COMMON POSITION (EC) No 31/95 adopted by the Council on 30 November 1995 with a view to adopting a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council on adapting Decision No 1110/94/EC concerning the fourth framework programme of the European Community activities in the field of research and technological development and demonstration (1994 to 1998) following the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union (95/C 353/03)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community and in particular Article 130i (1) and (2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (1),

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (2),

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty (3),

Whereas, by Decision No 1110/94/EC (4), the European Parliament and the Council adopted a fourth framework programme for 1994 to 1998; whereas Article 1 (3) of that Decision states that the maximum overall amount for Community financial participation in the fourth framework programme shall be ECU 11 046 million, and that, of this, ECU 5 472 million is for the period 1994 to 1996 and ECU 5 574 million is for the period 1997 to 1998;

Whereas Article 130i (2) of the Treaty states that the framework programme shall be adapted or supplemented as the situation changes; whereas the accession of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden to the European Union makes financial adjustment necessary because of the resulting increase in both Community resources devoted to and expenditure on research and development;

Whereas, under the agreement on the European Economic Area, the said three States were already participating in Community research, technological development and demonstration activities in return for a financial contribution to the general budget of the European Communities, where their contributions were classed as 'additional appropriations' for expenditure in respect of research and development activities;

Whereas this Decision is limited to the adjustment of the financial amounts made necessary by the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden and does not modify the technical and scientific objectives, priorities, activities in the various areas, selection criteria and other provisions specified in the fourth framework programme;

Whereas, as a result, the maximum overall amount of the framework programme should be increased and the additional funds allocated in a linear fashion between the four activities; whereas the principle of linearity should also apply in the implementation, in accordance with Article 130i (3) of the Treaty, of all the activities of the framework programme;

Whereas Decision No 1110/94/EC and Council Decision 94/268/Euratom of 26 April 1994 concerning a framework programme of Community activities in the field of research and training for the European Atomic Energy Community (1994 to 1998) (5) were adopted simultaneously and for the same period; whereas the same should apply to the Decisions adapting the two framework programmes,HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

Decision No 1110/94/EC is hereby amended as follows:

(1) in Article 1 (3):

'11 046' shall be replaced by '11 764',

'5 472' shall be replaced by '5 449',

'5 574' shall be replaced by '6 315' and

'11 641' shall be replaced by '12 359';

(2) Annex I shall be replaced by the text appearing in the Annex to this Decision.

Done at . . .

For the European Parliament

The President

For the Council

The President

(1) OJ No C 142, 8. 6. 1995, p. 16.

(2) OJ No C 256, 2. 10. 1995, p. 12.

(3) Opinion of the European Parliament of 12 July 1995 (not yet published in the Official Journal), common position of the Council of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal) and decision of the European Parliament of . . . (not yet published in the Official Journal).

(4) OJ No L 126, 18. 5. 1994, p. 1.

(5) OJ No L 115, 6. 5. 1994, p. 31.

ANNEX

'ANNEX I

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STATEMENT OF THE COUNCIL'S REASONS

I. INTRODUCTION

On 26 April 1995 the Commission forwarded the proposal for a Decision adapting Decision No 1110/94/EC concerning the fourth RTD framework programme following the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden to the European Union (1).

The above proposal is based on Article 130i, paragraphs 1 and 2 of the EC Treaty and is therefore subject to co-decision in accordance with the procedures of Article 189b.

The European Parliament delivered its opinion on the proposal on 12 July 1995.

The Economic and Social Committee gave its opinion on 5 July 1995.

II. COMMON POSITION OF THE COUNCIL

The Council adopted its common position on the proposal for a decision adapting Decision No 1110/94/EC on 30 November 1995 (2).

In establishing its common position, the Council has been guided by the following considerations:

(a) the need to ensure continuity of Community research activities and to maintain the global RTD effort in the Community as a whole. In this respect, full account has been taken of the additional requirements resulting from the enlargement of the European Union as well as of the level of contributions to the Community research programmes already paid by the three new Member States under the EEA agreement;

(b) the need to remain within the limits set by the current financial perspectives (Category 3, 'Internal Policies') as adapted by the inter-institutional trilogue of 29 November 1994 to take account of the accession of the three new Member States to the European Union;

(c) the need to respect the priorities set by the European Parliament and the Council when adopting the fourth RTD framework programme, thereby limiting the present adaptation to the purely technical adjustments required by the enlarged Union.

