16.12.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC332/77
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDecisionestablishingamultiannualprogrammefor
thedevelopmentofCommunitystatisticsonResearch,DevelopmentandInnovation(!)
(92/C332/23
On11May1992theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,
underArticle198oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforEnergy,NuclearQuestionsandResearch,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon14October1992.The
RapporteurwasMrRoseingrave .
Atits300thPlenarySession(meetingof22October1992)theEconomicandSocialCommittee
unanimouslyadoptedthefollowingOpinion.
1.Introduction
1.1.TheaimoftheCommission'sproposalistoset
upaCommunityreferenceframeworkforpublicand
privatestatisticsonresearch,technologicaldevelop­
mentandinnovation.Itisenvisagedthatthepro­
grammewouldpromotetheconvergenceofnational
statisticalsystemsandleadtothecreationofaCom­
munitysystemofstatisticalinformation .Itwouldalso
givespecialattentiontotheregionaldimension .The
programmewouldmeettheneedsofinternational
organizations ,national,regionalandlocalauthorities,
thescientificcommunityandotherinterestedparties.2.GeneralCommentsonProgrammeforDevelopment
ofCommunityStatistics
2.1.TheCommitteetakestheviewthattobeeffec­
tive,areferenceframeworkforstatisticsonresearch,
developmentandinnovationdemandsvisibility,stab­
ilityandcoherence.Itisalsodependentonthecooper­
ationofnationalgovernmentsandoftheprivatesector
intheproductionofcomparablenationaland
regionalizeddata.Thetypeofdataneededforcurrent
statisticalsystemsarenotalwaysmadeavailableby
MemberStatesintheformoratthetimeatwhichthey
arerequired.Inimplementing aneffectiveCommunity
statisticalsystemitmayalsobenecessarytoconsider
theintroductionofaregulationwhichwouldensure
thatdataisavailableinrespectofalltheMember
States.
2.2.Inpreparingforthecollectionofstatistical
informationitisessentialthattheCommissionclearly
identifytheusersofeachstatisticalseriessothatthe
statisticscollectedarerelevanttotheirneeds.Thesub­
sequentpresentationofthestatisticalinformationto
thedifferentaudiencesshouldbegivenequallycareful
consideration asthatwhichisgiventothecollection
ofthestatistics.Itshouldbepresentedinamanner
whichisbothmeaningfultoandunderstandable bythe
smallerenterprises.
2.3.Thereareanumberofdifferentstatisticalsys­
temsandprogrammesalreadyinoperationintheCom­
munity.Whilethesemaynotbeadequatetomeetlong­
termplanninggoals,theproposedprogrammeshould
buildonthemandlearnfromthem.Liaisonwithpro­
grammessuchasStride(2),Sprint(3)andtheEureka
initiativeaswellascollaboration withOECDand
Eurostatpartnersisessential.Attentionisparticularly
drawntotheexistingprogrammefortheresearchand1.2.TheCommitteewelcomestheCommission's
proposalforafiveyearprogrammetopromoteand
supporttheharmonization ofstatisticsonresearch,
developmentandinnovationbyMemberStatesand
facilitatethedisseminationofcomparableinformation .
1.3.In1989theScientificandTechnological
ResearchCommittee (CREST)drewtheCommission's
attentiontocertainweaknessesinCommunityresearch
anddevelopmentstatistics.Whilesomeactionwassub­
sequentlytaken,furtherdevelopments areneededto
createanintegratedsystemofinformationonresearch,
technologicaldevelopmentandinnovationforpolicy
purposes .
1.4.TheCommitteerecognizesthatprovidingupto
date,comparableandhigh-qualitystatisticstofacilitate
longtermplanningisacomplexprocess.Itisdependent
ondevelopingandimplementing aneffectiveframe­
workandonthecollectionandprocessingofdataby
MemberStatesinamannerwhichwouldleadtoa
convergenceofstatisticalactions.
(2)Stride:ScienceandTechnologyforRegionalInnovationand
DevelopmentinEurope;OJNoC196,4.8.1990.
(3)Sprint:StrategicProgrammeforInnovationandTechnology
Transfer;CouncilDecisionof17.4.1989,OJNoL112,
25.4.1989,p.12. (*)OJNoC122,14.5.1992,p.14.

NoC332/78 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 16.12.92
developmentofstatisticalexpertsystems(Doses)(*)
adoptedbyCouncilinJune1989toimprovetheflow
ofstatisticalinformationbyencouragingthedevelop­
mentofadvancedinformationprocessingtechnology .
2.4.TheroleofthenewlyestablishedEuropean
advisorycommitteeonstatisticalinformationinthe
economicandsocialfields(CEIES)shouldbeclearly
establishedinrelationtotheproposedprogramme .
ThiscommitteewassetupbytheCommissioninMarch
1992.CEIESwillendeavourtomatchthepostMaas­
trichtstatisticalrequirements inconnectionwiththe
mainCommunitypolicieswiththerequirementsand
possibilitiesoftheMemberStates.CEIESwillalso
indicatetoCommunityauthoritieshowbesttocoordi­
natethevariousCommunityandnationalstatistical
programmessoastominimizecostsandincreasetheir
effectiveness .Whileclearlyrelated,itisdifficultatthis
earlystageinCEIESdevelopmenttoestablishitsrole
inrelationtotheproposedprogramme .3.TheOperationoftheProgrammefortl\eDevelop­
mentofCommunityStatistics
3.1..Theproposedprogrammefocusesonanumber
ofdifferentactions,eachofwhichtheCommittee
regardsasimportantintheachievementofthepro­
gramme'sobjectives :
—Analysisandevaluationofuserdemand;
—Improvement ofexistingmethodological frame­
work;
—Identificationofexistinginformation ;
—Settinguporganizational andtechnicalcom­
ponents;
—Carryingoutpilotsurveys;
—Developingbasicstatisticaltools.
