THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMUNITY GUIDELINES FOR A NEW COMMUNITY FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME OF TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT 1987-1991
Date: 1986-03-17
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: Framework Programme for Research and Development, action programme, applied research, competitiveness, innovation, research and development, research expenditure (EU), scientific cooperation, technical cooperation, technology

ARCHIVES HISTORIQUES 
DE LA COMMISSION 

COLLECTION RELIEE DES 
DOCUMENTS "COM" 

COM (86) 129 

Vol. 1986/0043 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Disclaimer 

Conformément  au  règlement  (CEE,  Euratom)  n°  354/83  du  Conseil  du  1er  février  1983 
concernant  l'ouverture  au  public  des  archives  historiques  de  la  Communauté  économique 
européenne et de la Communauté européenne de l'énergie atomique (JO L 43 du 15.2.1983, 
p.  1), tel que modifié  par le règlement (CE,  Euratom) n° 1700/2003  du  22 septembre 2003 
(JO L 243 du 27.9.2003, p. 1), ce dossier est ouvert au public. Le cas échéant, les documents 
classifiés  présents  dans  ce  dossier  ont  été  déclassifiés  conformément  à  l'article  5  dudit 
règlement. 

In  accordance  with  Council  Regulation  (EEC,  Euratom)  No  354/83  of  1  February  1983 
concerning  the  opening  to  the  public  of  the  historical  archives  of  the  European  Economic 
Community  and  the  European  Atomic  Energy  Community  (OJ  L  43,  15.2.1983,  p.  1),  as 
amended  by  Regulation  (EC,  Euratom)  No  1700/2003  of  22  September  2003  (OJ  L  243, 
27.9.2003, p. 1), this file is open to the public. Where necessary, classified documents in this 
file have been declassified in conformity with Article 5 of the aforementioned regulation. 

In  Übereinstimmung  mit  der  Verordnung  (EWG,  Euratom)  Nr.  354/83  des  Rates  vom  1. 
Februar  1983  über  die  Freigabe  der  historischen  Archive  der  Europäischen 
Wirtschaftsgemeinschaft und der Europäischen Atomgemeinschaft (ABI. L 43 vom 15.2.1983, 
S. 1), geändert durch die Verordnung (EG, Euratom) Nr. 1700/2003 vom 22. September 2003 
(ABI.  L  243  vom  27.9.2003,  S.  1),  ist  diese  Datei  der  Öffentlichkeit  zugänglich.  Soweit 
erforderlich,  wurden  die  Verschlusssachen  in  dieser  Datei  in Übereinstimmung mit  Artikel  5 
der genannten Verordnung freigegeben. 

 
COMMISSION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN  COMMUNITIES

COH(fS)  129 final·

Brussels,  1? March  19— ··

THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY  COMMUNITY

Guidelines  for  a  new  Community  Framework 

Programme  of  technological  research 

and  development 

1987-1991

(Communication  from  the  Commission  to  the  Council  and  the European Parliament)

CCK(£6)  129  final.

-   I  -

The  Science  and  Technology  Community  :
Guidelines  for  a  new  Framework  Programme  of  technological  research
and  development  1987-1991

SUMMARY

1.  A  new  deal  for  Europe

Europe  accepts  the  challenge.

In  a  world  characterized  by  the  acceleration  of  the  process  of 
innovation,  the  global  application  of  production  techniques,  the 
development  of  services  and,  lastly,  the  expansion  of  defence 
programmes  and  the  importance  attached  to  space  in  national 
technological  development,  Europe  is  beginning  to  organize.  The  year 
1985  saw  the  launching  of  the  Technology  Community,  the  EUREKA 
initiative  and  the  formal  confirmation,  in  the  European  Single  Act,  of 
technological  R&D  activities.

Today,  the  Commission  is  presenting  its  guidelines  for  a  new  Framework 
Programme  of  technological  research  and  development  during  the  period 
1987-91.

2.  The  contribution  of  the  Community  dimension  to  technological  R&D  in 

Europe

The  success  and  reputation  of  such  programmes  as  ESPRIT,  RACE  and 
BRITE  rest  on  an  appreciation  of  the  added  value  generated  by 
Community  technological  R&D  activities.

The  Community  provides  a  framework  for  a  synergy  of  efforts  and 
abilities;  it  thus  promotes  the  attainment  of  economies  of  scale  and 
critical  size  and  provides  the  opportunities  for  diversification 
called  for  by  rapid  and  expensive  scientific  and  technical 
development.

Community  action  creates  the  fertile  soil  for  greater  creativity  and 
cooperation  on  the  part  of  the .scientists  and  industrialists  involved 
in  strategic  programmes  and  priority  and  significant  projects.

The  Community  framework  links  efforts  in  the  field  of  technology  to 
the  large  European  market.  In  1992  it  will  lead  to  open  public-sector 
markets  based  on  common  standards  and  a  common  industrial  property 
policy.

The  resources  allocated  to  research  are  drawn  from  the  Community 
budgetary  instruments;  a,s  a  supplementary  measure,  the  coming  months 
will  see  the  presentation  of  new  financial  instruments  specially 
tailored  to  the  particular  needs  of  scientists  and  industrialists.

The  Community  context  also  ensures 
policy  which  extends  and  underpins 
indust ri ali st s .

a  link  with  a  dynamic  commercial 
the  efforts  of  research  workers  and

- II  -

Lastly,  the  Community  provides  a  coherent  framework  for  the 
optimization  of  the  efforts  of  the  Member  States,  the  exploitation  of 
their  specific  potential  and  avoidance  of  the  duplication  of 
activities,  all  of  which  benefits  both  the  Community  as  a  whole  and 
its  individual  regions.

3.  A  new  institutional  legitimacy  for  technological  research  and 

development

The  European  Single  Act  provides  a  new  political  and  legal  basis  for 
the  development  of  the  Community's  scientific  and  technical  strategy.

Community  activity  in  the  field  of  technological  R&D  will  be  conducted 
in  a  series  of  programmes  at  three  levels,  namely  :

-  a  unanimously  approved  multiannual  Framework  Programme,  which  will 

provide  the  basis  for  the  balanced  overall  development  of  Community 
actions;

-  specific  programmes,  adopted  by  a  qualified  majority,  which  are 

concerned  with  particular  objectives,  designed  to  promote 
cooperation  between  all  the  partners  and  open  to  participation  by 
non-member  countries;

-  supplementary  programmes  in  which  Member  States  will  participate  on 

a  voluntary  basis.

4.  What  are  the  priorities  for  Community  action  ?

The  outline  document  proposes  the  adoption  of  seven  lines  of  action 
adapted  to  the  new  requirements  of  the  1990s.

These  lines  of  action,  which  are  essentially  intended  to  lead  to  the 
improvement  of  Europe's  international  competitiveness,  a  better 
quality  of  life  and  the  creation  of  a  genuine  research  workers'
Europe,  cover  the  following  seven  topics  :

-  management  of  resources  (particularly  in  agriculture);

-  management  of  energy;

-  competitiveness  of  industry  and  services  (information  technology, 

telecommunications,  etc.);

-  quality  of  life  ("Europe  against  cancer",  the  fight  against  AIDS, 

safety,  environmental  protection,  etc.);

-  science  and  technology  for  development;

Europe's  scientific  and  technical  potential;

general  suport  for  scientific  and  technical  development  (innovation, 
scientific  networks,  machine  translation,  etc.).

-

I

l

l

-

The  Commission  advocates  a  substantial  increase  in  activities  designed 
to  increase  the  competitiveness  of  industry  and  its  services,  not  only 
in  the  light  of  the  changing  world  scientific  and  technological 
context  but  also  because  of  the  increasing  pressure  of  the  external 
challenge  facing  our  continent.

As  regards  the  management  of  energy,  the  Commission  hopes  to 
consolidate  Europe's  world  lead  in  thermonuclear  fusion  which, 
moreover,  is  one  of  the  areas  where  efforts  are  integrated  on  a  fully 
European  scale.

A  fairly  substantial  reorganization  of  activities  is  recommended  with 
regard  to  other  aspects  of  energy  research.  Nevertheless  the 
Commission  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  present,  still  unpredictable 
fluctuations  in  the  price  of  petrol  should  not  lead  to  the  abandonment 
of  this  type  of  research  which  remains  an  important  factor  for  the 
diversification  of  the  Community's  sources  of  supply  and  the  reduction 
of  its  energy  consumption.

The  Commission  is  also  examining  the  possibility  of  including 
activities  on  the  exploitation  of  space  and  the  development  of 
aeronautics  in  the  list  of  actions  to  be  conducted  in  the  next 
Framework  Programme.

The  scale  of  the  challenge  and  the  Community's  ability  to  respond  will 
necessitate  an  appreciable  increase  in  the  financial  resources,  both 
public  and  private,  national  and  Community,  made  available  for 
research  and  technology.  For  its  part,  the  Commission  puts  the  total 
financial  commitments  required  for  the  implementation  of  the  1987-1991 
Framework  Programme  at  10.000  MioECUs.  Although  this  amount 
constitutes  an  appreciable  increase  in  relation  to  the  budget  for  the 
preceding  Framework  Programme,  it  represents  less  than  5  /.  of  total 
research  expenditure  in  the  Member  States  over  the  same  period.

5.  New  a rrangements  for  implementing  Community  research

For  the  future  Framework  Programme,  the  Commission  is  in  favour  of  a 
significant  increase  in  shared-cost  actions  of  the  ESPRIT  type 
compared  with  the  direct-action  projects  carried  out  at  the  Joint 
Research  Centre,  the  role  and  tasks  of  which  are  to  be  reevaluated  a 
discussed  in  a  forthcoming  communication.

Furthermore,  in  addition  to  those  already  established  for 
technological  R&D  in  the  Community,  new  implementing  arrangements  wi 
be  prepared,  for  example  through  the  creation  of  joint  enterprises  o 
the  initiation  of  supplementary  programmes  for  which  the  European 
Single  Act  provides.

The  Commission  is  prepared  to  examine  the  possibility  of  setting  up 
flexible  structures  of  the  "agency  type"  as  a  means  of  creating  an 
interface  between  Community  priorities  and  policies  on  the  one  hand 
and  the  specific  requirements  of  operators.

 
 
-  IV  -

Lastly;  Community  budgetary  intervention  will  be  supplemented  by  a 
number  of  facilities  deriving  from  new  Commission  initiatives  in 
respect  of  financial  instruments  or  techniques,  particularly  in  the 
case  of  technological  R8D  programmes  for  industrial-scale  application 
which  are  close  to  the  market,  such  as  the  EUREKA  projects.

6.  An  open,  confident  Technology  Community

The  Technology  Community  cannot  withdraw  behind  its  geographical  and 
institutional  frontiers.

By  adopting  an  open  stance  towards  the  outside  world,  it  will 
reinforce  its  international  cooperation  along  the  lines  already 
established  in  the  field  of  thermonuclear  fusion.

On  a  strictly  European  level,  the  Commission  recommends  a 
strengthening  of  relations  with  the  European  Space  Agency,  CERN,  the 
European  Science  Foundation  and  the  Council  of  Europe.

Bilateral  cooperation  with  the  EFTA  countries  will  acquire  a  new 
dimension  with  the  implementation  of  framework  agreements  for 
scientific  and  technical  cooperation  which  have  already  been,  or  are 
about  to  be,  signed.

In  the  execution  of  the  Framework  Programme,  considerable  importance 
will  be  attached  to  the  development  of  cooperation  within  the 
framework  of  COST,  in  which  many  non-Member  countries  are  involved.

Lastly,  the  Commission  supports  the  EUREKA  initiative.  It  considers 
that,  by  virtue  of  their  complementarity,  Community  programmes  and  the 
EUREKA  projects  constitute  a  single  whole  orientated  towards  the 
attainment  of  the  same  objective,  namely  improved  international 
industrial  competitiveness  and  greater  employment  and  prosperity  in 
Europe.

Consequently,  the  Community  and,  in  particular  the  Commission,  can 
make  a  variety  of  contributions  designed  to  ensure  that  the  potential 
of  the  EUREKA  initiative  is  fully  realized;  these  include  :

-  cooperation  in  EUREKA  projects,

-  the  secondment  of  qualified  staff  to  the  EUREKA  secretariat,

-  the  organization  of  industrial  seminars,

-  the  provision  of  access  to  an  information  communication  system 

developed  within  the  ESPRIT  framework,

“  access  to  the  large  market,

-  suitable,  new  institutional  and  financial  frameworks.

7.  Tomorrow/·  the  1987-1991  Framework  Programme

Following  the  forthcoming  discussion  of  these  guidelines  by  the 
Council  and  Parliament,  the  Commission  will  submit  its  formal  proposal 
for  a  Framework  Programme  of  technological  research  and  development 
1987-1991  in  July  of  this  year.

*

* 

*

  1 

-

-

CONTENTS

I.  Introduction

II. 

Aim  of  the  document

III.  Current  position  and  prospects:  Europe  in  the  international  context

IV. 

The  challenge  within:  achievement  of  the  European  Science  and  Technology 
Community

1.  Selection  criteria
2.  Lines  of  action
3.  Financial  balance

V.  Implementation  of  the  European  Science  and  Technology  Community

1.  General  framework
2.  Preparatory,  implementation,  financing  and  evaluation  arrangements

A.  Existing  implementation  procedures,  role  of  the  JRC
B.  New  procedures
C.  Evaluation  of  results

3.  Accompanying  measures
4.  An  open,  confident  Technology  Community

-  EUREKA
-  COST

VJ.  Conclusions

Annex  I  :  Summary  table  of  Community  actions
Annex  II  :  Information  sheets  relating  to  Community  actions

  2 

-

- ·

The  Science  and  Technology  Community

I .  Introduction

The  Member  States  of  the  European  Community  are  today  faced  with  a  task 
of  major  importance  :  the  practical  realization  of  a  Science  and 
Technology  Community.

The  intention  is  certainly  not  to  throw  away  opportunities  or  fruitful 
possibilities  for  cooperation  with  non-Community  countries.  On  the 
contrary,  these  Commission  proposals  cover  the  opening-up  of  Community 
projects  to  European  countries  outside  the  Community  and  the  improvement 
of  opportunities  for  cooperation  -  on  an  equal  footing  -  with  the  major 
non-European  partners.

The  Community  is  in  fact  in  a  position  to  define  and  adopt  a 
technological  research  and  development  strategy  on  a  continental  scale  .

The  European  dimension  is  essential  in  order  to  meet  the  considerable  and 
increasing  costs  of  technological  R&D,  to  take  advantage  of  economies  of 
scale  and  of  the  resultant  opportunities  for  diversification,  and  to 
ensure  greater  synergy  between  efforts  and  capacities  in  rapidly  evolving 
scientific  and  technical  fields.

The  Community  framework  makes  it  possible,  in  an  overall  strategic 
context,  to  optimize  the  various  measures  required  to  improve,  with  a 
high  degree  of  complementarity,  Europe's  economic  competitiveness  and 
scientific  and  technological  base,  namely  :

-  cooperation  between  scientific  and  industrial  participants  in  strategic 
programmes  and  priority  and  significant  projects,  the  results  of  which 
they  share  at  a  low  cost;

-  the  creation  of  a  vast  precursor  internal  market  through  a  coherent 
policy  on  standardization,  the  opening-up  of  markets,  industrial 
property,  competition,  etc.;

-  the  provision  of  appropriate  financial  resources  through  the  use  of 

existing  financial  instruments  and  the  new  financial  management 
machinery;

-  co-operation  in  the  planning,  creation  and  use  of  complex  and  expensive 

infrastructures  (telecommunications,  instruments  and  large-scale 
scientific  equipment);

-  the  establishment  of  greater  cohesion  on  behalf  of  the  least-favoured 
regions  and  population  groups  through  the  use  of  structural  funds  for 
the  attainment  of  the  Community's  economic  and  social  objectives;

-  reliance  on  the  common  foreign  and  trade  policy  for  the  purpose  of 

adopting  common  positions  in  major  international  discussions;

*· 

-  the  development  of  education  and  training  on  the  basis  of  close

cooperation  at  Community  level  between  the  universities  and  industry 
and  through  the  development  of  new  equipment  and  systems  designed  to

-  3  -

facilitate  adjustment  to  the  forthcoming  changes  in  professional 
qualifications  and  to  make  available  the  high  degree  of  expertise 
required  for  the  mastery  of  new  technologies.

Thus,  the  creation  of  a  Science  and  Technology  Community,  which  has  been 
regarded  as  a  difficult,  if  not  an  impossible  task  to  date,  can  now  be 
guaranteed.

Indeed,  the  Community  has  been  enlarged  to  12  Member  States  and  thus  has 
a  new  political,  economic  and  commercial  base.

The  European  Council  meeting  in  Milan  (28  and  29  June  1985)  approved  and 
adopted  the  Commission's  memorandum  "Towards  a  European  Technology 
Community".

The  declaration  of  principle  approved  in  Hannover  (November  1985)  clearly 
identified  EUREKA  and  the  projects  that  will  result  from  it  as  an 
extension  of  Community  and  multilateral  European  R,D&D  activities,  with  a 
view  to  optimizing  the  industrial  potential  of  these  projects.

Furthermore,  framework  science  and  technology  cooperation  agreements 
between  the  Community  and  several  other  European  countries  (Austria, 
Finland,  Norway,  Sweden  and  Switzerland)  have  already  been,  or  will 
shortly  be,  concluded.

Moreover,  the  chapters  on  the  "Internal  Market"  and  "Technological 
Research  and  Development"  in  the  Single  Act  have  opened  the  way  to  the 
simultaneous  coordinated  development  of  Community  scientific, 
technological,  industrial  and  commercial  policy.

Finally,  these  developments,  at  international  economic,  scientific  and 
technological  level  (aeronautics,  space,  major  military  programmes, 
etc.)  confirm  the  Commission's  view  that  the  implementation  of  an 
ambitious  new  European  scientific  and  technical  strategy  now  seems  to  be 
both  necessary  and  possible.

Necessary,  because  the  scientific  and  technological  capacities  of  the 
great  economic  powers  over  the  next  decade  will  largely  determine  their 
ability  to  secure  growth  and  jobs.

Possible,  because  of  the  close  cooperation  and  climate  of  confidence 
which  have  been  established  between  Community  enterprises  and  scientific 
organizations  in  recent  years,  as  well  as  between  the  latter  and  the 
Commission,  particularly  within  the  framework  of  the  ESPRIT,  RACE  and 
BRITE  programmes.
Possible  also,  because  the  Community  provides  a  favourable  organizational 
framework  for  bringing  together  and  committing  the  required  resources: 
coordinated  use  of  human  and  financial  resources,  concerted  and  planned 
growth  of  national  and  Community  funds.

See  chapter  III  of  this  document

II.  Aim  of  the  document

In  the  Council  resolution  of  25  July  1983  which  approved  -  as  regards  the 
principles,  objectives  and  criteria  for  selecting  projects  -  the 
Framework  Programme  of  Community  scientific  and  technological  objectives 
1984-87,  provision  was  made  for  a  review  of  the  programme  "in  1985  at  the 
Latest".

During  1985,  research  was  the  subject  of  much  discussion  and  many 
initiatives  at  European  level:  the  European  Council  in  Milan,  the  EUREKA
ministerial  conference  and  the  Luxembourg  intergovernmental  conference.
On  this  basis  the  Commission,  as  it  announced  in  particular  in  its 
communication  "Towards  a  European  Technology  Community",  feels  that  this 
review  should  now  be  "carried  out  speedily  so  as  to  ensure  that  a  second
Framework  Programme  for  1987-91  _ _   is  drawn  up  and  adopted  without
delay".

This  document  aims  to  sketch  the  broad  outlines  of  the  Framework 
Programme  for  1987-91  and  appropriate  ways  and  means  of  implementing  it.

On  the  basis  of  this  initial  document  -  which  does  not  represent  the 
Commissions  formal  proposal  and  which  is  completely  without  prejudice  to 
its  final  content  -  the  Commission  would  like  to  know  the  opinions  and 
attitudes  of  the  Community  institutions,  especially  as  regards:

scientific  and  technical  approaches, 
priorities  and  balances,

-  the  level  of  financial  resources  to  be  set  aside  for  the  period  1987- 

91.

In  the  light  of  these  discussions  and  the  conclusions  reached,  the 
Commission  will  prepare  a  formal  proposal  for  the  Framework  Programme 
1987-91  and  submit  it  to  the  Council  and  Parliament  in  July  1986.

Il l .  Current  position  and  prospects:  Europe  in  the  international

context

In  recent  years,  notwithstanding  persistent  and  disquieting  weaknesses 
which  will  be  analysed  below,  the  Member  States  have  shown  not  only  that 
they  could  cope  with  a  serious  crisis,  but  that  they  could,  through 
joining  together  and/or  cooperating,  create  an  almost  unparalleled  force 
in  the  world.

Furthermore,  Europe  is  maintaining  its  status  as  a  major  world  trading 
power,  since  more  than  a  third  of  international  trade  passes  through  the 
Community.  40%  of  the  industrial  production  of  what  is  the  most  open 
economy  in  the  world,  the  European  Community,  is  traded  with  non- 
member  states,  i.e.  25%  to  30%  of  its  gross  domestic  product,  as  compared 
with  10-20%  in  the  case  of  the  United  States  and  Japan.

Europe  has,  thanks  to  the  EMS,  managed  to  preserve  a  significant  degree 
of  monetary  stability  in  the  face  of  the  fluctuations  in  the  dollar  and 
many  other  foreign  currencies.

2C0M(85)final,  30.9.1985.

-  5  -

Apart  from  gaining  an  increasing  control  over  inflation,  the  Community 
Member  States  have  achieved  a  slow,  but  genuine  increase  in  investments 
and  in  productivity  through  the  improved  distribution  of  added  value  for 
the  benefit  of  firms;  their  growth  in  this  respect  is  greater  than  that 
of  the  United  States,  for  example«

On  the  various  world  markets,  Europe's  performance  has  been  comparable  to 
that  of  its  formidable  trading  adversary,  Japan  (especially  in  the  OPEC 
area).  As  far  as  energy  is  concerned,  in  ten  years  Europe's  considerable 
efforts  have  reduced  its  dependence  on  oil  from  65  to  45%,  whereas  Japan 
still  relies  on  oil  for  more  than  60%  of  its  requirements.

