2.12.83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 328/3 
II 
(Preparatory Acts) 
COMMISSION 
Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a Community programme for the development 
of the specialized information market in Europe 
COM(83) 661 final 
(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 17 November 1983) 
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN 
COMMUNITIES 
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the 
European Economic Community, and in particular 
Article 235 thereof, 
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission, 
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parl­
iament, 
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and 
Social Committee, 
Whereas, under Article 2 of the Treaty, the 
Community shall have as one of its tasks that of 
promoting throughout the Community the 
harmonious development of economic activities and a 
continuous and balanced expansion; 
Whereas information has worldwide become one of 
the prime factors in economic activity, and the 
effective use of information is one of the essential 
ingredients of economic growth and competitiveness; 
Whereas the European integration process becomes 
increasingly dependent, among other factors, on the 
effective flow of, and access to, information within 
and between all Member States; 
Whereas, given the growing complexity of infor­
mation needs for business and political decision­
making, for scientific and technical development, for 
the professional, cultural, social and economic 
choices of individuals and groups of people, it is 
necessary to develop advanced solutions for a flexible 
and transparent information market at Community 
level; 
Whereas the development of the specialized infor­
mation market in Europe aiming at better use of 
economies of scale and at adequate European independence in the specialized information area, is a 
challenge for the European Community calling for 
appropriate Community support; whereas the fast 
developments in this area require an appropriate 
programme which offers considerable flexibility of 
priorities; 
Whereas Community efforts relating to the 
specialized information market and its development 
are a necessary complement to other related 
Community initiatives, in particular the Esprit 
programme to strengthen the European information 
technology industries through Commission support of 
cooperation among European manufacturers and 
R&D institutions in the development of advanced 
pre-competitive component technologies, the Insis 
project for developing an advanced interinstitutional 
information and communication system for the 
institutions of the European Communities and those 
of the Member States, and the new Community 
initiatives (1983 to 1987) on vocational training and 
new information technologies; 
Whereas it is primarily a matter for the Member 
States to create the basis for an effecient information 
market by means of support programmes and 
policies; whereas such measures should be 
strengthened and supplemented through specific 
Community action in areas of common interest and 
value to initiate, accelerate and support developments 
in Europe which should lead to higher international 
competitiveness of the European information 
industries and to a more favourable information 
environment for the Community as a whole; 
Whereas the results achieved and the experience built 
up in executing three successive action plans (1975 to 
1983) in the field of scientific and technical infor­
mation and documentation, and the need to 
strengthen and consolidate activities undertaken in 
No C 328/4 Official Journal of the European Communities 2. 12. 83 
this context and to provide for continuity of 
Community action, justify a Community programme 
of activities which are needed to help to attain the 
long-term objective of developing a common market 
for information in Europe; whereas it will be 
necessary, at the same time, steadily to evaluate the 
results obtained, and to coordinate actions in this 
field and in related fields at national and Community 
level; 
Whereas the Treaty has not made provision for the 
specific powers which are required to attain these 
objectives; 
Whereas the Scientific and Technical Information 
and Documentation Committee (STIDC) and the 
Scientific and Technical Research Committee 
(CREST) have both delivered their opinions on the 
Commission proposal, 
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS: 
Article 1 
A Community programme for the development of the 
specialized information market in Europe, as defined 
in Annex I, hereinafter referred to as 'the 
programme', is hereby adopted for a period of five 
years with effect from 1 January 1984. 
Article 2 
The appropriations needed for implementing the 
programme are estimated at 40 million ECU and shall 
be entered in the general budget of the European 
Communities. 
Article 3 
The Commission shall be responsible for the 
implementation of the programme. In particular, it 
shall decide on the definition of detailed activities and 
on the type of projects to be undertaken. It shall 
establish each year and update as required a working 
programme. Article 4 
The Commission shall be assisted by the STIDC, 
whose duties and method of operation are defined in 
Annex II. 
The STIDC shall be kept regularly informed by the 
Commission of the progress of the work in the field 
in question and in associated fields. 
Article 5' 
The Commission shall ensure access to the knowledge 
resulting from the programme as well as its 
dissemination. 
Article 6 
1. In accordance with Article 228 of the Treaty, 
the Community may conclude cooperation 
agreements with third countries within the framework 
of the programme. 
2. The Commission shall be authorized to 
negotiate the cooperation agreements referred to in 
paragraph 1 after having sought the opinion of the 
STIDC for this purpose in accordance with Annex II 
(3) (c). 
Article 7 
1. The Commission shall review the programme 
after 30 months. 
The Council and the European Parliament shall be 
informed of the results of this review. 
2. The programme may be extended for further 
periods of five years, following a proposal by the 
Commission to be transmitted to the Council. 
3. Together with the proposal for the extension of 
the programme, the Commission, after consulting the 
Committee referred to in Article 4, shall submit to the 
Council and the European Parliament an evaluation 
report on the performance and results of the 
programme. 
ANNEX I 
The first five-year programme contains the following orientations and action lines: 
1. Improvement of the information environment and market conditions 
The main objective is to improve the use of information products and services of European 
origin in order to ensure, as far as possible, their economic viability. This is to be achieved by 
taking appropriate action on existing obstacles, thus resulting in increased user-friendliness and 
more transparence for information supply and demand. 