Part A of these reasons clarifies the Council's position with respect to the Commission's proposal; Part B sets out the Council's reactions to the amendments proposed by the European Parliament.

A. MAIN ASPECTS OF THE PROPOSED ADAPTATION OF THE FOURTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME

1. Overall amount

Taking into account the abovementioned considerations, the Council decided to increase the overall amount of the framework programme by 6,5 %, this figure being the global percentage which derives from applying a percentage increase of 6,87 % to the research activities and an average increase of maximum 4 % to the related staff and administrative costs. This results in a total increase of ECU 718 million (3).

The Council recalls that the figure of 6,87 % corresponds exactly to the contributions of the three new Member States to the research framework programmes in 1994. The common position guarantees therefore the continuity of the global RTD effort in the enlarged Union whilst respecting the existing overall budgetary situation.

2. Staff and administrative costs

The different ratio applied to research activities (6,87 %) and to staff and administrative costs (4 % maximum on average) reflects the commitment made by the Commission at the Research Council on 9 June 1995, in response to concerns expressed by the Council regarding the need to give priority to research activities, in the strict sense of the term, when allocating the increased financial resources. On that occasion, Commissioner Cresson undertook to ensure continued efficient management of Community RTD activities and to keep any increase for staff and administrative costs significantly below 7 %.

3. Principle of linearity

In order to ensure the respect of the priorities and scientific objectives set by the fourth framework programme decision and in agreement with the views already expressed both by the Commission and the European Parliament, the Council considered that the adaptation should be carried out on a strictly linear basis. To this end, the fourth and fifth recitals of the decision stipulate that the additional funds should be allocated in a linear fashion between the four activities of the framework programme, and that the principle of linearity should also apply in the implementation of all the activities of the framework programme (i.e. within the specific programmes).

B. AMENDMENTS PROPOSED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT

The European Parliament adopted on 12 July 1995 two amendments to the proposal submitted by the Commission.

These amendments concern:

- a 7 % increase to be applied also to the reserve of ECU 595 million set aside for a possible financial supplement to the framework programme in 1996 (Article 1 paragraph 3 of Decision No 1110/94/EC) (4),

- a slightly modified breakdown between the two periods of the framework programme (1994 96 and 1997 98) which is more in line with the preliminary draft budget for 1996.

The Council has accepted the latter amendment of the European Parliament and has modified accordingly the breakdown between the two periods of the framework programme (5).

The Council decided not to accept the first European Parliament's amendment concerning the application of a 7 % increase to the possible financial supplement for 1996. On this aspect, the Council has followed the Commission's reasoning in its initial proposal and considers that the question of a possible financial supplement is a different issue which should be dealt with at a later stage on the basis of a separate proposal from the Commission.

To this end, the Council and the Commission have made the following statement in the Council's minutes:

'The Council and the Commission declare that this adaptation of the fourth RTD programme does not prejudge in any way the review of the overall maximum amount, with the possibility of increasing it, to be undertaken by the European Parliament and the Council by 30 June 1996 at the latest, on the basis of a Commission proposal, in accordance with Article 1 (3) of Decision No 1110/94/EC.'

The Council considers that this statement also reflects the concerns of the European Parliament for a timely discussion of the question of the financial supplement and therefore suggests that the European Parliament might wish to be associated with this statement.

(1) On the same date the Commission also submitted a proposal for a Council Decision adapting Decision No 94/268/Euratom concerning a framework programme of Community activities in the field of research and training for the European Atomic Energy Community (1994 to 1998) following the accession to the European Union of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden, based on Article 7 of the EAEC Treaty. The Council decided to consult the European Parliament also on this proposal, on an optional basis; the European Parliament delivered its opinion on 12 July 1995.

(2) At the same time the Council registered agreement on the text of the draft decision adapting the Euratom Framework Programme, on the understanding that the final adoption of this Decision would take place simultaneously with the adoption of the EC decision adapting the fourth RTD framework programme. The text of the draft Euratom decision is transmitted to the European Parliament for information.

(3) The Euratom framework programme is increased by ECU 82 million, thus bringing the total increase to ECU 800 million.

(4) The European Parliament, consulted by the Council also on the proposal for the adaptation of the Euratom framework programme, adopted on 12 July 1995 a parallel amendment, asking that a 7 % increase be also applied to the envisaged financial supplement to the Euratom framework programme, in accordance with Article 1 (3) of Decision No 94/268/Euratom.

(5) The Council has also accepted a parallel EP amendment concerning the draft decision adapting the Euratom framework programme.