30. 1. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 23/19 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specific research and technological 
development programme in the field of energy—non-nuclear energies and rational use of 
energy—1989-1992 'JOULE' (Joint opportunities for unconventional or long-term energy 
supply) (!) 
(89/C 23/09) 
On 9 August 1988 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under 
Article 130 q(2) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Energy, Nuclear Questions and Research, which was responsible for preparing 
the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 4 November 1988. The 
Rapporteur was Mr Flum. 
The Committee unanimously adopted the following Opinion at its 260th plenary session 
(meeting of 23 November 1988). 
Continuation of the energy Research and Development 
(R&D) promotion programme is very necessary in 
order to achieve the Commission's energy policy aims, 
especially in view of the importance and priority to be 
given to energy supply systems. The new programme 
initiative is therefore welcomed in principle. 
The programme's structure and approach are appropri­
ate for achieving its aims. However, the funding appears 
to be too little for the importance and scale of the 
necessary tasks. 
The Committee notes with concern a general lack of 
political commitment to the promotion of rational, 
ecologically acceptable, energy use or to the exploi­
tation of renewable energy sources, and warns of the 
danger of underestimating major energy supply prob­
lems in the future because of the current relaxed energy 
price situation; it calls upon the Commission to con­
tinue and step up its efforts in this field. 
Increased research into and development of future-
orientated energy production and energy use techniques 
are vital for the future of the Community, and indeed 
of the whole world. The main needs are: 
— energy saving and rational use of energy, 
— increase in the contribution from renewable energy 
sources (particularly solar energy, wind power, 
water power and biomass), and 
— techniques for using fossil energy sources which are 
compatible with the environment. 
The considerations below represent an attempt by the 
Committee to give a comprehensive view of the signifi­
cance of renewable energy sources with regard to future 
energy policy, and pass on its views and recommen­
dations on the matter to the Commission and Council. 
(!) OJ No C 221, 25. 8. 1988, p. 6. 1. Introduction 
1.1. In continuation of the existing R&D programme 
in this field, the Commission has proposed for the next 
four years a further specific programme for research 
and technological development in the field of energy 
—non-nuclear energies, rational energy use—under the 
short title JOULE. The programme is to run from 1989 
to 1992, has a total funding of 122 million ECU and 
potentially covers all R&D aspects of energy pro­
duction and use (except specifically nuclear aspects); it 
is intended in particular to contribute to 
— increasing the security of energy supply, 
— solving energy-related environmental problems, 
— increasing the competitiveness of industry, 
— completing the single EC internal market in the field 
of energy, and 
:— solving energy problems in developing countries. 
1.2. Because of funding cuts as compared with the 
previous programme (1985-1988), the programme is to 
concentrate on priority tasks, by first and foremost 
promoting 
— cooperative, strategic research projects, and 
— projects with prospects for a breakthrough in the 
short or medium term. 
There are four fields of work: 
— development of models for energy systems, 
— measures to increase the efficiency of energy use, 
— measures to optimize efficient and clean use of fossil 
fuels, 
— further development of renewable energy sources. 
1.3. The structuring of the programme and control 
of research will be based on experience with the pre­
vious programmes (including evaluation by a group of 
experts) and consultations with governments, energy 
organizations, energy supply enterprises, etc. 
No C 23/20 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 1. 89 
2. General comments 
2.1. The policy so far followed for determining the 
content of research to be assisted (evaluation of experi­
ence, assessment by experts, consultations with govern­
ments, research institutes and entreprises) is correct and 
adequate for the broad field of industrial applications; 
however, for the equally wide field of application of 
new energy techniques to domestic and small-scale uses 
the Committee sees a risk that research and develop­
ment may not correspond to the practical needs of 
potential users. This would be all the more disadvan­
tageous since the bulk of primary energy consumption 
(39%) is in the residential sector, while industry con­
sumes only 36 %. 
2.2. In the field of domestic and small-scale uses, 
energy consultants, architects, craft representations, 
consumer associations and consultancies, tenants' and 
landlords' associations, trade unions, etc. should be 
involved in consultation, and relevant market research 
should be carried out in order to provide enough data 
on the future market to ensure that research can be 
planned in such a way as to give really useful results. 
This cannot simply be left to industry, since the interests 
of industry and those of consumers do not necessarily 
coincide at all points. The interests of industry are 
inevitably orientated towards marketing, whereas those 
of consumers are inevitably orientated towards use. 
Moreover, it must be possible to integrate technical 
developments in the existing structure of the residential 
or small-business sectors; on the other hand, households 
and small-scale consumers must receive information on 
future energy supply systems in good time so that they 
can adapt early enough to future energy technology 
conditions in their planning (e.g. for house-building, 
establishment of firms). 
2.3. A basic element in all planning is good market 
research. There is already a potential market which can 
be reseached, since future energy systems can for the 
most part be installed in the domestic and commercial 
buildings which already exist. 
