Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specific research, technological development and demonstration programme in the field of cooperation with third countries and international organizations (1994-1998) (94/C 228/14) (Text with EEA relevance) COM(94) 68 final - 94/0092(CNS)

(Submitted by the Commission on 30 March 1994)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

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

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament,

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

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

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

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

Whereas, in accordance with Article 130 i (3), an estimate should be made of the financial resources needed to carry out this Specific Programme; whereas the definitive amounts will be decided by the budgetary authority in accordance with the breakdown fixed by the Framework Programme;

Whereas Decision . . ./. . ./EC (Fourth Framework Programme) provides that the maximum overall amount of the Fourth Framework Programme will be re-examined by 30 June 1996 at the latest with a view to being increased; whereas the amount deemed necessary for implementation of this programme may be increased as a result of this examination;

Whereas the strengthening of the S& T base of the European Union also depends on an adequate level of cooperation with third countries and international organizations, based on the principle of mutual interest; whereas such cooperation may contribute to the implementation of Community policies vis-à-vis third countries; whereas cooperation on research and technological development with third countries will help to boost the Community's scientific and technological capability; whereas cooperation should be improved with other fora for cooperation in the field of science and technology; whereas a contribution should be made to safeguarding the scientific potential of the countries of central and eastern Europe and the new Independent States of the former Soviet Union and to enhancing their economic and social development; whereas collaboration with non-European industrialized countries should be promoted where appropriate; whereas it is necessary to contribute to the development of the scientific and technological potential of the developing countries; whereas the European Union can contribute to solving regional and global problems calling for international cooperation; whereas a contribution should also be made to strengthening S& T cooperation between third countries, in particular countries of the same region;

Whereas complementarity with other Community activities and coordination with Member States should be increased; whereas it is necessary to concentrate international S& T cooperation activities, including those formerly conducted outside the Framework Programme, in a single programme in order to ensure a coherent approach; whereas this programme should focus on activities complementing those carried out by the Member States;

Whereas the content of the Fourth Framework Programme for Community RTD activities was established in accordance with the subsidiarity principle; whereas this specific programme specifies the content of the activities to be carried out in accordance with this principle in the field of cooperation with third countries and international organizations;

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

Whereas this programme will help to strengthen synergy between the RTD activities carried out in the field of cooperation with third countries and international organizations by research centres, universities and enterprises in the Member States and between the latter and the corresponding RTD activities of third countries and international organizations;

Whereas the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres (including the JRC) and universities and the rules governing the dissemination of research results specified in the measures provided for in Article 130 j of the Treaty apply to this specific programme;

Whereas the countries covered by the EEA Agreement will be involved in the implementation of this programme; whereas, in accordance with Article 130 m of the Treaty, it may be appropriate to engage in international cooperation activities with other third countries and international organizations;

Whereas the international cooperation activities with third countries will be implemented both centrally in this programme and in the specific programmes of the first activity and their coordination must be ensured;

Whereas this programme comprises activities for the dissemination and utilization of RTD results and activities to stimulate the mobility and training of researchers;

Whereas this programme also includes basic research, in order in particular to safeguard and develop the scientific potential of the countries of central and eastern Europe and the new independent States of the former Soviet Union;

Whereas provision should be made for measures to encourage the involvement of European industry, including SMEs, in this programme;

Whereas an assessment should be made of the economic and social impact of the activities carried out under this programme;

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

Whereas the JRC may participate in the indirect activities covered by this programme;

Whereas the Scientific and Technological Research Committee (CREST) has been consulted,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

A specific research, technological development and demonstration programme in the field of cooperation with third countries and international organizations, as set out in Annex I, is hereby adopted for the period . . . to 31 December 1998.

Article 2

1. The amount deemed necessary for carrying out the programme is ECU 540 million, including 10,1 % for staff and administrative expenditure.

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

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

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

Article 3

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

Article 4

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

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

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

Article 5

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

2. For the purposes of cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe, the new independent States of the former Soviet Union and the developing countries, the Commission shall issue calls for proposals for projects on the basis of the work programme. Cooperation may also be carried out through other structures.

3. The Commission shall take all initiatives that may be necessary to implement the objectives of the programme in the other geographical regions.

Article 6

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

2. In the cases provided for in Article 4 (1) the Commission shall be assisted by a committee of an advisory nature consisting of representatives of the Member States and chaired by the representative of the Commission.

