WRITTEN QUESTION E-0781/96 by Amedeo Amadeo (NI) to the Commission (1 April 1996)

Subject: Economic and social cohesion and employment

The White Paper on Growth, Competitiveness and Employment makes the point that without a priori and a posteriori coordination of research and technological development policies the European Union will lose competitiveness.

It points to the lack of coordination at various levels of the European Union's R& TD activities and the limited capacity to rapidly convert scientific breakthroughs and technological achievements into industrial and commercial success as one of the greatest weaknesses in the EU's research base.

Does the Commission not agree that coordinated efforts are needed to stimulate the dynamics of technology, growth and competitiveness by ensuring consistency between policies, instruments and actions?

In particular, the Community's research and technological innovation policies could be coordinated with national R& TD policies and with all the other policies and instruments available to the Community in order to strengthen economic and social cohesion and boost employment.

Answer given by Mrs Cresson on behalf of the Commission (5 June 1996)

As the Honourable Member has pointed out, the Commission has identified the lack of coordination between research and technological development (RTD) policies as one of the weak points of Community research. Consequently, the Commission is very keen to promote and stimulate all measures which aim towards a better coordination and coherence of activities and policies which contribute to the implementation of a technology, growth and employment dynamic. The Commission has taken several initiatives to this end.

In its communication 'Achieving coordination through cooperation', ((COM (94) 438 final. )) the Commission proposed a three-tiered approach (determination of RTD policies, implementation of research activities and international cooperation) to improve coordination of national and Community RTD activities and policies. The Council broadly endorsed this approach in its conclusions of 9 June 1995, which are currently being implemented by the Commission, e.g. concerning the organization of exchanges of information on national activities within ad hoc committees responsible for various RTD sectors.

The Green Paper on Innovation, ((COM (95) 688 final. )) adopted in December 1995 by the Commission, proposes an approach which aims to better direct research efforts towards innovation and to accelerate the transposition of results from research into industrial and commercial applications. As well as RTD, proposed routes of action include numerous policies to be coherently implemented. The lessons learned following consultations on the basis of the Green Paper should be able to be applied in the drafting and implementation of the Fifth Research and Development Framework Programme.

Finally, a communication from the Commission in 1993 emphasized the importance of coordination between RTD policy and economic and social cohesion policy. ((COM (93) 203 final. )) Most of the regions eligible under Objectives 1 and 2 have proposed measures for the implementation of RTD-linked activities in the Community support frameworks for 1994-1999. The funds mobilized enable less-favoured regions to participate in the framework programme and promote the creation of jobs.