COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 
Brussels, 06.09.1996 
COM(96) 436 final 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE 
COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 
PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 
COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS OF 26 APRIL 1994 ON THE 
ROLE OF THE JRC 

- 1-
Table of Contents 
A. INTRODUCTION 
Towards implementation of a new approach for the JRC Page 1 ^V. 
B. JRC'S ACTIVITIES 2 
Institutional Activities 2 
Institutional Research 3 
Institutional Support Activities 5 
Competitive Activities 6 
C. JRC OPERATING IN NETWORKS 9 
D. IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES 10 
Advice, interchange and guidance to the JRC 
Evaluations 12 
Relations with Programme Committees 13 
Board of Governors 14 
CONCLUSION 14 
ANNEXES 
I JRC institutional research activities 1996 16 
II Number of publications 
written by JRC Scientists 17 
III (a) List of the Inter-DG Agreements in Institutional 
Support to the Commission 18 
III (b) JRC institutional support activities 19, 20 
IV JRC institutional s/t support activities 1996 21 
V Shared Cost Actions 
JRC Institutes response to the first calls of the 4th FWP 22 
VI Targets of Evolution of JRC Competitive Activities 1995-1998 23 
VII Distribution of JRC Cooperation with National Research 
Organisations and Universities, by country 24 
VIII JRC Commitment Appropriations 1995-1998 25 
_ A OL-
A. INTRODUCTION 
Towards Implementation of a New Approach for the JRC 
1. The debate in the Community Institutions back in 1993 and 1994, 
leading to the April 1994 Decisions on the 4th Framework Programme 
of Community Activities of Research, Technological Development and 
Demonstration for the EC and the EAEC Framework Programme of 
Community Activities of Research and Training, included a substantial 
discussion on the Joint Research Centre (JRC) and its role in the 
achievement of the Union's policies. Overall it was recognised that a 
new approach should be added to the traditional role of the JRC, in 
order for the Union to draw optimal benefit from the activities of the 
Centre and that clear plans and guidelines should be set to this end. 
2. The Council in its Conclusions of 26 April, 1994 on the Role of the 
Joint Research Centre* coined its views on the future of the JRC and 
provided guidelines for this. 
As an introduction, the Council reaffirmed: 
the Community character of the JRC and its role in the 
achievement of the objectives of the Union, 
the need for the JRC to pursue and reinforce its move towards a 
more competitive approach on the basis of a genuine 
customer/contractor relationship. 
It reiterated the JRC contribution to Community research policy and 
underlined the need to add a new approach for the JRC, whereby it 
would progressively enter the competitive arena in specific 
programmes under the Framework Programmes and give scientific 
and technical support to Community policies of a kind suitable for that 
competitive approach. 
3. The Council furthermore "calls upon the Commission to submit a 
report on the progress in the implementation of these Conclusions to 
the European Parliament and the Council in 1996, after obtaining the 
Opinion of the Board of Governors, so as to enable the European 
Parliament and the Council to draw up an assessment of the 
situation". 
O.J. C126/1, 7.5.94 
4. The present Communication from the Commission intends to answer 
this request. It is largely structured along the Council Conclusions and 
should demonstrate: 
• the progress made so far, 
• the further steps necessary, 
and in general provide an illustration of 
• the JRC situation at mid-term in its 1995-1998 programme. 
It should be added that the JRC and its Board of Governors took the 
relevant initiatives immediately, the process of elaboration and 
arrangement of all these decisions and measures took much more 
time than had been expected by the Council in its Conclusions. 
Therefore, the full implementation of the latter had to be shifted until 
the full legal process was completed and the present report can only 
cover one year of an experience which is continuing and has to be 
seen within the overall context of the Framework Programmes (1994-
1998). 
The present Communication is accompanied by an Opinion of the 
Board of Governors. 
5. 1995 was the first year of JRC operation under the new approach. 
The present Communication, therefore, is to be considered together 
with the JRC Annual Report 1995' issued by tne Commission and 
also accompanied by an Opinion of the JRC Board of Governors. 
B. JRC'S ACTIVITIES 
6. The activities of the JRC are Outlined in the Council Conclusions and 
notably in its guidelines defined in detailed terms, in particular in the 
context of the Framework Research Programmes. A distinction is 
made between the 
• institutional activities 
• competitive activities under the Framework programmes 
• competitive activities outside the Framework programmes. 
The following description of progress, the present situation and further 
plans thus adheres to this structure. 
Institutional Activities 
7. The Community character of the JRC is to the forefront in this 
spectrum of activities. The activities, as foreseen in the Council 
Conclusions, are entirely funded by the Framework Programmes. 
They should allow the JRC to contribute to Community research policy, 
particularly in those sectors where it has special, if not unique, skills 
1) COM(96}158 final, 17.4,96 
8. and in areas where its neutrality is essential for scientific and technical 
support for Community policies. 
The JRC institutional activities contribute to the following themes of the 
Framework Programmes: 
Information Technologies (S) 
Industrial and Materials Technologies (R) 
Standards, Norms and Measurements (R) 
Environment and Climate (R,S) 
Agriculture and Fisheries (S) 
Non-Nuclear Energies (R) 
Targeted Socio-Economic Research (R,S) 
Nuclear Fission Safety (R,S) 
Thermo-nuclear Fusion (R) MECU 
11.7 
89.5 
111.8 
306.9 
50.0 
17.1 
35.0 
259.8 
49.0 
930.8 
9. The scientific and technical objectives are given in the Council 
Decisions on the JRC specific programmes 1995-1998. They provide 
a clear separation between the objectives for institutional research 
activities (R) and institutional scientific and technical support activities 
(S), for the formulation and implementation of Community policies and 
the tasks allotted to the Commission pursuant to the Treaties. 
The figures in the preceding list give the distribution of the 930.8 
MECU for 1995-1998 attributed to the institutional activities in the 
Decisions on the Framework Programmes and their first adaptation 
following the adhesion of the three new Member States. To this 
amount of 930.8 MECU should be added 17 MECU and 10.7 MECU 
for JRC participation (50% contribution) in shared-cost activities in the 
EC and the EAEC fields, respectively, bringing the totai for the 4 year 
operational budget to 958.5 MECU. The Council Conclusions foresaw 
a total of 900 MECU. To this is added 6.5% (58.5 MECU) from the 
above-mentioned decisions on the first adaptation of the Framework 
Programmes. Possible additional funding was foreseen by the Council 
Conclusions for the second adaptation of the Framework Programmes. 
The Commission, however, has retained a different approach in its 
proposal for this second adaptation*. 