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

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

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

Article 7

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

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

- the evaluation of the RTD projects proposed for Community funding and of the estimated amount of such funding, by project, when this is more than 0,2 MECU,

- the measures to be undertaken to evaluate the programme,

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

2. The Commission shall inform the Committee, at each of its meetings, of progress with the implementation of the programme as a whole.

Article 8

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

Article 9

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

ANNEX I

SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT

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

This programme implements the second activity of the Framework Programme.

BACKGROUND

This activity is the vehicle for international cooperation on RTD with third countries and international organizations. The essential aim of this activity is to add value to Community RTD via targeted RTD cooperation and synergy with other Community activities, to improve the Community's scientific and technological base and to support the implementation of other Community policies. It will also aim at stepping up coordination of the S& T cooperation between Member States and third countries in order to avoid duplication and to better define the Community's areas of activity on the basis of the subsidiarity principle.

Cooperation will be based on the principle of mutual benefit, which means not only direct or short-term advantage, as perceived by those involved in a project, but also the long-term or indirect advantage to the Community in terms of its industrial competitiveness and external relations.

The activities involved in cooperation will be accompanied by systematic monitoring and analysis of developments in the policies and in the machinery for implementing R& D in third countries in order to adapt Community cooperation policy and to derive maximum benefit for the Community and its partners. The collection of data and information and analyses will be closely coordinated with the corresponding activities to be carried out in the programme on targeted socio-economic research. Other accompanying measures include activities relating to the study, dissemination and utilization of results, training and coordination and the organization of conferences, seminars, etc.

Non-nuclear cooperation activities and activities developed in the earlier Framework Programmes and the APAS, will be incorporated into this programme. The geographical scope covers all of Europe, including the independent States of the former Soviet Union, the non-European industrialized countries and the developing countries. Moreover, greater opening-up of the specific programmes of the other activities to third countries will provide new opportunities for cooperation.

In cases where intellectual property is involved, the guidelines adopted jointly by the Council and Commission in June 1992 (1), will be respected.

THE PROPOSED RTD ACTIVITIES

A. Scientific and technological cooperation in Europe

The Agreement setting up the European Economic Area (EEA) will enable six of the seven EFTA countries to become involved in all the specific non-nuclear programmes under the Third Framework Programme. Suitable adaptation of the EEA Agreement is planned in order to permit their full involvement in the Fourth Framework Programme. Other western European countries outside the EEA may become associated via bilateral agreements.

1. Cooperation with other fora for European scientific and technological cooperation

The aim is to boost the coherence and overall cost-effectiveness of European research while taking full account of national programmes and activities within the European Economic Area as a whole, via COST, Eureka and links with European international organizations and with relevant bodies at world level.

COST

The COST projects, which supplemented the projects under Community programmes, are expanding vigorously and will continue to pave the way towards identifying new areas for scientific cooperation in Europe, a recent example of which is socio-economic research. The essential role of COST in integrating scientists from central and eastern Europe into a broader European context will assume increasing importance. The assessment of the current COST projects and the practical application of their results have been pinpointed as priorities for the years ahead.

The Commission intends to continue the controlled development of COST activities and to provide the support needed for the proper functioning of the secretariats of the relevant committees and for international coordination. The support of the COST countries is illustrated by their readiness to second national experts in order to run certain secretariats.

Eureka

The dovetailing of Eureka with the Community's RTD Framework Programme is based on respecting the specific aspects of the two frameworks. The Edinburgh European Council in December 1992 stressed the need to intensify synergy between them.

Recent developments within the Community and Eureka open up new avenues and give practical expression to a common intention to extend concertation, which must be pragmatic and follow a case-by-case approach. The pre-competitive parts of the Eureka projects could be dealt with under the Framework Programme, and the results of Community projects could be taken into account in Eureka projects closer to the market.

The practical implementation of this joint policy will meet the following aims:

- the movement of information and flexible concertation among the two fora will be guaranteed by the network of Community programme managers and Eureka-project coordinators, set up earlier.

- more efficient use of the existing counselling and information-distribution networks, at Community level (VALUE, Stride, OPETs, etc.) and at the level of Eureka and the Member States, in order to improve transparency for industry and researchers, and in particular SMEs.

The pre-competitive parts of Eureka projects could be selected and financed by the specific programmes of the first activity, in accordance with the procedures for these specific programmes.