Lastly,  European  successes  in  the  field  of  science  and  technology 
(Airbus,  Ariane,  CERN,  JET,  ESPRIT,  BRITE,  RACE...)  underline  the  value 
and  effectiveness  of  Europe's  R,D&D  potential.

This  very  brief  survey  of  some  of  the  encouraging  European  figures 
clearly  must  not  conceal  the  darker  aspects  of  the  situation  that  argue 
even  more  insistently  for  an  offensive  European  research  and  innovation 
strategy  specifically  aimed  at  the  objective  of  international 
competitiveness  as  a  means  of  improving  employment  opportunities.

Out  in  the  arena  with  the  great  industrialized  countries,  the  Community 
Member  States  are  confronted  with  those  whose  scientific  and  technical 
potential  and  dynamism  are  not  only  very  considerable,  but  sometimes 
quite  out  of  proportion  to  their  own.  Development  of  science  and 
technology  policies  by  the  European  nations  is  still  marked  to  a  notable 
extent  by  the  economic  conditions  that  prevailed  in  the  seventies, 
although  a  certain  revival  is  beginning  to  make  an  impression.  Because 
most  of  the  European  governments  were  (and  still  are)  greatly  concerned 
with  solving  the  unemployment  problem,  science  and  technology  policy  was 
not,  for  the  most  part,  a  major  priority  and  its  financing  was, 
therefore,  subject  to  severe  constraints,  in  spite  of  the  close  links 
between  technology,  growth  and  employment.

Fortunately,  this  trend  was  reversed  towards  the  end  of  the  decade  when 
most  of  the  governments  had  realized  how  important  strong  R&D  was  for  a 
growth  economy.  There  has  been,  in  particular,  a  tendency  to  give 
priority  to  applied  research,  geared  to  economic  needs;  most  of  the 
European  countries  now  have  science  and  technology  policies  with 
increasing  emphasis  on  innovation  and  improving  the  links  between  basic 
research  and  industry.

The  scale  of  the  effort  required  must  not,  however,  be  underestimated.
In  fact  there  is  no  single  European  country,  however  big,  which  is 
capable  of  facing  up  to  today's  technological  challenges  on  its  own.  To 
appreciate  the  scale  of  the  effort  which  is  needed,  it  is  worth  taking  a 
close  look  at  five  trends  that  have  been  marked  in  recent  years:

the  acceleration  of  the  innovation  process,  that  is  competition 

through  innovation  at  the  international  level.  It  is  the  force  of 
this  current  which  determines  the  extent  to  which  new  technologies, 
products  and  processes  make  their  appearance,  together  with  the 
support  which  comes  from  large-scale  research  programmes.  Thus, 
European  countries  owe  it  to  themselves  to  ensure  that  thebe  is 
significant  growth  in  the  financial  resources  devoted  to  R&D  if  they 
do  not  wish  to  be  left  behind,  once  and  for  all,  in  today's  race  to 
innovate;

  6 

-

-

-  the  spread  in  all  fields  of  economic  and  social  activity  of  new 

technologies  which  are  subject  to  extremely  rapid  change  (data 
processing,  biotechnology,  materials);

-  the  acceleration  of  the  tendency  of  productive  activities  to  be 

developed  on  a  world-wide  scale,  a  significant  factor  which  can  also 
be  observed  in  the  world  of  science  and  technology  and  which  carries 
the  risk  of  watering  down  Europe  against  the  will  of  its  Member 
States;

-  the  rise  in  the  number  of  "non-material"  activities,  i.e.  the  rapid

increase  in  jobs  in  the  service  sector.  The  wealth  of  nations  is 
founded,  and  will  continue  increasingly  in  the  foreseeable  future  to 
be  built,  on  highly  efficient  service  activities:  services  to
production,  financial  services,  communication  and  information 
services,  services  linked  with  distribution,  training,  research,  etc;

lastly  and  perhaps  above  all,  in  the  short  and  medium  term,  the  growth 
in  defence  programmes  and  their  repercussions  as  regards  the  world 
system  of  research,  science  and  technology.  Since  the  traditional 
frontier  between  civilian  and  military  research  is  in  fact  dissolving, 
major  defence  programmes  are  beginning  to  have  a  dual  scientific  and 
technological  purpose.

The  big  defence  programmes  concentrate  R&D  into  a  number  of  key  fields, 
such  as  telecommunications,  sophisticated  energy  sources,  large-scale 
computers,  advanced  materials  and  space.  In  many  countries,  this  means 
large  contracts  for  the  big  industrial  groups  (whose  R&D  structure  is 
often  geared  to  specialist  military  applications).  At  the  same  time, 
these  programmes  absorb  an  increasing  proportion  of  the  overall  research 
potential  in  terms  of  financing  and  personnel.

It  is  worth  dwelling  for  a  moment,  on  this  point,  particularly  as 
regards  the  USA.  There  the  State  is  assuming  an  increasingly  significant 
role  through  the  R&D  budgets  of  the  Department  of  Defense  (DOD).  The 
large  increase  in  expenditure  on  R&D  in  the  United  States  must  be  seen  in 
direct  relation  to  its  military  programmes,  the  most  recent  and  intensive 
acceleration  being  linked  with  the  strategic  defence  initiative  (SDI).
In  only  a  few  years  the  proportion  of  the  public  expenditure  budget 
accounted  for  by  military  R&D 
total  of  57  000  million  dollars  in  1986  -  has  risen  from  50%  to  70%.

-  i.e.  40  000  million  dollars  out  of  a 

Apart  from  the  general  effect  of  acceleration  that  such  financial 
injections  have  on  the  development  of  technologies,  the  programmes  in 
question  frequently  involve  areas  of  research  which  are  entirely  new  and 
original  (serving  both  civilian  and  military  interests),  providing  the 
foundations  for  the  production  and  services  of  tomorrow.  Furthermore, 
such  programmes  are  designed  with  a  view  to  developing  systems  and  not 
just  components  or  products,  a  major  factor  in  future  competitiveness. 
Again,the  resources  which  are  devoted  to  such  programmes  are  a  direct 
subsidy  to  the  industries  which  implement  them.

Finally,  the  latest  efforts  made  by  the  United  States  may  be  seen  as  a 
controlled  part  of  the  shift  towards  research  on  a  world  scale,  given 
that  they  have  the  effect  of  setting  up  cooperation  networks  for 
technological  research  as  well  as  development.

-  7  -

This  is  the  picture  that  should  be  taken  into  account  in  setting  up  a 
Community  technological  R&D  system.  Unconnected  national  endeavours  are 
likely  for  a  long  time  to  deprive  the  Community  of  the  resources  it  needs 
to  make  significant  breakthroughs  in  fields  which  are  just  as  important 
to  Europeans;  this  national  dispersion  is  also  likely  to  reduce  the  role 
of  Europeans  to  that  of  subcontractors  in  projects  which  they  will  not 
have  the  means  to  gear  to  their  own  interests.

Extending  the  comparison  between  the  Member  States  and  the  rest  of  the 
world,  even  if  it  is  difficult  to  predict  how  the  industrialized 
countries'  science  and  technology  policies  will  evolve  in  the  medium  and 
long  term  it  is  possible  to  discern  a  number  of  trends.

(As 

An  analysis  of  the  trends  observed  over  the  past  decade  with  regard  to 
public  expenditure  on  R&D  shows  that  the  12  Community  Member  States 
should  be  devoting  around  230  000  million  ECU'5  of  public  funds  to  R,D&D 
over  the  period  1987-1991,  whereas  the  gross  domestic  expenditure  of 
these  countries  on  R&D  is  estimated  at  460  000  million  ECU. 
indicated  on  page  13  of  this  document,  this  overall  estimate  embraces  the 
very  uneven  breakdown  that  exists  between  the  various  Member  States). 
During  the  same  period,  domestic  expenditure  on  R&D  should  be  around 
1  000  000  million  ECU  in  the  United  States  and  330  000  million  ECU  in 
Japan  (according  to  an  estimate  based  on  an  extrapolation  from  OECD 
figures  for  the  past  ten  years).  As  far  as  R&D  is  concerned  then,  the 
Community  falls  between  Japan,  whose  technological  performance  hardly 
needs  reiterating,  and  the  USA.
This  position  should  also  be  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  comparative 
economic  status  of  each  of  the  three  regions.  With  regard  to  GDP, 
those  of  the  Community  and  the  USA  are  more  or  less  identical,  whereas 
that  of  Japan  is  around  50%  less.  Assuming  that  this  trend  continues 
until  1991,  the  Community  countries'  460  000  million  ECU  should  thus  be 
compared  with  660  000  million  ECU  for  Japan  (therefore  at  a  comparable 
GDP).

Although  this  is  not  a  flawless  argument,  it  does  prove  the  validity  of 
the  dynamic  strategy  adopted  by  Japan  and  the  United  States  as  regards 
future  R&D.

It  can  also  be  seen  that  the  Community  is  not  in  a  particularly  strong 
position  compared  with  the  other  industrialized  countries.  The  total 
USSR  expenditure  on  R&D  in  1983  was  26  000  million  roubles,  i.e.
38  000  million  ECU,  as  compared  with  the  55  000  million  ECU  spent  by  the 
12  Member  States.  Assuming  that  these  trends  continue,  the  amount 
corresponding  to  the  Member  States'  460  000  million  ECU  for  the  period 
1987-91  should  be  around  320  000  million  ECU  in  the  USSR;  all  the  same,if 
the  documents  of  the  26th  Congress,  are  anything  to  go  by,  it  is  highly 
likely  that  this  figure  will  be  exceeded.  It  is  also  worth  noting  the 
considerable  increase  in  the  number  of  research  workers,  which  has  more 
than  tripled  since  1965  and  is  Likely  to  match  the  US  figure  in  1987. 
Significant  too  is  the  signing  on  18  December  1985  of  the  "framework 
programme  for  the  scientific  and  technical  progress  of  the  COMECON  States 
until  the  year  2000",  a  huge,  ambitious  programme.

^The  estimates  are  all  expressed  at  current  rates.

Domestic  expenditure  on  R&D,  i.e.  public  and  private  expenditure.  Around  50% 
of  the  total  funds  available  for  R&D  is  accounted  for  by  oublic  financing  in 
the  12  Member  States,  whereas  the  corresponding  figures  are  22%  for  Japan  and 
52%  for  the  USA.

Lastly,  a  number  of  other  countries  are  emerging  gradually  in  the 
fields  of  science  and  technology  -  China,  Brazil,  India,  Mexico,  Korea, 
etc.  -  further  intensifying  "international  competition  through 
innovation".

Against  this  general  background,  Europe  must  be  given  power,  status  and 
competitiveness  at  international  level  and  be  provided  with  a  solid 
base,  i.e.  a  scientific  and  technological  system  able  to  meet  challenges 
at  home  and  abroad:  this  the  Commission  sees  as  a  fundamental  objective.

As  far  as  Community  activities  are  concerned,  therefore,  the  Commission 
considers  it  vital  to  give  technological  research  and  development 
special  priority  together  with  a  correspondingly  special  rate  of  growth 
in  the  relevant  budget  appropriations.

-  9  -

IV.  The  challenge  within:  achievement  of  the  European  Science 

and  Technology  Community 

“  

—

Faced  with  S/T  competition  from  outside,  Europe  -  this  heterogeneous 
collection  of  ageing  countries  in  a  rejuvenating  world  -  is  likely  to 
slide  gradually  into  oblivion,  despite  the  substantial  advantages  it  can 
call  on,  if  it  does  not  make  proper  use  of  these  advantages  and,  in 
particular,  of  the  scale  and  momentum  of  the  Community.

All  the  analyses  carried  out  by  the  Commission,  the  conclusions  of  which 
are  widely  shared  not  only  by  the  European  Parliament  and  the  Economic 
and  Social  Committee  but  also  by  those  responsible  for  national  R&D 
policies  and  by  the  representatives  of  the  scientific  and  industrial 
world  show  that  the  European  Community  must  constitute  the  basis  and  the 
heart  of  any  such  undertaking.

The  Commission  believes  that  it  must  conduct  its  activities 
simultaneously  on  three  fronts;  this  will  involve  :

a) 

^  

completion  of  the  internal  market  which  should  be  effective  in  1992. 
The  establishment  of  this  market  should  enable  the  Member  States  to"
combine,  in  the  advanced  technology  field,  the  opening-up  of  their 
public-sector  markets  with  access  to  the  corresponding  scientific 
and  technical  know-how.  An  innovative  public  procurement  policy  and 
a  common  R,  D&D  strategy  are  thus  to  be  considered  jointly;

b) 

c) 

the  adoption  of  new  financial  mechanisms,  which  should  make  it 
possible  to  ensure  synergy  between  public  and  private  financing;
the  continuation  and  development  of  a  technological  R&D  strategy 
which,  in  the  coming  years  must  involve  a  fundamental  response  to 
the  following  major  objectives  :

the  strenthening  of  the  scientific  and  technological  basis  of 
European  industry  and  the  development  of  its  international 
competitiveness  (Subsection  V,  Chapter  VI  of  the  Single  Act);

v. 

-  the  strengthening  of  the  Community's  economic  and  social  cohesion, 
All  the  Member  States  and  all  the  regions  of  the  Community  must 
benefit  from  the  results  of  the  Framework  Programme  and  of  the 
subsequent  specific  programmes,  and  must  be  involved  in  the 
development  process  based  on  the  foundations  thus  established.
The  means  to  be  employed  and  pooled  in  the  context  of  this  dynamic 
operation  will  include  the  ERDF,  the  IMPs,  the  coordination  of 
other  financial  instruments  (Social  Fund,  EAG6F  guidelines,  etc.) 
and  the  definition  of  new  loan  instruments^

' 

-  a  9?nerfi;  improvement  in  the  quality  of  life  within  the  Community

(this  objective,  which  covers  numerous  projects  concerning  health, 
safety  and  the  environment,  must  both  complement  and  offset  the 
goal  "technological  and  industrial  competitiveness").

To  achieve  these  objectives  it  appears  essential  to  increase 
s ubstantially  both  public  and  private  funding  within  the  Member  States 
£ n_d  to  ensure  a  significant  growth  in  Community  S/T  appropriationT l ï h T c h  
must  accompany  increased  cooperation  between  the  different  participants 
in  scientific  and  technological  development  (industry,  universities.

-   10  -

At  national  level,  expenditure  on  R,  D&D  still  seems  comparatively 
slight,  averaging  only  2  %  of  GNP  ghereas,  for  example,  the  corresponding 
figure  is  already  2.8  %  in  the  USA  and  should  reach  3  %  in  Japan  by  the 
end  of  the  decade.

It  should  be  noted  however  that  there  are  significant  differences  between 
Community  Member  States;  the  2  %  of  GNP  which  they  devote  on  average-to 
research  covers  national  efforts  ranging  from  0.35  %  to  2.4  %.

It  will  be  up  to  the  individual  States  to  decide  what  form  any  increases 
should  take,  either  by  stepping  up  public  spending  or  by  encouraging  an 
expansion  of  the  industrial  research  effort.

At  Community  level  expenditure  in  both  absolute  value  and  as  a  percentage 
of  the  Community  budget  is  also  modest  (about  3%  of  the  general  budget  of 
the  Communities  and  2.5%  of  total  national  public  spending  on  R&D).  In 
view  of  the  incentive  effect  and  coordinating  force  of  Community  spending 
on  R&D,  these  funds  should  be  substantially  increased  and  at  the  same 
time  the  aim  should  be  to  achieve  optimum  use  of  both  Community  and 
Member  State  resources.

Achievement  of  the  major  objectives  outlined  above  should  help  to  promote 
within  the  Community  of  Twelve  a  scientific  and  technological  system  that 
will  allow  balanced  but  selective  development.  This  wish  for  selectivity 
should  not,  however,  lead  to  certain  fields  being  excluded  which  come 
within  the  responsibility  of  the  Community  (teaching  and  training, 
establishment  of  a  research  workers'  Europe,  agriculture,  industry, 
preservation  and  improvement  of  the  human  environment,  health,  safety, 
e t c .).

This  development  should  be  based  on  a  set  of  projects  that  make  maximum 
use  of  the  added  value  offered  by  the  Community  dimension.  In  concrete 
terms,  this  Community  added  value  is  manifested  by  the  following 
advantages  :

-  cost  sharing,
-  the  spreading  of  scientific  risks  (discussion  of  objectives  and 

methods,  greater  number  of  scientific  responses),-  an  increase  in  the 
range  of  available  skills  and  expertise

-  attainment  of  critical  size  as  regards  financial  or  human  resources

-  greater  efficiency  in  R&D  activities  (more  ambitious  projects,  more 

rapid  acquisition  of  results  with  corresponding  advantages  for 
scientific  and  industrial  competitiveness)

-  the  ability  to  initiate  further  measures  which  are  essential  to 

success.

In  this  connection,  it  should  be  pointed  out  that  the  proposed  federal  R&D 
budget  for  1987  totals  63.000  million  dollars  compared  with  57.000  million 
dollars  in  1986  (42.000  million  dollars  being  allocated  to  the  D0D  and 
4.800  million  dollars  for  the  SDI  programme  alone).

  11 

-

-

1.  Selection  criteria

To  ensure  that  the  specific  projects  and  programmes  selected  do  in  fact 
offer  that  Community  added  value  (which  distinguishes  them  from  projects 
suitable  for  implementation  at  regional  or  national  level  or  within  other 
international  or  multilateral  organizations),  the  Commission  considers 
the  choice  must  be  based  on  a  number  of  precise  criteria:

research  on  a  scale  such  that  the  individual  Member  States  could 
not,  or  could  only  with  difficulty,  provide  the  necessary  facilities 
on  their  own;

research  which  has  obvious  advantages  in  the  way  of  greater 
efficiency  and  lower  costs  resulting  from  the  sharing  of  work  and 
the  mobilization  of  adequate  human  and  financial  resources,

research  which,  because  of  the  complementary  nature  of  the  work 
being  done  nationally  and  the  scale  of  the  problems  involved, 
especially  from  the  geographical  viewpoint,  enables  significant 
results  to  be  obtained  for  the  Community  as  a  whole;

research  which  provides  a  favourable  environment  for  international 
exchange  and  creativity;

research  which,  either  because  of  the  scale  of  its  financial 
allocation  or  because  of  its  incentive  and  stimulating  effect, 
attains  the  necessary  "critical  size"  in  relation  to  existing  or 
future  national  or  multilateral  activities;

research  which  contributes  to  the  implementation  of  Community
policies  including,  in  particular,  the  completion  of  the  large~scale 
market.

These  six  basic  criteria  often  overlap  or  complement  each  other  and  in 
any  case  are  never  mutually  exclusive.

2.  Lines  of  action

On  the  basis  of  the  general  considerations  outlined  above  and  the 
criteria  set  out,  the  Commission  proposes  that  seven  basic  lines  of 
action,  within  which  priorities  and  programmes  will  be  chosen,  be  adopted 
for  the  establishment  of  the  Community's  S/T  strategy  over  the  period

  12 

-

-

LIST  OF  COMMUNITY  ACTIONS

Management  of  Resources
Agricultural  and  Fisheries  Resources
Raw  Materials

Management  of  Energy
Fusion
Nuclear  Fission
Fossil,  New  and  Renewable  Energy  Sources
and  Rational  Use  of  Energy,

Competitiveness  of  Industry  and  Services
Information  Technologies
Telecommunications  Technologies
Integration  of  Information  and  Telecommunications  Technologies 
into  New  Applications  and  Services  of  Common  Interest
Cooperation  on  Basic  Research  on  Information  Technologies

*■

Technologies  for  Manufacturing  Industry  and  Special 
Technologies
Biotechnologies  and  Agro-Industrial  Technologies
Materials  Science  and  Technology
Marine  Science  and  Technology

*

1. 
1.1 
1.2 

2. 
2.1 
2.2 
2.3 

3. 
3.1 
3.2 
3.3 

3.4 

3.5 

3.6 
3.7 
3.8 

3.9 

Transport

3.10  Scientific  Norms,  Reference  Materials  and  Methods

4. 
4.1 
4.2 
4.3 

5. 

6. 

7. 
7.1 
7.2 
7.3 
7.4 
7.5 

Quality  of  life
Health
Safety
Environmental  Protection

Science  and  Technology  for  Development

Europe's  Scientific  and  Technical  Potential  -  The  Researchers'
Europe

General  Support  for  Scientific  and  Technical  Development
Innovation
Communication  and  Information  Networks  and  Scientific  Data  Bases
Linguistic  Problems
Forecasting,  Evaluation  and  Statistical  Tools
International  Cooperation

★
-  13  -

In  the  Commission's  opinion,  priority  should  be  given  to  activities 
contributing  towards:

competitiveness  at  international  level;

improvements  in  the  quality  of  life,

-  the  establishment  of  a  research  workers'  Europe.

An  initial  outline  of  the  scientific  and  technical  orientation  to  be 
given  to  these  different  actions  during  the  period  from  1987  to  1991  and 
of  the  corresponding  resources  which  it  would  seem  advisable  to  allocate 
thereto  is  set  out  in  Annex  I  in  the  form  of  information  sheets;  this 
orientation  will  be  considered  and  examined  in  greater  detail  throughout 
the  entire  preparation  of  the  formal  proposal  for  the  new  Framework 
Programme.

The  following  summary  of  the  scientific  and  technical  orientation 
described  in  the  information  sheets  can  already  be  provided:

1st  line  of  action  :  Management  of  resources

In  the  case  of  agricultural  resources,  it  will  be  necessary  to  reinforce 
the  R&D  activities  conducted  to  date  in  the  context  of  the  prospects 
opened  up  by  the  Commission's  "Green  Paper".  The  coordination  of 
national  activities  is  of  particular  importance  in  this  sector.  Close 
contacts  must  be  maintained  with  actions  initiated  elsewhere  (3.6)  in  the 
fields  of  biotechnology  and  agro-industrial  technologies.

A  long-postponed  Community  action  on  fish  resources  should  finally  be 
effectively  launched  in  conjunction  with  new  activities  to  be  developed 
in  the  marine  science  and  technology  sector.

The  actions  proposed  in  respect  of  raw  materials  are  essentially  based 
on,  and  selectively  reinforce,  the  action  in  respect  of  which  the  Council 
adopted  a  common  position  in  December  1985.