The results of the work in 1995 are provided in the JRC 1995 Annual 
Report and the 1995 Annual Reports from the JRC Institutes and the 
further planning in the 1996 Annual Workprogramme discussed with 
the Board of Governors. The 1996 resource distribution over the 
various themes for institutional research is illustrated in Annex i. 
Institutional Research 
10. Four significant examples, amongst the numerous described in the 
1995 Annual Report, may illustrate the scope of JRC institutional 
research. They have been selected to demonstrate use of particular 
JRC skills, the network oriented approach to JRC work, industrial 
relations and to give an example of the exploitation of a special 
research facility available m the Centre: 
COM(96) 12 final, O.J C115, 19.4.96 
* Composite Materials: Novel Research with contributions to 
European industry. On the basis of the longstanding research on 
high temperature materials and composites, the JRC Institute for 
Advanced Materials (Petten and Ispra), in collaboration with 
industry, has developed new coated fibres of high strength for 
structural materials in high temperature applications, like gas 
turbines or heat exchangers. 
* Earthquake Engineering: European research network centred 
around a JRC major research facility. More than 20 national 
laboratories collaborate with the JRC Institute for Systems, 
Informatics and Safety (Ispra) on use of the unique ELSA reaction 
wall in Ispra and shaking tables in national institutes. The 
prenormative research includes support to the development of 
European standards for designing civil engineering structures in 
seismic areas. 
* Forest Information System: 1995 saw the completion of the 
Forest Information from Remote Sensing (FIRS) projects' 
Planning Phase in cooperation with consortia of organisations 
from France, Germany, Sweden, the Czech Republic, Russia, 
Poland, Spain, Ireland and Finland. The major objective of the 
project is to contribute to the development of a Unified European 
Forest Information System, providing both production related and 
environmental forest information. In 1995 the project developed 
a régionalisation and final stratification of European forest 
ecosystems and finalised the unified European Forest 
Nomenclature System. 
* Reactor Safety Code: Development with national laboratories of 
a new reactor safety code for calculating fuel/coolant interactions 
in cases of severe accidents, combined with experimental tests 
in the FARO installation. 
11. The results of the institutional research are provided through the 
• extensive networks for collaboration with industry, national 
research centres and universities, which include JRC participation 
in selected EUREKA projects, notably with industry, 
• participation in technical committees of standardisation bodies 
such as CEN, ISO and the International Electro-technical 
Committee (IEC), 
• Commission activities for exploitation of research results, 
and, as for any other research centre, 
• JRC generated publications, participation in scientific meetings, 
congresses, seminars and symposia. (Annex II gives the number 
of publications written by JRC scientists in 1994 and 1995). 
12. The Commission, however, as encouraged by the Board of Governors 
and independent evaluations of the JRC, agrees that there is still 
further scope for an improved 
identification of the users of the JRC research 
focus on materialisation of research results 
5-
' and, in a wider sense, an exploitation of the institutional research and 
its output. New measures to this end are planned to bring concrete 
results before the end of the current programme period. 
13. Related to this is the Commission's own use of the competences and 
skills developed through the JRC's research activities. They clearly 
form the basis for the concrete projects of institutional support 
described below. They also allow the Centre to be ready - within the 
defined scientific-technical objectives of the JRC programme - for new 
orientations which may be decided for Community research. The 
Commission is thus profiting from the competences of the JRC in the 
composition of the Task Forces which have set up on 
industry/research related themes and one of these Task Forces -
Environment-Water - is led by the Director of the JRC Environment 
Institute. 
Institutional Support Activities 
14. In the Council Conclusions these are defined as activities necessary 
for the formulation and implementation of Community policies and of 
the tasks allotted to the Commission pursuant to the Treaties, which 
necessitate the neutrality of the JRC. While ensuring maximum 
flexibility, the financial resources earmarked for these activities will be 
entered in the research budget and administered by the Commission 
within a framework, giving responsibility to the customer Directorates-
General which will use the JRC as a service provider. 
As stated above, their scientific-technical objectives are defined in the 
Council Decisions on the JRC specific programmes 1995-1998 and the 
financial resources included in these. The appropriations are decided 
on an annual basis, together with other JRC institutional activities, by 
the Budgetary Authority (Council and European Parliament) in the 
General Budget of the European Union, the subsection on Research 
and Technological Development. The resources are around one third 
of the total for the JRC's institutional activities. 
15. The support activities respond to demands from the Commission 
services in charge of the various policies of the Union - notably 
environment, energy, agriculture and industry - or tasks allotted to the 
Commission pursuant to the Treaties (such as nuclear safeguards). 
The work requested is normally planned on a medium to long term 
basis. It is regulated through standard agreements between the 
relevant Commission services and the JRC, specifying objectives, 
resources, follow-up, reporting and accounting measures. Major 
support activities have been announced to the Council and the 
European Parliament through Communications from the Commission. 
Annex III provides a list of the Agreements and a list of these 
Communications. 
16. The detailed annual planning is included in the Workprogramme with a 
1996 resource distribution as given in Annex IV. The outcome of the 
work is illustrated in the 1995 Annual Report and typical examples are: 
# The European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution: 
Harmonisation of EC directives on air pollution, organisation of 
quality assurance, validation of new monitoring techniques. 
$ Application of Remote Sensing to Agricultural Policy: 
Agricultural statistics, monitoring of crop acreage, monitoring and 
control in support of the Common Agricultural Policy. 
0 Nuclear Safeguards: 
Training of inspectors, harmonisation of inspection practices, 
equipment and systems development, design and operation of 
on-site laboratories at reprocessing plants, analysis of nuclear 
materials samples. 
# Detection of Illicit Nuclear Material: 
At the request of the Commission, responding to a Member State 
demand, the JRC contributes to the combat against illicit 
trafficking of nuclear material by using its unique laboratory 
facilities for the characterisation of samples discovered by 
national authorities. 
The latter examples are related to tasks allotted to the Commission by 
the EAEC Treaty and all four examples illustrate the use the 
Commission derives from the neutrality of the JRC. 
17. The a priori definition of the objectives and detailed project planning 
for the institutional support was made in close consultation with the 
relevant Commission services at the time of preparing the proposals 
for the JRC specific programmes 1995-1998. These were decided in 
December, 1994. Yet further demands have arisen and, given the 
Union's focus on control measures, it has been possible in the 1996 
work programme - within the overall allocated resources - to include 
projects on: 
Systems developments for the Commission's Anti-fraud Unit 
(UCLAF); 
Novel methods for animal tagging using microchips, for the 
Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture. An application 
of a technique developed in a different context (seals for use by 
safeguards' inspectors). 
