Proposal for a European Parliament and Council Decision adapting for the second time Decision No 1110/94/EC concerning the fourth framework programme of activities in the field of research, technological development and demonstration (1994-1998), as adapted by Decision No . . ./96/EC (96/C 115/01) (COM(96) 12 final - 96/034(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 2 February 1996)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130i (1) and (2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee,

Having regard to the opinion of the Committee of the Regions,

Acting in accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 189b of the Treaty,

Whereas, by Decision No 1110/94/EC, (1) the European Parliament and the Council adopted the fourth framework programme for the period 1994 to 1998, which is being implemented; whereas, by Decision . . ./96/EC, the European Parliament and the Council carried out a technical adaptation of that programme following the accession to the European Union of the Republic of Austria, the Republic of Finland and the Kingdom of Sweden; whereas Article 1 (3) of Decision . . ./96/EC provides that the maximum overall amount for Community financial participation in the fourth framework programme shall be ECU 11 764 million; whereas the same Article stipulates that not later than 30 June 1996 the European Parliament and the Council shall review the maximum overall amount, with the possibility of increasing it to ECU 12 359 million;

Whereas the state of implementation of the fourth framework programme shows strong participation in the first calls for proposals; whereas this response, particularly by industry, has made it impossible to support some quality projects; whereas the appropriations provided for 1995 have been committed;

Whereas research efforts are a key component in industrial competitiveness and hence in the revival of the economy and employment; whereas the balance of trade in advanced technologies between the European Union and non-Union countries, calls for stepping up these efforts; whereas the scale of the requirements requires targeted intervention at Community level;

Whereas the 1995 annual report (2) submitted by the Commission in accordance with Article 130p of the Treaty shows that the community research programmes stimulate the establishment of cooperation networks to counter fragmentation of effort and unnecessary duplication; whereas the recent evaluations have revealed significant economic spin-offs;

Whereas the increase in the fourth framework programme must respect the development of the financial perspective of the European Union,

Whereas special priority should be assigned to activities liable to improve cooperation or coordination between the research activities of the Member States (3);

Whereas the discussions by the research industry task forces created by the Commission (4) help to define the research priorities more clearly, in consultation with industry, including small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and users; whereas this leads to better coordination and targeting of the work carried out and the means available throughout the Union; whereas the objective is to create an environment favourable for innovation;

Whereas it is appropriate to implement research, technological development and demonstration projects (hereinafter referred to as RTD activities) on themes of importance to the Community which correspond to urgent needs, taking account of the rapid pace of technological progress, and which will contribute to improving the competitiveness of industry and increasing employment in the Community; whereas those themes cover aeronautics, automobile RTD, multimedia educational software, transport intermodality, environmental RTD, life sciences, trains and railway systems of the future and maritime systems;

Whereas, in order to attain the scientific and technical objectives of those projects, the implementation of the framework programme through the specific programmes concerned should lead to greater cooperation and coordination with regard to the activities in the first area of activity of the fourth framework programme (1994 to 1998) and a reinforcement of some of them; whereas, for this reinforcement to reach the critical mass which will permit a better integration of existing areas and to be effective, it is appropriate to focus efforts on the five priority themes covering aeronautics, automobile RTD, educational multimedia transport intermodality and interoperability, and environmental RTD, in particular water;

Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (Crest) has been consulted,

HAVE DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

Sole Article

1. Decision No 1110/94/EC, as adapted by European Parliament and Council Decision No . . ./96/EC of . . . . . . 1996, is hereby amended as follows:

- Article 1 (3) shall be replaced by:

'The maximum overall amount for Community participation in the fourth framework programme shall be ECU 12 359 million.`

2. Annex I shall be replaced by Annex I to this Decision.

3. Annex III entitled 'Scientific and technological objectives` shall be supplemented by Annex II to this Decision.

(1) OJ No L 126, 18. 5. 1994.

(2) COM(95) 443 final.

(3) COM(94) 438, 19. 10. 1994.

(4) SEC(95) 1824.

ANNEX I

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(1) Of which ECU 639 million for the operational budget of the Joint Research Centre

(2) Of which ECU 96 million for programmed scientific and technical support activities suited to a competitive approach.