2nd  line  of  action  :  Management  of  energy  resources

Thermonuclear  fusion  is  one  of  the  fields  in  which  the  integration  of 
European  activities  is  most  advanced;  the  results  of  this  lengthy  and 
exacting  research  could  both  determine  and  guarantee  Community  energy 
supplies.  It  therefore  calls  for  sustained  and  steady  efforts  funded 
from  public  resources,  since  it  is  imperative  that  existing  successes 
should  not  be  jeopardized  by  a  lack  of  adequate  finance.

In  the  field  of  nuclear  fission,  emphasis  will  be  placed  on  the  safety 
aspects  of  the  introduction  of  this  energy  source;  the  management  and 
storage  of  radioactive  waste,  the  regulatory  aspects  of  reactor  safety 
and  safeguards  for  fissile  materials  are  topics  in  relation  to  which  the 
full  value  of  Community-level  activity  can  be  appreciated.

In  the  case  of  fossil,  new  and  renewable  energy  sources  and  the  rational 
use  of  energy,  account  must  be  taken  of  the  development  of  the  relevant 
techniques,  with  particular  reference  to  the  maturity  of  some,  and  of  the 
fact  of  enlargement,  which  will  entail  a  relatively  major  reorganization 
of  activities.  The  current  and  still  unpredictable  trends  in  the  price  of

-  14  -

petrol,  however,  should  not  lead  to  the  abandonment  of  this  topic,  which 
remains  an  important  factor  as  regards  the  diversification  of  our  sources 
of  supply  and  reduced  energy  consumption.

3rd  line  of  action  :  Competitiveness  of  industry  and  services

Clearly,  this  must  be  regarded  as  a  priority  objective  in  view  of  the 
existing  social  and  economic  situation  in  the  Community,  international 
developments  in  science  and  technology  and  the  increasing  pressure  of  the 
outside  challenge.  The  Community  can  play  a  decisive  role  in  this 
context  by  encouraging,  promoting  and  supporting  all  forms  of  cooperation 
between  State  and  industries.

The  implementation  of  ESPRIT  has  led  to  a  remarkable  stimulation  of 
information  technology  within  the  framework  of  Community  R&D  activities. 
The  aim  must  now  be  to  reinforce  existing  achievements  taking  account  of 
the  valuable  experience  gained  during  the  first  programme  and  of  the 
intensive  efforts  being  made  in  this  field  in  Japan  and  the  USA.  Special 
attention  will  be  given  to  the  field  of  software,  which  is  both  one  of 
the  generic  technologies  in  TIT  and  a  key  element  in  the  development  of 
applications.

The  need  for  Community  action  has  also  been  felt  with  regard  to 
telecommunications,  in  view  of  the  transnational  dimension  of  this  sector 
and  the  scale  of  the  new  services  offered  by  the  development  of  advanced 
telecommunications  networks  and  terminals.  RACE  must  provide  Europe's 
response  to  existing  opportunities  and  shortcomings.  In  addition  to 
activities  deriving  from  more  specifically  technological  considerations, 
Europe  must  turn  its  attention  to  the  integration  of  information 
technology  and  telecommunications  with  a  view  to  the  development' of  new 
applications  and  services  in  the  common  interest:  education  and  transport 
are  suitable  sectors  for  such  applications  in  the  common  interest  in 
which,  moreover,  due  account  is  also  taken  of  social  concerns,  as 
demonstrated  by  the  IRIS  initiative.  It  will  be  particularly  important 
to  ensure  a  high  degree  of  coordination  of  national  activities  in  this 
case.

Upstream  of  technological  concerns,  it  is  also  proposed  to  establish 
cooperation  in  basic  research  on  information  technology,  in  order  to 
provide  a  constant  supply  of  new  know-how  in  a  rapidly  developing  sector.

Particular  emphasis  has  been  laid  in  Europe  on  the  revitalization  of 
traditional  industries  through  the  exploitation  of  the  new  technologies. 
The  success  of  the  BRITE  programme  reveals  that  the  Community  initiative 
in  this  field  is  a  response  to  a  genuine  need.  On  the  basis  of  the 
experience  gained,  new  guidelines  are  being  drawn  up  for  actions  relating 
to  technologies  for  the  manufacturing  industries  and  special 
technologies■
Biotechnology  has  also  already  demonstrated  its  enormous  potential  for 
transforming  several  traditional  fields  of  economic  activity,  such  as  the 
chemistry  and  pharmaceuticals  sectors.  Recognition  of  this  fact  led  to 
the  Commission's  proposal  concerning  the  reinforcement  of  actions  in  the 
fiel-d  of  biotechnology  and  the  initiation  of  new  actions  in  the  field  of 
agro-industrial  technology,  which  should  be  closely  coordinated  with  the 
agricultural  R&D  programme  to  enable  the  latter  to  benefit  from  the 
contribution  of  biotechnology.

-  15  -

To  a  Large  extent,  our  technological  future  will  depend  on  our  control  of 
the  materials  sector,  a  field,  moreover,  in  which  the  challenge 
represented  by  developments  in  the  USA  and  Japan  is  particularly  acute. 
The  coordinated  efforts  and  creation  of  Community  networks  which  this 
situation  seems  to  call  for  have  given  rise  to  the  proposals  for  new 
activities  under  the  materials  science  and  technology  project.

Marine  science  and  technology  are  the  subject  of  a  wide  variety  of 
activities  in  most  of  the  Member  States.  The  Commission  is  of  the 
opinion  that  Community  action  in  this  vast  field  is  justified  on  the 
following  grounds  :  use  of  large-scale,  expensive  equipment  which  would 
constitute  a  drain  on  the  resources  of  individual  countries,  optimization 
of  the  use  of  existing  equipment  (oceanographic  vessels,  underwater 
machinery,  etc.),  the  pooling  of  existing  complementary  skills  in  the 
Member  States,  the  application  of  research  results  in  the  implementation 
of  common  policies,  its  potential  for  aid  to  developing  countries  and  a 
contribution  to  the  development  of  the  internal  market  through  the 
acceptance  of  common  standards.

The  transport  sector  constitutes  the  preferred  field  for  transnational 
actions.  Although  limited  as  yet  to  a  number  of  COST  projects  of 
acknowledged  value,  Community  R&D  activities  in  this  sector  deserve  to  be 
strengthened,  both  by  the  extension  of  COST  projects  and  by  the 
initiation  of  original  Community  activities.

Completion  of  the  internal  market  represents  one  of  the  fundamental  goals 
of  the  Community  in  the  coming  years.  Among  the  numerous  initiatives 
which  must  be  launched  with  a  view  to  the  attainment  of  this  objective 
particular  importance  must  be  attached  to  the  definition  and  adoption  of 
common  standards.  The  preparation  of  rules  and  standards  is  frequently 
based  on  upstream  research  activités  which,  if  jointly  conducted, 
facilitate  the  adoption  of  rules  and  standards  recognized  by  all  parties; 
this  fact  has  given  rise  to  the  new  proposals  for  the  continuation  and 
strengthening  of  Community  action  in  respect  of  scientific  standards  and 
reference  materials  and  methods,  particularly  within  the  framework  of  the

4th  line  of  action  :  Quality  of  life

The  importance  attached  to  industrial 
not  divert  the  Community  from  the  aim 
its  citizens.

competitiveness  and  services  should 
of  improving  the  quality  of  life  of

As  stated  earlier,  the  Commission  takes  the  view  that  special  attention 
should  be  devoted  to  attaining  that  objective,  in  view  of  its  direct 
socio-economic  value,  its  impact  on  the  social  acceptability  of  new 
technology  and  the  effects  of  research  undertaken  on  citizens'  welfare.

Three  main  lines  of  action  are  proposed:

health,  with  a  reinforcement  of  activities  relating  to  epidemiology 
and  the  establishment  of  common  standards.  Special  projects  on  cancer 
(Europe  against  Cancer)  and  AIDS  should  also  be  developed;

safety:  a  number  of  recent  accidents  in  industrial  plants  have  in 
particular  highlighted  the  importance  of  improving  the  safety  of 
high-risk  plant  through  more  thorough  scientific  analysis;

-  16  -

"  environmental  protection  :  the  transnational  nature  of  problems  in 

these  areas  is  self-evident,  and  Community  action  is  proving 
particularly  desirable  in this  respect  along  the  lines  set  out  in 
particular  in  the  Community's  environment  policy.

5th  line  of  action  :  Science  and  technology  for  development

Europe  has  a  duty  to  remain  attentive  to  the  problems  of  the  Third  World; 
science  and  technology  are  an  important  aspect  of  development.  Community 
action  in  the  field  should  be  continued  and  intensified,  with  due  regard 
to  the  specific  circumstances  of  both  the  Community  and  the  recipient 
countri e s .

In  particular,  close  cooperation  should  be  established  between  European 
laboratories  and  institutes  in  the  most  advanced  developing  countries,  on 
the  basis  of  which  specific  or  regional  schemes  should  be  conducted  for 
the  benefit  of  the  least  developed  countries  (possibly  through  the 
reinforcement  or  creation  of  local  scientific  and  technical  structures).

6th  line  of  action  :  The  researchers'  Europe

The  vitality  and  creativeness  of  the  science  and  technology  community 
depend  primarily  on  the  calibre  of  the  individuals  and  teams  that 
organize  and  carry  out  technological  R&D.  The  mobility  of  researchers, 
the  strengthening  of  scientific  and  technical  networks,  training, 
retraining  and  the  optimum  use  of  present  and  future  major  scientific 
facilities  are  areas  that  are  now  calling  for  support  and  action  at 
Community  level.  The  new  policy  lines  proposed  reflect  that  need.
7th  line  of  action  :  General  support  for  scientific  and  technical

development

Community  technological  RD&D  can  only  develop  in  a  favourable  climate. 
Recognition  of  this  fact  has  prompted  the  Commission  to  consider 
including  in  the  new  framework  programme  activities  aimed  at  ensuring 
that  such  a  climate  is  created.

These  are:

activities  relating  to  innovation  and  the  utilization  of  the  results 
of  Community  research:  the  Community  R&D  effort  should  be  able  to 
benefit  from  improved  innovation  machinery  ensuring  that  the  results 
of  R&D  are  used  by  socio-economic  operators;

activities  concerning  communication  and  information  networks  and 
scientific  data  banks,  which  constitute  the  essential  infrastructure 
for  a  research  workers'  Europe:  this  should  produce  synergy  between 
geographically  dispersed  R&D  organizations  and  thus  improve  the 
quality  and  effectiveness  of  R&D  and  speed  up  the  transfer  processes. 
Technological  developments  now  make  this  possible.

-  17  -

The  Commission  has  examined  the  desirability  of  including  the  utilization 
of  space  and  the  development  of  the  aeronautical  industry  in  the  list  of 
activities  to  be  conducted  under  the  forthcoming  Framework  Programme.
As  regards  space,,  it  is  necessary  to  examine  the  extent  to  which,  while 
acknowledging  the  areas  of  responsibility  of  the  national  and  European 
organizations  specializing  in  space  activities,  and  the  European  Space 
Agency  in  particular,  the  Community  could  play  a  greater  role  on  the 
scientific,  technological  and  industrial  level.

Such  a  role  could  involve  utilizing  in  the  socio-economic  Sphere  the 
technologies  that  have  been  developed  so  successfully  at  European  level. 
In  the  case  of  activities  relating  to  telecommunications,  the  remote- 
sensing  of  agricultural  resources  and  the  development  and  protection  of 
the  environment,  the  technologies  developed  have  already  begun  to  be 
utilized.  The  Commission  is  continuing  its  effort  to  identify  other 
space-related  fields  in  which  action  at  Community  level  could  contribute 
added  value.

As  regards  aeronautics,  consideration  is  still  being  given  to  the  extent 
to  which  it  is  opportune  to  put  forward  a  specific  activity  at  Community 
level.  A  preliminary  information  sheet  on  this  topic  was  included  in 
Annex  I  under  the  heading  Transport.

Clearly,  in  selecting  the  appropriate  scientific  and  technical  approach, 
as  in  the  adoption  of  the  financial  resources  considered  necessary  for 
its  implementation  over  a  five-year  period  (see  below),  the  Community 
must  retain  the  freedom  to  make  any  adjustments  dictated  by  changing 
political,  economic,  scientific  and  technological  conditions.  In 
particular,  it  must  be  able  to  take  account  of  efforts  designed  to 
accelerate  the  process  of  discovery  and  innovation.

It  will  therefore  be  essential  to  include  a  review  clause  providing  for 
such  adjustments  in  the  text  of  the  decision  relating  to  the  1987-91 
Framework  Programme.

3.  Financial  balance

3.1.  For  each  activity,  a  range  of  financial  estimates  is  given  in  the 
table  in  Annex  I.  These  ranges  correspond  to  different  levels  of 
emphasis  as  regards  implementation  of  the  objectives  outlined. 
Different  combinations  of  these  estimates,  according  to  the  relative 
priority  attached  to  the  individual  activities,  add  up  to  the  total 
amount  that  the  Commission  is  contemplating  at  this  stage,  namely 
9  000  million  ECU  at  current  prices  for  the  five  years  of  the 
Framework  Programme.  This  amount  is  supplemented  by  a  reserve 
representing  some  15%  of  the  above-mentioned  figure,  thus  producing 
a  grand  total  of  10  350  million  ECU.

The  reserve  is  intended  to  cover  the  financing  of  activities  which, 
in  view  of  developments  in  the  political,  scientific  and 
technological  situation,  the  Commission  might  be  prompted  to  propose 
but  cannot  identify  at  this  stage.

The  Commission  is  aware  of  the  need  to  increase  expenditure  on 
technological  R&D  gradually;  this  requirement  will  be  taken  into 
account  in  outlining  the  changes  in  commitment  and  payment 
appropriations  for  the  period  1987-91.

-  18  -

3.2.  A  direct  comparison  of  the  major  amounts  and  the  financial  balance 

thus  outlined  for  1987-91  with  those  of  the  preceding  Framework 
Programme  is  hardly  possible  given  the  different  approach  adopted 
with  regard  to  the  very  structure  of  the  Programme.  Under  the 
1984-87  Framework  Programme,  the  financial  balance  related  to  the 
objectives  to  the  attainment  of  which  the  R,  D&D  actions 
contributed,  in  accordance  with  varying  proposals.  Thus,  the 
programme  on  non-nuclear  forms  of  energy  contributed  to  the 
attainment  of  the  objectives  "Improvement  of  the  management  of 
energy  resources"  (74  %)  and  "Promotion  of  industrial 
competitiveness"  (16  %)  and,  to  a  lesser  extent  (less  than  5  %),  of 
other  objectives  under  the  first  Framework  Programme.  Under  the  new 
structure,  financial  balance  is  direcly  related  to  actions  covering 
one  or  several  R&D  programmes.  Nevertheless,  the  following  table 
provides  a  very  broad  outline  of  changes  in  the  relative  priority  of 
the  different  topics  on  which  the  Coimmunity's  action  is  based.

Topics 
December  1985 

Position 
in  1982 

1984-87 
Framework 
Programme 

Execution  of  84-87 
Framework  Programme  Framework
Programme
in  December  1985 

1987-91

-  Agricultural  and

fisheries  resources.
raw  materials

-  Energy
-  Industrial

competitiveness
-  Quality  of  life
-  S/T  for  development
-  Europe's  S/T  potential
-  General  support  for

S/T  development

3.3%

65.4 %

16.9%
9.7%
0.7%
0.0%

4.0%

5.6%

47.2%

28.2%
10.3%
4.0%
2.3%

2.4%

2.6%

47.3%

35.7%
10.5%
1.7%
1.6%

0.6%

2.0%

21.0%

60.0%
7.5%
1.5%
5.0%

3.0%

100 

%  

100 

%  

100 

%  

100 

%

-  19  -

Implementation  of  the  Science  and  Technology  Community 

General  framework

The  European  Single  Act  provides  a  new  political  and  legal  basis  for 
the  development  of  the  Community's  scientific  and  technical  strategy.

The  Single  Act  fixes  the  strengthening  of  the  scientific  and 
technological  bases  of  European  industry  and  the  promotion  of  the 
development  of  its  international  competitiveness  as  Community 
objectives.

Community  activity  in  the  field  of  technological  R&D  is  to  be 
conducted  in  a  series  of  programmes  at  three  Levels,  namely  :

~  a  unanimously  approved  multiannual  Framework  Programme,  which  will 

provide  the  basis  for  the  balanced  overall  development  of  Community 
actions;

specific  programmes  adopted  by  a  qualified  majority,  which  are 
concerned  with  particular  objectives,  designed  to  promote 
cooperation  between  all  the  partners  (enterprises,  research  centres) 
and  open  to  participation  by  non-member  countries;

supplementary  programmes  in  which  only  certain  Member  States  will 
participate.

Pending  ratification  of  the  Single  Act  by  the  Member  States,  the 
Commission's  proposal  concerning  the  1987-1991  Framework  Programme  is
based  on  Article  235  of  the  EEC  Treaty  and  Article  7  of  the  Euratom 
Treaty.

The  specific  programmes  which  are  the  responsibility  of  the  Community 
will  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  the  procedures  laid  down  by  the 
European  Single  Act;  the  Council,  acting  by  a  qualified  majority,  will 
take  a  decision  on  a  proposal  submitted  by  the  Commission  in 
association  with  the  Parliament;  the  specific  programmes  which  are  the 
responsibility  of  Euratom  will  be  adopted  in  accordance  with  an 
identical  procedure  except  that,  in  this  case,  Parliament  will  merely 
be  consulted.

All  research,  development  and  demonstration  activities  will  be 
presented  or  referred  to  in  the  Framework  Programme.  Nevertheless,
the  text  of  the  decision  to  be  adopted  unanimously  by  the  Council  will 
not  mention  :

-  specific  programmes  under  the  ECSC  Treaty,  which  are  covered  by  a 

Commission  decision;

-  demonstration  projects  in  the  field  of  energy,  since  these  are 

intended  to  demonstrate  the  economic  value  of  products  or  processes 
developed  downstream  of  technological  R&D  actions,  and  thus  extend 
the  Community's  research  activity.

  20  

-

-

Preparatory,  implementation,  financing  and  evaluation  arrangements

Even  in  preparing  the  Framework  Programme,  and  in  addition  to  its  basic 
consultation  of  Parliament,  the  Economic  and  Social  Committee  and 
CREST,  the  Commission  intends  to  refer  repeatedly  to  the  various 
consultative  committees  attached  to  it  (CST,  CODEST,  IRDAC,  ESPRIT 
Committee,  etc.).

These  Committees  are  made  up  of  representatives  of  scientific  and 
technical  circles,  industry,  the  trade  unions,  consumer  associations 
and  the  like;  the  Commission  considers  that  the  involvement  of  all  the 
interested  "participants"  is  essential  for  the  definition  of  the 
Community  science  and  technology  strategy  best  adapted  to  the 
requirements  and  aspirations  voiced.

Existing  implementation  arrangements  -  Role  of  the  JRC

In  order  to  implement  the  actions  adopted  in  the  Framework  Programme, 
the  Commission  intends  not  only  to  use  the  full  range  of  existing 
arrangements  but  also  to  specify  a  number  of  new  procedures,  which  the 
European  Single  Act  in  particular  makes  available  to  it.

As  regards  procedures  currently  in  use  (direct  action,  shared-cost 
projects,  concerted  action,  demonstration  projects),  the  attached  table 
shows  the  preferred  approach  to  be  taken  in  respect  of  the  procedures 
proposed  for  each  action.

The  sharea-cost  procedure  is  obviously  the  one  used  in  most  cases;  it 
makes  possible  an  optimal  use  of  the  limited  resources  available  to 
Europe  by  combining  the  resources  of  industry  or  national  research 
institutes  and  those  of  the  Community.

Direct  action  calls  for  some  comment  upon  the  future  role  of  the  JRC. 
For  the  implementation  of  the  Framework  Programme,  the  Commission  will 
call  on  the  JRC  to  undertake  the  activities  most  suited  to  this 
procedure.  The  Commission  is  currently  preparing  the  new  JRC  programme 
for  the  period  1987-91  on  the  basis  of  the  existing  general  guidelines 
for  the  Framework  Programme;  together  with  this  new  programme,  it  will 
submit  a  document  entitled  "Guidelines  for  the  Future  Development  of 
the  JRC".  These  guidelines  derive  from  the  overall  evaluation  recently 
carried  out  by  the  JRC  Scientific  Council.

It  is  clear  that  JRC's  vocation  is  found  essentially  in  the 
establishment  of  norms  and  standards,  that  is,  the  development  of  the 
scientific  knowledge  and  techniques  necessary  to  permit  regulatory 
authorities  to  fix  norms  and  standards  on  a  solid  and  neutral  basis; 
this  being  an  important  element  in  achieving  the  internal  market.  The 
vocation  of  the  JRC  is  equally  tied  to  research  on  industrial  safety 
and  the  protection  of  the  environment,  fields  in  which  the  JRC  has  a 
special  role  closely  related  to  acquired  competence  and  to  existing 
experimental  installations.

Present  research  carried  out  in  the  JRC  already  comprises  a  number  of 
projects  which  are  a  good  fit  with  its  vocation  but  which  should  be 
further  developed  in  the  future  programme.  As  compared  to  the  present 
situation  it  is  planned  to  enlarge  programmes  falling  within  Community 
actions  relating  to  the  "competitiveness  of  industry  and  of  services"

L I S T   OF  C O M M U N I T Y   AC T I O N S

Management  of  Resources

1. 
1.1.  Agricultural  and  Fisheries  Resources  —
1.2.  Rau  Materials  -- 

J____ ..
. . .   __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

  - - - - - :—

Management  of  Energy

2. 
2.1.  Fusion  - 
2.2.  Nuclear  Fission 
2.3.  Fossil,  New  and  Renewable  Energy  Sources  and 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
. . . . . . . . . . . . ...... ..... . . . . . . .

______ _ 

- - - - - - -

Rational  Use  of  Energy

Competitiveness  of  Industry  and  Services

3. 
3.1.  Information  Technologies  ---  
3.2.  Telecommunications  Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
_ _ _
3.3.  Integration  of  Information  and  Telecommunications 

— - - - - - - -- - - - - - -

Technologies  into  New  Applications  and  Services
of  Common  Interest

3.A.  Cooperation on  Basic  Research  in  Informatiqn  Technologies  —

3.5.  Technologies  for  the  Manufacturing  Industry  and  Special

*

Technologies 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3.6.  Biotechnologies,  Agro-Industrial  Technologies  _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3.7.  Materials  Science  and  Technology 
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
3.8.  Marine  Science  and  Technology 

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 

_.  _____ a _ _ _  ..