The inclusion of these new projects was possible using the adaptation 
of institutional support foreseen in the Council Decisions on the JRC 
specific programmes (Article 7.3, last sentence). Nevertheless, these 
examples illustrate the desirability for future JRC programmes to define 
objectives with a further degree of flexibility. . 
18. The full spectrum of competitive activities, given in the guidelines of 
the Council Conclusions, is: 
Under the Framework Programmes 
Participation of the JRC in Shared-Cost Actions. 
The JRC in association with partners in the Member States may 
submit proposals in the context of calls for proposals issued by 
the Commission. 
Competitive Support Measures. 
Scientific and technical support activities suited for a competitive 
approach, where the JRC may respond to requests from the 
Commission Directorates General. 
Outside the Framework Programmes 
Activities on behalf of third parties. 
The conduct of research and supply of services under contract to 
third parties, including contracts secured in the context of 
Member States/RTD programmes. 
Other Community Activities. 
JRC participation in Community actions (e.g. PHARE, TACIS, 
developing countries, etc.) obtaining Community funding in the 
context of a competitive approach. 
The JRC has had an opportunity to conduct activities on behalf of third 
parties since 1988-1989 and has reported on these in successive 
annual reports. All the other types of competitive activities were, 
however, new and only available to the JRC from 1995 onwards. 
19. The Council decided that the transfer to competitive activities should 
average 22% for the EC Framework Programme and 10% for the 
EAEC Framework Programme from 1995-1998 and that this transition 
should be a gradual and progressive process over the 4 year period. 
In order to make this possible the Council in its Conclusions invited the 
Commission to amend its internal rules as necessary and propose to 
the Council all required decisions as early as possible. 
20. The JRC, in response, made early plans to grasp the new 
opportunities for competitive activities as soon as these materialised 
and as soon as the necessary clarification of the JRC's role in relation 
to rules and regulations could be provided. 
21. For the shared-cost actions under the specific RTD programmes under 
the Framework Programmes, the JRC was thus ready to respond, 
together with national partners, to the first calls tor proposals issued by 
the Commission. These were published from 15 December 1994 
onwards and in establishing partnerships the JRC largely, but not 
exclusively, drew on the wide scientific networks already established in 
previous years. These also included collaboration with the New 
Member States (Austria, Finland and Sweden), stemming from their 
previous participation in JRC activities under the European Economic 
Area Agreement. The JRC Institutes and their partners responded to 
the first calls for proposals for 15 specific programmes and of these, 
100 proposals were accepted, representing an overall acceptance rate 
of 29% with a considerable variation, however, from programme to 
programme, as illustrated in Annex V. The total earnings tor the JRC 
from the subsequent contractual arrangements amount to 11 MECU, to 
be matched during the execution of the work by the same amount 
from JRC budget lines. 
This participation in shared-cost actions has continued. In response to 
further calls tor proposals the JRC and its partners have presented 
126 proposals and are awaiting a final decision on the outcome. In its 
planning for 1996 the JRC noted fewer calls for proposals than were 
issued in 1995 or at the end of 1994. 
8 
It is noteworthy that the JRC, together with its partners, has sought 
opportunities and obtained acceptance both from shared-cost actions 
within the Framework Programme themes corresponding to the JRC 
institutional activities and from some shared-cost actions in other 
themes, e.g. telematics, advanced communication technologies and 
services or marine sciences and technologies. This illustrates that the 
JRC as a multi-disciplinary research centre can develop scientific 
disciplines outside the prescribed Framework Programme themes in 
support of its institutional activities which are also fruitful in the 
competitive arena. 
22. The competitive support measures first launched by the Commission 
during 1995 were a completely new type of activity within the EC 
Framework Programme. JRC projects totalling 12 MECU were 
accepted in 1995. The work was in response to openings launched by 
Commission services and are within the fields of: 
information technology support; 
systems support to environmental problems and non-nuclear 
energies; 
analytical methodologies in the area of agriculture and fisheries; 
remote sensing applications for agriculture and fisheries including 
land use classification and agricultural products. 
Finally, under the Third activities of the EC Framework Programme: 
projects related to technology transfer and exploitation of EC 
research results. 
23. Outside the Framework Programmes the JRC has earned contracts in 
other actions introduced by the Community, namely from the PHARE 
and TACIS programmes. They total some 5 MECU (as of May 1996) 
and encompass: 
• A major PHARE project on agricultural information systems, 
including applications of remote sensing for 6 PHARE countries. 
Extensions are foreseen for a further 5 PHARE countries and the 
project may be extended into following years. 
• Another, but smaller PHARE project is concerned with assistance 
to the Bulgarian authorities on safety of reactor fuel, while a 
TACIS project provides support to the investigation of the 
environmental impact of the Chernobyl accident in the Ukraine. 
• Several PHARE and TACIS projects described in detail in the 
Communication from the Commission to the Council and the 
European Parliament on illicit trafficking of nuclear materials2 in 
Annex III. 
24. Alongside these new types of activity, the JRC has continued the work 
for third parties. New contracts won in 1995 totalled 24.8 MECU and 
6.6 MECU in the first two quarters of 1996. Recent major contracts 
include: 
continuing work tor the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission of a 
major experimental installation in Ispra; 
2) COM(96)171 final, 19.4.96 
25. establishment of a Centre for the prevention of pollution and risks 
associated with the handling and transportation of toxic 
substances in a Member State region; 
nuclear instrument development for a large nuclear industrial firm 
in a Member State; 
development of numerical methods for the simulation of the 
behaviour of concrete structures for a national electricity utility; 
development of ultrasonic systems for monitoring liquid circuits 
for an industrial company in a Member State. 
The 1995 outturn of the competitive activities are summarised in the 
table below. 
Competitive activities 
Amounts earned in 1995 (Mioecu) 
Shared Cost Actions 
(50%) 
Competitive Support 
Competitive Activities 
outside the Framework 
Programme 
Third Party Work 
TOTAL Earned during 
1995 
10.7 
12.0 
2.3 
24.8(2) 
49.8 Inscribed as 
1995 credits 0) 
3.9 
4.9 
1.3 
24.5(2) 
34.6 inscribed 
1.1. -30.6.96 
4.6 
6.9 j 
4.0(3) 
6.6(3) 
22.1 
(1) The balance will be inscribed as i996 credits, after conclusion of procedures 
(2) Including 6.4 Mioecu for work at the HFR reactor coming from contracts with industrial 
partners 
(3) contract under discussion in 1995 
Annex VI summarises the targets for competitive activities which were 
given to the Board of Governors in May 1996 by the JRC, together with 
the financial results obtained in 1995 and early 1996. 