(3) Apart from the funds allocated to the third activity, an average of 1 % of the total budget of the fourth framework programme will be allocated to dissemination and optimization of results in the framework of the first activity. Close coordination of dissemination and optimization activities carried out under the specific programmes of the first activity with those carried out under the third activity will be ensured.

(4) Of which ECU 40 million for ad hoc scientific and technical support to other Community policies which will be allocated on a competitive basis.

(5) The amounts of the framework programme for research and training for the European Atomic Energy Community (1994 to 1998) are adjusted along with this programme and raised to a total of ECU 1 441 million, taking the total for Community RTD activity to ECU 13 800 million.

(6) Environment-related research projects will also be conducted within several other lines of the first activity, in particular in the fields of industrial technologies, energy and transport.

ANNEX II

Scientific and technological objectives

Annex III of Decision No 1110/94/EC is maintained and supplemented as follows:

(i) add before the second last paragraph of the introductory section:

'In addition, a targeted approach to the solution of certain problems with which industry and society are faced will be implemented. This is not intended to be a sectoral approach, but a way of promoting the development, demonstration and utilization, in an integrated fashion, of diverse generic technologies in which, in the absence of public incentives, enterprises are unlikely to invest or will invest too late.

This approach will be put into effect by means of two distinct and complementary modalities:

- greater focusing and coordination of existing activities, which could involve inter alia restructuring of work programmes, publication of joint or grouped calls for proposals, "clustering" of projects arising in different programmes, integration of targeted projects, liaison with Eureka, and/or concertation with national programmes,

- reinforcement of activities in certain areas following a similar approach in order to respond to priority themes.`

(ii) add before the last paragraph of the introductory section:

'Priority themes

European industry suffers several important disadvantages in comparison to its powerful competitors. Despite the promising development of the single market, European research and industry remain fragmented as a result of economic, cultural and institutional differences between Member States. There is a need to develop an integrated, operational approach so that research, development and demonstration activities - at European Union and national level - effectively respond to market and policy requirements and thereby support industrial competitiveness and economic performance. Such cooperation should stimulate synergy at all levels of the supply chain, and promote research leading to the establishment of uniform standards.

The priority themes and the range of modalities adopted to respond to them are of direct concern to industry including SMEs, and to citizens throughout the European Union. These actions will bring together, focus and integrate research within the framework programme and thus contribute to protecting employment, to improving economic and social cohesion and to better coordinating research, technological development and demonstration (RTD) activities overall.

Aeronautics

Faced with ever stiffer competition in the global aircraft marketplace, both the aeronautics industry and research establishments are engaged in a process of restructuring, recognizing that better cooperation at a European level is increasingly necessary to improve competitiveness. However, improving competitiveness will need multiple measures: enabling technology, new processes, better tools for design, new standards for the interchange of data, new skills in every area. No one programme can deliver all these benefits - they will only be achieved by an integrated set of measures which together help firms (including SMEs) individually and collectively to work together in the complex supply chain. The European Union role is essential in encouraging greater coordination between the many existing civil aeronautics RTD programmes in Europe and as a response to the approximately four-times higher level of funding such programmes receive in the United States of America.

The current challenge involves three central industrial and technological objectives: the application of advanced technologies to reduce design and production cycles and cost by 30 % using modern distributed concurrent engineering techniques to break down barriers between companies and improve supply chain efficiency throughout the aeronautics network; the development, demonstration and validation of technologies which improve the overall efficiency of the aircraft of the future and thus substantially reduce its operating costs by 25 % while improving safety; and the reduction of the environmental impact of aircraft, e. g. the reduction of gaseous emissions and the minimization of noise from engines and airframes, and inside the cabin. Such aeronautics-related technology can produce spill over benefits in many areas including materials, structures, data processing, design, methodologies, electronics, telematics, power generation, systems integration, manufacturing technologies, and so forth. In addition, good practices will be transferred as widely as possible within the whole aeronautics supply chain in order to convert knowledge into industrial capacity, to improve efficiency and flexibility, and to reduce as much as possible the environmental impact of aircraft.