Concerted
Action

Shared-Cost
Action

Joint  Research 
Centre

Supplementary
P r o g r a n e s

Reearks

xxx  - - - - -
x 

.....

X
XX

XX  — - -
_ _
xxx 

xxx
xxx 
xxx

_ _ _

X X  

f

i x

—

X X
XXX 
X

__ _ _

X X
xx

(1)  see  Reoote  Sensing 

section

X  

— ...........

X X

X X

X X

xxx
xxx

xxx

X X

-  xxx 
xxx
xxx  .  ..  __

...  - 

(2)

(2)  JRC  Materials  section  in  3.10 
to  be  specified

3.9.  Transport 

*

*

. 

... .

X X  

.  

_ _ _ _ _ _

3.10.  Scientific  Norms,  Reference  Materials  and  Methods  _ _ _ _ _ _

Quality of  Life

A. 
A.1.  Health
A.2.  Safety  . 
A.3.  Environmental  Protection_ _ _ _  

. ..

__ _

5. 

Science  and  Technology  for  Development  __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

6. 

Europe's  Scientific  and  Technical;Potential  -
the  Researcher's  Europe 

----- -■ 

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

General  Support  for  Scientific  and  Technical  Development

7. 
7.1.  Innovation
7.2.  Communication  and  Information  Network  and  Scientific

Data  Bases 

- - - - - - - - - - - - -
7.3.  Linguistic  Problems  . . . .   -  —   ----- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
7.A.  Forecasting,  Evaluation  and  Statistical  Tools  - - - - - - -   -
7.5.  International  Cooperation

This  action  will  be  executed  x  to  a  liaited  extent

on  the  basis  of  the  procedure  in  question

xx  to  a  considerable  extent 
xxx  priaarily 

.

xxx 
X
X X  

. 
. . . . .
- - - - - - - - - - - - -

—  

-

X X

XX

X  ...  _ _

' 

X X

xxx

XX
x.rx
xxx

xxx

xxx

X X

X X

X X X  

X X X

X X X

xxx
xxx

X

  22 

-

-

and  to  the  "quality  of  life".  In  contrast,  the  JRC  effort  on  "energy 
management"  should  be  reduced.  These  changes  represent  a  significant 
step  forward  in  comparison  with  the  present  programme.  The  evaluation 
report  recently  issued  by  the  Scientific  Council  indicates  that  the 
JRC  is  capable  of  responding  to  these  changes.

To  attain  the  desired  end,  the  JRC  must  be  suitably  integrated  within 
the  framework  of  Community  research.  Still  basing  itself  on  the 
conclusions  of  the  evaluation  report,  the  Commission  has  the  intention 
on  the  one  hand,  of  taking  measures  to  ensure  better  integration 
between  various  means  of  research  and,  on  the  other,  of  guaranteeing 
better  contact  between  the  JRC,  industrial  circles  and  national 
research  organizations.  It  also  plans  to  increase  the  mobility  of  JRC 
research  staff  as  well  as  to  make  the  necessary  arrangements  to 
increase  the  number  of  visiting  scientists  and  research  fellows  coming
from  the  Community.

B.  New  Arrangements

In  addition  to  applying  management  procedures  and  financing 
arrangements  which  already  exist,  the  Commission  wishes  to  make  use  of 
a  set  of  new  methods  which  are  both  more  flexible  and  better  adapted 
to  the  new  range  of  proposed  actions.  New  procedures  are  already 
planned  or  are  under  study  in  the  Commission's  departments.

In  this  connection,  reference  can  be  made  to  the  new  arrangements 
which  could  be  implemented  quickly:

1-  Joint  undertakings:  here  it  is  a  matter  of  extending  (with  or 

without  the  participation  of  the  Community,  of  all  or  some  of  the 
Member  States,  and  possibly  of  non-Member  States),  the  system  laid 
down  in  the  EAEC  and  EEC  Treaties,  after  amendment  and
si mplifi cati o n s .

2-  Supplementary  programmes:  programmes  of  this  type  -  such  as  those 

which  have  existed  or  which  still  exist  in  the  EURATOM  framework 
-  can  from  now  on  be  developed  on  the  basis  of  the  EEC  Treaty.
These  programmes,  with  or  without  a  contribution  from  the  Community 
budget,  would  be  defined  and  carried  out  only  by  the  Member  States 
concerned  and  financed  by  national  funds.

3-  Minority  participation  by  the  Community  in  national  and 

multinational  actions  or  projects.  With  this  arrangement  it  would 
be  possible  to  involve  the  Community  in  actions  or  projects  of 
Community  interest  in  exchange  for  a  degree  of  financial  support.

4.  Community  budgetary  intervention  will  be  supplemented  by  a  number 
of  facilities  deriving  from  new  Commission  initiatives  in  respect 
of  financial  instruments  or  techniques,  particularly  in  the  case  of 
technological  R&D  programmes  for  industrial-scale  application  which 
are  close  to  the  market,  such  as  the  EUREKA  projects.

5.  Lastly,  still  with  a  view  to  ensuring  the  same  complementarity  in 

relation  to  existing  arrangements,  the  Commission  is  prepared  to 
examine  the  possibility  of  creating  flexible  structures  of  the 
"agency"  type  which  can  provide  an  interface  between  Community 
priorities  and  policies  and  the  special  requirements  of  operators.

-  23  -

Evaluation  of  results

To  complete  this  set  of  arrangements,  the  Commission  intends  finally 
to  reinforce  the  system  for  evaluating  its  research  programmes  and 
their  results  in  the  light  of  the  experience  gained  over  several 
years.

In  particular,  evaluation  by  independent  experts  which  has  already 
been  applied  in  respect  of  numerous  Community  activities  (JRC, 
programmes  on  renewable  sources  of  energy,  the  ESPRIT  mid-term  review, 
etc.)  will  be  conducted  systematically  and  periodically  for  all  R&D 
programmes.

Accompanying  measures

In  order  to  support  the  implementation  of  R,  D&D  programmes  it  will, 
moreover,  be  possible  to  make  use  of  a  range  of  accompanying  measures. 
By  way  of  example,  reference  can  already  be  made  to  the  following  :

-  all  of  the  initiatives  appropriate  to  the  organization  of  the  large 

market  (standards,  free  movement  of  goods  and  capital,  tax 
harmonization).  In  particular,  the  Commission  will  endeavour  to 
facilitate  inter-industrial  R&D  agreements  and  the  exploitation  of 
their  results  within  the  framework  of  its  competition  policy.  In 
applying  Community  competition  rules,  the  Commission  will  accord 
favourable  treatment  to  state  aid  for  technological  R&D.

-  The  implementation  of  specific  activities  of  particular  interest  to 

those  states  or  regions  of  the  Community  whose  scientific  and 
technical  development  calls  for  special  efforts.
As  pointed  out  earlier,  a  balanced  development  of  all  the  Member 
States  and  regions  of  the  Community  will  essentially  depend  on  the 
translation  of  the  Framework  Programme  into  a  set  of  approriate 
specific  programmes.

In  addition,  the  use  of  the  ERDF  and  the  IMPs  for  certain 
infrastructure  projects  can  be  considered  together  with  the  creation 
of  new  financial  arrangements  which  could  support  infrastructure 
projects  and  at  the  same  time  meet  the  needs  of  small  and  medium­
sized  firms.

Furthermore,  other  proposals  have  already  been  submitted  by  the 
Commission,  such  as  the  programme  relating  to  the  development  of 
certain  less-favoured  regions  of  the  Community  for  improved  access 
to  the  advanced  telecommunications  service  (STAR  Programme, 
COM/85/836  final).  In  the  framework  of  shared-cost  R&D  programmes 
the  Commission's  departments  are  studying  ways  and  means  of 
systematically  linking  laboratories  or  firms  in  less-favoured 
regions  to  R&D  institutions  in  those  Community  countries  which  are 
most  advanced  in  science  and  technology,  in  fields  in  which  this 
type  of  association  facilitates  valuable  cross-fertile  cooperation.

-  the  implementation  of  measures  concerning  small  and  medium-sized 

undertakings  with  a  view  to  involving  them  in  the  progress  of  the 
Community  and  allowing  them  to  exploit  the  Community's  large-scale 
market  potential  to  the  full.

-  24  -

The  Science  and  Technology  Community  must  take  account  of  the  fact 
that  the  advanced  industrial  economies  are  going  through  a  period  of 
intense  technological  change,  during  which  small  and  medium-sized 
businesses  are  frequently  best  suited  to  the  adoption  of  innovatory 
policies  and  the  maintenance  of  a  high  degree  of  competitiveness 
based  on  innovation.  These  businesses  can  guarantee  Europe's  place 
in  the  new  international  division  of  labour  and  the  competitive 
dissemination  of  its  technology.  Consequently,  the  Community  will 
seek  to  create  a  suitable  environment  for  the  development  of  a 
network  of  healthy,  dynamic  and  innovatory  small  and  medium-sized 
European  businesses.  The  Commission  will  shortly  send  the  Council  a 
communication  specifically  concerned  with  this  type  of  action.

-  finally,  increased  support  for  the  training  and  retraining  of

research  workers.  It  should  be  mentioned  here  that  in  the  Framework 
Programme  of  Community  scientific  and  technical  activities  only 
initiatives  favouring  postgraduate  research  workers  and  scientists 
will  be  considered.  These  activities  therefore  go  beyond  the  scope 
of  the  COMETT  programme  (Community  Programme  for  Education  and 
Training  in  Technology),  which  is  essentially  concerned  with  the 
further  training  of  student,  teachers,  engineers  and  technicians 
with  regard  to  changes  in  the  new  technologies  and  thus  constitutes 
a  necessary  complement  to  the  actions  planned  under  the 
technological  R&D  Framework  Programme.

4.  An  open,  confident  Te c hnology  Community

The  reinforcement  of  Community  action  in  the  field  of  technological  R&D 
certainly  does  not  represent  an  isolationist  withdrawal  behind  its 
geographical  and  institutional  frontiers  on  the  scientific  and  technical 
level.  On  the  contrary,  it  must  be  accompanied  by  increased 
international  cooperation,  especially  in  a  field  such  as  thermonuclear 
fusion  and  more  particularly  at  European  level.

-  The  close  links  established  with  the  European  Science  Foundation,  the 

European  Space  Agency,  CERN  and  the  Council  of  Europe  must  be 
maintained  and,  where  appropriate,  strengthened,  in  particular  by  the 
execution  of  joint  projects.

-  Bilateral  cooperation  with  the  EFTA  countries  will  acquire  a  new 
dimension  with  the  implementation  of  the  framework  agreements  on 
scientific  and  technical  cooperation  which  have  aLready  been,  or  which 
are  due  to  be,  signed.  These  countries,  which  are  already  involved  in 
a  number  of  Community  programmes  both  under  the  Euratom  (fusion, 
radioactive  waste)  and  EEC  (environment,  raw  materials)  Treaties  should 
in  future  cooperate  more  closely  with  the  Community  in  several  sectors, 
such  as  telecommunications,  information  technology,  manufacturing 
techniques  and  materials.

-  Lastly,  in  preparing  the  new  Framework  Programme,  particular  attention 

must  be  paid  to  existing  links  with  two  multilateral  cooperation 
initiatives,  namely  the  extremely  new  EUREKA  programme  and  the  much 
older  COST.  At  the  present  stage  of  planning,  the  following  links 
between  the  Community  action  and  these  two  initiatives  can  be  outlined.

EUREKA

The  EUREKA  initiative  is  the  expression  of  the  wish  of  the  Government's 
of  eighteen  European  states  and  the  Commission  to  implement  a  policy 
centring  on  the  joint  confrontation  of  the  challenges  posed  by  the 
development  of  new  technologies  and  their  incorporation  in  the  industrial 
innovation  process.

Twenty-six  cooperation  projects  involving  industries  from  several  states 
and,  in  many  cases,  the  Community  have  been  launched  since  the 
declaration  of  principle  defining,  in  particular,  the  goals  and 
implementing  conditions  of  this  initiative  was  adopted  by  the  European 
Ministers  of  Foreign  Affairs  and  of  Research  in  Hanover  on  5- 
6  November  1985,  following  the  launching  of  the  initiative  at  the 
European  Technology  meeting  in  Paris  on  17  July  1985  in  response  to  the 
initial  discussion  at  the  Milan  European  Council  on  28-29  June  1985.

The  declaration  points  out  these  "EUREKA  projects  are  not  intended  to 
replace  existing  technological  cooperation  in  Europe  -  such  as  the 
programmes  of  the  European  Communities  -  nor  its  subsequent  development. 
On  the  contrary,  their  purpose  is  to  extend  or  supplement  this 
cooperation".

Whilst  the  Community  will  continue  to  develop  scientific  and 
technological  programmes  on  the  basis  of  objectives,  criteria  and 
priorities  defined  jointly  with  the  Governments  and  industries  of  the 
Member  States,  EUREKA  projects  will  essentially  be  implemented  on  the 
initiative  of  individual  enterprises  seeking  to  cooperate.  These 
enterprises  will  be  responsible  for  project  management  including,  in  most 
cases,  financing.  The  projects  will  mainly  relate  to  the  joint 
development  of  advanced  techniques  close  to  the  market  or  of 
infrastructures  of  transnational  interest.

The  Commission  has  supported  this  initiative  from  the  start,  considering 
that,  if  conducted  in  a  consistent  and  symbiotic  manner,  the  Community 
programmes,  together  with  their  resultant  projects  and  the  EUREKA 
projects,  can,  by  virtue  of  their  complementarity,  constitute  a  whole 
which  will  make  possible  the  attainment  of  the  common  objectives  of  these 
two  categories  of  action,  namely  the  increased  productivity  and 
competitiveness  of  European  national  industries  and  economies  on  the 
world  market  and  a  resultant  contribution  to  greater  prosperity,  and 
higher  levels  of  employment.

In  this  connection,  it  should  be  emphasized  that  the  general  budget  of 
the  European  Communities  for  1986  contains  a  new  Chapter  78  on 

Expenditure  arising  from  the  participation  of  the  European  Communities 
in  Scientific  and  Technological  Prospects  of  Community  Interest  -  EUREKA 
and  others".

The  Commission  believes  that  the  Community  must  make  a  variety  of 
contributions  to  EUREKA  to  enable  the  full  potential  of  this  initiative 
to  be  realized.  These  include  :

-  the  immediate  and  direct  involvement  of  its  experts  in  the  preparation 
of  the  procedures  now  under  discussion  concerning  the  execution  of  the 
project,  and  its  agreement  in  principle  to  second  qualified  staff  to 
the  EUREKA  secretariat.

  26  

-

■ -

It  will  also  be  necessary  to  provide  access  in  conjunction  with 
Ireland,  to  the  EUROKOM  information  communication  system  developed 
within  the  framework  of  ESPRIT.

-  participation  in  the  organization  of  industrial  seminars  such  as  that 

on  gallium  arsenide  and  biotechnology.

-  direct  Community  participation  in  certain  EUREKA  projects  of  recognized 

Community  interest.

-  Community  cooperation  in  EUREKA  projects  representing  a  direct 

extension  of  activities  conducted  within  the  framework  of  Community 
projects  (e.g.  projects  on  amorphous  silicon,  software  portability, 
membranes,  the  environment  and  research  networks).

-  the  Community's  contribution  to  the  success  of  research  cooperation 

through  the  creation  of  a  large  internal  market  which  will  provide  the 
optimum  conditions  for  the  economic  exploitation  both  of
Community  programmes  and  of  EUREKA  projects.

-  lastly,  the  creation  in  the  future  of  the  abovementioned  flexible 

institutional  and  financial  frameworks  suitable  for  EUREKA  projects 
whose  implementation  would  be  in  the  Community  interest.

Links  with  COST

The  Commission  has  repeatedly  stressed  the  importance  that  it  attaches  to 
furthering  cooperation  within  COST.  This  form  of  cooperation  had  its 
beginnings  in  1971  and  it  has  enabled  a  wide  range  of  activities  to  take 
place  in  different  scientific  and  technical  sectors  by  combining  the 
advantages  of  a  flexible  procedure,  of  variable  association  between 
States  -  depending  on  their  specific  interests  -  and  of  participation  by 
non  Member  States  in  the  scientific  and  technical  activities  of  a  wider 
Europe.

Since  COST  was  created,  its  background  has  of  course  altered  profoundly. 
The  expansion  of  the  Community  from  six  to  twelve  States,  the 
diversification  of  the  range  of  Community  R&D  programmes,  the  opening  of 
those  programmes  to  more  and  more  non-Member  countries,  the  strengthening 
of  the  bonds  between  the  EFTA  and  Community  countries  as  a  result,  in 
particular,  of  the  Luxembourg  Declaration  of  April  1984,  and  the 
launching  in  1985  of  the  EUREKA  initiative  are  all  factors  which  cannot 
be  disregarded  when  examining  the  future  of  COST.

There  must  be  provision  in  future  for  a  symbiosis  between  Community 
programmes,  COST  and  EUREKA  projects.  As  one  of  the  avenues  of  activity 
open  to  Europe,  COST  seems  particularly  suited  to:

-  highly  specific  activities  which  are  limited  in  time  and  are  not  well 

adapted  to  inclusion  in  the  Community's  major  long-term  programmes  and 
which,  moreover,  while  adopting  the  EUREKA  "bottom-up"  approach,  are 
unable  by  their  very  nature  to  share  EUREKA's  background  owing,  for 
example,  to  their  distance  from  the  market.

-  activities  in  areas  inadequately  covered,  if  at  all,  by  Community 

programmes,  such  as  transport  or  aquaculture.

-  27 -

The  Commission  will  pursue  its  dialogue  with  the  Member  States  and  the 
other  COST  States  on  the  direction  in  which  to  steer  COST  in  future.  It 
must  be  accorded  considerable  importance  when  the  new  Framework  Programme 
is  put  into  effect.

-  28  -

V I .  Conclusions

The  initial  responses  -  whether  informal  or  not  -  of  all  of  the  advisory 
bodies  consulted  (CREST,  CODEST,  IRDAC,  CGC,  ESPRIT  Committee,  ...)  have 
confirmed  the  Commission's  conviction  that  the  creation  of  a  European 
science  and  technology  community  is  both  necessary  and  feasible.

A  great  effort  by  all  the  participants  (public  institutions  engaged  in 
R&D,  large-scale  enterprises,  small  and  medium-sized  businesses  and 
national  and  Community  bodies  capable  of  contributing  to  the  attainment 
of  this  objective)  is  thus  called  for.

Among  this  vast  array  of  activities  to  be  conducted  and  initiatives  to  be 
Launched,  it  will  be  necessary  in  the  coming  months  to  define  the  action 
to  be  taken  by  the  Community,  that  is  that  part  of  the  undertaking  to  be 
conducted  jointly.

The  vehicle  for  this  undertaking  must  be  the  "1987-91  Outline  programme 
of  Community  scientific  and  technological  activities"  forming  the  basis 
of  Europe's  scientific  and  technical  strategy.

That  is  why,  before  preparing  a  formal  proposal  for  an  outline  programme, 
the  Commission  hopes  to  draw  upon  this  document,  which  does  not 
constitute  its  formal  proposal  or  prejudge  its  contents,and  its  annexes 
in  discussing  the  following  with  the  Community  institutions:

-  the  general  S/T  lines  to  be  followed,
-  the  priorities  and  balances  to  be  respected,
-  funding  and  the  gradual  "increase  in  power"  to  be  provided  for  in 

terms  both  of  commitments  and  of  payments.

The  Commission  will  draw  up  its  formal  proposal  as  regards  scientific  and 
budgetary  aspects,  in  the  light  of  these  discussions  and  the  conclusions 
drawn  and  will  send  it  to  the  Council  and  to  Parliament  in  July  1986.

SUMMARY LIST OF COMMUNITY ACTIONS

1.  Management of Resources
1.1.  Agricultural  and  Fisheries  Resources
1.2.  Raw  Materials

2.  Management of Energy
2.1.  Fusion
2.2.  Nuclear  Fission
2.3.  Fossil,  New  and  Renewable  Energy  Sources  and 

Rational  Use  of  Energy

Competitiveness of Industry and Services

3. 
3.1.  Information  Technologies
3.2.  Telecommunications  Technologies
3.3.  Integration  of  Information  and  Telecommunications 

Technologies  into  New  Applications  and  Services 
of  Common  Interest

ANNEX  I

Range  in  * 

MioECUs

90-  180 
60-  90

1060-1200 
600-  700

250-  350

2200 
1000

700- 900 

3.4.  Cooperation  on  Basic  Research  in  Information  Technologies

40-  50

3.5.  Technologies  for  Manufacturing  Industry  and  Special 

Technologies

3.6.  Biotechnologies,  Agro-Industrial  Technologies
3.7.  Materials  Science  and  Technology
3.8.  Marine  Science  and  Technology

3.9.  Transport

*

*

600- 900 
350- 460 
200-  300 
pm**

50—  80***

3.10.  Scientific  Norms,  Reference  Materials  and  Methods

300- 350

4.  Quality of Life
4.1.  Health
4.2.  Safety
4.3.  Environmental  Protection

5.  Science and Technology for Development

6. 

Europe's Scientific  and Technical Potential - 
the Researchers'  Europe

7.  General Support for Scientific and Technical Development
7.1.  Innovation
7.2.  Communication  and  Information  Network  and  Scientific 

Data  Bases

7.3.  Linguistic  Problems
7.4.  Forecasting,  Evaluation  and  Statistical  Tools
7.5.  International  Cooperation

Supplementary programmes  (outside own  resources) 
identified  to date  :  HFR

140-  160 
230-  280 
285- 320

100-   200

400- 500

80-  150 

20

80-  100 
30-  35
50-  60

100

* 

in  July  1986,  the  Commission  will  submit  a  formal  proposal,  as 
regards  the  scientific  and  financial  aspects,  in  the  light  of  its 
discussions  with  the  community  institutions.

