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COMMISSION OFTHEEUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(82)196 final
Brussels,16April1982
VA£
COMMUNICATION FROMTHECOMMISSION TOTHECOUNCIL
REVIEWOFTHEIMPLEMENTATION OFTHECURRENT PROGRAMME OFTHECOMMUNITY
BUREAUOFREFERENCE (BCR)
COMC82)196final

COMMUNICATION TOTHECOUNCIL
REVIEWOFTHEIMPLEMENTATION OFTHECURRENTPROGRAMME OFTHECOMMUNITY
BUREAUOFREFERENCE (BCR)
1.TheCouncildecisiongivingeffecttothecurrentmultiannual program­
mefortheBCRwastakenon9thOctober1979.Thatdecisionprovidedfor
anincreaseinthecoverageoftheworkincludingthecompletely new
activityinthefieldofappliedmetrology.Togiveeffecttotheincrea­
sedwork,theCouncildecisionprovidedfortheadditionofsevenpeople
totheearliersmallteamtoorganizeandmanagethework.Ittookuntil
themiddleof1980torecruittheextrapersonnel andtogetthenew
programmeoperatingatitsnewlevel.Ontheotherhand,theprogramme
isduetocometoanendon31stDecember,1982.Theworkis,2according­
lyalreadywelladvancedofpreparingforanewfollow-on programmeto
commenceatthebeginningof1983.Thecurrentprogramme must,therefore,
beseenasatransition phaseandarevisionoftheprogrammeatthepre­
sentstage,whentheworkinhandhasonlybeenatitsfulllevelfor
somemonths,wouldseemtobemorelikelytoupsettheworkinhandand
thepreparation forthenewphasethanbeneficial tothescientific work
ortothesmoothmanagement ofwhatshouldbeacontinuous thoughcons­
tantlydeveloping programmeofscientific work.Thecurrentprogramme
coversthreemainfieldsofactivity:
a)Newreferencematerials
55newprojectshavebeen'startedsincethenewprogrammeenteredinto
force.Theobjectiveoftheseprojectsistoproducereferencematerials
whereimprovements arenecessaryinthequalityandconsistency of
measurements andanalyses.Someimportantexamplesare:
-analysesofimpuritiesinmetalslikeleadandcopper,impurities and
alloyingelementsinzircaloy,analysesoffertilizers andcoal(referen­
cematerialsinareassuchastheseareimportantforindustry)

-analysesofpollutingelementssuchaslead,cadmium,mercuryinsoils,
fertilizers,meatmilkandwater(importantforimprovements inthe
monitoring andcontrolofpollution);
-analysessuchasleadandcadmiuminblood(importantforhealth).
t
Eachprojectrequiresthecollaboration ofsome10to15laboratories
throughouttheMemberStates.Laboratories involvedthoseinindustry,
inuniversities andinnationalresearchcentres.
Thisactivityhadinitiallybeensupportedsubstantially bythestaff
workingattheJointResearchCentreonarelatedprogramme METRE.
TheMETREprogrammewasremovedfromtheJRCprogrammeintheCouncil
decisionof18thMarch1980settingoutthenewmultiannual programme
fortheJointResearchCentre.Some70manyearsperyearpreviously
devotedtothisworkis,accordingly,nowreducedtoapproximately 7man
yearsperyear.Thisdecisionwastakenatpreciselythetimewhenthe
currentBCRprogrammewascomingintoeffectandtheadaptationtothe
newcircumstances requiredconsiderable effort.Oneoftheresultsis
thattheindividualprojectsareinevitablysloweddowncomparedwith
theoriginalplanswhichweremadewhenitwasassumedthattheMETRE
programmewouldbecontinued.
Yetafurtherdifficultyhasariseninthecourseofthefirsttwoyears
oftheprogramme.Theextensionoftherangeofreferencematerials
intonewfieldsparticularly thoseinvolvingpollutingelementshas
carriedwithittheneedtopreparesamplesundercarefullycontrolled
conditionssimilartothosenormallymetwithinlaboratories concerned
withpharmaceutical productsandusingsimilartechniquese.g.powders
enclosedinsealedglassampoules.
Strenuouseffortsmadeoveraperiodof18monthshavefailedtolocatea
laboratorypreparedtocarryoutthishighlyspecialized work.Investiga'
tionsarenowinhandtoseewhethertheJointResearchCentreatits
Geelestablishment (CentralBureauofNuclearMeasurements )cancarryout
thistask.