The European Union can provide support for the efforts of this industry in the long term through its existing research programmes especially those on information technologies and industrial and material technologies. However, gaps exist, especially in the coordination of related activities and the rapid implementation of results of RTD actions. Selected large scale demonstration projects, which can only realistically be undertaken at European level, including the network of all supply companies and users, must be launched within the specific research programmes, accompanied by relevant dissemination/training activities at all levels of the design and production chain as well as service providers and infrastructure operators, throughout the European Union. In addition, specific activities could be carried out in cooperation with third countries.

Educational multimedia

Education and training systems in Europe are facing a triple challenge: to prepare European citizens to take a full part in the Information Society; to meet the educational and training needs of a growing diversity of learners, ranging from school-leavers to specialized categories such as disabled people and learners in rural communities; and to improve cost and pedagogic effectiveness, because this increased and diversified demand cannot be matched with additional resources.

Educational multimedia - thanks notably to the interactivity that it offers - presents a real opportunity to answer these challenges. This is already exemplified on a limited scale by pilot experiments in primary and secondary schools, new training approaches implemented in high-tech companies, and the emerging market for home-based educational multimedia services, both on-line and off-line.

The industries involved, including a large number of SMEs, have to position themselves on the worldwide market which will provide high quality low cost educational multimedia services by the end of the century, thanks to more user friendly multimedia systems and to the drop in hardware prices and telecommunications tariffs.

To cope with these industrial and societal challenges, educational multimedia Community research has an insufficient budget at its disposal. It must be reinforced to allow the European industry to develop and validate the multimedia systems, services and contents of the future. The latter will have to be competitive worldwide, take into account the cultural and linguistic diversity of Europe and answer the needs of teachers, trainers and learners. These activities should be integrated into the global information society context through the validation and demonstration of new multimedia applications in other geographical areas, in particular with a view to strengthening the cooperation with developing countries.

Automobile RTD activities

There is mounting concern over the growth in road transport and its harmful externalities. Urgent solutions are required to alleviate urban transport pollution and congestion where population densities are greatest, and to ensure long term sustainability. The major part of NOX emissions is from road transport and, by vehicle type, cars are responsible for the large majority of emissions of CO. A measures response is required, taking account of the global consequences and acceptability of alternative technologies.

The challenge is to have industry including SMEs and public authorities working together to advance new technological concepts for vehicles and their operating environment which reflect European Union policies for transport, energy and the environment, whilst respecting social needs and contributing to industrial competitiveness. Broad consensus already exists on the most promising technological options, performance and environmental targets. There is an urgent need to focus collaborative research on technological breakthroughs which will allow the development of ultra-low (ULEV) or zero emission (ZEV) vehicles as well as of the necessary infrastructure. The objective could be achieved through development of technologies such as: hybrid vehicles, electric vehicles, energy storage/converter devices (fuel cells, batteries), essential related technologies (electronics, lightweight materials, telematics, etc.), a new generation of internal combustion engines, and engines powered by new fuels (biodiesel, hydrogen, natural gas, etc.). The action aims to concentrate the efforts on the key technological barriers requiring additional RTD including demonstration actions to realize vehicles which are not only clean, safe energy efficient and "intelligent" but which are also cost-effective to manufacture and use over their whole life cycle. Priority will be given to propulsion systems which are judged to have the highest potential impact in terms of overall environmental and industrial cost/benefit.

Within several specific programmes of the Fourth Framework Programme there is scope for meeting some important RTD needs. However significant additional RTD and demonstration is required to address strategically important priorities and to establish a coherent framework for comparative assessment of different technological and policy options.

Transport intermodality and interoperability

To minimise the adverse effects of congestion, pollution and accidents, the common transport policy aims at sustainable mobility by achieving the best balance between the different modes of transport and the most efficient and sustainable use of existing transport infrastructure capacity. Intermodal transport operations offer enormous potential to improve the performance of Europe's transport systems. An increase in such operations would stimulate the development and restructuring of the European Union transport and transport supply industries, particularly SMEs and, for Member States, would also ease the financial burden of transport infrastructure provision.