International organizations

The aim is to strengthen the coherence of research in Europe via closer coordination with the European and international scientific organizations and with the networks of research workers they have frequently set up. Links with the ESF, CERN, ESA, EMBL, ESO, etc. will be stepped up and Member States should coordinate their position more closely within the international political organizations (UN, FAO, WHO, OECD, ITU, etc.).

The intention is to negotiate cooperation agreements with relevant European scientific organizations with a view to mutual involvement in projects of common interest. This will not concern the main fields of activity of those organizations, but rather the common application of ancillary, and often unique, expertise derived from their main activities.

2. Cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe and with the new Independent States of the former Soviet Union

The principal aim is to help safeguard the scientific and technological potential of these countries, to redirect research towards social needs, and thus restore their production systems, and also to improve the quality of life in the societies in question. The Community will be able to benefit from cooperation with the east European countries by obtaining access to the sometimes highly advanced results of research in those countries.

There are three principal aims here:

- To stabilize R& D potential: it is first of all a question of safeguarding human resources and existing equipment. The current earnings of research workers in these countries are low and the lack of hard currencies suggests a difficult future leading to isolation of east European researchers whose access to equipment is difficult and who have little contact with their foreign counterparts. One of the main consequences is that, if the opportunity arises, researchers leave this sector to go abroad or take up other professional activities. There is therefore an urgent need to promote scientific and technical cooperation as a catalyst for action on a long-term basis: east European scientists should be associated with high-tech research, e.g. in the field of advanced technologies essential to the creation of the future infrastructure of those countries. Links should be forged between research and industry, especially via the use of computerized communications networks, in order to promote the integration of these countries into European and world markets.

- To help solve problems specific to the east European countries by means of targeted R& D.

- To widen and deepen cooperation via involvement in specific Community programmes: identification of R& D areas where these countries are in the forefront at world level, and the introduction of balanced cooperation. Several of these countries have a very high quality of science, but the potential has not always been used in order to stimulate economic development. Thus a reform of science and technology structures in favour of a more decentralized, flexible and open approach is urgent in order that research and development may play an effective part in the transition of these countries towards a market economy and their integration into the Community environment. In order to better merge the east European countries with the fabric of the world market, special attention will be paid to their participation in pre-normative activities in industrial areas such as information technology, telecommunications, advanced materials, and energy (by making use, for example, of the 'energy centres' set up in these countries under the Thermie programme) and in the dissemination and exploitation activities carried out within the third activity.

The activities with the countries of central and eastern Europe and with the new independent States of the former Soviet Union will be conducted via:

- specific actions to meet specific needs. Mention should be made of the following examples: (1) resource utilization and production cycles in the East have caused environmental deterioration which goes beyond national frontiers and continents. There is an urgent need to find a common solution in areas such as the rational use of energy resources, and climate change; (2) it is important that the information infrastructure established in the East develops in compatible fashion to that in the European Union and that research conducted in this area is complementary and convergent; (3) action to combat environmental and public health problems in the new independent States of the former Soviet Union, in particular as a result of major accidents;

- the International Association for the Promotion of Cooperation with Scientists from the New independent States of the Former Soviet Union (INTAS), provided that a new agreement is reached between its members.

- the opening-up of the specific programmes of the Fourth Framework Programme to these countries, notably the associated countries (2).

This activity will supplement that of the Member States and synergy with the PHARE and TACIS programmes will be guaranteed. At the same time it will help to coordinate Member States' activities in this area.

B. Cooperation with non-European industrialized third countries

The aim is to further the Community's interests by ensuring that the direction of the Community's industrial research is in tune with the potential international markets for the future applications of this research, in order to improve the competitiveness of European industry and to optimize its efforts by seeking or easing access to scientific and technological sources in the countries in question, since these highly industrialized countries conduct RTD similar or complementary to that conducted by the EC. To some extent, the reasoning behind cooperation between the Community and those countries on RTD is the same as that underlying intra-Community cooperation.

In other instances cooperation with these countries is a basic prerequisite for the implementation of 'megascience' research projects such as fusion, the human genome and global change. This is the background to such multilateral cooperation and consultation as, for example, within the OECD or multilateral projects such as the 'Human-Frontier Programme' and 'Intelligent Production Systems'. To this should be added involvement in research in the preparation of international standards.