b)Themanagement oftheexistingstockofreferencematerials
TtieCommission nowownssome80Lotsofsamplesofcertifiedreference
materialswhichintotalamounttosome30000samples.Theyarestored
mainlyintheestablishments oftheJointResearchCentrealthough
someofthemareheldingovernmentlaboratories inMemberStates.The
managementofthedistribution ofthesesamplesisoneofthetasksof
thepersonneloftheBCRteam.Itshouldbenotedthattherearebig
differences betweentheMemberStates .intheirawarenessofthevalue
oftheuseofcertifiedreferencematerials .Aneducational task
isneededinordertosecurethebetterutilization ofthematerials
whicharemuchvaluedwheretheyareused„Interestiscertainlygro­
wing.Butitisalsotruethatsomereferencematerialsarenotused
atalland,inthefuture,amuchmorecarefulanalysisofthepoten-.
tialuseofreferencematerialswillbemadebeforethescientific
workisembarkedupon.Itshouldbenotedthat'onceaprojectisstarted
itcostsverylittlemoretomakealargenumberofsamplesthana
smallnumber.TheforesightoftheCommission in.itsdecisionstomake
substancial numbersofsampleshasprovedcorrectintermsofthe
economieswhichresult;butitdoesmeanthatacertainproportionof
theefforthasalwaystobedeployedonwhatareessentially checking
andbookkeeping operations .
c)Appliedmetrology
Thefieldofappliedmetrologyisnewinthecurrentprogramme.Its
objectiveistohelplaboratories intheMemberStatesimprovetheaccu­
racyoftheirmeasurements whenthesearenecessaryforeconomicreasons.
Examplesarethemeasurement ofelectrical power,ofhighvoltages,ofthe
flowofnaturalgasandofthepowerradiatedbymicrowaveovens.The
pointofimportanceisthatdifferentmeasuringmethodstendtogive
differentresults.Thisisthecaseevenwhentheparametertobemea­
suredisrelativelystraightforward andthescientificbasisofthemea­
suringmethodhasbeenestablishedforaverylongtime.Theeconomic
importance hasbecomeincreasingly greatinEuropeinrecentyearsbecau­
seofthedevelopment oftheCommonMarketandtheincreasingtendency
I

forelectricity ornaturalgastobesentfromoneCommunitycountryto
another.Othertopicsofsimilarimportanceareunderstudyinthepro­
gramme.Thisisthusafondamental Communitytaskassistinginthe
creationofatrueCommonMarketandinthefreepassageofgoodsand
servicesfromoneCommunitycountrytoanother.
Some35suchprojectsarenowinoperation.Eachprojectassociates
allthenationalmetrologylaboratories whichwishtoparticipate toge­
therwithcertainlaboratories fromindustry.
»
Althoughthispartoftheprogrammeisveryrecentlystarted,itis
alreadyconsidered bytheMemberStatestobeusefulandsuccessful .
2)OPINIONOFTHEACPM.
TheACPMformulateditsopinionasgivenintheappendixduringitsmee­
tingheldon10-11thJune,1981.
Itisworthmentioningthateachprojectisdiscussedwithexperts
fromalltheMemberCountriesbeforeitisfullydefinedandthatthe
ACPMisthenconsultedoneachproject.Thecertification oftherefe­
rencematerialsisalsoonlydecideduponafterthepositiveadviceof
theACPM.
3).Conclusion :
TheCommissionfeelsthatafteradelayedanddifficultstart,itwould
beunwiseatthisstagetoconsideranysubstancial amendmentofthe
programmeassetoutintheCouncildecisionofthe9thOctober1979.
Suchchangesasmaybenecessarywillbeincorporated intheCommission's
newproposalforaprogrammetobeginin1stJanuary1983onwhichpro­
posalswillbesubmittedsoon.ThesenewproposalswilLtakeaccount
oftheproblemsencountered incarryingoutthecurrentprogrammeandthe
majortasksstilltobeaccomplished .Inviewofthedifficulties at
presentbeingexperienced becauseofthelimitedpersonnelavailable
andinviewofthefactthatthecompletionoftheCommonMarketcon­
tinuestodemandincreasedemphasisonappliedmetrology,theCommission
r