The overall vision is of an integrated transport system which provides cost-effective and efficient door-to-door services, with seamless transfer of goods and passengers from one mode of transport to another. Its achievement requires a fine balance between a competitive, market-orientated environment on the one hand and coordination between transport operators, infrastructure providers, systems suppliers, public authorities and transport users on the other. Major questions concerning interoperability, the design of transfer points and transhipment technologies, traffic management, information systems, logistics and operational strategy need to be resolved through research and demonstration if the overall vision is to be realized. The needs of the rail sector will be given special attention.

At present multimodal transport research lacks resources and is fragmented between and within European Union programmes. As a result, no demonstration of a significant size can be mounted. A critical mass of RTD activities is needed in both passenger and freight sectors, with greater reliance on demonstration projects in order to achieve tangible results that can have a significant impact on the transport system and the competitiveness of Europe's supply industries. Research will focus on transfer-point efficiency, intermodal network efficiency, the use of information technology to improve service quality, improved transport means, overcoming traditional (modal) market perceptions, and training.

Environmental RTD (water)

Sustainable provision of water has become a matter of urgency, for the European Union, its immediate neighbours in the Mediterranean and Middle East, and throughout the world. Rising populations and economic growth have led to disequilibrium between supply and demand for resources, deterioration of water quality, over-exploitation of resources, and global environmental pressures which have a detrimental impact on the water cycle.

A reinforcement of the Community RTD effort is justified by the importance of the stakes; by the fact that the water cycle represents a tangible link between increasingly interdependent economic actors, and by the fact that policies affect the water cycle at an international level. Furthermore, the European Union already influences water management both directly (through directives, infrastructure finance, etc) and indirectly (agricultural, regional and environmental policy) in ways which have had considerable influence on the nature of demand for technologies and services and the development of the water market. Community RTD must assist enterprises and other actors to respond to initiatives taken in the context of other policy areas. It must help to reduce regional disparities in technological and managerial performance relating to water systems and to solve ongoing problems of water pollution and over-exploitation. It must also help devise adequate response in the case of extreme events such as drought, accidental pollution or flooding.

The world water market is set to triple in the next 15 years, to reach around ECU 125 billion; however, to participate fully in this market will require efforts both in adapting technologies, and the organization of cooperation. Europe is home to several global water companies and high quality water management systems as advocated by several national and European bodies with interest in water research. It is essential to reinforce and extend this European expertise, taking account of recent developments and needs at the international level, and to develop new European approaches to S & T cooperation in the area.

The research areas of greatest interest include ecotoxicology and the physics and chemistry of pollution; water resource monitoring and assessment; prevention of pollution diffusion through soil, sediments and aquifers; decontamination and decentralization of some treatment operations; promotion of "rational use" of water in agriculture and industry through recycling and other means; adaptation of treatment operations to the needs of smaller communities; tools for supply and demand forecasting and management and hydrological hazards management; new sources of supply.

Life sciences: vaccines and viral diseases

The benefits derived from vaccine research are unique because of their bidimensional nature: action and prevention - action by encouraging partnership, industrial progress, employment, and the development of new compounds that serve as therapeutic agents against numerous diseases (e. g. cancer or herpes) and promoting social welfare; prevention by avoiding illnesses (three million childhood deaths prevented each year worldwide), suffering, long-term after-effects, work loss, health-care expenditure and, ultimately, premature death.

Consensus has emerged between governments, industry and academia on the needs and priorities for R & D in the fields of vaccines and viral diseases. Several important priorities have been identified for their potential technological applications and their impact on global health. In the short-term these are: development of new/improved vaccines against diseases of major socio-economic impact, mucosal immunity, animal models for vaccine development, vaccines against cancer and other chronic diseases, delivery systems and production of vaccines in crop plants. Medium and long-term priorities are the establishment of a European-based centre for conducting phase I and II human trials, a European surveillance system and support of joint projects and/or cooperative activities between the Community and the Member States.

These themes are foreseen in the specific programmes implicated in vaccine development, efforts will be made to improve coordination and clustering of specific areas of research thereby adjusting some activities of the specific programmes to comply with the common goals. The aim is to achieve a holistic approach to vaccine R & D, showing unity and coherence to the citizen in such a crucial field of industrial development and global health and welfare.