The dialogue on scientific policy with the abovementioned countries will be deepened. This could lead to cooperation on the basis of a sectoral agreement or a wider agreement on scientific and technical cooperation. Nevertheless, since the countries concerned are both Community partners and competitors, it is important to be selective as regards the areas of cooperation and to concentrate on a few carefully selected sectors in the light of Community priorities.

This cooperation requires a degree of flexibility as regards the types of cooperation, ranging from consultation to an exchange of information and experts, to programmes of post-doctorate fellowships in foreign laboratories, to joint projects or studies, and possibly to reciprocal involvement in projects or complete research programmes.

A closer link is planned between scientific and technical cooperation and education and training.

These activities also underpin the Community's external policy activities and offer all of the Member States the advantage of equal access to foreign sources of science and technology.

Activities facilitating access to, and dissemination of, such information will be encouraged.

C. Scientific and technological cooperation with the developing countries

The main aim of this activity is to enable the DCs, whose levels of development can differ widely, to be associated with developing the knowledge and innovative technologies needed to solve the problems arising from their own sustainable economic development. This general aim has two results: one is to harness training and the relationships that will be established between research workers and their institutions in order to maintain and even boost DC research and technological development capacity in particular at the human-resource and institutional level. The other will be to enable the European scientific community to maintain and improve excellence in the scientific areas that are relevant to DC problems. In order to achieve this general objective, dissemination and utilization activities will be implemented in conjunction with the third activity. In addition, this operation will be implemented in synergy with other Community policies on development and economic cooperation.

In order to achieve this objective with due regard to the principle of sustainable development, research activities will target three sectors which are inter-related and of major importance in most of the DCs and emphasize, where necessary, interdisciplinary aspects.

- the sustainable management and use of renewable natural resources, including forests, oceans and other aquatic environments, water, soil and biodiversity, with particular emphasis on their interactions and on the relationship between utilization and conservation, including environmental protection. The problems lying at the interface of natural resources namely policy and demographic factors, development of human settlements will also be covered.

- improvement of agricultural production within this framework of sustainable management of renewable natural resources. This concerns the areas of plant breeding and protection in order to adapt them better to environmental conditions, thus permitting better utilization of the available land; livestock farming, with a special emphasis on better health protection of animals, breed improvements and sustainable production of animal feed; aquaculture, in order to facilitate the development of this activity and its environmental integration; improvements in the conditions of product storage and processing, areas in which losses are considerable in the DCs; analysis of production systems and the scope for intensifying rural systems.

- health and population, focusing on control of the predominant diseases in the DCs, improving health-care systems and the impact on the environment and on health of demographic change and urbanization. This concerns research into vaccines, the biology of pathogens and their vectors, the development of new diagnostic methods and the production of new drugs; research into population, health-care systems and methods of intervention, account being taken of the specific constraints and of the socio-economic context of the DCs.

In close consultation with the Directorates-General concerned, these priorities will be focused within each of these sectors when the work programme is prepared, since this will be drawn up for the individual regions (several DCs, e.g. the Mediterranean region), with the flexibility needed to take account of ecological, demographic and public health criteria, their economic situation and the European Union's development and economic cooperation policies.

In order to strengthen the research capabilities of the DCs, in particular those which are the most advanced as regards science and technology, it is also necessary to organize cooperation in other areas of science and technologies, e.g. communications technologies, industrial technologies, materials technologies, and biotechnology. RTD cooperation activities should be pursued to promote the gradual, harmonious integration of those countries into the world economy, while helping to bring them out of their isolation, provided that such activities are not already the subject of other activities under the Framework Programme.

Improving the conditions for science and technology depends in particular on setting up advanced information and communication networks and systems, and access to European networks is relevant to the development of these countries and should be taken into account in technology transfer activities in the framework of the various policies of the European Union.

Another aim of this activity is to make it easier for DCs to participate in the major Community research actions on topics of global importance. Some of the topics are highly relevant to the DCs (desertification, demographic growth, uncontrolled urban growth, economic and social imbalances), while others that also affect the future of the planet as a whole are common to the DCs and the industrialized countries (greenhouse effect, pollution, communicable diseases, pandemics). It is therefore important that the scientific community in the DCs and in Europe should work together to solve these problems, using to best effect the resources available in both (human resources, skills, technologies, natural resources, etc.).