C. JRC OPERATING IN NETWORKS 
26. The Council Conclusions stressed the need for the JRC to become 
better integrated in networks with partners belonging to all the Member 
States. A similar recommendation was included m the Council 
Resolution on the JRC of 29 April 1992. 
27. In a published report entitled "JRC Cooperation with National 
Research Organisations and Universities"'. 87 bilateral and 49 
multilateral cooperation agreements are described. The number of 
collaboration agreements has further increased to respectively 93 and 
63 and Annex VII illustrates the distribution of partners over the 
Member States. 
3) EUR 16289 EN, 1994 
10 
28. Some examples of institutional research given above in Section B 
illustrate the extent to which the JRC is working in networks. In 
addition to the already well established networks by the Institute for 
Advanced Materials (ENIQ, NESC, AMES, EPERC), further typical 
examples are: 
REIMEPIMEP 
Regular European Interlaboratory Measurement Evaluation 
Programme International Measurement Evaluation Programme. 
The JRC Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements 
(Geel) has organised networks of up to 70 laboratories for 
comparative measurements of nuclear and non-nuclear samples 
and to provide the reference value. 
FARO: 
Fuel Melting and Release Oven, where in addition to bilateral 
agreements with the French CE A and the U.S. NRC, the JRC 
conducts a network of industrial, national authorities and research 
organisations on the effects of fuel meltdown in case of reactor 
accidents and their mitigation, centred around a unique 
experimental installation at the Ispra Site. 
Bilateral cooperation is illustrated by 
Atmospheric Chemistry in Global Change and Urban Air 
Pollution: 
Where the JRC Environment Institute (Ispra) exchanges staff and 
organises joint field campaigns for, as an example, studies on 
urban air chemistry, with a group of national laboratories in a 
Member State (Denmark). 
29. The new spectrum of competitive activities, and notably 
participation in shared-cost actions, has lead to a further 
dimension being added to the JRC's collaboration in networks 
and consortia with industry and national research. The JRC are 
currently executing around 100 accepted projects for shared-cost 
actions with some 250 different partners, including around a third 
from industry. The partners are found in all Member States and 
associated countries under the EEA Agreement. 
D. IMPLEMENTATION MEASURES 
30. The Council, in setting out its Conclusions on the Role of the JRC and 
endorsing the guidelines tor the definition of the JRC activities, foresaw 
this would require: 
• flexible and dynamic operation of the JRC, the necessity to 
ensure a gradual transition and an adaptation of the existing rules 
and regulations, 
• an action programme for defining the fundamental objectives and 
thereby permitting an evaluation of the progress. 
The Council furthermore referred to: 
• an effective coordination between the Centre's institutional 
activities provided for in the Framework Programmes, by 
-11 -
systematic exchanges of views to be held between the JRC, 
including the Board of Governors, and the Committees for the 
specific programmes, with due regard to their respective 
responsibilities. 
The Council finally underlined: 
• the need to take due account of the results of the 1994 
evaluation by independent experts 
and, above all, 
• the role of the Board of Governors in implementing the 
conclusions and guidelines. 
The progress in these implementation measures is addressed below. 
31. When faced in early 1994 with the modified role, the Commission had 
two chief concerns for the JRC for allowing the Centre to make this 
applicable as and from 1 January, 1995. 
Council Decisions on the objectives and resources for the 
institutional activities, to which end the specific programmes 
1995-1998 were decided on 15 December, 1994 for the JRC 
activities for the EC and the EAEC, respectively. 
A battery of decisions on amendments to existing rules and 
regulations or decisions on new ones, as already listed in the 
guidelines annexed to the Council Conclusions. 
The latter encompassed legal, budgetary, financial and administrative 
matters. Some were internal Commission rules, while others required 
decisions by the Council upon proposals by the Commission. The 
total body of required decisions was made before the end of 1995. In 
summary, they may be described as follows: 
Legal basis for participation on a competitive basis in the 
Framework Programmes, provided through the Council Decision 
on Rules for the Participation of undertakings, research centres 
and universities in research, technological development and 
demonstration activities of the European Community-' and the 
Council Decision concerning the Rules for the participation of 
undertakings, research centres and universities in research and 
training activities of the European Atomic Energy Community^. 
These decisions establish that the JRC can participate in 
Community indirect action RTD activities under the same 
conditions and with the same rights as other participants. The 
EC decision also provides for the participation of the JRC in the 
competitive support activities of the Framework Programme; 
Related amendments to the Financial Regulation decided by the 
Council on 18 September 1995°, to foresee the new competitive 
activities of the JRC, to ensure JRC access to appropriations for 
earned activities, both under the Framework Programmes and 
under other Community programmes, and a degree of flexibility in 
transfer possibilities tor appropriations; 
A new structure from 1995 onwards in the JRC section of the 
General Budget for the European Union (under the research 
4) Council Decision 94 763 EC, O.J. I 306, 30 11.94 
5) Council Decision 94 761 Euratom, O.J. I 306, 30.11.94 
6) Council Regulation No. 2335 95, O.J. I 240 7.10.95 
budget) following the institutional activities and with appropriations 
for the JRC of a 50% contribution to earned shared-cost actions. 
Appropriate lines for income and expenditure of appropriations 
earned from competitive activities. Annex VIII provides a table 
of the 1995-1998 schedule for commitment appropriations under 
the Budgets of the European Union; 
Similar amendments to the accounting systems, with accounting 
for the competitive activities being separated from the accounting 
for the institutional activities; 
New simplified cost reimbursement model contract for 
Community activities in the field of RTD, adopted by the 
Commission on 26 July 1995' and its derived contracts, which in 
their special conditions provide for the participation of the JRC as 
a contractor. Relations between Directorates General providing 
funds and the JRC are specifically regulated by administrative 
arrangements. Similar administrative arrangements apply to JRC 
participation in other Community competitive activities within or 
outside the Framework Programmes. 
32. With regard to personnel management the new approach gave rise to 
several internal measures on staff training, reassignment of staff and a 
substantial amount of communications to staff at all levels. 
The early implementation of the new approach to the JRC's operations 
coincided with the Commission Decisions in 1995 on a new policy for 
all Commission research staff. The concept of a 25% contingent of 
highly mobile staff should add the flexibility necessary for staff 
management in the JRC, while the new policy also includes a more 
permanent nucleus of staff in order to ensure continuity in the Centre's 
work. 