2.12. 83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 328/5 
The activities to be pursued include: 
(a) Technical aspects 
— extension of the Euronet-Diane concept, 
— application of advanced information technologies for the processing, distribution and use 
of information, 
— achieving compatibility of procedures, software and equipment for advanced information 
services, 
— network extensions and developments in connection with the adhesion of new Member 
States, 
— removing discrepancies in the level of development between different Member States in 
the specialized information area; 
(b) Linguistic aspects 
— multilingual directories and thesauri, 
— multilingual manuals, referral services and information access procedures (CCL), 
— development of services with machine translation capabilities; 
(c) Administrative aspects 
— harmonization of contractual arrangements, 
— development of user-friendly billing and payment systems, 
— standardization of access procedures; 
(d) Economic aspects 
— increasing the transparency of tariff structures, 
— market research for identifying existing and developing market requirements and gaps in 
the supply of information products and services, 
— export of information; 
(e) Legal aspects 
— copyright in relation to electronic publishing and document delivery in the specialized 
information area, 
— restrictive royalty arrangements and territorial rights; 
(f) Policy aspects 
— interrelationship between public and private initiatives in the specialized information 
market, 
— economic and political aspects of monopolies in the area of specialized information 
services, 
— relations with international organizations (OECD, Unesco), 
— relations with developing countries (ACP—Lome); 
(g) Awareness and training 
— programmes and facilities for vocational training of users of specialized information, 
— development of professional expertise, 
— publicity, promotion and awareness measures, 
— training programmes and facilities with particular regard to regional requirements. 
No C 328/6 Official Journal of the European Communities 2.12. 83 
2. Reinforcement of the supply and quality of European products and services 
The objective is to create or develop specialized information products and services of European 
origin which are innovative and unique, and which offer added value with a view to improving 
the competitiveness of European suppliers on the European and the world markets, as well as 
their responsiveness to the needs of a wide range of users, thus creating a relative European 
independence. This is to be achieved through the encouragement of innovative and entrpren-
eurial initiatives to include: 
(a) Information projects in sectoral fields 
— improving the quality, user-friendliness and economic viability of existing products and 
services, 
— improving the supply and use of information systems and services in specific, less-
developed sectors of specialized information which represent areas of growing 
importance and of Community interest, 
— identifying the needs and methods of bringing specialized information to the interest of 
the general public and/or specific user groups, 
— examining gaps in the regional distribution of specialized information and encouragement 
of appropriate initiatives to improve the situation; 
(b) Added value information services 
— implementing document delivery and electronic publishing services in the specialized 
information area, 
— encouraging new intermediary and consultancy services to provide better information 
services to specific user groups such as small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), 
— developing Videotex applications in such subject areas in which end "users or large groups 
of less-educated users need to have direct access to specialized information, 
— promoting research into new methodologies for the processing, distribution and use of 
specialized information. 
ANNEX II 
DUTIES AND METHOD OF OPERATION OF THE SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL 
INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION COMMITTEE (STIDC) 
1. Without prejudice to the reponsibility taken on by the Commission in carrying out the first 
five-year programme for the development of the specialized information market, the STIDC 
shall contribute by its opinions to the optimum execution of the programme. 
2. Under this programme, the Commission shall consult the STIDC on all measures which it 
intends to take for: 
(a) turning Euronet into a public operational on-line information network; 
(b) the development of the market for specialized information within the Community; 
(c) the promotion of technology and methodology in order to improve information services, in 
particular those of Euronet-Diane. 
3. The Commission shall also seek the opinion of the STIDC on: 
(a) preparing for future work in this field; , 
(b) coordinating this programme with related programmes, and with the multilingual 
programme in particular; 
(c) conducting negotiations with non-Community institutions, such as institutions in third 
countries. 
2. 12. 83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 328/7 
4. The STIDC should also be asked to give an opinion on: 
(a) the detailed working out of policies, and priorities; 
(b) the annual preparation of budgets and allocation of approved appropriations; 
(c) the determination of the aims of, and the overall budgets for, projects; 
(d) the specification of work to be done and the determination of criteria for the selection of 
contractors; 
(e) the choice of contractors and the supervision of the projects. 
5. The STIDC shall give opinions which shall be prepared by the secretariat and submitted for the 
approval of the Committee. Any member of the Committee may request that his point of view 
be recorded in these opinions. These opinions shall be forwarded to the Commission and a copy 
sent to the Council. 
6. The STIDC shall lay down, in agreement with the Commission, the procedure for examining 
the measures referred to under 2, 3 and 4. This procedure should not interrupt the carrying out 
of the programme particularly in the case of emergencies. In order to provide for flexible 
management, certain tasks shall be delegated to working parties. 
7. The Commission shall periodically submit a report to the STIDC on the measures taken and the 
results obtained. 
8. The STIDC shall consist of two representatives from each Member State, appointed for three 
years. The Member States may also appoint two alternate members. 
9. The STIDC shall adopt its own rules of procedures. 
10. The Commission shall provide the secretariat of the STIDC. 
11. The provisions of this Annex shall neither modify the other tasks assigned to the STIDC in the 
resolution of 24 June 1971 nor its advisory relationship to CREST.