21. 4. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 105/7 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation (EEC) amending Regulation (EEC) 
No .../86 on the Common Organization of the Market in Wine (*) 
(87/C 105/04) 
On 16 December 1986 the Council decided, in accordance with Article 198 of the Treaty 
establishing the EEC, to ask the Economic and Social Committee for an Opinion on the 
abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Agriculture, which was responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the 
subject, adopted its Opinion on 18 February 1987 in the light of the oral report by Mr Yverneau. 
At its 244th Plenary Session, held on 25 and 26 February 1987 (meeting of 25 February 1987), the 
Economic and Social Committee unanimously adopted the following Opinion: 
1. The Committee notes that the Commission's pro­
posal has been drafted because of (i) Spain's accession to 
the Community and (ii) the need to change the demarcation 
of wine-growing zones currently used in the Community, 
although it has no specific legal basis. 
2. The Committee notes that the demarcation has not 
been based on precise technical criteria, but has practically 
rubber-stamped the rules of the Member States. 
It wants the Commission to produce specific proposals 
before 1990 in the light of detailed studies based on 
information concerning the climatic conditions and the 
different ecological contexts of the various areas of the 
EEC. 
3. It is quite clear that the problem of demarcating wine­
growing zones in Spain, and later Portugal, can only be 
finally settled as part of a new demarcation of zones for the 
(!) OJ No C 326, 19. 12. 1986, p. 6. Community as a whole, which the Commission proposes to 
do and which will be the subject of suggestions from the 
Economic and Social Committee at the appropriate time. 
4. Meanwhile, the Economic and Social Committee 
feels that to find a solution for the Spanish problems 
between now and 1990, one should aim at a pragmatic 
formula which: 
— cannot in any way prejudge the later demarcation of 
wine-growing zones for the Community as a whole, 
scheduled for 1990, above all as regards the setting of 
zone boundaries; 
— does not upset current Spanish production practices; 
and 
— does not treat Spanish wine producers less favourably 
than those in the rest of the Community. 
5. The Committee approves without reservation the 
proposed amendment to Article 15(2) in the basic 
regulation (Article 1(2) in the present proposal). 
Done at Brussels, 25 February 1987. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT 
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Regulation relating to a Research and Development 
Coordination Programme of the European Economic Community in the Field of Medical and 
Health Research (1987 to 1989) 
(87/C 105/05) 
On 17 November 1986 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee under 
Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the abovementioned 
proposal. 
No C 105/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 21. 4. 87 
The Section for Protection of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Affairs, which was 
responsible for preparing the Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 3 February 
1987, in the light of the Report by Dr Heuser. 
At its 244th Plenary Session (meeting of 25 February 1987) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion unanimously: 
General Comments 
1. The ESC welcomes the submission of a medical and 
health research coordination programme for the years 
1987-1989. The three previous coordination programmes 
have been successful in strengthening and integrating 
European research. 
1.1. Under the COST programme (European cooper­
ation in the field of scientific and technical research) 
cooperation agreements were concluded with non-Com­
munity European countries and Canada, and an informal 
exchange was set up with research institutes in the USA and 
Japan. 
1.2. The interest of researchers themselves in European 
cooperation is clearly demonstrated by the fact that 
between the beginning of the first programme in 1978 and 
the end of the third programme in 1986 the number of 
institutes and research groups participating in the program­
mes rose from 100 to approximately 1 400, and that 
between 2 000 and 3 000 research groups are expected to 
participate in the new programme. 
1.3. This increase in the number of participating 
institutes is only partly explained by enlargement of the 
Community. More important than this is the bandwagon 
effect created by the success of the programmes which has 
encouraged more and more institutes to join in. 
2.1. This is all the more noteworthy since participation 
in the programme does not bring the research groups and 
institutes concerned any additional funding. The pro­
gramme consists exclusively of concerted actions. The sole 
cost to the Community budget is, therefore, that of 
coordination, i. e. the cost of the meetings of researchers 
and the cost of the necessary Commission staff. In view of 
the modest expenditure involved, the usefulness of this 
coordination and the fact that duplication of research effort 
can be reduced in this way, the ESC supports the staffing 
requirements arising from the programme. 
2.2. The advantage of concerted actions lies in the 
coordination of R & D in the Member States, closer 
comparability of methods and results, the encouragement 
of cooperation, in short in the creation of a European 
awareness among participating scientists. In other words, 
concerted actions make for integration in the most positive 
sense of the term. Not all Member States have attained 
equally high levels of medical and health research in all fields. By bringing research groups together concerted 
actions can help reduce such disparities. 