33. Furthermore, on 16 January 1996, a reorganisation of the JRC was 
decided by the Commission and the JRC became an autonomous 
Directorate General separate from the Directorate General for Science, 
Research and Development (DGXII). A new post of Deputy Director 
General was created, whose responsibilities will include 
commercialisation and communication, while a reorganisation at the 
Ispra Site merged two of its Institutes into the Institute for Systems, 
Informatics and Safety (ISIS), thereby strengthening the JRC research 
performed on technological risk evaluation and safety issues, in 
particular. 
Advice, interchange and guidance to the JRC 
Evaluations 
34. As stipulated in the Council Conclusions, due account should be taken 
of the results of the evaluation of the JRC by independent experts. 
Reference is made to the follow-up on the results. The results of this 
evaluation, conducted by 9 Visiting Groups to the JRC Institutes with 
an overall evaluation by Sir Hermann Bondi, FRS, were made available 
to the Council, the European Parliament and the Board of Governors 
as soon as the individual reports were released by the evaluators and 
provided early guidelines and advice for the discussions in 1994 on 
the JRC specific programmes 1995-1998 under the Framework 
Programmes. The full set of all evaluation reports accompanied by the 
comments of the Board of Governors was issued by the Commission 
7) Commission Decision written pioceduru E 1412 95, 26.7.95 
- 13-
in early 1995''. The evaluation reports include 118 recommendations 
' on research orientations, research management issues, customer 
relations, quality assurance and policy issues related to financial and 
personnel management. The Board of Governors m 1995, at 
successive meetings with the JRC management, reviewed in detail the 
follow-up on the recommendations. It was found in September, 1995 
that a total of 84 recommendations were fulfilled or under immediate 
implementation. A few recommendations tell outside the scope of the 
JRC and in 13 cases needed more reflection, which has now led to 
concrete implementation plans but in a few cases, cannot presently be 
implemented due to incompatibility with the regulations in force. Some 
15 recommendations, particularly related to management issues, while 
they were judged acceptable, could not likewise be implemented within 
the rules and regulations currently governing the JRC. 
35. More recently, the Report of the 1995 Framework Monitoring Panel of 
March 1996 has advised that "the Commission should give 
consideration to changes in the reporting of the JRC's activities, which 
reflect its prominent position within the Framework Programme through 
both direct and indirect action.". The Commission is concerned that 
more and adequately structured information should be available. One 
action being considered is discussions with the Board of Governors on 
ways to improve the reporting of the JRC's activities from 1996 
onwards. 
36. On the occasion of the 5-years' evaluation of the Community research 
activities, as foreseen in the Decisions on the Framework Programme, 
an evaluation will be performed by Visiting Groups of external experts 
to the JRC Institutes, as was the case for the 1994 evaluations. The 
calendar established calls for the reports to be available in late 
October 1996. 
Relations with Programme Committees 
37. The Council Conclusions, as well as the Council Decisions on the JRC 
specific programmes, underlined the role of the Board of Governors as 
being the committee in charge of assisting the Commission in the 
programme implementation. Nevertheless, the Council Conclusions 
prescribed effective coordination between the Centre's institutional 
research activities and the other activities provided for in the 
Framework Programmes, through the systematic exchange of views 
between the JRC, the Board of Governors and the Committees for the 
specific programmes. This concerns six themes from the Framework 
Programmes (next to the theme of Thermo-nuclear Fusion, where the 
JRC contribution is fully integrated in the specific community Fusion 
Programme work through a Coordination Committee between DG XII -
Fusion and JRC). 
While the JRC has contributed to all relevant programme committees, 
an exchange of views with the participation of Members of the Board 
of Governors has been conducted with four of these programme 
committees, thus making the committees familiar with the JRC work in 
the respective themes. The Board of Governors has declared its 
intention to intensify these mutually useful meeting points to 
encompass all relevant programme committees. Both the JRC and 
the Board of Governors find that the first experiences demonstrate 
there is room for progress, but with respect to the remit of the Board 
of Governors. 
8) COM(95)60 final, 6.3 95 
To this end, a programme committee (nuclear fission safety) has taken 
the initiative to fully integrate the JRC in its recent efforts in the 
coordination of Community and national research in this field. 
Board of Governors 
38. The terms of reference for this body of high-level representatives of 
the Member States is decided by the Commission. Over the years 
these terms of reference have undergone an evolution towards 
strengthening the role of the Board of Governors in assisting and 
advising the Director General of the JRC in all aspects of the JRC 
planning operations and providing advice to the Commission. An 
amended version of the terms of reference of November 19949 took 
fully into account the new spectrum of competitive activities introduced 
in the modes of operation and was reconfirmed by the Commission in 
early 1996">. 
Furthermore, the Council Decisions on the JRC specific programmes 
stipulate that the Commission shall be responsible for their 
implementation and be assisted in this task by the Board of Governors 
and assign a role to the Board of Governors in relation to reporting 
and evaluating the activities. 
39. The Board of Governors, consequently - as foreseen in the Council 
Conclusions - exercised and continues to exercise its role in the 
implementation of these Conclusions and guidelines for the new 
approach set out for the JRC. The Board's independent views on the 
achievements obtained so far and the further steps it advises to be 
taken are given in the Opinion attached to the present Communication 
and which the Commission acknowledges. 
CONCLUSION 
40. The present Communication from the Commission provides a review 
of the situation at mid-1996 - point by point - on the progress in 
implementing the 1994 Council Conclusions on the Role of the JRC. 
They called tor new modes of operation and it can be seen that the 
JRC, without exception, has fully engaged itself in these and yielded 
promising first results. There has been particular attention on the new 
range of competitive activities assigned to the Centre. 
Many changes in the overall approach to the JRC and its operations 
are also under way and, as illustrated in the Communication, there is 
still room for progress on the basis of the emerging new 
developments. This applies notably to the further commercialisation of 
the research results and the introduction of yet further ways for 
interactions with the users of the JRC and its customer relations, 
operating under rules which fully allow the exploitation of the JRC 
potentials. 
41. Meanwhile, in its proposal for the second adaptation of the Framework 
Programmes the Commission has presented new perspectives for the 
bonding of research and industry. The Green Book on Innovation also 
offers novel challenges for the corporate research laboratory of the 
Union. Innovative concepts for more intensive industrial collaboration, 
9) O.J. No L 330, p.64 of 21.12.94 
10) Article 4 of the Commission Decision 96 283. EURATOM, O.J. No. I 107. of 30.4.iHi,p, 12 
-15-
such as those suggested by IRDAC (Industrial Research and 
' Development Advisory Committee), are under consideration. 