**  the  sum  subsequently  decided  upon  will  be  taken  from  the  reserve 
*** does  not  include  a  possible  action  in  the  field  of  aeronautics  which 

would  be  funded  from the  reserve

★
ANNEX  II

BACKGROUND  MATERIAL  ON  COMMUNITY  ACTIONS 
****************************************

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMMUNITY  ACTIONS 

Management  of  Resources 
Agricultural  and  Fisheries  Resources 
Raw  Materials 

Management  of  Energy 
Fusion 
Nuclear  Fission 
Fossil,  New  and  Renewable  Energy  Sources

and  Rational  Use  of  Energy 

Competitiveness  of  Industry  and  Services 
Information  Technologies 
Telecommunications  Technologies 
Integration  of  Information  and  Telecommunications
Technologies  into  New  Applications  and  Services
of  Common  Interest 

Cooperation  on  Basic  Research  on  Information  Technologies 
*
Technologies  for  Manufacturing  Industry

and  Special  Technologies 

Biotechnologies  and  Agro-Industrial  Technologies 
Materials  Science  and  Technology 
Marine  Science  and  Technology 

1. 
1.1. 
1.2. 

2. 
2.1. 
2.2. 
2.3. 

3. 
3.1. 
3.2. 
3.3. 

3.4. 

3.5. 

3.6. 
3.7. 
3.8. 

*

3.9. 

Transport 

*

page

1.1-1
1.1-1
1.2-1

2.1-1
2.1-1
2.2-1

2.3-1

3  -  1
3.1-1
3.2-1

3.3-1
3.4-1 

3.5-1
3.6-1
3.7-1
3.8-1

3.9-1

3.10.  Scientific  Norms,  Reference  Materials  and  Methods 

3.10-1

4. 
4.1. 
4.2. 
4.3. 

Quality  of  Life 
Health 
Safety 
Environmental  Protection 

5. 

6. 

7. 
7.1. 
7.2. 

7.3. 
7.4. 
7.5. 

Science  and  Technology  for  Development 

Europe's  Scientific  and  Technical  Potential

The  Researchers'  Europe 

General  Support  for  Scientific  and  Technical  Development 
Innovation 
Communication  and  Information  Networks

and  Scientific  Data  Bases 

Linguistic  Problems 
Forecasting,  Evaluation  and  Statistical  Tools 
International  Cooperation 

* 

4.1-1
4.1-1
4.2-1
4.3-1

5 - 1

6 - 1

7.1-1
7.1-1

7.2-1
7.3-1
7.4-1
7.5-1

1.1 

  1

-

1.  MANAGEMENT  OF  RESOURCES

1.1.  Agricultural  and  Fisheries  Resources

1.1.1.  Agricultural  Resources

a.  Community- actions  in  agricultural  research  have  for  fundamental 
reasons  and  in  the  general  interest  to  aim  at  increasing  the 
effectiveness  of  the  human  and  financial  resources  devoted  to 
agriculture:

-  seeking  to  avoid,  through  better  coordination,  useless  duplications 

of  effort;

-  stimulating  the  development  of  an  agricultural  scientific  community 

in  Europe;

-  orienting  research  efforts  in  line  with  the  requirements  of  the 

common  agricultural  policy.

This  policy  faces  a  series  of  challenges  which  will  influence  its 
future  development;  excess  production  of  the  principal  agricultural 
products,  consequent  pressure  on  prices,  the  need  for  high  quality 
food  products,  the  need  to  find  non-food  outlets,  the  need  to 
stabilise  the  rural  population  in  certain  regions  by  revenues  of 
non-agri cultural  character,  the  concern  caused  by  the  risks  to  the 
environment  posed  by  certain  methods  of  modern  agriculture,  etc.

Community  agricultural  research  has  to  take  account  of  these 
challenges  and  strive  to  develop  research  actions  capable  of 
anticipating  the  difficulties  which  they  are  inevitably  going  to 
impose  upon  agriculture  and  the  common  agricultural  policy.

b.  Community  research,  development  and  demonstration  activities  will  be 

based  upon  four  major  orientations  :

1.  Efficiency  of  production  techniques  :  in  plant  (including  forestry) 
and  livestock  productivity,  integration  with  industrial  activities 
upstream  and  downstream  (see  corresponding  references  under 
"agro-industrial"),  energy  utilisation,  integrated  biological 
control,  new  technologies  in  agricultural  engineering,  and  in  all 
areas,  the  application  of  information  technologies;

2.  Utilisation  of  soil  and  water  :  soil  degradation  and  fertility, 

alternative  uses,  water  management,  and  the  development  of  advanced 
technologies  (particularly  teledetection  and  related  information 
technologies);

3.  Regional  balance  :  integrated  rural  development  (particularly  in 
Mediterranean  regions),  specific  production  problems  of  less 
favoured  regions,  diversification;

4. Utilisation  and  quality  of  agricultural  products  : 
traditional  products,  new  products  and  derivatives 
industrial  use,  improvement  of  nutritional  quality

research  on 
for  food  or 
of  products.

1.1 

  2

-

These  orientations,  which  largely  reflect  the  options  discussed  by 
the  SCAR  (Standing  Committee  on  Agricultural  Research)  for  the 
coordination  of  agricultural  research  in  the  European  Community, 
have  to  be  considered  also  in  close  relationship  with  the  actions 
"Biotechnology  and  agro-industrial  technologies"  (see  §  3.6).

For  all  these  areas,  the  Community  dimension  offers  particular 
advantages  in  enabling  the  costs  of  pre-competitive  and  generic 
research  to  be  shared  and  its  benefits  diffused;  or  enables 
research  to  be  undertaken  in  areas  where  national  efforts  are 
inadequate. 
analytical  methods,  it  is  essential  for  coherent  standardisation.

For  areas  such  as  harmonisation  of  methodologies  and 

c.  The  proposed  effort  incorporates  the  experience  of  earlier  years,  (the 
3rd  programme  runs  from  1984  to  1988,  value  30  MioECUs)  but  reflects 
both  the  impact  of  new  technological  tools,  and  the  evolving  new 
policy  priorities.  Thus,  for  example,  the  soil  map  work  has  renewed 
relevance  with  the  growing  need  for  new  uses  for  land,  and  the 
regional  needs  of  Mediterranean  agriculture  acquire  increased 
importance  in  view  of  the  new  Member  States.

d.  It  is  envisaged  that  most  of  the  proposed  actions  should  be  shared 

cost,  including  scientific  stimulation.  Demonstration  projects  are 
also  indispensable  elements  to  ensure  the  useful  exploitation  and 
dissemination  of  results.  In  some  areas,  concerted  actions  may  be 
employed.  The  JRC  will  contribute  through  its  teledetection 
activities.

e.  To  reach  the  minimum  level  of  efficacy,  the  funds  required  are 

estimated  between  60  and  150  MioECUs  for  the  period  1987-1991.
Some  of  these  objectives  are  covered  by  research  under  article  41  of 
the  Treaty  and  correspond  to  an  amount  of  100  MioECUs.

1.1.2.  Fisheries  Resources

a.  Fish  production  is  an  important  source  of  high  quality  protein  for  the 
Community  but  although  EEC  output  is  now  of  the  order  of  6  million 
tonnes,  the  Community  is  in  deficit.  The  aim  of  EEC  Common  Fisheries 
Policy  (CFP)  is  therefore  to  increase  production  wherever  this  is 
possible  without  damage  to  fish  stocks  and  to  make  better  use  of  the 
material  landed.  There  is  a  considerable  potential  of  the  application 
of  new  methods  of  resources  management,  of  reducing  waste  and  of 
increasing  production  from  certain  areas  which  have  so  far  received 
relatively  little  attention.

b.  Since  the  elaboration  of  the  CFP  fisheries  research  has  been  an 

integral  component  of  Community  strategy.  There  is  no  question  of 
separating  research  from  the  other  elements  making  up  overall  policy 
with  regard  to  Community  fisheries.  Apart  from  this  fact,  there  is 
every  reason  why  fisheries  research  should  have  a  high  priority  within 
the  CFP.  This  has  become  even  more  important  since  the  enlargement  of 
the  Community  to  Spain  and  Portugal,  where  fisheries  have  a  particular 
importance. 
It  is  clear  that  if  the  Community  fishing  effort  is  to  be 
applied  on  a  rational  basis,  research  into  socio-economic  aspects  of 
the  fishery  must  be  a  major  consideration.

At  the  same  time  there  are  also  a  number  of  areas  of  research  which 
are  of  very  considerable  interest  to  the  Community,  in  particular 
those  relating  to  :

-  management  of  fishing  resources  :  assessment  of  stocks  by  modern 
techniques  (including  remote  sensing),  biological  models  taking 
account  to  the  interaction  of  species,  multidisciplinary  approach 
(biological,  technical  and  socio-economic)  to  the  management  of 
fishing  operations;

-  catching  techniques  :  improvement  of  fishing  gear  and  methods;
-  aquaculture  :  growth,  survival  and  feeding  of  the  species  cultivated 

(fish,  molluscs  and  crustaceans),  diagnosis  and  treatment  of 
diseases,  genetic  research  to  develop  breeds  suitable  for  rearing;

-  processing  of  produce  :  refrigeration,  sterilization,  storage, 

optimum  use  of  small  fish  and  byproducts,  control  and  improvement  of

,  food  quality.

The  main  criteria  to  be  borne  in  mind  in  the  seltction  of  research 
topics,  as  already  stated  above,  are  the  requirements  of  the  Community 
market  and  the  need  to  maintain  fish-stocks  for  the  future.

So  far,  the  Community  has  not  undertaken  any  significant  action  in  the 
research  field  but  this  situation  is  about  to  be  remedied  with  the 
expected  implementation  of  a  multiannual  research  programme,  prepared 
by  the  Commission  and  now  under  discussion  in  the  Council.  The 
programme  will  be  achieved  in  two  ways.  Firstly,  the  Community  will 
fund  investigations  undertaken  by  several  Member  States  on  a 
collaborative  basis  and  secondly  it  will  aid  and  co-ordinate  an 
exchange  of  research  workers,  the  publication  of  data  and  the 
organisation  of  symposia  and  seminars.  Moreover  cooperation  with 
third  countries  may  be  envisaged  under  COST  procedures,  particularly 
in  the  field  of  aquaculture.

These  activities  imply  Community  funding  of  about  30  MioECUs  on  a  five 
year  basis.

1. 2  

  1

-

1.2.  Raw  Materials

1.2.1.  Non-Fuel  Minerals

.  (*)

a.  Despite  the  entry  of  Spain  and  Portugal  in  the  Community  which 
will  bring  sizeable  mineral  reserves,  the  EEC  trade  balance 
deficit  for  primary  minerals  raw  materials  (12,000  MioECUs  in 
1984)  will  remain  high  for  a  number  of  strategic  and  critical 
metals  (although  decreasing  for  base  metals).  This  situation  makes 
it  necessary  to  promote  the  exploitation  of  domestic  primary  and 
secondary  (recycling)  resources,  and  to  increase  its  cost- 
effectiveness.  Furthermore,  the  mining  and  metallurgical  sectors 
must  remain  competitive  in  their  operations  throughout  the  world. 
Such  objectives  cannot  be  met  without  an  adequate  research  effort.

The  market  for  raw  materials  is  cyclical.  To  a  large  extent, 
publicly  funded  research  should  be  anti-cyclical,  particularly  as 
experts  predict  in  the  long  term  an  upward  change  from  the 
currently  depressed  situation.

b.  Research  on  primary  raw materials  will  focus  on  problems  of  common 
interest  in  exploration  (preparing  concepts  and  methods  in  view  of 
a  future  revival  of  exploration  activities),  mining  technology 
(improving  the  economic  viability  of  existing  mines  and  developing 
advanced  technologies  for  future  mines)  and  ore  processing 
(treating  complex,  lean  and  refractory  ores  and  ores  which  contain 
metals  for  advanced  materials  technology).  An  overall  objective  is 
to  reduce  investment  and  operating  costs.

Research  on  those  topics  can  greatly  benefit  from  a  coordinated 
multinational  approach.  Main  reasons  for  believing  this  are  :

-  the  same  types  of  deposits  and  of  mines  occur  throughout  the 

Community,

-  modern  exploration  concepts  will  rely  more  and  more  on  the 
combined  processing  of  data  from  several  disciplines  and 
particularly  on  developments  in  areas  of  high  technology;  this 
may  exceed  the  expertise  available  in  any  Member  States,
-  the  modernisation  of  processing  plants  and  of  mines  can  be 

achieved  only  through  joint  research  efforts  implying  adequate 
scale  of  work  and  appropriate  dissemination  of  results  to 
industry.

Other  possible  orientations  :

-  research  on  sea-bed  resources,  particularly  in  the  200  miles- 

EEZ,

excluding  steel,  which  is  covered

under  ECSC  activities

2

~  Continental.  Lithosphere  studies  for  basic  research  on  processes 

of  ore  concentration  (Links  to  be  set  up  with  nationaL  and 
internationaL  programmes).  The  scope  for  investigations  here 
cLearLy  exceeds  the  potentiaL  of  any  one  Member  State.

In  the  area  of  secondary  raw  materials,  the  Community  dimension  of 
research  arises  :

-  from  the  simiLarity  of  probLems  encountered  in  aLL  Member

States,

-  from  the  need  to  spread  through  industry  the  resuLts  of 

research,  thus  promoting  innovation  in  a  rapidLy  evoLving  fieLd,

-  from  environmentaL  protection  considerations.

For  exampLe,  new  materiaLs  such  as  speciaL  aLLoys  and  composites 
wiLL  be  used  more  and  more  in  industriaL  sectors  having  high 
technoLogicaL  deveLopment,  and  wiLL  have  to  be  recycLed.

Research  in  the  recycLing  of  urban  and  industriaL  waste  (pLastics, 
gLass,  paper  and  organic  matter)  wiLL  concentrate  on  the  economic 
recovery  of  materiaLs  which  can  compete  on  the  market  with  primary 
sources.

c.  With  respect  to  the  current  effort,  which  has  yieLded  encouraging 

resuLts  in  the  evaLuation  report,  the  foreseeabLe  trend  for  future 
research  is  as  foLLows  :

in  expLoration  :  Less  focus  on  base  metaLs,  more  on  mineraLs 
needed  for  new  materiaLs  and  technoLogies,

-  in  mining  technoLogy  :  emphasis  on  robotics,  rock  fracturing, 

transportation  and  underground  safety,
in  mineraL  processing  :  emphasis  on  deveLoping  advanced 
techniques  and  on  new  fLotation  reagents.

d.  Most  of  the  EC  sponsored  research  is  to  be  carried  out  under  cost 
sharing  contracts  in  projects  invoLving  firms  and/or  research 
organizations  in  at  Least  two  Member  States.

Part  of  the  funding  is  to  be  devoted  to  coordination  activities, 
either  on  topics  which  are  aLready  studied  in  the  nationaL 
programme,  or  to  arrive  at  common  methods  and  standards.

1.2.2.  Wood

a.  As  stated  again  most  recentLy  in  the  SILVA  conference  (Paris, 

1986),  the  EC  trade  baLance  deficit  for  wood  and  wood  products 
comes  to  17.000  MioECOs  per  year,  and  is  second  onLy  to  petroLeum 
products.  Yet,  the  12  Member  States  have  a  Large  forest  resource, 
at  Least  53  MioHa,  but  it  is  far  from  yieLding  its  reaL  potentiaL 
due  to  a  variety  of  technicaL,  sociaL  and  economic  reasons.

1.2  -  3

Forests  play  other  useful  roles.  Beside  wood  production,  they 
regulate  water  resources,  prevent  soil  erosion,  decrease  air 
pollution  and  provide  invaluable  amenities  to  the  population,  be 
it  close  to  urban  centres  or  in  remote  areas.  Yet,  they  are 
threatened  by  man-made  enemies  (pollution,  fire),  pests  (insects, 
fungi,  viruses),  meteorological  phenomena  (droughts,  wind), 
encroachment  by  urbanization.

The  afforestation  of  land  which  agriculture  may  relinquish  in  the 
near  future  will  require  careful  management  to  make  it  profitable 
and  avoid  considerable  financial  losses.

Research  may  help  considerably  in  addressing  the  multiple  problems 
of  European  forestry.

Wood-using  industries  must  also  be  encouraged  to  develop  and  apply 
the  most  sophisticated  technologies  in  order  to  make  the  best  use 
of  basic  products  which  are  often  of  relatively  low  quality  and 
compete  more  successfully  with  their  larger,  vertically  integrated 
U.S.  and  Scandinavian  counterparts.

b.  Community-sponsored  research  in  this  field  is  justified  and  needed 
for  attacking  problems  of  common  concern.  Similar  types  of  climate 
and  soils  are  found  throughout  the  Member  States  :  the  same  tree 
species  and  ecotypes  are  found  or  must  be  introduced.  Pests  spread 
freely  across  national  borders,  so  do  pollutants  and  wind  storms 
or  droughts.  The  problems  of  utilization  of  forest  products  are
si mi Lar.

Community  coordinated  research  is  also  justified  in  that  it  may 
provide  a  sound  technical  basis  for  the  development  of  Community 
policies  (environmental  protection,  norms  for  the  internal  market, 
regulations  on  land  use,  development  of  less-favoured  regions, 
integrated  Mediterranean  programmes  and  more  specific  forestry 
actions,  etc..).

To  be  most  effective  this  research  should  be  integrated  for  the 
whole  "wood  chain"  from  seed  production  to  the  final  use  of  wood 
and  other  forest  products,  including  problems  such  as  genetic 
improvements,  tree  physiology,  protection  against  pests  and 
pollution,  wood  utilization  as  a  source  of  fibre  and  as  chemical 
feedstock.

c.  EC  research  carried  out  since  1982.  has  made  it  possible  for 
European  specialists  to  cooperate  closely  and  also  produce  a 
number  of  patents  and  industrial  applications  in  such  areas  as 
sawing,  pulp  making,  paper  recycling,  etc.,  (it  may  be  noteworthy 
that  Sweden  and  Switzerland  joined  this  programme).  Future 
research  will  capitalize  on  the  results  obtained  and  place  more 
emphasis  on  joint  projects  of  common  interest.  Whereas  results  can

be  acquired  fairly  rapidly  in  technological  developments,  they  are 
much  slower  in  forest  production  as  such,  and  here  continuity  of 
the  effort  is  essential.

Community  research  in  this  field  is  carried  out  mainly  through 
cost  sharing  contracts  with  research  organizations  and  industrial 
firms  but  coordination  of  national  programmes  must  be  greatly 
expanded  in  relation  to  what  has  been  done  heretofore.

Considering  the  importance  of  this  action  for  many  Member  States, 
in  particular  the  new  ones,  and  in  order  to  achieve  a  significant 
impact,  it  is  estimated  that  this  action  on  raw  materials  should 
be  funded  at  a  level  of  60  to  90  MioECUs  for  the  period  1987-1991.

This  level  of  effort  would  represent  about  5  to  77.  of  the  funding 
of  this  field  of  research  in  the  Member  States.

2.  MANAGEMENT OF ENERGJT

2.1.  fusion

a.  The  long-term  potential  of  fusion,  namely  to  open  a  new  way  of  power 

generation,  friendly  to  the  environment  and  using  practically 
inexhaustible  fuel,  remains  a  valid  and  strong  argument  to  vigorously 
continue  its  development. 
strongly  reduce  the  economic,  ecological  and  political  vulnerability 
of  Europe.

Fusion  could  contribute  in  a  few  decades  to 

The  way  towards  the  prototype  reactor  (DEMO,  which  should  prove  the 
economic  feasibility  of  fusion)  goes  first  through  the  demonstration 
of  the  scientific  feasibility  of  fusion  (hopefully  to  be  made  by  JET 
and  its  foreign  equivalents  in  the  early  nineties),  and  second  through 
the  demonstration  of  the  technological  feasibility  of  fusion  (to  be 
achieved  by  NET,  the  Next  European  Torus,  and  its  equivalents;  NET  is 
presently  in  the  phase  of  conceptual  design).

Fusion  has  already  today  a  large  high-technology  content  :  JET,  the 
specialized  devices  in  construction  or  in  operation  in  the  associated 
laboratories,  and  the  NET  oriented  components  development,  are  by 
themselves  a  demonstration  of  high  technology,  with  spin-offs  (in 
particular  in  the  fields  of  superconducting  magnet  technology, 
robotics,  and  high  power  microwave  systems)  to  the  benefit  of  other 
branches  of  science  and  of  European  industry.  The  role  of  industry  is 
expected  to  grow  appreciably  when  NET  will  enter  the  phase  of 
engineering  design.

b.  In  conformity  with  reiterated  Council  Decisions,  "the  Community  Fusion 
Programme  is  a  long-term  cooperative  project  embracing  all  the  work 
carried  out  in  the  Member  States  in  the  field  of  controlled 
thermonuclear  fusion.  It  is  designed  to  lead  in  due  course  to  the 
joint  construction  of  prototype  reactors  with  a  view  to  their 
industrial  production  and  marketing."

A  large  scale  well  integrated  programme  is  made  necessary  by  the 
difficulties  and  the  length  of  the  road  towards  commercial  fusion 
power,  together  with  the  high  costs  and  the  scientific  uncertainties 
involved.  In  Europe,  all  activities  of  the  Member  States  (plus  Sweden 
and  Switzerland)  constitute  a  single  programme  supported  by  the 
Commission.  The  Community  approach  makes  Europe  an  appealing  partner
for  international  collaboration  (USA,  Japan,  USSR,  C a n a d a _ _ )  and  has
led,  not  only  to  added,  but  also  to  created  values  such  as  JET,  the 
setting  up  of  the  NET  team,  and  the  mobility  of  Staff.

The  main  objectives  of  the  1987-91  fusion  activity  are  :

-  to  establish  the  physics  and  technology  basis  necessary  for  the 

detailed  design  of  NET;  this  implies  the  full  exploitation  of  JET 
and  of  several  medium-size  specialized  tokamaks  in  existence  or  in 
construction  and  the  strengthening  of  the  technology  programme;

-  to  embark,  possibly  in  1989/90,  on  the  detailed  design  of  NET;
-  to  explore  the  reactor  potential  of  some  alternative  lines 

(Stallarator  and  Reversed  Field  Pinch).