anticipates,subjecttotheadvice©TtheAviSCfyCoffifnlttee onProgramme
Management,puttingforwardaproposalforthephaseoftheworktobegin
in1982whichwillinvolvesomeincreaseinpersonnel andinappropria­
tions.InthecourseofthereviewoftheactivitiesoftheJointResearch
Centre,theCommissionwillexaminetherelationship betweentheBCRand
thepotentialoftheCBNMtoassistinitswork.Itwillseekoutways
ofmorefullyinvolvingtheCBNMintheworkoftheBCRwithaview
tomakingthemaximumuseoftheCommunity'sownfacilities .
Thereisonefurtheractionwhichneedstobetakennow.TheAdvisory
Committee onProgramme Management hasbeenextremelyhelpfulbutits
membership isveryweightedonthesideofexpertsinthefieldsof
referencematerials andappliedmetrology.Itdoesnotinclude ,suffi­
cientrepresentatives fromtheworldoftheusersoftheresultsofthe
programme-frompublichealthauthorities,fromenvironmental protec­
tionservicesorfromindustry.TheCommissioncallsupontheMember
Statestoreviewthecontribution oftheAdvisoryCommitteewithaview
tochangingtheirnomineestomaketheCommittee morerepresentative of
ttheusers.Thisshouldbedoneasamatterofurgencytoensurenot
onlyamoreeffective ACPMforthenewprogrammebutalsomoreusefuladvi­
cetotheCommissionforitsmanagement oftheremainderofthecurrent
programme andfortheworkstillneededinanticipation ofthenewpro­
gramme.
i

ANNEX
OPINION OFTHEACPM
Formulatedat'themeetingof10-11June,1981 .
Inaccordancewiththedefinitionoftheprogramme,55newprojects
werestartedtodevelopreferencematerialsforavarietyoffields
inparticularnon-ferrous metalsandores,environmental analyses,
biomedicalanalyses,physicalandtechnologicabpropertiesofmate­
rials.Twentyprojectscouldbefinalisedbythecertification ofthe
41referencematerials.
Thetermination oftheMETREprogrammedidnotseriouslyaffectthis
indirectactionprogramme,however.Thesupportstillprovidedby
theJRChasbeenimportanttocarryoutsuccessfully certainwork'on
referencematerials.The.ACPMrecommendsthatsuchsupportshouldbe
maintained inthefuture.
Solutionswerefoundforthestorageanddistribution ofthebatchesof
referencematerialsavailable. M
Alsotheactivitiesinthefieldofappliedmetrologywhichwasanew
additiontotheprogrammeisverysuccessful :35projectswerestarted
sincetheendof1979,in'fieldsofimportancefortheCommunity.The
ACPMagreeswiththeCommissionthattheDecisionoftheCouncilof
9thOctober,1979,isadequatetoimplementtheprogrammesatisfac­
torily.
Allaboveprojectsarebasedonthecollaborative workofseveralpublic
andprivatelaboratories inthemembercountries.Inparticularallthe
nationalmetrologylaboratories areofteninvolvedintheappliedmetro­
logyprojects.Theresultsofthiscollaboration areessentially in
eithercasestheimprovementofthemethodsandacloseragreementof
theresultsofdifferentlaboratories,whicharemostimportantcon­

tributionstothesolutionsofproblemsoftechnicalbarrierstotrade,
harrnonisation ofregulations andeasierimplementation ofCommunity
directives -Tofullyachievethispurposecontinuedandincreasedsystema­
ticcooperation withotherservicesoftheCommission seemsnowessential.
TheACPMrequeststheCommissiontoprepareanewprogrammeproposalfor
theperiodbeyond1982earlyenoughsothatpossibledelaysintheCoun­
cildecisiontoapprovethatnewprogrammewouldnotcause,asinthe
past,interruption ofimportantactivities.