2.4. In practice there is an enormous discrepancy 
between the wealth of existing R&D results on the one 
hand and the extent of knowledge and direct applica­
bility at the final consumer stage on the other; this 
discrepancy cannot be explained simply by the current 
energy price situation, since even with a sudden large 
rise in energy prices, resulting in new energy techniques 
becoming marketable, these could only be brought onto 
the market through a protracted procedure involving 
comprehensive information, development and testing 
of purpose-build units and plant, education and training 
of architects, energy consultants, craftsmen etc., and 
finally the formulation of suitable administrative frame­
work provisions. 
2.5. Research and development should therefore not 
be confined to scientific models, basic research and industrial applications; on the contrary, research, devel­
opment and testing should lead to demand-orientated 
solutions geared to final use, as well as research into 
cost reduction potential, marketing strategies and 
necessary preconditions in the administrative and 
macro-economic context. 
2.6. The Committee recommends that the Com­
mission should promote research into and development 
of new energy techniques as a comprehensive task of 
technical, economic and political management, and 
bring this task to the stage of market readiness in all 
important fields, so that in the event of new short-
term rise in energy prices, or in the event of fears 
for traditional energy sources being realized (nuclear 
disaster, climatic threat), it would be possible to bring 
these new techniques into use relatively quickly and 
over a reasonably wide area. 
2.7. In operating the authorization procedures pro­
vided for in the programme, it should be borne in mind 
that in view of the market structure described above the 
involvement of small and medium-sized firms (crafts) is 
a priority, and that the application procedures should 
therefore be made as simple as possible, so that the 
complicated authorization process does not alone create 
a virtually insuperable obstacle for small and medium-
sized enterprises from the outset. The flexible assistance 
procedure envisaged by the Commission is expressly 
welcomed in this context. However, it should not lead 
to one-sided support for large projects or research insti­
tutes. 
The need for rational use of energy 
2.8. Energy is indispensable for human life; popu­
lation growth and industrialization increase the 
demand. In contrast, supply is limited, for at some stage 
fossil energy sources will be exhausted. Thus energy will 
in the long term become scarcer and more expensive. In 
some parts of the world there is already an acute 
shortage of energy, resulting in irresponsible and waste­
ful exploitation, particularly of forest resources, and 
catastrophic disturbances of the ecological balance. The 
western industrialized countries also have an obligation 
to show responsible concern and international soli­
darity by using their intelligence and financial resources 
to a greater extent for the investigation and develop­
ment of rational energy production and energy use 
techniques. Only if the worldwide rise in primary energy 
demand can be brought under control is there a possi­
bility in the long term of ensuring adequate energy 
supply. Energy saving makes an important contribution 
to reducing environmental pollution. 
Energy supply for the future 
2.9. Future energy supply is threatened not only by 
international imbalances and monopoly structures, but 
30. 1. 89 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 23/21 
also by specific accident risks connected with nuclear 
energy (*), with the associated unsolved problems of 
waste disposal in the long term, and by possible risks 
of worldwide climatic changes resulting from the burn­
ing of fossil fuels. Greater efforts to promote energy 
saving and the use of renewable energy sources are 
therefore not only advisable on account of the 
abovementioned advantages of these forms of energy 
use and production, but also essential in terms of risk 
reduction. 
2.10. Renewable energy sources are in some cases 
still far from the margin of profitability. In the long 
term, however, energy prices will rise faster than the 
general level of prices, while the supply of fossil energy 
sources will be gradually exhausted, so that renewable 
energy sources will in time reach profitability margins 
in a broad front, particularly since technical progress 
and economies of scale will lead to considerable 
reductions in relation to their current prices. Rational 
energy use techniques are already a paying proposition 
over a wide field. 
2.11. Arguments for continuation and strengthening 
of research and development in this field are the mani­
fold ecological and economic advantages, the need to 
minimize risks and, at least in the long term, good 
market prospects; this is all the more true since, in the 
past and still at present, thousands of millions have 
been paid out for research and development into other 
energy sources, particularly nuclear energy. A fair 
evaluation of the possibilities and prospects for rational 
energy use and renewable energy sources is possible 
only if these energy techniques are promoted to a com­
parable extent to the traditional energy forms which 
compete with them at present. 
The vast potential of solar energy 
2.12. Solar energy in its many forms is potentially 
the most important renewable energy source. If we take 
Europe alone, the energy supplied by the sun there is 
on average 200 times greater than the total (statistically 
recorded) European primary energy consumption, and 
in some southern Member States even 1 000 times 
greater; while in chronological terms solar energy is 
inexhaustible. 
2.13. The Committee places great stress on the sig­
nificance of solar energy for reasons of principle and 
specific energy policy, since there would be no life on 
this planet without the energy from the sun, and only 
through a much greater solar energy component in 
technical energy supply can human energy needs be met 
in the long term while preserving the ecological balance. 
In considering this question, more attention must also 
be given to the possibilities of energy production from 
biomass. 