2 . 1  

  2

-

c.  The  scientific  and  technical  achievements  of  the  European  programme 

place  Europe  in  the  forefront  of  world-wide  magnetic  fusion  research. 
JET  is  the  leading  fusion  experiment  in  the  world,  which  achieved  its 
initial  objectives  for  the  basic  performance  phase  on  time  and  in 
budget,  and  hence  made  formidable  progress  towards  the  demonstration 
of  the  scientific  feasibility  of  fusion.  The  European  medium-size 
machines  contribute  in  a  powerful  way  to  the  progress  of  fusion  and  to 
the  future  success  of  JET.  Europe  is  also  leading  in  research  on 
stel larators  and  reversed  field  pinches,  which  are  alternative 
configurations  to  the  Tokamak.  European  industry  has  built  all  these 
devices  (to  give  an  example,  more  than  98  %  in  cost  of  JET  contracts 
has  been  placed  within  Europe)  and  has  already  been  entrusted  with 
some  long-terr  advanced  development  (for  instance  high  frequency,  high 
power  RF  Generators).  Its  involvement  should  make  a  qualitative  and 
quantitative  jump  towards  1989/90,  when  a  decision  could  be  taken  on 
the  start  of  the  engineering  design  of  NET.

d.  The  structure  of  the  fusion  programme  is  that  it  is  driven  by  the 

relevant  national  institutions  coordinated  by  the  Commission  within 
the  system  of  Associations.  All  fusion  activities  in  the  Member 
States  (plus  Sweden  and  Switzerland)  and  in  the  JRC  are  integrated 
into  "the  European  programme".

The  fusion  activity  is  carried  out  along  three  modes  of  action,  the 
first  two  of  them  corresponding  to  shared-cost  actions  :

-  JET  (a  Joint  Undertaking);

-  the  General  Programme  (Associations,  NET  and  Technology);

-  the  JRC  (technology  concentrated  on  fusion  safety,  including  the 
tritium  handling  laboratory,  on  materials  and  on  support  to  NET).

e.  On  the  basis  of  an  analytical  cost  estimate  of  the  various  elements  of 

the  activities  sketched  above,  the  Community  funds  required  amount  to 
approximately  1060  to  1200  MioECUs,  which  cover  the  fusion  programme 
proper  and  the  fusion  activities  at  JRC.  The  fusion  programme  proper 
encompasses  the  same  activities  which  are  covered  by  the  March  1985 
Council  Decision.

2. 2  

  1

-

2.2.  Nuclear  Fission

a.  Development  of  the  nuclear  fission  energy  is  one  of  the  main  ways  of 

reducing  -  through  diversification  of  energy  sources  -  the  Community's 
dependence  on  imported  fossil  fuels  such  as  oil.  In  the  long  term, 
through  advanced  technologies  -  notably  fast  breeder  reactors  -  fission 
energy  can  virtually  be  considered  as  a  renewable  energy  source. 
Therefore,  continuation  of  a  resolute  effort  on  nuclear  energy  remains 
an  essential  aspect  of  the  European  energy  policy.

The  strategic  objective  of  increasing  energy  source  diversification  and 
reducing  energy  dependence  from  imports  must  be  compatible  with  the 
objective  of  protecting  the  population  and  the  environment.  A  two- 
pronged  approach  is  therefore  necessary  :

-  while  the  safety  and  the  benign  environmental  impact  of  the  present 
generation  of  nuclear  technologies  must  be  maintained  and  confirmed,

-  further  progress  and  innovation  towards  more  performant  systems 

should  be  assured  by  conceivable  technological  improvements.

b.  The  proposed  R,  D&D  will  be  carried  out  according  to  the  following  main 

lines  :

Reactor  safety  problems  -  including  those  raised  by  the  mature  light 
water  reactor  industry  -  extend  beyond  frontiers  :  progressive 
harmonization  of  safety  requirements  and  criteria  is  necessary  to  be 
developed  and  maintained  at  the  Community  level  in  order  to  provide  an 
equivalent  and  satisfactory  degree  of  protection  of  the 
population/workers/environment,  and  to  assist  development  of  trade.
The  main  thrust  of  the  effort  will  be  directed  to  light  water  reactor 
safety  and  reliability  (including  feedback  from  aging  plants),  fast 
breeder  reactor  accident  progression  analysis  and  circuits  integrity, 
and  codes  and  standards  convergence.

Work  related  to  the  radioactive  waste  management  will  receive 
particular  attention.  Problems  raised  by  radioactive  waste  operations 
involve  a  combination  of  issues  of  social/  legal/  administrative/ 
financial/  technical  nature  which  need  to  be  resolved  in  one  and  same 
context.  The  effort  will  progressively  concentrate  on  demonstration  of 
safe  waste  disposal  options  with  a  view  to  reach  a  European  concensus 
and  to  harmonize  policies  within  the  Community.

Other  more  technical  oriented  problems  are  those  related  to 
decommissioning  operations.  In  this  field,  the  effort  will  concentrate 
on  demonstration  of  relevant  technologies  with  a  view  to  harmonize  the 
approach  and  policies  within  the  Community.

The  Commission  is  a  safeguarding  authority  in  its  own  right 
(Chapter  VII  of  the  Euratom  Treaty)  and  has  carried  out  R,  D&D  in 
support  of  this  institutional  task.  In  the  future  the  transportation 
and  handling  of  nuclear  materials  are  going  to  increase  as  reactors  and 
other  nuclear  installations  now  under  construction  will  become 
operational.  Therefore,  the  Commission  will  have  to  further  develop 
methodologies  and  techniques  to  adequately  deal  with  the  increasing 
number  and  variety  of  facilities  to  be  monitored.

Finally,  Community  effort  could  lend  support  to  the  Member  States 
engaged  in  the  development  of  advanced  reactors  and  systems  including 
their  fuel  cycles.

Fission  energy  R&D,  by  its  nature  requires  continuity.  However,  the 
following  shifts  in  emphasis  are  foreseen  :

Nuclear  reactor  safety  R&D  will  undergo  an  overall  reduction, 
especially  in  the  light  water  reactor  field.  The  Commission  will 
promote  the  transfer  of  experience  and  methodologies  acquired  in  this 
field  to  other  industrial  and  potentially  hazardous  activities.

What  concerns  the  radioactive  waste  management,  basic  R&D  wilt  diminish 
but  R&D  oriented  towards  the  demonstration  of  safe  disposal  options 
will  strongly  increase,  leading  to  an  overall  increase  in  effort.

Decommissioning  of  nuclear  installations  effort  will  follow  a  similar 
trend  as  the  radioactive  waste  management.

Safeguards  R&D  will  undergo  a  mild  expansion.

Supporting  actions  on  development  of  reactor  systems  and  their  fuel 
cycle  is  virtually  all  a  new  activity  essentially  focussed  on 
demonstration.

The  implementation  of  actions  in  the  fields  reactor  safety,  radioactive 
waste,  and  safeguards  will  have  recourse  both  to  the  JRC  activities  and 
to  the  shared  cost  contracts.

Decommissioning  of  nuclear  installation  will  be  performed  exclusively 
by  shared  cost  action.

Supporting  actions  for  the  development  of  reactor  systems  and  their 
fuel  cycle  will  be  performed  essentially  through  complementary 
programmes  and/or  joint  enterprises.

For  Community  action  to  achieve  significant  impact,  the  funding  needed 
to  support  R,  D&D  in  the  above  areas  for  the  period  1987  to  1991,  is 
estimated  to  amount  between  600  and  700  MioECUs.  This  corresponds  to 
5  to  10  %  of  total  Member  States  effort.  However,  because  the 
Community  action  is  selective  (i.e.  it  is  concentrated  upon  safety 
related  issues  and  not  deployed  over  the  whole  spectrum  of  Member 
States  activities)  the  percentages  of  Community  funding  in  the  proposed 
activities  will  be  higher.

Complementary  programmes  for  support  to  development  of  reactor  systems 
and  their  fuel  cycle  would  be  additional.

2.3  -  1

2.3.  Fossil,  New  and  Renewable  Energy  Sources  and  Rational  Use  of  Energy

a.  The  importance  of  the  energy  technologies  which  are  the  subject  of. 
this  action,  derives  directly  from  the  Community  energy  strategy^  * 
and  its  objectives,  defined  so  as  to  contribute  to  the  overall  goal  : 
increasing  security  of  supply  and  decreasing  energy  imports.  With 
regard  to  the  technologies  in  question,  these  objectives  call  for  an 
increased  contribution  of  solid  fuels  and  of  new  and  renewable  sources 
by  the  end  of  the  century  and  for  a  20  to  25  %  energy  demand  intensity 
reduction  by  the  mid-nineties.  The  Community  should  undertake 
adequate  efforts  to  achieve  these  medium-term  objectives  and  also  to 
support  its  long-term  energy  strategy  -  independent  from  short-term 
energy  market  developments.

One  pre-requisite  for  the  realization  of  these  objectives  is  the 
development  of  a  wide  range  of  innovative  energy  technologies  to  be 
applied  in  all  sectors  of  our  economy.  This  represents  a  major 
challenge  for  science  and  industry,  as  the  energy  technologies  of  the 
future  must  be  competitive/taking  into  account  not  only  their  direct 
cost  but  also  their  inherent  environmental  consequences,  in  particular 
as  concerns  fossil  fuel.

The  present  oil  market  conditions  -  although  not  expected  to  last  very 
long  -  are  likely  to  lead  to  a  reduction  in  national  and  private 
funding  for  energy  research  in  fields  covered  by  this  action.  This 
would  affect  many  industrial  and  other  laboratories  for  which  the 
energy  aspects  are  considered  as  driving  forces  towards  innovation.
The  future  markets  for  the  technologies  involved  are  of  the  order  of 
many  billions  of  ECUs  per  year.

b.  It  is  the  Commission's  opinion  that  stimulating  European  research

laboratories  and  industry  to  prepare  for  capturing  a  significant  share 
of  these  markets  -  both  within  the  EC,  in  other  industrialized 
countries  and  in  the  developing  countries  -  should  be  continued.  This 
implies  that  the  Community  further  supports  the  joint  funding  of 
collaborative  projects,  the  coordination  of  research  and  testing  as 
well  as  the  development  of  norms  and  standards.  This  concerns  not 
only  a  number  of  the  well  known  classical  energy  fields  but  also,  and 
even  more,  quite  a  number  of  "horizontal"  fields  where  a  particular 
need  is  identified.  Examples  of  horizontal  fields  are  :  combustion 
science,  sensor  techniques,  phototronics,  energy  engineering,  etc...

The  added  value  of  this  Community  action  will  consist  primarily  of  a 
coordinated  approach  towards  realization  of  the  Community  energy 
strategy,  of  promotion  of  the  competitiveness  of  the  European  industry 
by  optimal  use  of  expertise  and  of  financial  resources,  and  of 
promotion  of  the  creation  of  a  real  internal  market  for  energy 
technologies.  The  recent  enlargement  of  the  Community  and  the 
particular  needs  for  R&D  support  of  some  Member  Countries  have  to  be 
duly  considered.

currently  being  discussed  by  the  Council

2 . 3 .

,

-

  2

•  While  the  1987  "photograph"  of  Community  R&D  will  be  determined  by  the 

current  activities,  the  orientations  for  Community  research  in  the 
second  part  of  the  period  1987-1991  will  be  along  the  followinq 
lines  :

Continuation  (but  reoriented,  to  take  account  of  results  and  their 
evaluation)  of  the  actions  on  :

-  solar  energy  (possibly  merged  with  a  programme  on  building 

technologies),

-  energy  from  biomass
-  energy  conservation,
-  solid  fuel  utilisation,
-  hydrocarbon  exploitation  and  use,
-  new  energy  vectors  (possibly  merged  with  the  hydrocarbons  sub- 

programme),

-  energy  systems  analysis.

Depending  on  the  needs  of  the  Member  States,  current  R&D  on  geothermal 
energy  will  progressively  be  terminated  while  high  technology  work  in 
the  field  of  exploration,  instrumentation  and  hot-dry-rock-technology 
should  be  carried  out  in  other,  new,  separate  activities.  The  solar 
energy  chapter  might  concentrate  on  "passive  solar",  data  collection 
and  testing.  Wind  energy  research  should  be  brought  to  an  end.  Energy 
conservation  might  be  concentrated  on  certain  very  advanced 
technologies  (batteries,  clean  car,  fuel  cells)  and  important 
horizontal  areas  (combustion  science,  sensor  techniques,  etc.).

As  already  pointed  out,  many  of  the  above  actions  will  be  re-shuffled 

T ^ w i t h   the  assistance  of  the  CGC)  in  order  to  concentrate  on  very 

specific  advanced  technology  objectives  (for  example  :  clean  use  of 
coal  in  the  solid  fuels  area)  and  horizontal  fields.  This  re­
shuffling  might  also  lead  to  devote  separate  chapters  to  :

photovoltaic  technology  and  systems,

-  bioethanol,

advanced  building  technologies  (energy  saving,  solar  architecture).

In  addition,  a  completely  new  area  should  be  addressed  by  an 
activity  on  :

deep  gas  and  deep  geology  (possibly  including  hot-dry-rock 
technology).

It  must  be  pointed  out  that  the  choice  between  the  different  options 
outlined  above  as  well  as  the  more  detailed  content  of  each  action 
should  be  determined  in  consultation  with  the  CGC  and  in  the  light  of 
the  first  results  of  the  third  non-nuclear  energy  R&D  programme  and  of 
its  corresponding  JRC  actions,  becoming  gradually  available.

The  major  part  of  the  work  under  this  action  will  be  carried  out 
through  contract  research;  the  specific  activities  on  standards  and 
testing  (solar,  buildings,  conservation)  will  be  carried  out  within 
(or  under  supervision  of)  the  JRC,  and  certain  other  activities  could 
be  carried  out  via  (reinforced)  concerted  actions.

2.3  -  3

e.  Community  funding  required  for  research  in  this  action  is  estimated 
between  250  and  350  MioECUs  for  the  period  1987-1991.  This  amount 
represents  between  7  and  12  %  of  the  total  spending  of  Member  States 
in  the  same  areas.

Beyond  those  activities  mention  should  be  made  of  the  energy 
demonstration  projects  and  of  the  coal  research  carried  out  in  the  frame 
of  the  ECSC  Treaty.

3.  COMPETITIVENESS OF INDUSTRY AND SERVICES

Information  technologies,  telecommunications  technologies 
and  their  applications
(Introduction  to  items  3.1.,  3.2.,  3.3.  and  3.4.)

1.  Because  of  their  enabling  character  and  of  their  pervasiveness,

information  and  telecommunications  technologies  (IT&T)  play  a  key  role 
in  all  scientific,  economic  and  social  activities.  Performance  in 
these  domains  will  heavily  influence  the  socio-economic  choices  open 
to  Europe.

Already  2/3  of  the  GDP  or  55%  of  the  labour  force  are  classified  as 
concerned  with  information  activities  (acquisition,  processing, 
transmission,  storage,  selling)  and  thus  rely  on  performance  in  IT&T. 
The  competition  between  economic  regions  worldwide  will  strongly 
depend  on  their  ability  to  use  IT&T  in  an  effective  and  timely  manner 
to  meet  economic  and  social  objectives

Because  the  deployment  of  IT&T  enhances  skill  content,  and  thus  the 
efficiency  of  all  factors  of  production,  these  technologies  are 
particularly  appropriate  to  Europe  which  has  both  to  optimise  the 
uti lisation  of  its  scarce  natural  resources  and  also  to  compensate  for 
the  cumulative  negative  impact  of  industrial  production  on  the 
environment  and  to  maximales  its  relatively  important  scientific 
assets  and  skills.

IT&T  offers  a  tremendous  potential  for  creation  of  new  products, 
processes  and  services  addressing  economic  problems  but,  maybe  more 
importantly,  offers  new  ways  to  address  urgent  social  problems  in 
domains  such  as  health  care,  road  safety,  adult  education  and  others.

The  United  States  and  Japan,  but  also  other  countries  are  steadily 
increasing  and  concentrating  their  efforts  in  IT&T  by  funding  big 
projects  such  as  INS,  5th  generation  computer,  SDI  or  by  creating 
favourable  conditions,  stimulating  cooperative  R&D  between 
universities  and  companies.

-■  The  Community  wide  dimension,  framework  and  instruments  are

particularly  appropriate  for  the  development  of  R&D  activities  in  the 
field  of  IT.

Research  and  technological  developments  in  this  sector  are 
characterised  by  :

The  importance  of  R&D  expenditures  to  devote  in  order  to  keep  the 
pace.  European  or  american  semi-conductors  industry  must  spend  some 
7  to  10%  of  their  yearly  turnover  in  R&D.

3 - 2

-  The  increasing  speed  of  technological  evolution  (with  a  shortening 
of  the  delay  between  two  technological  generations  to  some  2  years).

-  The  relative  scarceness  of  human  resources  (limited  amont  of 

specialists  in  areas  characterised  by  very  fast  changes).

-  The  increasing  need  of  pluridisciplinary  approach.

-  The  fruitfullness  of  innovations  gained  through  the  work  performed 

by  small  groupings  such  as  University  scientists,  SMEs...

The  constraints  set  out  by  this  situation  (difficulty  of  recouping  R&D 
expenditures  below  a  minimum  threshold  of  some  5  to  10%  of  the  world 
market;  fierce  competition  between  companies;  heavy  technological  and 
financial  risks)  may  be  overcome  at  Community  level  by  cooperative 
actions  allowing  :

-  The  definition  of  common  objectives  and  strategies.

-  The  pooling  of  scarce  human  and  financial  resources,  and  the 

consequent  work  sharing.

-  Economies  of  scale  for  instance  (european  companies  in  the  IT  sector 

must  devote  to  R&D  twice  or  three  times  as  much  resources,  in 
percentage  of  their  turnover,  as  their  American  or  Japanese 
competitors,  with  much  poorer  results).

-  The  broadening  of  the  research  areas  and  of  the  technological 

options  investigated.

-  A  concerted  and  coherent  approach  in  the  field  of  standardization 

and  of  complementary  measures.

-  A  stimulation  of  skills  and  centers  of  excellence  existing  all  over 
Europe,  as  demonstrated  by  the  participation  of,  all  Member  States 
in  ESPRIT.

3.  In  order  to  answer  this  challenge,  and  to  exploit  the  Community 

advantage  it  is  necessary  to  pursue  and  strengthen  the  actions 
initiated  during  recent  years  at  the  level  of  technology  base  as  well 
as  complement  them  so  as  to  create  synergy  and  favourable  conditions 
for  their  translation  into  applications.

This  process  indicates  a  set  of  specific  concerted  actions,  addressing 
a  number  of  key  factors  or  issues  which  are  closely  related  to  each 
other  :

-  Further  strengthening  of  the  technology  base.

Improving  the  use  of  industrial  R&D  capacities  by  cooperation  and 
work  sharing.

3 - 3

-  Contributing  to  the  formation  of  a  Community  wide  market  for  IT  &  T 

products,  equipments  and  applications  by  reinforcing  efforts  in 
standardisation,  certification  and  opening  up  of  public  procurement.

-  Stimulating  demand  by  infrastructure  projects,  pilot  schemes  and  by 
creating  a  favourable  environment  for  the  wide  use  and  diffusion  of 
new  applications.

-  Diffusion  of  technology  into  less  privileged  regions.

-  Improving  the  level  of  education  and  training.

4.  Concerning  the  technology  aspects,  the  content  scope  and  objectives  of 
the  actions  related  to  IT  &  T  and  their  applications  are  established 
according  to  the  following  pattern  :

-  Preliminary  analysis  of  the  strategic  importance  of  the  envisaged 

action  for  Europe.

-  Definition  with  the  interested  partners  of  key  factors  and  of  the 

subsequent  action  lines  to  be  set  up.

-  Establishment  of  a  definition  phase  to  precise  the  detailed 

objectives  and  the  necessary  human  and  financial  resources  to 
gather.

Permanent  evaluation  of  the  actions  and  yearly  review  of  the 
workplan.

The  actions  proposed  in  the  1987-1991  Framework  Programme  will  build 
on  previous  actions,  in  particular  the  :

-  Microelectronics  Programme,

-  Pluriannual  Informatics  Programme,

-  ESPRIT  phase  I  (initiated  in  1984),  and

-  RACE  definition  phase  (launched  in  1985).

Based  on  the  evaluations  carried  out  on  the  above  mentioned  programmes 
and  in  consultation  with  industry,  the  scientific  community  and  the 
national  administrations,  the  new  Framework  Programme  should  include 
the  continuation  of  :

ESPRIT  I  with  ESPRIT  II,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of 
the  Council,  of  the  mid-term  Review  (Autumn  1985)  and  of  industry.

3  -  A

ESPRIT  II  will  put  the  emphasis  on  technology  integration  and  on 
more  ambitious  and  more  focused  projects,  including  also  increased 
attention  to  the  generic  technology  requirements  of  advanced 
applications.

-  RACE  definition  phase  with  RACE  main.  The  main  phase  of  RACE  (to  be 

launched  in  1987)  will  establish  the  technology  base,  the 
precompetivive  developments  and  the  work  necessary  for  common 
specification  and  standards  which  are  required  for  progressive 
introduction  of  integrated  broadband  communication  infrastructure 
and  services.

Exploratory  academic  research  in  order  to  strengthen  European 
cooperation  in  basic  research  related  to  IT&T.

Moreover,  greater  emphasis  will  be  put  on  developing  new  applications 
in  concert  with  the  respective  users,  drawing  on  synergy  between 
parallel  developments.

Complementary  actions  addressing  major  objectives  of  common  interest 
(and  covering  some  of  the  seven  areas  mentioned  in  the  IRIS 
initiative)  include  the  use  of  IT&T  for  supporting  :

Learning,  teaching  and  training,  which  will  permit  the  overcoming  of 
some  of  the  distance  and  access  constraints  to  learning  (DELTA).

Road-safety,  traffic  guidance,  and  mobile  communication,  which  can 
be  addressed  by  exploiting  synergy  between  parallel  technological 
developments  and  could  result  in  an  integral  solution  offering  major 
advantages  in  terms  of  costs  and  infrastructure  requirements 
(DRIVE).

Bioinformatics  and  medical  informatics,  which  can  benefit  in  cost 
performance  by  a  systematic  and  timely  introduction  and  integration 
of  advanced  IT&T  (BICEPS).

