No C 56/36 Official Journal of the European Communities 6. 3. 89 
Opinion on the communication from the Commission to the Council and to the European 
Parliament concerning a programme of strategic research and technology in the field of 
aeronautics, pilot phase (1989/1990) 
(89/C 56/14) 
On 26 July 1988 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, 
under Article 130q of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the 
abovementioned communication from the Commission. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services was instructed to prepare the 
Committee's work on the subject. In the course of the proceedings Mr Flum was appointed 
Rapporteur-General by the full Committee. 
At its 261st plenary session (meeting of 14 December 1988) the Committee adopted the 
following Opinion with no dissenting votes and 1 abstention. 
The Committee approves the Commission's memor­
andum subject to the following comments. 
1. Preliminary comment 
1.1. The European aeronautical industry has already 
scored a number of notable technical and marketing 
successes. In the future it will remain one of the key 
technological and economic sectors, and will have a 
great impact on many other industries and sectors of 
society. 
Growing markets are also likely to mean profitability 
in the medium term. Furthermore, the aeronautical 
industry safeguards the existence of a very large number 
of supply firms, which mainly fall into the small to 
medium-sized bracket. A good many institutes and 
universities have also contributed to major scientific 
findings in aeronautics. Here, too, there is further 
potential. 
1.2. The proposed programme is to run initially as 
a pilot programme for two years, during which the 
following objectives will be at the forefront: 
a) to make qualitative and quantitative improvements 
in Research and Technology (R & T) cooperation 
between all organizations associated with the aero­
nautical sector in Europe; 
b) to carry out R & T work in roughly seven key areas 
of aeronautics; 
c) to draw up a longer term aeronautical programme 
for the future on the basis of these experiences and 
findings. 
2. General comments 
2.1. The Committee welcomes the Commission's 
proposal, for it will lend major support to the safe­
guarding and possible development of a leading sector 
of European industry. a) Successful European cooperation is a sine qua non 
if a significant share of potential markets in Europe 
and throughout the world is to be won; 
b) Judging by initial successes in this area (e.g. Airbus), 
it is probable that agreement will also be reached 
on a common R&D blueprint for the very many 
bodies already engaged in this key sector; 
c) This programme's successes will be felt far beyond 
the important market sector directly involved and 
will affect: 
— supply industries (small businesses), 
— technology for many other sectors, 
— cross-border cooperation between industry and 
universities in Europe, 
— politics, and 
— growth in experiences in managing such pro­
jects. 
2.2. Above all, practical cooperation in Europe is 
likely to benefit greatly from the enormous boost which 
this programme will give to common European stan­
dards for elements, components and subsystems. The 
programme could (despite all the difficulties involved 
in its implementation) serve as a model for other sectors 
in which the chances of successful cooperation in Euro­
pe are even more remote. 
3. Specific comments 
Despite approving the proposal in principle, the Com­
mittee would like to make a number of qualifying and 
amplifying proposals: 
3.1. Fewer fields of activity 
The pilot programme is to focus on too many areas of 
technology. It is necessary to reduce these to a few key 
areas if major successes are to be scored at the outset 
and if sufficient experiences are to be gained during the 
period in question. 
D^.D^ COfficial]ournal of the European Communities ^oCeo^B 
In order to increase participants^ selfconfidence, it 
would seem tomal^e sense to give priority to areas in 
which, thanl^stothe programme asawhole,Europe 
has the capability to becomeaworldleader,This is the 
only way to gainagenuine market edge later on. 
It would seem to be self-evident that in traditional areas 
of aeronautical technology it will be necessary to l^eep 
abreast of Europe^smainrivals,whilst in some specific 
areas it will even be necessary to mal^e up for lost 
ground. It would mal^e sense to put the proposed areas 
of worl^ in some order byapplying these criteria,l^rP 
ority should, however, be given to the development of 
a European vision for thefutureof aeronautics. Hie 
benefits of the programme will however need to be 
spreadevenly throughout the wholeoftheEuropean 
aeronautical industry and not extend beyond the^pre 
competitive^ stage, COtherwise they might influence indi 
vidual industrial development decisions, 
Lhe purpose of the programme is to mal^e the requisite 
structural improvements in Europe and to safeguard 
and create jobs. In view of the growing significance of 
intelligent technologies^ this could best be achieved 
with the aid of the programmers ^computations and 
airborne systems and equipments fields of activity. 
It will be importantto include environmental protection 
and social acceptability as ideas in all future plans, not 
only because they are major concerns of society but 
also because they are vital for market success, 
L^one at Brussels, 14 December 1^, R o^ T activities with a bearing on environmental 
protection andthe social acceptabilityof aeronautical 
systems aree^cellent subjects for cooperation on the 
initiative of the EC and with its participation. 
Therefore, given the assumed sharp increase in air 
traffic, the following particularly important issues 
should betaken into considerations 
— avoidance of emissionssuchasnoiseande^haust 
gases, 
— propfans for reducing fuel consumption, 
— reduction of interior and exterior noise levels, 
— use of hydrogen asafuel, and 
— use of exhaust gas catalytic converters. 
^, Lhe Committee thinks thate^changeschemes 
for specialist staffwill make it much easierto implement 
the programme. It suggests that skilled manual workers 
also be included in these schemes. 
4, Einal comments 
4,1, Community research projects in the field of 
aeronautics should tie in with related projects in other 
high-tech fields or be coordinated with other research 
programmes such as BRdTEBEURAAi in order to 
achieve the maximum possible synergy, 
4,^, Einally, the Committee trusts that the pro 
gramme will have a catalytic effect on cooperation 
between the Community^sindustries, 
these must become large enough to compete effectively 
with their main rivals from outside the Community, 
either by mergingor—failing that—by pooling their 
resources with the help of new joint programmes.