Trains and railway systems of the future

In recent years the railways' share of the overall transport market has declined. Costs have been too high and operational systems too inflexible and lacking in market orientation. But railways are now experiencing a revolution due to market liberalization and the increasing need for harmonization and interoperability required for a trans-European network, including better links between central and peripheral regions and to the networks of central and eastern Europe.

The long-term vision is for railway networks which form cost-effective components of the overall trans-European transport network and of integrated urban networks, providing services that both passenger and freight customers want. The railways' ability to move large numbers of passengers and large volumes of freight safely, and in an environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient manner, offers considerable advantages. The problems of congestion, safety and pollution in other modes can thereby be offset to a significant extent.

At present European Union railway research is both limited in volume and fragmented. More account must be taken of the requirements of rail users and of the supply industry. The latter needs to make very significant cost savings to remain competitive in world markets, and thereby to sustain employment in the Union. To overcome fragmentation, to improve synergy, to obtain "critical mass" is needed in order to overcome the existing fragmentation, improve synergies and allow the rail industry including SMEs, to respond better to market needs. This requires a re-focusing of rail research onto areas such as the modular high-speed train, the urban rail network of the future, traffic management, multimedia information and integrated logistic systems, the train cargo-liner, and the "virtual factory" concept for the production of rail vehicles and assemblies.

Maritime systems of the future

Maritime industries - shipbuilding, shipping and marine resources - are key global sectors in terms of the economy, trade and environment. The shipbuilding industry needs to produce increasingly efficient, environmentally friendly, energy-saving, safe ships in order to face international competition coming mainly from Korea, Japan and in the near future China as well as east European countries. The marine environment is a potential source of large amounts of energy and raw materials and is of significant interest with respect to environmental protection and energy supply.

The maritime industries are at the centre of one of the 11 Information Society projects adopted by the G 7 countries in February 1995 (Maris). They should become one of the pioneers of the social and industrial changes going along with the introduction of information technologies and new communications systems.

Technological and logistic research is a key to the future of these sectors. The development of new technologies will lead to the modernization of shipbuilding and shipping as well as the optimal exploitation of marine resources and thus improve competitiveness, safety and environmental protection whilst protecting employment. The actions in this area will help to eliminate duplication, increase coordination and create synergies between existing Community and Member States' programmes and ensure the optimal exploitation of research activities in cooperation with the maritime industries.`

(iii) Add after the existing text under the heading FIRST ACTIVITY 1. INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES: A. Telematics applications of common interest:

'To respond to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: telematica applications for road transport management and security; for the overall efficiency, safety and the operating cost of aircraft, for "door to door" intermodal transport, for maritime transport logistics, vessel traffic and cargo management systems, and Maris research activities, for railway traffic management; development of high quality new multimedia, education and training tolls and services with increased emphasis on involvement of education and training actors, libraries, museums and editors; development of telematic systems for water pollution and water resource management.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: development of active environment vehicle control, active safety and information systems for new automobile concepts, development and demonstration of telematics applications focused on improved aircraft efficiency and safety, tools for intermodal transport terminals, network operations, information and payment systems; large scale experimentation of innovative learning services, research and demonstration on telematics-based services for teacher training, development and validation of multimedia learning materials and services.`

(iv) Add after the existing text under the heading 1.C Information Technologies:

'To respond to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: robust electronic sensors, processors and packaging for optimized vehicle and emissions management and integrated open systems architectures; tools for information exchange and concurrent engineering within the aeronautics industry supply network; innovative generic tools and platforms for education and training; technologies to facilitate design, production and quality control of multimedia materials for professionals; Maris research activities such as Marvel; distributed industrial logistics for the railway supply industry.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: design and development of vehicle electronic control systems; software research on a system approach for functional or physical integration of components, networks and business processes to improve co-design activities with component suppliers. Demonstration of processes and IT tolls to support distributed concurrent engineering and greater aircraft efficiency; enhancement of multimedia support centres to address educational multimedia, interoperability of learning delivery systems and platforms.`