Other  areas  which  may  offer  opportunities  for  Community  action  are 
being  actively  explored  and  may  result  in  the  next  two  years  in 
proposals  for  action.  These  concern  :

the  domain  of  laboratory  equipment  technology  (to  improve  R&D 
productivity)  and  financial  technology  which  would  make  financial 
transactions  speedier  and  more  secure;

-  other  domains  contributing  to  social  objectives  in  Europe.

The  follow-up  of  the  microelectronics  and  the  informatics  programme 
will  occur  in  the  framework  of  ESPRIT.

3 - 5

The  proposed  actions  will  take  the  form  of  shared  cost  programmes  and 
will  be  carried  out  in  close  concertation  with  national  and 
intergovernmental  activities.

The  required  resources  will  be  estimated  in  concertation  with  the 
respective  actors  and  Member  State  administrations.  At  this  very 
preliminary  stage,  and  under  the  assumption  that  the  current 
modalities  would  be  applied,  the  efforts  would  be  situated 
approximately  between  3940  and  4150  MioEcus  over  5  years.

This  amount  corresponds  to  a  few  percents  of  the  overall  efforts  made 
at  national  level  by  Member  States.

As  this  Community  effort  focus  on  key  areas  of  strategic  relevance, 
and  on  the  strengthening  of  technological  cooperation,  it  will  exert  a 
multiplier  effect  and  will  produce  results  far  beyond  the  rather 
limited  appropriations  requested  on  the  EEC  budget.

3.1  -  1

3.1  Information  Technologies

a.  This  action  covers  the  ESPRIT  programme  the  objectives  of  which  are  to  take 

advantage  of  the  Community  dimension  :

-  to  enhance  the  technology  base  in  IT  on  the  precompetitive  level, 
enlarging  scope  and  applying  economics  of  scale,  in  order  to  meet 
successfully  the  requirements  of  the  world  market  in  the  nineties
-  to  improve  the  use  of  scientific  and  industrial  R&D  capabilities  by 

cooperative  efforts,

-  to  pave  the  way  to  widely  accepted  international  IT  standards,  and
-  to  promote  the  transfer  of  technology  in  the  IT  sector  with  particular 

emphasis  on  needs  of  SME's.

b.  The  programme  has  just  been  reviewed  by  an  independent  high  level  body 

(ESPRIT  Review  Board).  The  results  of  this  review,  which  demonstrate  that 
ESPRIT  has  been  successfully  established  and  is  well  on  its  way  to  meeting 
its  objectives,  has  been  transmitted  to  the  Council  and  the  Parliament 
(C0M(85)616  final).  Moreover,  the  yearly  workprogramme  of  ESPRIT  is  a 
unique  character!stic,  ensuring  that  the  programme  is  under  constant 
assessment.

In  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  the  ESPRIT  Review  Board,  and  as  a 
result  of  an  extensive  conslutation  process  with  industrial  experts  a 
consensus  view  on  the  scope  and  content  of  the  programme  from  1987  onwards 
is  emerging  along  the  following  axes:

1.  Microelectronics  and  peripheral  technologies

-  Silicon  technology.  Silicon  technology  represents  the  foundation  of 
the  IC  industry  and  silicon-based  devices  are  responsible  for  the 
dramatic  reduction  in  the  cost  of  electronic  equipment  that  has 
occurred  in  the  past  years  and  will  continue  in  the  future.  Specific 
technological  targets  would  be  eg.  4  million  transistors  on  a  chip 
using  0.5  micron  technologies  and  3D-integration.

Compound  semiconductors.  The  use  of  compound  semiconductors  for 
high-speed  circuits  is  expected  to  become  increasingly  relevant  in 
future  computer  and  telecommunication  systems  as  well  as  in  other 
applications.  Europe  has  the  potential  opportunity  to  become  a 
significant  supplier  of  compound  semiconductor  devices.  To  ensure  a 
sufficient  European  capability  in  this  area,  a  significant  increase 
of  the  current  R&D  level  is  required.

Computer  aided  design  (CAD).  The  availability  of  CAD  for  very  large 
scale  integration  for  the  overall  success  of  the  efforts  in 
microelectronics  continues  to  be  a  crucial  factor.  Future  CAD 
projects  will  take  advantage  of  the  results  achieved  so  far  in  ESPRIT 
and  will  in  particular  focus  on  very  high  performance  systems, 
testing  aspects  as  well  as  standardisation  aspects.

3.1  -  2

~  Peripherals.  Peripherals  represent  an  ever  increasing  proportion  of 

the  total  cost  of  IT  systems.  A  major  technology  push  in  response  to 
future  market  demands  requires,  in  particular,  substantial  R&D 
efforts  in  magnetic,  optical  and  magneto-optical  storage,  printers, 
sensors  and  displays.

Information  processing  systems

“  Systems  design  and  architectures.  The  overall  aim  is  to  ensure  that 
IT  industry  has  the  necessary  facilities  to  produce  high  quality 
systems,  quickly  and  economically.  Systems,  of  similar  complexity  of 
those  being  developed  in  1985,  should  within  10  years  be  developed 
with  'lO/o  of  the  resources  required  to  develop  the  systems  today. 
Furthermore,  novel  architectures  for  IT  systems  will  be  developed  and 
analysed  with  respect  to  their  reliability  and  performance.

-  Knowledge  engineering.  The  use  of  knowledge  based  systems  is  expected 
to  provide  a  qualitative  jump  in  future  applications  of  IT.  The  level 
of  cooperative  generic  research  in  this  area  needs  to  be  maintained 
in  order  to  successfully  meet  the  competitive  requirements  in  the 
nineties.

Signal  processing.  The  ability  to  process  speech  and  complex  images, 
are  expected  to  be  important  new  characteristics  of  future  IT 
systems.  Accordingly  R&D  in  this  area  will  be  on  continuous  speech 
recognition  with  large  vocabulary,  and  advanced  image  processing 
systems.

Integration  of  IT  into  application  systems

"  IT  support  systems.  This  area  is  concerned  with  the  basic  IT

technologies  relevant  to  the  office,  production,  other  professional 
applications  and  the  home  sector.  It  includes  eg.  R&D  on 
workstations,  I/O  subsystems  for  broad  spectrum  applications,  man- 
machine  interfaces  and  interfaces  with  the  physical  environment.  Its 
potential  impact  on  medium-term  market  requirements  is  expected  to  be 
particularly  relevant.

~  Factory  automation.  IT  applications  in  production  environments  are  of 
utmost  importance  to  European  economy.  Key  target  is  to  establish 
open  systems  architectures,  promote  CAD/CAM  systems  and  shop  floor 
control  systems.  The  level  of  R&D  in  this  area  needs  to  be 
considerably  increased.

“  Integrated  IT  systems  comprise  technology  integration  projects

building  upon  different  technologies,  and  oriented  towards  selected 
applications.

Measures  with  respect  to  the  dissemination  of  the  results  of  R&D
projects  play  an  increasing  role  in  the  further  progress  of  the  action.

A  broad-scale  participation  of  SME's  to  the  action  is  considered  to  be 
vital  in  order  to  maintain  and  stimulate  its  innovative  character,  which 
is  a  prerequisite  to  meet  its  overall  objectives.

3.1  -  3

Expected  results  :

-  enable  the  European  information  technology  industry  to  successfully  meet 

the  competitive  requirements  of  the  world  market  in  the  nineties,

-  diffusion  of  these  technologies  through  different  sectors  of  our  economy 

leading  to  product,  process  and  service  innovations.

Motivation  for  EC  action  :

-  pooling  of  resources  and  worksharing  is  necessary  to  compete  with  the 

massive  public  programmes  in  the  US  and  Japan,
coordinated  approach  is  also  necessary  to  develop  common  standards  and  to 
encourage  industrial  cooperation  in  Europe.

Industry  representatives  currently  estimate  the  overall  efforts  necessary 
to  carry  out  the  above  described  work  to  30000  manyears  to  be  invested 
progressively  from  1987  onwards.  These  estimates  need  to  be  consolidated  in 
the  forthcoming  months.  These  efforts  would  correspond  to  approximately 
2200  MioECUs  Community  contribution.

3.2  -  1

3.2  Telecommunications  Technologies

a.  For  the  competitiveness  of  European  economies  the  price-performance  of 
telecommunications  services  plays  a  decisive  role  in  the  emerging 
global  market-place.  In  order  to  maintain  a  strong  position  and  lead  in 
the  transition  towards  fully  digital  operation  Europe  will  need  to 
invest  in  a  timely  manner  in  the  advanced  telecommunication 
technologies  and  make  optimal  use  of  its  resources.

The  EC  telematics  industry  and  Telecommunications  Operators  Research 
Establishments  have,  in  1984,  established  a  broad  based  consensus  on 
the  objective  :

Community-Wide Introduction of Integrated Broadband Communication (IBC) 
by 1995 taking into account the evolving Integrated Services Digital 
Networks (ISDN)

and  worked  out  common  requirements  for  :

R&D in Advanced Communications-technologies in Europe (RACE)

which  aims  at  establishing  the  technology  base  for  progressive 
introduction  of  Community  IBC  infrastructure  and  services.

RACE  distinguishes  several  phases  or  stages  of  commitments  which 
correspond  to  progressively  improved  definition  of  the  objectives  and 
requirements.  Specifically:

Definition  phase  (decided  in  1985),  to  execute  initial  work  as  required 
to  focus  the  main  programme  R&D  accurately  on  future  functional 
requirements  of  the  network,  the  terminal  area  and  future  applications, 
and  the  evaluation  of  key  technology  options.

Phase  I  (1987-1991)  will  have  the  objectives:

-  the  technology  base  for  IBC,
-  the  precompetitive  developments  necessary  for  the  provision  of 

trial  equipments  and  services  for  IBC  demonstration,

-  support  for  the  work  of  CEPT  and  CCITT  in  the  formulation  of 

common  proposals  for  specifications  and  standards.

Phase  II  (1991-1996),  depending  on  the  outcome  of  phase  I,  would  have 
the  overall  objectives  of  developing  the  technology  base  for  enhanced 
IBC  equipments  and  services  beyond  1995.

3.2  -  2

b.  Scope  (Phase  I)  :

1.  Specific  system  aspects

Part  1  addresses  the  system  engineering  aspect  of  IBC  and  will 
explore  systems  architecture,  subscriber  environments,  network 
sub-systems,  operations  and  maintenance  related  issues.  In  doing 
so,  it  will  take  into  account  ISDN  and  alternative  carrier  concepts 
and  mixes.

The  work  addresses  three  closely  related  but  distinct  aims:

-  exploration  and  identification  of  IBC  systems  evolution,

-  identification  and  specification  of  functional  requirements 

serving  as  objectives  for  the  R&D  on  the  sub-systems  and  basic 
technology  levels,  and

-  specification  of  the  verification  and  testing  required  before 

full  scale  development  is  considered  i.e.  the  definition  of  the 
requirements  for  demonstration  and  trials.

2.  Research  into  the  requirements  of  the  users  and  service  providers

The  understanding  of  the  user  and  service  provider  Requirements  is 
a  key  condition  for  the  conception  and  design  of  future 
infrastructure  and  services.  Some  requirements  can  be  assessed  on 
the  basis  of  past  experience  with  sufficient  accuracy  to  serve  as 
an  orientation  for  the  technical  development.  However,  new  services 
and  operational  concepts  for  users  and  service  providers  require 
careful  research.  This  is  in  its  own  right  a  significant 
multidisciplinary  R&D  effort.

Past  experience  with  the  introduction  of  new  communication  services 
clearly  demonstrates  the  risks  of  separating  technical  from  market, 
application  and  user  oriented  research.  Accordingly  part  2  has  been 
designed  to  address  the  link  between  the  users  and  the  service 
providers  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  developing  technology  options  on 
the  other.

3.  Enabling  and  supporting  technologies

This  part  addresses  the  three  main  families  of  technologies 
which  the  successive  generations  of  IBC  implementation  will

on
buiId:

-  electronic  components  used  for  communications,

-  optics  and  optoelectronics,  and

-  design  tools  for  communication  systems.

3.2  -  3

The  aim  of  the  R&D  in  these  domains  will  be  to  advance  the 
performance  characteristics  for  their  applications  in 
telecommunications,  i.e.

performance  in  terms  of  bandwidth  and  complexity,

system  compatibility,  i.e.  aptness  to  standardisation,  and

live-cycle  costs,  including  quality,  reliability  and 
maintenance.

Although  the  main  thrust  of  part  3  is  at  the  basic  technology 
level,  some  sub-system  considerations  are  implicitly  included  since 
some  components  (e.g.  microprocessors)  represent  in  terms  of 
complexity,  sub-systems  in  themselves.

4.  Dedicated  communication  software

This  part  addresses  the  software  R&D  issues  which  are  particular  to 
the  application  in  telecommunications.  It  is  assumed  that  progress 
in  software  technology  aimed  at  in  national  programmes  and  ESPRIT 
are  realised  and  that  the  work  in  RACE  can  benefit  from  it.

A  considerable  effort  will  be  required  to  develop  adequate  tools 
that  will  meet  simultaneously  the  operational  and  managerial 
specifications  of  telecommunications.  This  applies  particularly  to 
IBC  which  will  require  a  very  large,  complex,  and  functionally 
rich,  software  implementation.

5.  Terminal  technologies

Having  a  powerful  and  low-cost  IBC  technology  is  an  essential  pre­
requisite  for  the  introduction  of  broadband  services,  but 
insufficient  unless  parallel  major  progress  is  made  in  improving 
the  cost-performance  of  terminal  technology.

IBC  aims  ultimately  at  serving  the  public  at  large,  i.e.  cannot  be 
seen  just  under  the  aspect  of  specialised  services  for  the  business 
community  which  may  be  prepared  to  pay  comparatively  high  system 
costs.  For  IBC  to  achieve  high  penetration  rates  and  wide 
acceptance,  costs  have  to  be  very  much  reduced.

Terminal  equipment  with  the  right  characteristics  enabling  easy  and 
friendly  use  and  the  right  cost-performance  will  require  major 
technological  advances  and  prolonged  efforts  of  a  considerable 
scale.  This  kind  of  technology  cannot  be  expected  to  derive 
automatically  from  business  applications.

Part  5  defines  the  R&D  which  promises  to  offer  adequate  performance 
for  the  use  by  the  general  public  at  sufficiently  low  cost  levels.

3.2  -  4

c.  The  thrust  of  RACE  would  be  to  establish  on  the  world  market  a  strong, 

if  not  leading,  position  of  the  Community  telecommunications 
manufacturing  and  service  industries  in  broadband  communications  and 
accelerate  the  emergence  of  a  strong  and  competitive  Community  market 
for  telecommunication  equipment  and  services.  The  phase  I  will  result 
in  a  common  technology  base  and  contribute  to  the  convergence  in 
technical  and  functional  specifications,  which  is  of  decisive 
importance  for  the  emergence  of  a  Community-sized  market  for  broadband 
infrastructures,  equipments  and  services.

d.  The  objective  of  providing  Europe's  economies  in  the  1990s  with 

telecommunications  services  leading  in  cost-performance  can  only  be 
realised  by  making  full  use  of  Europe's  integral  assets  in  technology, 
industrial  capacities,  human  resources,  markets  and  finance.  A 
concerted  approach  offers  advantages  of  scale  and  scope  comparable  to 
those  available  to  Europe's  main  competitors.  The  investments 
associated  with  developments  are  so  high  that  it  goes  largely  beyond 
what  operators  and  industry  can  invest  on  the  economies  national 
markets  can  offer.

The  RACE  programme  which  will  be  carried  out  with  the  participation  of 
all  Member  States,  will  be  instrumental  in  harnessing  Europe's 
considerable  technological  expertise  in  areas  such  as  optoelectronics, 
advanced  semiconductors  and  software  for  multi— service  broadband 
telecommunications  systems.  This  will  service  business  needs  on  a 
community  scale  for  low-cost,  reliable  and  secure  data,  voice  and 
image  communication  as  well  as  providing  a  wide  variety  of 
communications  and  entertainment  services  for  private  users.

e.  In  1984  a  planning  exercise  has  been  carried  out  by  the

telecommnication  industry  and  operators,  which  identified  the  pre- 
competitive  effort  offering  significant  advantage  of  Community  scale. 
This  planning  exercise  led  to  an  approcimate  level  of  14.000  man-years 
for  five  years.  The  Council  of  Ministers  decided  in  July  1985  a 
definition  phase,  which  will  define  the  scale  and  scope  of  the  effort 
to  be  engaged  in  the  main  phase.  On  this  basis  and  supposing  a  50% 
Community  financing,  this  evalution  leads  to  an  estimation  of 
1000  MioECUs.

The  Council  of  Ministers  decided  in  July  1985  an  18  months  definition 
phase,  which  will  further  define  scale  and  scope  of  the  efforts  to  be 
engaged  under  this  action.

3.3  -  1

3.3.  Integration  of  Information  and  Telecommunications  Technologies  into 

New  A p p lications  and  Services  of  Common” Interest 

~

Progress  in  information  technologies  and  telecommunications  (IT&T)  is 
rapidly  transforming  the  socio-economic  conditions  and  the  basis  of  the 
world  economy.  This  offers  new  opportunities  to  solve  present  and  future 
societal  problems  in  all  spheres  of  life.  The  benefits  of  this  change 
will  depend  on  mastering  these  technologies  and  their  conscious 
application  and  choice  governed  by  societal  needs  and  aspirations.  The 
successful  exploitation  of  these  new  possibilities  requires  a  well 
considered  and  systematic  approach  involving  the  respective  main  actors 
since  in  most  cases  traditional  sectors  undergo  in  this  context  profound 
transformations.

Besides  the  direct  application  of  IT&T  the  systems-integration  with  other 
technologies,  leading  to  new  applications  and  services,  opens  up  a  most 
important  potential  for  the  future,  both  in  terms  of  economic 
opportunities  and  of  contribution  to  societal  objectives  in  Europe.

A.  The  systems-integration  of  IT&T  with

“ i e_a.r.ni,n 9  and  teaching  permits  the  realisation  of  advanced  open 
learning  concepts  which  will  not  only  provide  the  educational 
community  with  enhanced  tools  but  also  remove  constraints  in  access 
to  learning  (DELTA);

road-safety  and  m o b i le  communication  offers  powerful  means  to  reduce 
traffic  accidents,  improve  traffic  management  and  thereby  transport 
economics  (DRIVE);

bjoinformatics  and  medical  informatics  can  be  developed  to 
considerably further  improve  research,  diagnostics  and  health  care 
(BICEPS);

laboratory  technology  offers  major  improvement  in  the  productivity 
of  research,  development  and  experimentation  (PERT);

financial  technology  offers  advances  towards  the  realisation  of 
Community-wide  financial  services,  markets  and  a  reduction  of  crime 
(DIME).

Background  and  method  of  elaboration  of  the  actions:

The  identification  of  these  actions  has  resulted  from  the  consultati 
of  the  respective  actors  and  have  been  indicated  in  the  C0M(85)  350 
and  C0M(85)  530  "Technological  Europe"  as  areas  where  the  Commission 
is  developing  action  proposals.  Some  of  their  objectives  have  been 
confirmed  in  the  framework  of  IRIS  as  corresponding  also  to  the 
socio-political  perception  of  Community  priorities.

3.3  -  2

The  method  of  elaboration  for  these  actions  follows  a  consistent 
sequence  of  steps:

1) 

2) 

3) 

4) 

5) 

an  initial  in-house  ana lysis  of  the  importance  and  the  likely 
"value-added"  o T T C o m m u n i  ty  approach  resulting  in  the 
identification  of  overall  objectives  and  lines  of  action;

exploratory  investigation  and  definition  of  the  detailed 
objectives  and T h e   optimal  approach  to  an  effective  use  of  the 
overall  Community  resources  with  the  respective  main  actors;

preparation  of  proposals  for  concerted  actions  embedding  the 
Community  measures  in  the  context  of  national  and  international 
activities;

launching  of  a  definition  phase  serving  the  systematic 
d e v e l o p m e n F o f   the  action  by  the  respective  main  actors;

implementation  including  periodic  reviews  and  assessments  of 
developments  which  might  require  adjustment  of  objectives  and 
approach;

6) 

on-going  critical  evaluation  and  adjustment  in  the  light  of  the 
experiences  gathered  in  the  implementation.

The  first  step  is  guided  by  the  priorities  of  the  Community  and  the 
political  orientation  of  Council  and  Parliament  as  it  translates  for 
the  domain  of  IT&T.

During  the  second  step  each  action  is  subject  of  systematic 
investigations  drawing  on  external  expertise  as  well.  The  best 
qualified  organisations  are  identified  in  an  open  bidding  procedure  in 
the  Official  Journal.

Step  three  is  referred  to  as  "planning  exercise",  it  consists  of  a 
systematic  involvement  of  the  main  actors  in  developing  the  action 
propo s a I s .

The  definition  phase  represents  the  last  step  before  the 
implementation  of  an  action.  It  consists  of  initial  work  as  may  be 
required  to  verify  the  objectives,  approach  and  assessment  of  the 
requirements  to  realise  them.

With  the  implementation  the  task  of  evaluating  is  taken  up  which 
^extends  both  to  external  changes,  i.e.  requirements,  state-of-the-art, 
etc.  as  well  as  progress  of  the  projects  making  up  the  action.  In 
yearly  intervals  the  workprogramme  and  resource  allocation  is 
systematically  re-examined.

At  a  suitable  stage  of  the  implementation,  an  independent  review  aids 
the  Council  and  Parliament  to  assess  the  action  in  the  light  of  its 
objectives.

For  each  of  the  subjects  described  below  it  is  indicated  which  stage 
has  been  reached.

3.3  -  3

B.  Other  actions  aiming  more  specifically  to  societal  objectives  will  be 

identified  in  the  coming  months  according  to  the  orientations  given  by 
the  Research  Council  of  December  1985  in  its  debate  on  IRIS.  In  this 
context,  preliminary  studies  will  be  launched  to  explore  Community 
initiatives  in  priority  areas  dealing  with  objectives  such  as  :

-  better  health;
-  safer  life;
-  domestic  and  home  applications;
-  improvement  of  services  and  facilities  for  people  living  in  rural 

areas.

★ 

*

*

The  estimates  of  the  resources  derive  from  the  detailed  workplans; 
therefore  it  is  at  this  preliminary  stage  not  possible  to  provide 
reliable  figures.  Still  based  on  initial  assessments  one  could  envisage 
Community  contributions  situated  between  700  and  900  MioECUs.