3.2.Theanalysisandevaluationofuserdemandis
particularlyimportantinensuringthatthesystemsare
orientedtouserrequirementsandmadeattractiveto
thetargetpopulations .TheCommitteeemphasizedin
itsOpiniononDoses(2)thatinformationsystemsneed
tobe'producerfriendly'aswellas'userfriendly'.2.5.InsupportingtheproposalbytheCommission
toestablishaneffectiveCommunityreferenceframe­
work,theCommitteerecognizesthatanysuchpro­
grammemustbeintegratedwithexistingstatistical
systemsandprogrammes .Intheefforttoachievea
Communityreferenceframework,thecollectionofdata
shouldnot,asfaraspossibleinvolveadditionalcosts
tothecompaniesandinstitutionsconcerned,especially
theSMEs.
2.6.Theprincipleofsubsidiarityisrecognizedinthe
proposalforthedevelopmentofCommunitystatistics.
Thestatisticalinformation iscollectedbyahighly
decentralizedsysteminwhichthenationalsystemshave
responsibility atindividualMemberStatelevel.
Althoughbasedprimarilyonexistingdataatnational
level,itwillalsobenecessarytocollectadditionaldata
atCommunitylevelandtosetupaCommunitysystem
forstandardizingthedatacollected.Thiscanonlybe
undertakeneffectivelyatCommunitylevel.3.3.Itisrecommendedthatthepilotsurveys,which
willpreparethewayforregulardatacollection,based
onthemethodologyadopted,beundertakeninareas
whereexistingdatacollectionsystemsareweak.
3.4.Smallandmediumsizedenterprises (SMEs)are
majorsuppliersofstatisticalinformationandarecen­
traltothisprogramme .Inthiscontextthefailureofthe
Commission'sproposaltohighlightSMEsaspotential
beneficiariesoftheprogrammeissurprising.Theprob­
lemsofsuchsuppliersofstatisticalinformationshould
alsobeborneinmind.Theproductionofstatisticscan
bedemanding,cumbersomeandcostlyparticularlyin
smallcompanieswheredataisrequestedrepeatedly.
3.4.1.Itisessentialthatthereisdiscussionwith
SMEsastohowtheburdenmaybereducedandwhat
isrequiredtoallowthemtoparticipateandtoinnovate.
Suchstrategiesasidentifyingthetypeofinformation
requiredbythecompany,linkingwithnetworkswhich
arecurrentlyusedandimplementing apersonalized
returnflowofinformationtothecompany,should
beexamined.TheCommitteeisconcernedthatthe
collectionandpresentationofstatisticalinformationbe
opentotheneedsofprivatesectorsuppliersandusers
toagreaterextent.2.7.TheCommitteenotesthatonoccasionstheprin­
ciplesofcohesion,competitiveness andsubsidiarity
maycompeteasregardspriority.Inthecontextofthis
proposaldueregardshouldbegiventotheprincipleof
cohesionbyensuringthatallregionsbenefitfromaccess
toharmonizedandintegratedstatisticalinformation .
ThedatacollectedthroughtheCommunitystatistics
programmeshouldalsofacilitateidentifyingandhigh­
lightingimbalancesbetweenthecoreandtheperipheral
regionsoftheCommunity .
(')Doses:SpecificProgrammefortheResearchandDevelop­
mentofStatisticalExpertSystems;CouncilDirectiveof20.
6.1989,OJNoL200,13.7.1989,p.46. (2)OJNoC56,6.3.1989,p.8.

16.12.92 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities NoC332/79
3.4.2.ThepotentialandtheachievementsofSMEs
inthecreationofemploymentopportunities andin
theirinnovativecapacityhavebeenclearlydemon­
stratedbothintheCommunityandelsewhere.Every
appropriatemeansshouldbeutilizedintheCommunity
statisticsprogrammetoenablethemtobenefitfrom
successfulinnovationandresearchcarriedoutinthe
morehighlyfinancedareasoftheprivateandpublic
sectors.
3.5.Itisrecognizedthattheremaybeatension
betweentheimplementation ofsystemswhichallow
foraccesstoinformationonproductsdevelopedand
theneedtoprotectacompany.Thereislittlework
doneattheleveloftheCommunityontheeffectiveness
ofpatentsinprotectingresultsandthemannerinwhich
theseareusedindifferentMemberStates.multiannualprogrammeamountstoECU2,9million.
TheCommissioncontribution ,however,represents
onlyasmallpartoftheactualcostswhicharelargely
bornebynationalsystems.
4.2.TheCommitteerecommends thattheforth­
comingFourthFrameworkProgrammecarryapro­
visionforfinancialsupportforthedevelopmentof
Communitystatisticsonresearch,technological devel­
opmentandinnovation.
4.3.TheCommitteenotesthatinitspreviousOpin­
iononDosesithighlightedthattheproposedbudget
forthatprogrammewasinsufficientinrelationtothe
dimensionsoftheproblemofsecuringaccurateandup
todatestatisticalinformation .Thiswasoneofthe
consequencesofthereducedallocationoffundswhich
leftthe1987-1991frameworkprogrammeinadequately
funded.
4.4.ItwillbenecessarytoestablishhowtheEuro­
peanFreeTradeAssociation (EFTA)countrieswill
contributetowardsthefinancingoftheprogramme,
particularlyinthelightofthedevelopmentofthe
EuropeanEconomicArea(EEA).4.FinancialProvisionsfortheProgramme
4.1.Theproposaltoestablishaprogrammeforthe
developmentofCommunitystatisticsislimitedbythe
budgetaryprovisions .Thefinancialenvelopeforthe
DoneatBrussels,22October1992.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN