Eurostat, 9c - CA-06-97-416-SAC 
2. Most recent main annual budgetary documents of relevence to Community RTD activities. 
• Preliminary Draft General Budget for the Financial Year 1998, Volume 4, COM(97) 280. 
• General Budget for the Financial Year 1998, L 44, Volume 41(16 Feb. 1998). 
• Revenue and Expenditure Account and Balance Sheet, Relating to Operations under the 1997 
Budget, SEC(98)519. 
• Vademecum Budgétaire, which provides a time series of research payments from the year 1958, 
SEC(97) 1200. 
92 
Main acronyms and abbreviations used 
ACP African, Caribbean and Pacific countries 
ACTS Advanced Communications Technologies and Services 
AIDS Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome 
APAS Accompanying, Preparatory And Support measures 
ATM Asynchronous Transfer Mode 
BIOMED BIOMEDicine and health (specific RTD programme) 
BRITE-EURAM Basic Research in Industrial Technologies for Europe - European Research in 
Advanced Materials (specific RTD programme under FP3) 
BSE Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathies 
CAD Computer Assisted Design 
CAM Computer Assisted Manufacturing 
CAP Common Agricultural Policy 
CCFP Consultative Committee for the Fusion Programme 
CEECs Central and Eastern European countries 
CEN European Committee for Standardization 
CENELEC European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization 
CERN European Centre for Nuclear Research 
CIS Commonwealth of Independent States of the former Soviet Union 
CJD Creutzfeld Jacob Disease 
CNES Centre National des Etudes Spatiales (France) 
COPERNICUS Cooperation in science and technology with Central and Eastern Europe 
CORDIS Community Research and Development Information Service 
COST European Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical research 
CRAFT Cooperative Research Action for Technology 
CREST Scientific and Technical Research Committee (advises the Commission) 
DCs Developing Countries 
EAEC European Atomic Energy Community 
EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development 
EC European Community 
ECHO European Community Humanitarian Office 
ECSC European Coal and Steel Community 
EEA European Economic Area 
EFTA European Free Trade Association 
I1 ESSI European Systems and Software Initiative 
ESTA European Science and Technology Assembly 
EMBL European Molecular Biology Laboratory 
ES A European Space Agency 
ESF European Science Foundation | 
ESPRIT European Strategic Programme for Research and Development in Information J 
Technologies I 
ETAN European Technology Assessment Network - I 
ETSI European Telecommunications Standards Institute ] 
| EU European Union I 
I EUREKA Framework for European technological cooperation 1 
I EURATOM European Atomic Energy Community j 
I EURET European REsearch for Transport (specific RTD programme under FP2) 
I FNR Fast Neutron Reactor 
• ——— • — 
| FP Framework Programme 
I FUSE First User Experiments 
| HCM . Human Capital and Mobility (specific RTD programme under FP3) 
93 
HPCN High Performance Computing and Networking 
IiM Integration in Manufacturing 
IEA International Energy Agency 
IMT Industrial and Materials Technologies 
IPTS Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC, Seville) 
IRDAC Industrial Research and Development Advisory Committee 
ISPO Information Society Project Office 
1ST Information Society Technologies 
ISTC International Science and Technology Centre (Moscow) 
IT Information Technologies 
ITEA Information Technologies European Awards 
ITER International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor 
JET Joint European Torus 
JOULE Joint Opportunities for Unconventional or Long-term Energy supply (specific 
RTD programme) 
JRC Joint Research Centre 
LFR Less Favoured Region 
LWR Light Water Reactor 
MAST MArine Science and Technology (specific RTD programme) 
MEDA Measures accompanying the economic and social reforms in the Mediterranean 
countries 
MERCOSUR Southern Common Market (South America) 
NAFTA North American Free Trade Agreement 
NIS New Independent States of the former Soviet Union 
OECD Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 
OJ Official Journal 
PHARE Aid for economic reconstruction of the CEECs 
R&D Research and Development 
RPV Reaction Pressure Vessel 
RTD Research and Technological Development 
SAVE Special Action Programme for Vigorous Energy Efficiency 
SCA Shared-Cost Actions 
SMEs Small and Medium-sized Enterprises 
SPD Single Programming Document (Structural Funds) 
SPRINT Strategic PRogramme for INnovation and Technology Transfer 1 
STD/STD-3 Science and Technology for Development/STD under FP3 
TACIS Technical assistance to the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union 
ITASK FORCE Research-industry coordination structure in a field of RTD 
TCS Technologies for Components and Subsystems 
THERMIE Demonstration programme in the field of non-nuclear energy 
TMR Training and Mobility of Researchers (specific RTD programme) 
TSER Targeted Socio-Economic Research (specific RTD programme) 
TSME Technology Stimulation Measures for SMEs 
UMTS Universal Mobile Telecommunication Systems 
WMO World Meteorological Office 
WTO World Trade Organization 
94 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(98) 439 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 15 02 16 17 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-98-450-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-38078-4 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg 'c 
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