(v) Add after the existing text under the heading 2. INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGIES A. Design, engineering, production systems and human management:

'To respond to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentrating: improvements in industrial performance of water-related public utilities, conservation of water in industrial processes and adaptation of water technologies to the needs of small operators.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: research and demonstration in clean technologies for treatment, re-use and conservation of water and for preventing the diffusion of pollution; research for extending the application of desalination technologies.`

(vi) Add after the existing text under the heading 2.C Technologies for transport means:

'To respond to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: design methodologies and processes aimed at reducing aircraft development costs; materials contributing to greater aircraft efficiency or lower environmental impact; technology development and demonstration aimed at improving operating efficiency and reducing noise and emissions of aircraft; optimized internal combustion engine for hybrid vehicles integrated with advanced transmission systems; lightweight structures adapted to the requirements of alternative energy storage/converter devices; design, engineering, production technologies to improve shipbuilding competitiveness/productivity; ship safety (at the design stage as well as operational safety) and improved interface between ship and shore (e. g. cargo handling); demonstration of integration of advanced modular railway vehicle technologies, trackside and transhipment technologies.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: demonstration of material and technology development for improved aircraft efficiency (in particular airframe, engine and systems) and reduced environmental impact; demonstration of distributed concurrent engineering and processes aimed at reducing aircraft development and fabrication costs; integrated design and manufacturing processes for energy storage/converter devices and clean internal combustion engines; materials and technology development for lightweight low drag vehicle structures; technology development for specific intermodal transport equipment, intermodal freight transport units and intermodal integration.`

(vii) Add after the existing text under the heading 2.D Research linked with standards measurement and testing:

'To respond to priority themes the following specific activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: the water theme will be a target for research in support of other Community policies.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: collaboration between industrial and other actors, in the areas of harmonization of measurement and test methods and development of standards relating to quality requirements in the water area.`

(viii) Add after the existing text under the heading 3. ENVIRONMENT: A. Natural environment, environmental quality and global change:

'To respond to priority themes the following activities will be subject of greater focusing and concentration: research relating to environmental impact of vehicle emissions; research relating to the environmental impact of aircraft emissions and emissions from shipping, Safemar; evaluation of water resources and ecosystem disturbance associated with water pollution/management.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: demonstration of models to predict the impact of aircraft atmospheric emissions; strategic research on quantitative and qualitative evaluation of water resources, utilization/pollution impact analysis methods, exploitation limits of existing and new water sources; models and tools for sustainable water management and water-related crisis management (floods, drought); development and application of space remote sensing techniques.`

(ix) Add after the existing text under the heading 3.B New technologies for environmental protection:

'In response to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: water-related environmental technologies: pollution prevention and decontamination.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: research on pollution mechanisms and characterization in soils, sediments and aquifers, and on related decontamination technologies.`

(x) Add after the existing text under the heading 3.C Marine science and technologies:

'In response to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: sea bed utilization and exploitation, coastal zone and shelf seas management including operational forecasting.`

(xi) Add after the existing text under the heading 3.D Human Dimension of Environmental Change:

'In response to priority themes the following activities will be reinforced: research to develop an integrated analysis of the socio-economic interactions and trends affecting the water system.`

(xii) Add after the existing text under the heading 4. LIFE SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES: A. Biotechnology:

'In response to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: transdisease vaccinology: mucosal immunity and delivery systems.`

(xiii) Add after the existing text under the heading 4.B Biomedical and health research:

'To respond to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: research on vaccines against specific infectious diseases in Europe; vaccines against cancer; standardization, networking, safety and efficacy aspects of animal models used in vaccine development; novel in vitro alternatives.`

(xiv) Add after the existing text under the heading 4.C Agriculture and fisheries:

'In response to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: production of vaccines in crop plants; water-conserving agricultural and agro-industrial production methods; optimization and exploitation of fisheries and aquaculture, Maris projects, including Marsource.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: research and demonstration relating to rational use of water in agriculture and agro-industrial production, and to agricultural techniques which can help to prevent pollution of aquifers arising from agriculture.`