(') Cf. ESC Opinion on the consequences of the Chernobyl 
nuclear accident (OJ No C 232, 31. 8. 1987, p. 40). 2.14. The southern regions of the Community in 
particular can expert a growing contribution by solar 
energy in the short term through a consistent energy 
policy of promotion. This will have positive effects in 
terms of 
— conserving environmental and energy resources, 
— increasing autonomy of energy supply and lessening 
dependence on the international market, 
— improvement in the energy supply situation of the 
third world and of the export prospects for energy-
related technical equipment, 
— job creation, 
— greater decentralization of the energy supply struc­
ture, and hence promotion of hitherto disadvan­
taged regions, 
— improvement in the situation of small and medium-
sized enterprises, particularly craft enterprises. 
Fossil energy sources - the backbone of energy supply 
2.15. Despite the need to use energy more sparingly 
and more responsibly than hitherto, and to make 
increasing use of renewable energy sources, fossil energy 
sources will remain the backbone of our energy supply 
for the foreseeable future. They too are ultimately 
geological stocks of solar energy which have built up by 
way of organic substances. In view of the environmental 
situation, the limited nature of these stocks and the 
risks attached to the international energy market, the 
further investigation and development of ecologically 
acceptable and rational techniques of energy production 
and use is of the highest importance. This applies 
particulary to coal. 
2.16. Our experience of the two oil-price crises, with 
their catastrophic economic effects, particularly on the 
labour market, has shown that the maintenance and 
enhancement of the Community's own capacity to pro­
mote fossil energy sources is almost an economic life 
insurance against international energy price crises. 
3. Specific comments 
Financial framework 
3.1. The Committee regrets the cuts in funds as 
compared with previous programmes. Given the 
importance of this research field, explained aboven 
these cuts are unjustifiable. 
3.2. The choice of financial priorities within this— 
albeit too small—overall allocation is correct. A num­
ber of detailed questions relating to allocation of funds, 
the time scale for the aid, and further specific aspects 
of the financing arrangements were put to the Com­
mission. The Committee feels that the Commission 
answered them satisfactorily. The financing side can 
No C 23/22 Official Journal of the European Communities 30. 1. 89 
therefore be endorsed, apart from the complaint about 
cuts in overall funds. 
Sub-programmes 
3.3. The Commission gave full information on the 
determination of research subjects and priorities in 
the sub-programmes. The choices are by and large 
satisfactory, with the proviso that overall control 
should be improved, and subject to the following 
specific recommendations for complementary meas­
ures: 
— Greater efforts to investigate all possibilities for 
better use of the enormous potential of waste heat 
from industry and power stations. 
— Development of demand-orientated units and plant 
for developing countries; the units and plant 
developed for the very different structures and needs 
and the more highly developed general technical 
expertise of the Western industrialized countries 
are, contrary to the Commission's view, as a rule 
unsuitable for use in developing countries; this is 
not altered by the fact that there is often a desire for 
high-technology plant in the developing countries 
themselves, since they too seek to draw attention 
to their technical progress with highly-developed 
prestige projects (that, however, is not a primary 
aim of the programme in question). 
— Investigation of the potential for cost reduction 
through economies of scale, rational production 
methods and technical innovation must become one 
of the research priorities under this programme (in 
line with the requirements in point III. 1, the aim 
should be demand-orientated research results ready 
for final utilization). 
4. Conclusions 
4.1. On the basis of its energy policy approach, a 
thorough analysis and its positive assessment of many 
details of the proposed programme, the Committee 
suggests that the following conditions are necessary to 
enhance the programme's efficiency: 
— Greater stress must be put on the importance of the 
programme's objectives; at the same time a political 
signal must be given for national research and devel­
opment activities in the Community. 
Done at Brussels, 23 November 1988. — Despite the difficult budget situation, the overall 
financial allocation for the programme must be 
significantly increased; the additional funds be used 
primarily for research into and development of 
renewable energy sources. 
— Control of research and development work must 
be improved. Where research and development for 
domestic and small-scale use is concerned enough 
information on the future market must be obtained 
by involving energy consultants, architects, craft 
representations, consumers' associations and con­
sumer consultancies, tenants' and landlords' associ­
ations, trade unions etc., and through practical 
market research, so that the programme work can 
achieve the aim of demand-related results. The 
Committee recommends that the Commission pro­
mote research into and development of new energy 
techniques as a comprehensive task of technical, 
economic and political management and bring the 
results to the stage of market readiness in all impor­
tant fields. 
— The operation of the application and authorization 
procedures should be speeded up and simplified so 
that firms and institutes belonging to the small and 
medium-sized enterprises (SME) and crafts categ­
ories also have access to the assistance offered by 
the programme. 
4.2. The content of the sub-programmes in the fol­
lowing fields must be supplemented by: 
— greater efforts to investigate all possibilities for bet­
ter use of the enormous potential of waste heat 
from industry and power stations, 
— development of demand-orientated units and plant 
for developing countries, 
— investigation of the potential for cost reduction 
through economies of scale, more rational pro­
duction methods and technical innovation, 
— development of solar energy. 
4.3. This will undoubtedly require additional 
research funds, particulary since the 1985-1988 pro­
gramme, to which 175 million ECU was originally 
allocated, has had its allocation cut by 53 million ECU 
i.e. by about 30% (!). 
(') OJ No L 83, 25. 3. 1985, p. 16. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alberto MASPRONE