Demands for further research to meet societal needs of a Community 
dimension have been placed at the door of the JRC. The Commission 
intends to engage the JRC in these developments and is reflecting on 
the role to be assigned to it. 
42. To meet the present and future challenges the JRC, with the approval 
of the Board of Governors, has suggested an ambitious strategy for 
the medium and long term, in a strategic plan, leaving room for a 
continual process of implementation of the Community Institutions and 
the Member States' expectations of the Centre. 
43. The present report, as intended by the Commission, provides the 
status at a given check-point in the ongoing evolution of an important 
instrument for the fulfilment of the European Union's objectivés - the 
Joint Research Centre. 
ANNEX I 
Activities 
Industrial 
technologies and 
material 
technologies 
Measurement 
and testing 
Environment 
and climate 
Non-nuclear 
energy 
Targeted socio­
economic 
research 
Nuclear safety 
and safeguards 
Controlled 
thermonuclear 
fusion 
Total 12.97 
16.82 
28.91 
2.66 
3.11 
28.03 
7.50 
100.00 JRC institutional research activities 1996 
Controlled 
thermonuclear 
fusion 
Nuclear safety 
and 
safeguards 
28.03% 
Targeted 
socio-economic 
research 
3.11 
Non-nuclear 
energy 
2.66% Industrial technologies 
and material 
technologies 12.97% 
Measurement 
and testing 
16.82% 
Environment 
and climate 
28.91% 
16 
ANNEX II 
Number of Publications written by JRC Scientists 
1994 
1995 EUR 
Reports 
103 
117 Conference 
Papers 
646 
772 Articles In 
Scientific 
Journals with 
Referee system 
195 
233 TOTAL 
944 
1122 
Sources: JRC Annual Reports 
17 
ANNEX III (a) 
List of the Inter-DG Agreements in Institutional Support to the Commission 
Directorate Subjects Date of 
General ' Signature 
S.G. - UCLAFO Antifraud Policy Support Office 22.12.1995 
F.S.U. ("") Prospective Technological Studies 21.6.1996 
I IAEA Safeguards Support Pending 
III Information Technologies 25 04.1996 
III Foodstuffs Analysis 03.06.1996 
III Industrial Innovation Systems - Technology Foresight and Pending 
Prospective Studies 
VI Agricultural Policies (Monitoring MARS-STAT, MARS-PAC 17.07.1995 
FEOGA, Animal Identification, BEVABS, Quality Control of 
Foodstuffs) 
XI ECVAM - ECB - ERLAP - REM 07.12.1995 
XI Major Accident Hazards Bureau 10.01.1994 
09.02.1996 
XI Biotechnology Safety 15.03.1996 
XI Nuclear Safety - European Networks on Component Ageing, 19.01.1996 
Inspection Techniques and Structural Integrity 
XI Nuclear Safety - Harmonization of Safety Criteria 15.03.1996 
XVII Nuclear Safety - European Networks on Component Ageing, 23.01.1996 
Inspection Techniques and Structural Integrity 
XVII On-site Laboratories, ECSAM, Safeguards 20.02.1996 
XXIV Quality Control - Cosmetics - Salety of Products - Food 23.10.1995 
Products 
EEA(***) Harmonisation of environmental measurement techniques 02.02.1995 
EMEA(~") ETOMEP: European Technical Office for Medicinal Products 16.03.1995 O n 
D Unité Coordination Lutte Antifraude 
Forward Studies Unit 
European Environment Agency 
European Agency for the Evolution of Medicinal Products 
18 
ANNEX III (b) 
JRC Institutional Support Activities 
DECISIONS. DIRECTIVES, REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL AND COMMUNICATIONS 
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC 
Environment and Climate 
European Reference Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP) Work in support of Directives 80779 EEC, 89 427 EEC. 82 884 EEC. 85'203 EEC and 
92 72 EEC 
Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament 
European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) (93C1 02). OJ No. C1 '3 of 5.01.1993 on the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB). 
Work in support of Directives 67548 EEC. 92 32 EEC 
Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament 
European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods SEC(91)1794 final of 29.10.1991. Establishment of a European Center for the 
(ECVAM) Validation of Alternate Methods (ECVAM). 
Work in support of Directive 86 609 EEC 
Council Regulation (EEC) No. 121090 of 7.5.1990 on the creation of the European 
Support to the European Environment Agency (EEA) Environment Agency (OJ No. L120 1, 11.5.1990) (see in particular Article 15 and 
Annex A Cooperation with the JRC) 
European Community Pharmaceutical Information Network Work in support of Directives 93 '39 EEC. 93 40 EEC and Council Regulations 
'ECPHIN) 93 2309 EEC and EEC 237790 
Quality Control of Consumer Products (Consumer Protection) On Cosmetics: 6th modification of Regulation EC 76 768 on Safety of Products: 
General Safety Directive 92'59 EEC of 29.6.1994 
Industrial Reliability: Major Hazards. Biotechnology Safety Communication COM(96) 7 final, on the Major Accident Hazards Bureau from the 
Commission to the Council and European Parliament: 
Work in support of Directive 82'501 EEC 
Methodologies for UCLAF Commission Decision SEC(87) 1310 6 and SEC(95)249 
Agriculture and Fisheries 
Decision of the Council of 14.11.1994 on Remote Sensing applications to Agricultural 
Remote Sensing for Agriculture Statistics for the period 1994-1998 (94753 EEC, OJ No. L299 27. 22.11.1994) 
19 
I ——— —• "* " I 
DECISIONS, DIRECTIVES, REGULATIONS OF THE COUNCIL AND COMMUNICATIONS 
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT ON 
INSTITUTIONAL SUPPORT ACTIVITIES OF THE JRC i 
Animal Identification 
Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament 
European Office for Wine. Alcohol and Spirit Drinks (BEVABS) (COM(93)360'3). Work in support of Council Regulations (EEC) No. 2048'89. 2348/91 
and 2347'91 and Commission Regulation No. 2676'90 
Reference Measurements and Materials for Quality Control of EC Directives on foodstuffs and other consumer goods 