(xv) Add after the existing text under the heading 5. ENERGY:

'In respond to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: battery-vehicle RTD and demonstration: vehicle-mounted fuel cell/reformer systems; infrastructure for recharging/refuelling; vehicle emission simulation, comparative assessment and European "best practice" database for alternatively propelled vehicles; demonstration of energy-saving research leading to greater aircraft efficiency or reduced emissions; demonstration of energy-saving solutions in the areas of rail and intermodal transport operations; renewable energy applications in the water sector; extension of the concepts and tools developed for energy conservation to the water sector; offshore hydrocarbons and renewable energy systems.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: energy-saving research leading to greater vehicle energy efficiency and reduced pollutant emissions; further development of batteries, supercapacitors, fuel cells and reformer systems; clean fuels and combustion simulation for internal combustion (IC) and hybrid vehicles; integration of energy storage/converter devices; framework for comparative assessment of propulsion technologies, including lifecycle, cost-benefit, and socio-economic analysis, safety assessment, and lifetime and performance testing of energy storage/converter devices; demonstration of new intermodal energy-saving solutions for existing transport sites; integration of renewable energy and desalination technologies.`

(xvi) Add after the existing text under the heading 6. TRANSPORT:

'In response to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: aircraft efficiency, safety and environmental impact within the air transport system; analysis of the potential for and policy implications of intermodal transport systems incorporating alternative propulsion vehicles; full scale demonstrations of technological and organizational solutions to improve efficiency, marketing and training in intermodal transport; maritime transport and port logistics, vessel efficiency, safety, traffic management and environmental sustainability; long-term railway strategy based on areas of high priority and decision-support tools for railway management and interoperability.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: integrating demonstration of concepts for aircraft efficiency, safety and environmental impact inside the air transport system; integrating demonstration of new vehicle concepts within intermodal transport systems; integration and demonstration of smart intermodal freight transfer technologies; modular and flexible technologies for integrating small loads; initial/final urban road haulage solutions; passenger and freight information systems; research and demonstration of optimal transport production systems applied to specific network conditions; strategies for market acceptance, integrated and transparent fares and tariffs; research on intermodal market conditions, including specific market needs, access conditions, competition, liability and transport quality.`

(xvii) Add after the existing text under the heading '7. TARGETED SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESEARCH B. Research on education and training`:

'In response to the priority theme educational multimedia the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: innovation and quality in formal and informal education and training; investigation of cognitive and pedagogic aspects of multimedia education and training; socio-economic implications of the introduction of multimedia based learning systems.`

(xviii) Add after the existing text under the heading SECOND ACTIVITY A.2 COOPERATION WITH CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AND THE NEW INDEPENDENT STATES OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION:

'In response to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: cooperation projects in water resource conservation and management and water supply and use. Coordination of water related projects including the involvement of international organizations; research on vaccines and against infectious diseases of major socio-economic impact in the countries of central Europe and the New Independent States; research an aeronautics in cooperation with the most advanced institutes and industries of the New Independent States.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: research related to the integration of the EU multimodal transport network with that of its European partners and neighbours.`

(xix) Add after the existing text under the heading B Cooperation with industrialized non-European third countries:

'Contacts and regular exchanges could be established, when appropriate, in areas covered by the priority themes listed above.`

(xx) Add after the third paragraph of the existing text under the heading C Scientific and Technological cooperation with developing countries:

'In response to priority themes the following activities will be the subject of greater focusing and concentration: cooperation projects in water resource conservation and management and water supply and use; coordination of water related projects including the involvement of international organizations; research on vaccines against infectious diseases of major socio-economic impact in developing countries.

The following specific activities will be reinforced: research and demonstration in the areas of desalination, integrated water-management including water-saving technologies for irrigation and other uses, and appropriate wastewater treatment processes; research and demonstration on educational multimedia applications to meet specific needs of developing countries; dissemination of Community research in this field; and transport.`

(xxi) Add after the third paragraph of the introduction to the THIRD ACTIVITY:

'In particular, coordination of dissemination and optimization activities will be carried out in the areas of research and technology development associated with priority themes.`