10.11.93 OfficialJournalofi:heEuropeanCommunities NoC304/3
includingtheimporterandretailer,andthatconsumers
areproperlyinformedabouttherisksofsensitization .6.Lastly,theCommitteecallsontheMemberStates
totakestepstoensurethattheDirective'sprovisions
arerespectedbyalllinksinthedistributionchain,
DoneatBrussels,22September1993.
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN
OpinionontheproposalforaCouncilDecisionconcerningtheconclusionofanAgreement
relatingtoscientificandtechnicalcooperationbetweentheEuropeanEconomicCommunity
andAustraliaf1)
(93/C304/03
On15July1993theCouncildecidedtoconsulttheEconomicandSocialCommittee,under
Article130Q(2)oftheTreatyestablishingtheEuropeanEconomicCommunity,onthe
abovementioned proposal.
TheSectionforEnergy,NuclearQuestionsandResearch,whichwasresponsibleforpreparing
theCommittee'sworkonthesubject,adopteditsOpinionon9September1993.The
RapporteurwasMrGardner.
Atits308thPlenarySession(meetingof22September1993),theEconomicandSocial
CommitteeadoptedthefollowingOpinionunanimously .
1.Introduction
1.1.CooperationwithAustraliainScienceandTech­
nologywasinitiatedin1986withthesigningofan
Arrangementwhichprovidesfortheexchangeofnon­
confidentialinformationarisingfromresearchina
limitednumberoffields:telecommunications and
informationtechnologies ,agriculture,biotechnology ,
materialsandenergy.
1.2.ThepresentAgreementseekstodefineaformal
frameworkfordevelopingfurtherscientificandtechni­
calcooperationbetweentheEuropeanCommunityand
Australiaincludingthescope,supervision,fundingand
intellectualpropertyrights.Itisthefirstofitskind
concludedwithanon-European country.Assuchitis
theprototypeforsimilarfutureAgreementswithother
industrializedcountriesoutsideEurope.1.3.TheentryintoforceoftheAgreementwillallow,
ontheonehand,theparticipationofAustralianpersons
andlegalentitiesinCommunityresearchprojects.On
theotherhand,personsandlegalentitiesoftheMember
Stateswillbeallowedtoparticipateinpublicly-funded
researchprojectsinAustralia.However,cooperation
willberestrictedtoactivitieslistedinArticle4.2ofthe
Agreement,thoughtheserestrictionscanbeamended
asprovidedforinArticle11.
2.Generalcomments
2.1.Australiaisbothveryadvancedandverywell
organizedinscientificandtechnicalresearch,both
atacademicandatappliedlevels.Ithasnolessthan
39cooperativeresearchcentresdistributedthroughout
alltheStatesoftheCommonwealth ofAustralia.
2.2.InitsCommunication of19June1990onscien­
tificandtechnicalcooperationwiththirdcountries (!)OJNoC181,3.7.1993,p.9.

NoC304/4 OfficialJournaloftheEuropeanCommunities 10.11.93
3.1.2.ItwouldbewrongtodeprivetheCommunity
ofthebenefitsofcooperativeresearchinthesefields.
Thislimitationshouldthereforebedeleted.[doc.COM(90)256final],theCommission itself
stressedthatAustraliahad'centresofscientificexcel­
lence'whichjustifieddevelopingapartnershipand
identifiedanumberoffieldsofinterest.
3.2.Article7:Funding2.3.TheCommitteeconsidersthatscientificand
technicalcooperationwillbeofbenefittobothParties
andthereforethoroughlyapprovestheproposal,subject
tothefollowingcommentsandchanges.3.2.1.Itisrightthatbothsidesshouldpaythecosts
incurredbytheirownparticipantsincooperativeactivi­
ties.However,itwouldbebettertohavesomeflexi­
bilityandthereshouldbeprovisionforacontribution
tocostsincaseswherethisisbeneficialandwhereboth
sidesagreetoit.3.SpecificcommentsontheAgreement
3.3.Article8:Entryofpersonnelandequipment3.1.Article4.2.:Scope
3.1.1.Article4.2restrictscooperationtoonlysix
fields.Suchlimitationseemsneithernecessarynorsens­
ibleandisnotfoundinanyoftheAgreementsrelating
toscientificandtechnicalcooperationwithEuropean
countriesoutsidetheCommunity .Australiaisparticu­
larlyadvancedinanumberoffields,notinthepresent
list.Theseincluderesearchinfoodandagriculture,
miningmethods,energy.3.3.1.EntryofpersonnelfromoutsidetheEuropean
Communityisinpracticeunderthecontrolofthe
MemberStatesandthisArticleshouldthereforebe
modifiedasfollows:
'EachpartyandtheMemberStatesoftheEuropean
Communityshalltakeallreasonablesteps(...).'
DoneatBrussels,22September1993
TheChairman
oftheEconomicandSocialCommittee
SusanneTIEMANN