The research activities undertaken in order to achieve the second aim are, by their very nature, global and must be dealt with in a global rather than regional manner. They are often defined in international fora in which the EU is active. Among the more urgent topics are global change, communicable diseases of a pandemic character and the social dimension of health-care provision, Earth observation in cooperation with other bodies, including the JRC, and the assessment and conservation of natural resources.

Finally, for the most technically advanced of the DCs, research topics of mutual interest to them and the EU may be identified within the specific programmes of activity I open to them (3).

In view of the cooperative nature of the research and the essential characteristics of the partnership, it will basically be implemented via joint shared-cost projects. In the specific cases of topics of mutual interest, concerted actions could also be considered. The part played by joint research networks is also important, as are actions concerning scientific stimulation, meetings, workshops and conferences. The training and education provided under this activity will in essence be provided via joint research contracts and accompanying measures, the networks being, as it were, a means of continuous training and the contracts a basis guaranteeing that the training will be put to good use.

(1) RECH 74 7613/92, 26. 6. 1992.

(2) Other Community instruments could help to finance such participation.

(3) Other Community instruments could help to finance such participation.

ANNEX II

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ANNEX III

DETAILED RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME

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

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

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

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

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

- in the Community, or

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

(b) to the Joint Research Centre.

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

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

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

(c) to international research organizations.

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

1.4. Cooperation with other fora for European cooperation involves stimulation and coordination activities, in particular with Eureka, in the framework of COST and with European organizations.

1.5. The exchange of information, coordination and stimulation of activities of mutual benefit are planned with regard to cooperation with non-European industrialized third countries. The programme resources may also be used for Community participation in the exploratory phase of a joint project, whereas the financing of a possible operational phase of the project would have to be covered by the programme concerned.

1.6. This programme cannot cover the cost of participation of third countries, in particular associated countries to whom the specific programmes of the Framework Programme are open.

1.7. Cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe, the new independent States of the former Soviet Union and the developing countries in specific areas not covered by the programmes of activities 1, 3 and 4 will normally take the form of shared-cost activities or concerted action. A balance will be ensured between cooperation with the central and eastern European countries and the new independent States on the one hand, and with the developing countries on the other. The financial contribution for the partners from the central and eastern European countries, the new independent States and the developing countries may exceed 50 %.

1.8. The pilot phase of the International Association for the Promotion of Cooperation with Scientists from the New Independent States of Former Soviet Union (INTAS) expires at the end of 1994. The Commission will transmit a proposal to the Council in due course regarding the future of this association and the geographical areas and themes to be covered.

1.9. Cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe, the New Independent States of the Former Soviet Union and the developing countries will be implemented in close liaison with other Community initiatives such as PHARE and TACIS, or other fora for cooperation such as the Lomé Convention, the new Mediterranean policy and the regulation on financial and technical assistance to, and economic cooperation with, the developing countries in Asia and Latin America, in order to permit cross-fertilization between the efforts and results of these activities on the one hand, and cooperation in the framework of Community RTD policy on the other.

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

2.1. Financial participation by the Community in RTD activities carried out by third parties or by JRC Institutes in association with third parties

(a) Shared-cost activities:

- RTD projects carried out by undertakings, research centres and universities, including consortia for integrated projects with a common thematic objective;

- support for financing the infrastructure or installations necessary for the implementation of a coordinated action (strengthening of coordination).

(b) Concerted activities, which consist of coordinating, particularly with the aid of concertation networks, RTD projects already funded by public authorities or private bodies. Concerted activities can also include the requisite coordination of thematic networks bringing together manufacturers, users, universities and research centres to work on the same technological or industrial objective under shared-cost RTD activities (cf. first paragraph of Section 2.1 (a)).

(c) Specific measures such as measures in support of the Community's external policies and measures to provide tools for general use in research centres, universities and undertakings. The Community's contribution covers up to 100 % of the costs of the measures.

2.2. Preparatory, accompanying and support measures:

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

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

- use of external expertise, including access to scientific databases;

- scientific publications, including the dissemination, promotion, and utilization of the results (coordinated with the activities conducted under the third activity);

- study and monitoring of the developments in the science and technology policies of the third countries and of the socio-economic conditions of international cooperation;

- training activities related to research covered by this programme;

- recourse to the energy centres set up in certain countries under the Thermie programme;

- concertation and coordination activities, e.g. exchange of information to improve coordination with the Member States;

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