3. As far as the technical instruments of coordination 
are concerned, new information technologies of the type 
highlighted in the IRIS programme could be used here to 
good effect. 
4. If the programme is to succeed it remains essential 
that the Member States propose to the Commission for 
participation all institutes and research groups that can 
operate effectively in the various fields concerned. There 
must not be any restrictive pre-selection in the Member 
States. 
5. Unfortunately policy makers and the general public 
know too little about the successes of research coordination 
in the Community. The ESC therefore calls on the 
Commission to step up its efforts to make the results of its 
research programmes more accessible and highlight their 
usefulness to the Community. A small proportion of the 
funds allocated to the programme should be used for this 
purpose so that the results of research can be publicized in 
readily comprehensible language. 
The ESC supports the programme's priorities although in 
some cases these seem to be rather arbitrary or perhaps to 
have evolved from past activities and the reasons for certain 
items are not immediately clear. The ESC will therefore 
confine itself to a few comments of a general nature. 
5.1. The section of the programme devoted to cancer 
research includes the item 'cancer research training 
scheme'. The ESC recommends that at least half the 
available funds be spent on the vital area of cancer 
epidemiology, where Europe is at present lagging behind. 
5.2. Still on the subject of cancer research, two further 
areas of study should be included under the heading 
'epidemiological research', namely: 'therapy-induced 
secondary cancers' and 'cancer and psychological factors'. 
5.3. The ESC feels that 'drug development' could be 
omitted from the cancer research section of this coordi­
nation programme — for two reasons. First, because this is 
primarily a matter for the pharmaceutical industry, which 
has its own international cooperation network. Secondly, 
because any major advances in cancer therapy over the next 
few years are less likely to come from the development of 
21. 4. 87 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 105/9 
new cytotoxic drugs than from the improvement of existing 
drugs and their more precise targeting to prevent damage 
due to the therapy. 
5.4. The ESC is particularly pleased to see that a 
separate section has been devoted to AIDS research, 
although it would be better to use the heading 'HIV 
infection research'. The main emphasis here should, 
however, be on coordinating and promoting research in the 
social and behavioural sciences. 
5.4.1. It is primarily the results of such research which 
will determine whether in the next few years we shall be 
able to halt the dramatic spread of HIV infections. Social 
science research must provide the basis for large-scale and 
effective programmes for educating the public and 
promoting behavioural changes without which it will be 
impossible to slow the advance of the epidemic. 
5.4.2. If we are to develop programmes for promoting 
behavioural change we need more information on actual 
sexual behaviour in the Community, on the distribution 
and frequency of high-risk sexual pratices, and on factors affecting behaviour and how they develop. Programmes for 
informing and educating the public and promoting changes 
in behaviour should be tested and examined on a 
comparative basis in the Community. 
5.4.3. In the section of the programme dealing with HIV 
infections a further project should be included under the 
heading 'Disease control and prevention', viz. studies on 
the spread of the infection, the latent period between 
infection and appearance of the disease and the factors 
contributing to the appearance of AIDS after infection. 
5.4.4. On the other hand, the time would not yet seem to 
be ripe for the 'Development of multi-centre clinical trials 
in AIDS'. 
6. The ESC once again stresses its support for the 
coordination programme in the field of medical and health 
research. In future programmes of this kind provision could 
be made for contractual research to fill any gaps in specific 
areas where insufficient research is at present being carried 
out in the Member States. 
Done at Brussels, 25 February 1987. 
The Chairman 
of the Economic and Social Committee 
Alfons MARGOT 
Opinion on the draft proposal for a Council Decision on a Community System of Rapid 
Exchange of Information in Cases of Unusually High Levels of Radioactivity or of a Nuclear 
Accident 
(87/C 105/06) 
On 3 September 1986 the Commission of the European Communities decided to consult the 
Economic and Social Committee, under the provisions of the Treaty establishing the European 
Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 31 thereof, on the abovementioned proposal. 
The Section for Energy, Nuclear Questions and Research, which was responsible for preparing the 
Committee's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 6 February 1987 in the light of Mr Saiu's 
report. 
At its 244th Plenary Session (meeting of 25 Feburary 1987) the Economic and Social Committee 
adopted the following Opinion unanimously less 1 abstention: