No C 188/16 Official Journal of the European Communities 29. 7. 85 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision on a preparatory action for R & D in advanced 
communications technologies for Europe (RACE) and on the report from the Commission to the 
Council on 'RACE' 
(85/C 188/07) 
On 16 April 1985 the Council, acting under the optional consultation clause on the Treaty 
establishing the European Economic Community, asked the Economic and Social 
Committee for an opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision on a preparatory action 
for R&D in advanced communications technologies for Europe (RACE) and the report 
from the Commission to the Council on 'RACE'. 
The Section for Industry, Commerce, Crafts and Services was instructed to prepare the 
Committee's work on the subject. The Section adopted its opinion on 8 May 1985. The 
rapporteur was Mr Nierhaus. 
The Committee unanimously adopted the following opinion at its 227th plenary session 
(meeting of 30 May 1985): 
The proposed preparatory action — RACE: definition 
phase — is part of a longer term R&D project in 
advanced communications technologies for Europe 
(RACE) which is explained in greater detail in the 
report from the Commission to the Council on R&D 
requirements in telecommunications technologies. The 
opinion set out below, therefore, also covers this 
report. 
I. General opinion 
1. Telecommunications development has progressed 
at differing rates in the individual EC Member States 
but there is broad agreement on the longer term techno­
logical objective: a uniform network for all speech, 
image and data transfer services. The EC must secure 
and maintain a leading position — in particular vis-a­
vis Japan and the USA — in this worldwide technolog­
ical development which will have profound economic 
and social consequences. 
2. These developments are of direct economic impor­
tance to the high-technology industries concerned, 
which are becoming ever more dependent on larger 
markets. They are also, indirectly, of importance to all 
areas of economic and social life, as the smooth and 
rapid transmission of information is increasingly 
becoming an economic factor of outstanding impor­
tance. 
3. The Committee therefore generally supports the 
Commission's plans with regard to RACE and, in 
particular, the proposal for a preparatory action 
(RACE — definition phase). 
II. Specific comments on RACE 
1. The Committee considers it of fundamental impor­
tance that there should be a clear definition of national 
and EC roles. Networks will develop in the initial stage within the EC Member States and national develop­
ments will therefore press ahead independently of EC 
initiatives. 
2. The main task of RACE will be one of constantly 
coordinating developments at national level with the 
objectives of the Community, in order to ensure that 
integration is not delayed or rendered more difficult by 
divergent technology. The Committee regards the 
development of an IBC reference model as a matter of 
particular importance and urgency, as it will provide a 
clearer picture of technological data and basic condi­
tions. This will be of value when national political deci­
sions are being taken. 
3. Unlike countries, such as the USA, the EC has to 
take account of language barriers when introducing 
wide-ranging, i.e. pan-EC, integrated broadband 
networks for speech and data transfer. The language 
problem, which may perhaps still be a side issue in the 
pre-marketing stage of technological R&D, will have a 
very big influence on the qualitative and quantitative 
development of cross-frontier exchanges of informa­
tion. It will also cause additional standardization 
problems (e.g. in respect of data input terminals). The 
Committee proposes that this issue, too, be taken into 
account when preparing an integrated broadband 
communication (IBC) reference model. 
The Committee agrees with the Commission that moves 
to coordinate the different developments in the field of 
broadband technology in the individual EC Member 
States will only be effective if the Member States coor­
dinate their policies and actions. The Community must 
also give special emphasis to tackling the problems of 
standardization and interfaces in cross-frontier infor­
mation exchanges. The Committee therefore underlines 
the importance of the work of the Special Broadband 
Working Party (GSLB) which, together with the CEPT, 
is to concentrate on drawing up recommendations for 
harmonizing the efforts of the telecommunications 
operators. 
29. 7. 85 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 188/17 
4. The Committee considers that, whilst any overlap­
ping with other programmes must be avoided, appro­
priate findings from other programmes, such as 
ESPRIT, should be utilized. The proposed aid must 
therefore be carefully targeted, in close coordination 
with the other programmes, on specific aspects of the 
fields listed. 
The Committee proposes that more variable rates of aid 
be introduced, to enable firms with the necessary tech­
nical know-how but lacking capital to be involved, 
where appropriate, in innovatory work. For research of 
fundamental importance which may only be applied 
industrially in the very long term, it should thus be 
possible, in individual cases, to provide aid covering up 
to 100% of the cost. Such rates are available in other 
countries, such as the US and Japan. 
It should be remembered that the same method is also 
applied in these countries in the defence field in which 
the Community as such is not involved. The defence 
field does, however, have very important repercussions 
on the civilian market. 
It is also essential to provide comprehensive informa­
tion on possible partners — including small and 
medium-sized busineses — for shared contract 
research. 
The Committee also wonders whether, in the case of 
listed R&D projects with a long lead time, the support 
period of 18 months is sufficient, to enable results of 
practical value to be obtained, even when the scope of 
the projects is limited to exploratory work in connec­
tion with a critical assessment of the technological 
options of RACE. 
5. The Commission rightly draws attention to past 
experience with the introduction of new communica­
tions services. This experience clearly demonstrated the 
risks involved in separating the technical aspects of 
research from the marketing, application and user-
oriented aspects. The Committee therefore trusts that, 
right from the definition phase, the link between the 
users and providers of services, on the one hand, and 
the technological options, on the other hand, will be 
considered in greater detail. The provision of satisfac­
tory answers to questions such as those set out below 
will be a contributory factor in deciding when, to what 
Done at Brussels, 30 May 1985. extent and with what cost-benefit relationship the new 
broadband technologies can be brought into opera­
tion: 
— What qualitative and quantitative changes in labour 
market conditions are likely to be brought about by 
the introduction of integrated networks? 
— How will the jobs concerned be changed? What are 
the likely social consequences? What effect will this 
have on training requirements? 
— How can personal information and copyright (e.g. 
in the case of software and works stored in data 
banks) be protected in a satisfactory, comprehen­
sive and convincing way? 
— What is the extent of the private demand for new 
services such as teletex, cable TV videophones and 
to what preconditions is the demand subject, apart 
from cost? Are there specific critical cost limits 
beyond which private users will not make use of 
these services? 
6. To sum up, the Committee notes that the develop­
ment and introduction of integrated broadband 
networks — largely based on opto-electronic techno­
logy — will be an important technological task for the 
next decade. The EC, given its economic structure, 
must be a world leader in this development. The 
preliminary work on the establishment of EC-wide 
networks must therefore be started without delay. The 
Member States will, however, press ahead to an 
increasing extent with promoting R&D and imple­
menting the findings, with the result that over a fairly 
long period — up to, say, the end of the century — the 
national networks will work more and more closely 
together, provided that the Community sets the right 
political and technological course in good time. The 
Community must therefore provide the necessary 
framework to enable this process to be carried out 
smoothly and without undue delays and technological 
detours. The Committee regards the RACE programme 
as a logical step in this direction and strongly under­
lines the urgent need to introduce the programme. 
7. The Committee therefore calls upon the Council to 
take all the necessary steps forthwith to ensure that 
there are no delays in starting and implementing this 
essential programme. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Gerd MUHR