Foodstuffs 
Nuclear Safety and Safeguards 
Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament of 
24.3.1992 fSEC (92)515 final, concerning the Commission Decision on on-site 
laboratories, for the period 1991-1996 (see in particular Art. 16 Cooperation with the 
Euratom Safeguards Support:General JRC) 
Euratom Safeguards Support: On-Site laboratories and ECSAM Communication from the Commission to the Council and European Parliament 
COM(94)383 final, of 7.9.1994 concerning the illicit circulation of radioactive material 
Communication from the Commission to the Council COM (80) 681 final, concerning 
an Agreement in the form of an Exchange of Letters between the International Atomic 
IAEA Safeguards Support Energy Agency on the one hand and the Commission on behalf of the European 
Atomic Energy Community, on the other, on cooperation in the field of research and 
development in Safeguards 
20 
ANNEX IV 
Activities % 
SG/UCLAF 1.66 
DGÏ 5.64 
DGin 9.65 
DO VI 17.16 
DGXI 38.55 
DG XVII 24.49 
DG XXIV 2.85 
Total 100.00 JRC institutional s/t support activities 1996 
SG/UCLAF 
1.66% 
DGXXIV 
2.85% DG I 
5.64% 
DG III 
DGXVII 
24.49% 
DG VI 
17.16% 
DGXI 
38.55% 
21 
SHARED COST ACTIONS 
JRC INSTITUTES RESPONSE TO THE FIRST CALLS OF THE 4TH FWP 
(15/12/94 through 27/04/95) 
Summary of Results by Specific Programme 
SPECIFIC PROGRAMME 
1 Telematics 
2 Advanced Communication Technologies 
and Services 
3. Information Technologies 
4. Industrial and Materials Technologies 
5. Standards, Measurement and Testing 
6. Environment and Climate 
7. Marine Sciences and Technologies 
8. Biotechnology 
9. Biomedicine and Health 
10. Agriculture and Fisheries 
11. Non-nuclear Energy 
12. Nuclear F:ission Safety 
13. Controlled Thermonuclear Fusion 
14. Transport 
[ 15. Targeted Socio-Economic Research 
l Activity 1: Research, technological 
development and demonstration 
| programmes (sub-totals) 
16. Activity 2: Cooperation with third 
countries and international organisations 
17. Activity 3: Dissemination and exploitation 
of research results 
18. Activity 4: Stimulation of training and 
mobility of researchers (TMR) 
TOTAL JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE 
Submitted 
13 
4 
8 
53 
27 
98 
12 
-
6 
4 
55 
45 
-
1 
-
326 
12 
5 
4 
347 Accepted 
5 
2 
1 
6 
8 
32 
1 
-
1 
0 
14 
25 
-
0 % 
38% 
50% 
13% 
11% 
30% 
33% 
8% 
-
17% 
0% 
25% 
56% 
-
0% 
I 
95 29% 
1 
3 
1 
100 8% 
60% 
25% 
29% 
22 
ANNEX VI 
TARGETS OF EVOLUTION OF JRC COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES 1995-1998 (in Mecu) 
Shared-cost actions 50% 
Competitive support 
Other Community 
activities 
Third Party Work 
TOTAL I 
Updated 
Targets 
1995-1998 
27.7 
80.0 
18.0 
60.0 
185.7 II 
Earnings 
1995 
10.7 
12.0 
2.3 
18.40) 
43.4 III 
Targets 
1996 
(new contracts) 
7.5 
19.5 
4.5 
20.0 
51.5 IV 
Targets 
1997 
6.0 
22.0 
4.0 
21.0 
53.0 V 
Targets 
1998 
3.4 
26.6 
5.0 
22.0 
57.0 Total ll-V 
27.6 
80.1 
15.8 
81.4 
204.9 
(1) HFR - Reactor Third Party Work not included. 
23 
Distribution of JRC Cooperation with National Research Organisations and Universities, by country 
Distribution per 
country in 
percentages 
- Percentage 
Country 
AT 4.9 
BE 4.7 
DK 2.0 
DE 17.6 
ES 5.8 
GR 2.3 
FI 2.3 
FR 13.1 
IRL 1.2 
IT 10.9 
LUX 0.4 
NL 5.8 
PT 2.3 
SE 2.8 
UK 10.9 m 
"Others 13.0 " " 
Total J 100.0 Others 
13.0% 
UK 10.9% 
LUX 0.4% BE 4.7% 
DK 2.0% 
f 
DE 17.6% 
ES 5.8% 
GR2.30/ 70 
FI 2.3% 
IT 10.9% 
IRL 1.2% FR 13.1% 
24 
JRC COMMITMENT APPROPRIATIONS 1995-1998 (in ECU) ANNEX VIII 
Budget Line 
B6-2113 
B6-2121 
B6-2122 
B6-2131 
B6-2143 
B6-2151 
B6-2171 
B6-291 Title 
Information Technologies 
Industrial and Material Technologies 
Measurement and Testing 
Environment and Climate 
Agriculture and Fisheries 
Non-nuclear Energy 
Targeted Socio-Economic Research 
JRC Participation in Shared Cost 
Actions (EC)(50%) 1995 Execution 
1,924,124 
24,983,909 
28,258,930 
74,671,577 
10,228.685 
5,040.023 
5,133.323 
51.102 1996 Budget 
3,346,831 
20,993,470 
27.171.331 
75,924.604 
11,604.084 
3,723.607 
9.178.246 
4.699.827 1997 Proposed 
3,219,103 
21,499,776 
27,821.772 
77,324.747 
13,883,237 
4,117,059 
10,206,430 
6,880,876 1998 Foreseen 
3,209,942 
22,022,845 
28.547,967 
78.979,072 
14,283,994 
4.219.311 
10.482,001 
5.368,195 1995-1998 
TOTAL 
11,700,000 
89,500,000 
111,800.000 
306,900,000 
50,000,000 
17,100,000 
35,000,000 
17,000.000 
TOTAL EC Programme 150,291.672 156,642.000 164,953,000 167.113.328 639.000,000 
'B6-3111 
B6-3121 
B6-391 Nuclear Fission Safety and 
Safeguards 
Controlled Thermo-nuclear Fusion 
JRC Participation in Shared Cost 
Actions (EAEC)(50°/o) 63,813,825 
11,486,770 
0 64.193,094 
12,303,171 
2,799.735 65,184.585 
12,587,121 
2,375,294 66,608.496 
12.622,938 
5,524,971 
TOTAL EAEC Programme 75,300,595 79,296,000 80,147,000 84,756,405 
TOTAL EC + EAEC Programmes 225,592,267 235,938,000 245,100,000 251,869,733 259,800,000 
49,000,000 
10,700,000 
25 
2£ 
CA(96)48 
9 August, 1996 
OPINION OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS 
OF THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE 
ON 
THE COMMUNICATION OF THE COMMISSION 
TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT 
ON PROGRESS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE 
COUNCIL CONCLUSIONS OF 26 APRIL 1994 ON THE 
ROLE OF THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE (JRC) 
INTRODUCTION 
1. The Council Conclusions of 26 April 1994 on the Role of the JRC call upon 
the Commission to submit a report in 1996 to the European Parliament and 
the Council on the Implementation of these Conclusions, after obtaining the 
Opinion of the Board of Governors, so as to enable the European 
Parliament and the Council to draw up an assessment of the situation. 
2. After considering the text of the report from the Commission and following 
extensive discussions on the current situation of the JRC, the Board of 
Governors expresses the following Opinion. 
JRC EVOLUTION S1MCE 1994 
3. The Council Conclusions outline the role of the JRC and set out guidelines 
for its operations. They signal a new approach to the JRC and call for a 
transition which should be introduced progressively during the period from 
1995 to 1998. This includes targets for a novel set of competitive activities, 
the necessary changes to rules and regulations governing the JRC and a 
call for further collaboration with partners belonging to all the Member 
States. 
4. The JRC is now approaching mid-term in this evolutionary process, for 
which the planning was initiated with the Board of Governors in 1994, upon 
the decisions of the Framework Programmes for 1994-1998 and the issue of 
the Council Conclusions on the Role of the JRC. 
The report from the Commission and the JRC 1995 Annual Report which 
reports on the first year under the modified role of the JRC, clearly bear 
witness to the fact that encouraging progress has already been made 
towards fulfilling the intentions of the Council, the European Parliament and 
the Commission. 
This modified role included participation in a wider spectrum of competitive 
activities than was the case in the past. The JRC should participate in 
Community programmes on an equal basis with partners from research and 
industry, to whom collaboration should be extended. The Board notes that 
the Centre responded in a dynamic way to the new challenge and that it has 
obtained good results in the competition, exceeding expectations. With 
regard to shared cost action (specific) programmes under the Framework 
Programmes, the Board wishes to draw attention to the fact that this 
encompasses accepted projects outside the themes where the JRC has 
institutional activities, thus capitalising on its multi-disciplinary competences. 
Good results were also obtained for the other modes of competitive 
activities. In general, targets were exceeded. 
At the same time, the JRC has continued through its institutional activities to 
contribute to the formulation and implementation of Community policies, 
including research policy. Ties with national research activities have been 
reinforced and efforts in this direction should be maintained. 
Having confirmed its overall favourable impression with progress to date, 
the Board emphasises, however, the need to sustain the initiatives already 
taken and remarks that there is still room for improvement, both in the 
operations of the Centre itself and In the boundary conditions which govern 
its activities and that an effort is still required before the Council Conclusions 
can be said to be fully implemented. 
THE WAY FORWARD 
5. The Board welcomed the steps taken by the Commission in accordance 
with its recommendations to further strengthen the commercialisation and 
communication of the JRC's work and its results. The addition of a Deputy 
Director General to the management team of the Centre is welcomed and 
should facilitate further progress in this direction. Related to this, the Board 
points to new ways in which the JRC in fulfilment of its objectives may 
further augment its relations with European industry, and a series of 
additional measures for measuring the performance (performance 
indicators) of the JRC, its institutes and the satisfaction of its customers. 
The Board notes that its relations with the committees of the specific 
programmes which share the same framework programmes lines with the 
JRC own research programmes, have been initiated but need strengthening. 
Specifically, it would be beneficial for Institute Directors to have detailed 
annual discussions with relevant Programme Committees. 
With regard to the management team of the JRC, the Board has also, as 
described in its Observations to the JRC Annual Report 1995, advised the 
Commission on appointments to vacant senior posts at Institute Director 
level. The considerable number of highly qualified applicants confirmed the 
exciting and challenging nature of these posts and the growing recognition 
of the merits of the JRC in the European scientific and industrial community. 
6. As prescribed in the Council Conclusions and recorded in the Report of the 
- Commission, thé new modes of operation of the JRC, and notably the 
competitive activities, required a series of amendments to the rules and 
regulations governing the JRC and its working methods. Such amendments 
and new rules have been implemented and the Board welcomes the 
Commission's Decision to give the JRC status as an autonomous 
Directorate General. As indicated previously in the Observations to the JRC 
Annual Report 1995, the Board is of the firm opinion that a further evolution 
in the status of the JRC within the Commission is essential to allow the 
Centre to fully live up to expectations for its working methods and relations 
with industry and national research, as set out by the Framework 
Programmes arid highlighted in the Council Conclusions. Whereas a series 
of incremental! changes have been accomplished, a more basic 
reorganisation of the JRC statute is called for. The Board acknowledges the 
Commissioner's indications of the intentions in this direction and looks 
forward to playing a full part in advising on these important matters, which 
for the benefit of the JRC may include a redefinition of the operation and 
responsibilities of the Board itself. 
Like the staff of many other European research institutes, the JRC staff has 
an age distribution which will continually result in vacancies in the coming 
few years, a process which is already in progress and' which requires 
replacements at all levels. The JRC is about to undergo significant changes 
involving increased participation in competitive activities and an improved 
responsiveness to the new needs of its customers, and an increased 
flexibility in its operations is necessary. In this situation the Commission has 
established a new policy for its entire research personnel, including JRC 
staff. Its most important feature is the three categories: officials, temporary 
agents and the new category of temporary agents having non-renewable, 
three year contracts, and the assignment of goals for the proportion 
between these categories (40%, 35% and 25%). Ever since its inception it 
has had the attention of the Board. Whereas the Board welcomes the 
Commission's recognition of the need for a contingent of highly mobile staff, 
it has persistently expressed reservations as far as the JRC is concerned 
with regard to the implications of raising the proportion of officials, at 
present 33%, within the total staff contingent of the JRC. The Board 
expects to be consulted on this process of change. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
7. The Board finally notes that the Council Conclusions underlined its role in 
implementing the conclusions and guidelines. The Board appreciates the 
responsiveness it has had from the Commissioner and the Director General, 
in particular, to its views and advice, but notes that its views on the above-
mentioned staff policy have not fully been taken into account. The Board 
* welcomes the several contacts it has had with the Commissioner for 
Research, Mrs. Edith Cresson, and looks forward to further discussions on 
the evolution of the JRC status and strategy. 
2 *$ 
ISSN 0254-1475 
COM(96) 436 final 
DOCUMENTS 
EN 15 
Catalogue number : CB-CO-96-438-EN-C 
ISBN 92-78-08592-8 
Office for Official Publications of the European Communities 
L-2985 Luxembourg