3.3  -  4

DELTA (developing European Learning through Technical Advance)

a.  A  skilled  population  can  rightly  be  considered  as  the  single  most

important  asset  of  Europe.  With  rapid  changes  in  human  activities,  the 
importance  of  life-long  education  and  training  increases  and  with  it 
the  need  to  extend  the  formal  education  for  it  to  become  more  flexible 
and  adaptable  to  the  needs  of  the  learner  and  teachers.  Progress  in 
information  and  telecommunication  technologies  opens  up  the 
possibility  to  overcome  distance  and  access  constraints  and  the 
economic  realisation  of  advanced  open  learning  concepts  (i.e.  an 
approach  to  learning  under  which  the  barriers  relating  to  formalities, 
location  and  time  are  dimished).

Learning  technology  represents,  moreover,  a  major  future  world  market 
opportunity  for  the  Community  equipment  and  service  industry  and 
teaching  professions.

equipment,  systems  and  tools  for  advanced  open  learning.  This 

DELTA  is  to  concert  the  development  by  Community  industry  and  academia 
of 
action  will  bring  together  at  the  Community  level  the  potential  users 
and  producers  of  open  learning  systems  and  associated  equipment,  thus 
enabling  the  Community  to  achieve  economy  in  scope  and  scale,  which 
are  now  lacking.  DELTA  will  benefit  from  synergy  with  on-going  actions 
in  the  field  of  information  technologies  (ESPRIT)  and 
telecommunications  (RACE).

The  programme  identifies  the  technological  efforts  required  to  reach 
the  following  objectives:

1988-90:  overcoming  of  distance  and  access  constraints,  via  the 

adaptation  of  existing  infrastructures,  systems,  equipment 
and  technology

1990-95:  enhanced  handling  and  access  of  information,  based  on 

progressive  digitisation  of  IT&T  complemented  by  specific 
learning-oriented  features

1995-2000:  smart  learning  aids,  based  on  the  features  of  "5th 

generation"  computing  and  integrated  broadband  communication 
(IBC).

b.  Scope  :

1.  Interdisciplinary  concertation  on  present  and  feature  learning 
support  requirements

By  developing  in  a  timely  manner  an  understanding  of  the  requirements 
and  opportunities  it  will  be  possible  to  establish  synergy,  share  work 
and  cooperate  throughout  the  Community  and  thereby  improve  the 
effectiveness  of  the  resources  available.

In  order  to  support  this  process  and  optimise  the  use  of  Community 
resources  and  focus  the  research  efforts,  a  systematic  analysis  and 
systems  engineering  evaluation  of  the  learning  system  and  its 
functions  is  required.  This  will  be  achieved  by  means  of  the 
development  of  a  learning  systems  reference  model.

2.  Learning  Technology  and  Systems  R&D

»

This  entails  a  systematic  development  of  the  features  specific  to  the 
learner  and  authoring/teaching  requirements.  The  programme  will  place 
particular  emphasis  on  improving  delivery  to  the  learner, 
communication  between  learners  and  tutors/teachers,  the  ease  of 
authoring  and  the  economics  and  management  of  the  overall  system.

3.  Testing  and  validation

The  importance  of  the  "human  factor"  in  this  domain  requires  the 
thorough  testing  of  learning  technology  and  concepts  at  all  stages  of 
the  development.  The  programme  foresees  the  realisation  of  a 
satellite-based  open  testing  facility  accessible  from  all  parts  of  the 
Community.

4.  Developing  interoperability

In  order  to  achieve  acceptable  economies  as  well  as  flexibility  in 
use,  multi-media  interoperability  will  need  to  be  established.  This 
requires,  over  and  above  the  on-going  standardisation  work  in  IT&T, 
the  application-specific  development  of  standards  and  conventions 
facilitating  progress  in  this  domain.

5.  Creating  favourable  conditions

While  learning  technology  is  potentially  very  attractive  and  offers 
advantageous  solutions,  this  process  wilt  be  retarded  unless  specific 
accompanying  measures  are  adopted  lowering  the  "entry-barrier".

DELTA  will  help  to  accelerate  the  emergence  of  new  techniques, 
facilities  and  tools  to  support  learning,  in  particular  the 
realisation  of  new  Open  Learning  concepts.  It  will  provide  the 
technologies  to  educationalists  and  learners  to  reduce  the  distance 
and  access  constraints.

In  this  emerging  new  domain,  human  expert  resources  are  rare  and 
sparsely  distributed  throughout  the  Community.  In  addition  to  re­
inforcing  efforts  to  exploit  the  opportunities  opening  up  in  the  use 
of  learning  technology,  it  will  also  be  necessary  to  focus  efforts  by 
concertation  and  work-sharing  within  a  defined  framework  of  objectives 
and  measures.  The  opportunities  for  industry  will  depend  on  reasonable 
market  sizes  as  can  be  offered  in  a  Community  framework.  DELTA  will 
provide  a  vehicle  for  better  use  of  resources  and  attracting 
industrial  support.

The  resources  estimated  necessary  will  be  indicated  at  a  later  stage.

3.3  -  6

DRIVE (Dedicated Road Safety Systems and Intelligent Vehicles in JEurope)

a.  Each  year  55.000  people  are  killed  and  1.8  million  people  injured  on 

roads  in  the  Community.  The  overall  societal  costs  of  these  accidents 
is  very  high  and  it  has  been  estimated  that  3.2  billion  ECU  a  year 
could  be  saved  by  applying  information  and  telecommunication 
technologies  to  avoid  car  collisions.

Moreover,  the  indirect  effects  of  road  safety  on  the  quality  of  life 
and  the  economy  are  numerous  and  of  great  importance,  e.g.  on  the 
congestion  of  roads.

Recent  advances  in  IT&T  are  progressively  opening  up  new  and  much  more 
cost-effective  ways  of  improving  road-safety  and  transport  management 
in  general.

b.  Scope  :

DRIVE  will  contain  application-specific  R&D&D&T  addressing  in 
particular  the  systems  engineering  and  systems-integration  aspects.

1.  Accident  avoidance  system

This  area  is  concerned  with  the  integration  of  various  "safety- 
related"  electronic  subsystems  into  an  integrated  vehicle  control  and 
management  system.

2.  Vehicle  communication  systems

In  the  coming  decade  mobile  telephony  will  increasingly  become 
standard  equipment  of  vehicles.  The  infrastructure  provided  for  this 
service  can  at  the  same  time  support  safety  and  traffic  management 
functions.

3.  Traffic  management  and  control

The  use  of  IT&T  as  part  of  an  integrated  application  will  permit 
considerable  progress  to  be  made  in  avoiding  congestions,  navigation 
in  towns,  re-routing  in  case  of  blockages  and  the  clearing  of  routes 
in  emergency  situations.

c.  The  Programme  DRIVE  is  to  provide  the  framework  in  which  industry  and 
administrations  can  Europe-wide  develop  the  technological  means  to 
achieve

a  drastic  reduction  of  serious  road  incidents,  and

economies  of  scale  and  scope  required  for  an  early 
development  and  introduction  of  these  techniques.

Improving  road-safety  is  a  common  objective  of  all  Member  States  and 
sharing  the  burden  of  developing  new  means  of  improving  road  safety 
and  communications  are  clearly  to  the  advantage  of  both  the  citizens 
as  well  as  the  industries  concerned.  The  way  for  such  a  development  is 
prepared  in  R&D&D&T  efforts  as  to  be  undertaken  in  the  framework  of 
DRIVE.

For  1987  a  definition  phase  is  envisaged  preparing  the  main  programme 
foreseen  to  be  implemented  in  1988.  This  will  permit  a  precise 
formulation  of  the  work  offering  the  greatest  advantage  of  Community 
scale  and  being  complementary  to  work  carried  out  on  the  Member  State 
level.

The  resource  estimates  are  to  be  indicated  at  a  later  stage  of 
development  of  this  action.

3.3  -  8

BICEPS (Bio-Informatics Collaborative European Programme and Strategy)

a.  The  continuous  growth  of  medical  expenditure  has  become  a  major  issue. 
In  the  European  Community,  the  total  expenditure  for  social  services 
has  in  real  terms,  increased  by  27%  since  1975  and  its  accounts  now 
for  more  than  one  quarter  of  the  GDP.  Of  the  total  ECU  720  billion 
expenditure  more  than  75%,  ie  ECU  540  billion  relate  to  medical 
services  and  care  for  the  aged.  As  life  expectancy  grows  the  demand 
for  further  improvements  in  the  quality  and  cost-effectiveness  is  also 
likely  to  increase.

BICEPS  develops  IT&T  to  meet  the  specific  needs  of  medical  services 
and  the  use  in  medical  and  biotechnological  R&D&D&T.

b.  Scope  :

1.  Medical  informatics

A  further  improvement  of  health  care  and  better  economics  of  providing 
it  will  depend  on  progress  in  numerous  domains.  One  of  the 
opportunity  areas  for  progress  builds  on  the  consequent  exploitation 
of  the  potential  of  IT&T.  Their  application  in  various  functions  can 
ring  very  significant  improvements  in  quality,  availability  and  cost- 
effectiveness  of  medical  care.

2.  Bio-informatics

A  major  part  of  the  medical  expenses  in  associated  with  pharmaceutical 
products  and  medical  research.  In  this  domain  there  is  strong 
dependence  of  progress  in  biotechnology  and  medical  research  with 
bio-informati cs.

Therefore,  BICEPS  addresses  both  the  medical-informatics  and  bio- 
informatics  needs.

Links  with  Community  actions  ESPRIT,  RACE  and  the  BAP  exist  as  well  as 
with  actions  on  the  level  of  Member  States.

c.  The  results  of  BICEPS  are  expected  to  provide  for  a  rapid  development 

of  advanced  techniques  for  both  the  medical  services  and 
medi cal/biotechnological  R&D&D&T.

d.  ESPRIT  is  resulting  in  generic  information  technology  on  with  specific 

efforts  in  bio-informatics  can  build.  The  IT-industry  is 
collaborating  already  on  a  Community  scale.  This  offers  particular 
opportunities  to  assemble  the  expertise  and  industrial  capacities  to 
support  the  work  in  this  domain. 
Furthermore,  there  are  considerable 
advantages  in  worksharing  and  cooperating  for  both  the  speeding  up  of 
development  and  the  gathering  of  experiences  which  is  crucial  for 
building  up  the  confidence  of  the  medical  profession  in  new 
techni q u e s .

3.3  -  9

e.  For  1987  a  definition  phase  is  envisaged  preparing  the  main  programme 

foreseen  to  be  implemented  in  1988.  This  will  permit  a  precise 
formulation  of  the  work  offering  the  greatest  advantage  of  Community 
scale  and  being  complementary  to  work  carried  out  on  the  Member  State 
level.

The  resource  estimates  are  to  be  indicated  at  a  later  stage  of  the 
preparation  of  this  action.

3.3  -  10

PERT (Professional Electronics and Research Technology)

a.  The  Community's  productivity  in  R&D  and  here  particularly  in 

high-technology  domains  is  significantly  below  that  achieved  in  the 
USA  and  Japan  which  have  made  enormous  advances  in  this  respect  in

.  recent  years  based  on  a  consequent  use  of  advanced  IT&T.

The  objective  of  PERT  is  to  improve  the  productivity  in  Community  R&D 
equal  to  or  better  than  that  of  its  main  competitors.

b.  Scope  :

1.  Information  resource  management  in  the  laboratory  environment

The  information  resource  management  is  one  of  the  central  problems  in 
laboratory  work.  Advanced  techniques  using  recent  progress  in  IT&T 
offer  the  potential  of  major  improvements.  However,  the  laboratory 
conditions  and  diverse  requirements  demand  a  systematic  effort  in 
developing  compatible  components  and  subsystems  which  can 
interoperate  to  meet  a  wide  range  of  conditions.  This  represents  a 
major  task  in  systems-R&D,  systems  engineering  and 
systems-integration.

2.  Data  capture

Rapid  gathering  of  data  and  their  pre-processing  is  a  key  factor  in 
speeding  up  technological  analyses.  New  techniques  using  progress  in 
sensoric  and  IT&T  permit  the  development  of  more  versatile  devices  for 
these  needs.

3.  Information  interpretation

Increasingly  screening  and  alternative  interpretation  of  technological 
data,  concepts  and  conditions  require  sophisticated  tools  for 
interpretation  and  simulation.  While  these  tools  have  been  developed 
for  engineering  purposes  their  use  for  designing  and  interpreting 
experiments  is  still  in  its  early  stages.  PERT  is  to  develop 
generalised  laboratory/scientific  tools  for  these  functions.  This 
includes  the  development  of  knowledge-based  used  friendly  applications 
for  the  interpretation  of  information.

PERT  is  to  result  in  a  significant  improvement  in  the  productivity 
technological  R&D  and  the  provision  of  high  performance  tools  for 
accelerating  the  industrial  development  processes.

of

3.3  -  11

Besides  being  a  problem  common  to  all  Member  States  the  investment  and 
the  specialists  in  this  domain  are  comparatively  limited.  A  work- 
sharing  and  cooperative  approach  not  only  improves  the  chances  for 
each  project  but  because  of  the  systems  interdependencies  synergy  and 
cross-fertilisation  will  be  important.  Within  a  Community  action, 
defined  jointly  with  the  main  actors,  this  can  be  realised.

For  1987  a  definition  phase  is  envisaged  preparing  the  main  programme 
foreseen  to  be  implemented  in  1988.  This  will  permit  a  precise 
formulation  of  the  work  offering  the  greatest  advantage  of  Community 
scale  and  being  complementary  to  work  carried  out  on  the  Member  State 
level.

Resource  estimates  are  to  be  indicated  at  a  later  stage  of  the 
preparation  of  this  action.

3.3  -  12

IE  (Development  of integrated  Monetary  Electronics)

Already  most  financial  transactions  are  carried  out  by  electronic 
transmission  and  also  electronic  theft  outweighs  by  far  armed 
robberies.  This  and  recent  developments  of  using  IT&T  to  implement 
special  finance  technologies  such  as  the  "smart  card"  (microcomputer 
on  a  bank  card)  are  signalling  the  emergence  of  "electronic  cash"  and 
major  changes  of  the  way  citizens  receive  and  spend  money.

With  a  consequent  development  of  the  technologies  now  within  reach 
'personalised  electronic  money'  could  be  developed  which  could  only  be 
used  by  the  legitimate  owner,  i.e.  eliminate  the  risk  of  unauthorised 
use  or  stealing.  Conventional  bank  robberies  could  soon  be  made  a 
thing  of  the  past.

Furthermore  the  'smart  card'  will  be  able  to  serve  numerous  other 
functions  in  all  spheres  of  human  activity  requiring  authentication.

DIME  is  to  carry  out  R&D  in  the  use  of  IT&T  for  financial  services  and 
other  services  with  the  objective  of  taking  the  lead  in  the 
development  of  'personalised  electronic  money'  and  the  development  of 
'smart  card  technology'  suited  to  serve  as  a  generalised  tool  for 
crediting  and  authentication.

Scope  :

1.  Intelligent  credentials

The  use  of  monies  depends  basically  on  the  ability  to  provide 
"evidence  of  having  credit".  In  conventional  money  this  is  achieved  by 
authorised  bank  notes.  More  recently  bank  or  credit  cards  have  been 
introduced  which  can  be  considered  a  first  generation  of  personalised 
money.  However,  this  development  is  far  from  having  reached  its  end. 
The  heart  of  'personalised  electronic  money*  may  well  be  a 
'microcomputer  on  a  card-like  device'.  This  device  will  use  personal 
characteristics  of  the  bearer,  e.g.  fingerprints,  to  be  protected 
against  use  by  others.  The  device  could  store  any  amount  of  credit  the 
bearer  chooses  to  put  on  it  and  in  paying  the  corresponding  amount 
would  be  withdrawn  from  the  card  as  from  an  account.

The  principles  of  how  this  can  be  realised  are  comparatively  simple, 
but  its  technical  realisation  with  the  degree  of  reliability  required 
for  general  use  requires  systematic  R&D&D&T  of  considerable  scope.

Much  the  same  technology  will  also  serve  numerous  authentication 
functions.  In  order  to  avoid  excessive  proliferation  of  different 
cards  systems  and  operations,  research  will  need  to  establish  the 
optimal  approach.

3.3  -  13

2.  Falsification  counter  measures

Bank  notes  and  even  credit  cards  are  increasingly  exposed  to  being 
forged.  In  developing  'new  forms  of  credit'  this  problem  is  of  utmost 
importance.  The  potential  of  a  'microcomputer  on  a  card'  is  largely 
sufficient,  but  the  implementation  of  counter  measures  needs  to  be 
consistent  with  the  functions  of  the  device  and  of  the  numerous 
options  possible  the  most  practical  has  to  be  identified  and 
researched.

DIME  is  to  result  in  providing  a  sound  technological  basis  for  the 
introduction  in  Europe  of  'personalised  money'  which  reduces  the 
possibility  of  money  being  stolen  or  falsified.

Money  and  the  protection  of  personal  property  and  safety  is  an 
objective  all  citizens  and  their  governments  throughout  the  Community 
share.  Furthermore,  for  realising  the  full  benefit  of  such  a  new 
financial  technology  it  will  be  essential  that  it  can  be  used 
throughout  the  Community.  In  view  of  the  required  investment  for  the 
terminal  equipment  and  the  objective  of  good  economics,  the  size  of 
the  Community  market  will  be  a  decisive  factor.

For  1987  a  definition  phase  is  envisaged  preparing  the  main  programme 
foreseen  to  be  implemented  in  1988.  This  will  permit  a  precise 
formulation  of  the  work  offering  the  greatest  advantage  of  Community 
scale  and  being  complementary  to  work  carried  out  on  the  Member  State 
level.

Resource  estimates  are  to  be  indicated  at  a  later  stage  of  the 
preparation  of  this  action.

3.4  -  1

3-4.  Cooperation  on  Basic  Research  on  Information  Technologies

a.  This  action  covers  collaborative  research  and  concerted  actions  with 

the  objective  to  improve  the  use  of  scientific  capabilities  in 
computer  science  by  cooperative  efforts.

b.  It  is  expected  that  universities  and  research  institutes  will  be 

active  in  industrial  projects,  but  there  remains  the  necessity  that 
present  and  future  efforts  in  precompetitive  research  with  commercial 
application  should  be  supplemented  by  promoting  research  into  IT  at  a 
more  fundamental  level  without  immediate  direct  application.  Basic 
research  is  also  an  important  element  for  the  training  of  the  highly 
qualified  manpower,  which  is  strongly  needed  by  IT  as  well  as  other 
industry.  This  type  of  research  is,  of  course,  mainly  carried  out  in 
universities  and  in  public  or  private  research  institutes.

One  positive  way  was  indicated  by  the  ESPRIT  Review  Board,  which 
recommended  that  one  of  the  benefits  of  the  programme  is  the  breaking 
of  geographical  isolation  of  certain  institutions.

The  Review  Board  viewed  on  to  propose  that  a  few  selected  European 
centres  of  excellence  in  IT  should  be  encouraged  to  become 
international  in  their  orientation.

Such  centres  would  preferably  be  based  on  existing  activities  and 
would  also  build  on  efforts  developped  at  European  level,  notably  in 
the  framework  of  COST  activities  related  to  computer  science.

The  Commission  could  support  such  research  in  areas  of  strategic 
interest,  provided  that:

the  European  dimension  be  guaranteed  by  an  ambitious  common  work 
programme  to  be  agreed  by  a  High  Level  Board  drawn  from  leading 
experts,

-  the  best  organisations  in  that  field  (a  maximum  of  4  or  5)  who  would 

be  sufficiently  motivated  by  the  task  to  willingly  work  to  this 
common  work  programme  in  a  reasonable  manner.

There  should  be  strong  focus  on  promising  selective  research  areas, 
which  have  not  yet  reached  maturity,  and  where  therefore  Community 
action  could  provide  some  visible  impetus.  These  would  include  e.g.:
-  molecular  electronics;
-  special  sectors  of  cognitive  science  and  artificial  intelligence; 
special  sectors  of  solid  state  physics  applied  to  IT  (amorphous 
silicon,  magneto-optical  research  ...)

c.  Expected  results

enable  European  IT  science  to  develop  excellency  in  sectors  of 
strategic  relevance  by  critical  mass  efforts;

-  improve  the  use  of  scientific  R&D  capabilities  in  IT  by  cooperative 

efforts  and  concerted  actions.

d.  Motivation  for  EEC  action  :  scarce  and  scattered  -esources  need  to  be 

coordinated  and  directed  towards  critical  mass  efforts.

e.  It  is  estimated  that  between  40  and  50  MioECUs  Community  contribution 

would  be  necessary  for  a  five-year  period.

3.5  -  1

3.5.  Technologies  for  Manufacturing  Industry  and  Special  Technologies

a.  In  the  recent  years,  a  recovery  of  European  industry  has  begun  to 
become  apparent.  Technology  is  a  major  factor  in  sustaining  this 
recovery.  In  the  90s,  this  factor  will  increase  even  further  in 
importance  in  facing  competition  from  the  USA,  Japan  and  other 
countries  of  the  Pacific.  All  sectors  will  need  high  technology  and 
nowhere  is  this  more  the  case  than  in  sectors  like  motor  vehicles, 
chemicals,  textiles,  clothing,  shipbuilding,  construction,  furniture, 
which  employ  over  25  million  people  -  nearly  70  %  of  the  industrial 
workforce  of  the  Community  -  and  in  all  countries  will  continue  to 
represent  the  largest  contributor  to  that  part  of  the  GDP  provided  by 
industry.

Increasingly,  the  dividing  line  will  not  be  between  sectors  like 
electronics  and  the  mature  industries  but,  irrespective  of  sector, 
between  those  who  make  full  use  of  the  newest  technologies  and  those 
who  do  not.  The  potential  for  change  is  greatest  in  sectors  which  so 
far  have  been  the  slowest  to  absorb  new  technology  and  it  is  therefore 
on  those  that  efforts  will  need  to  be  concentrated  and  where  the 
encouragement  given  by  Community  programmes  will  bear  fruit.

The  problem  consists  not  only  in  the  development  of  appropriate  new 
technologies  (especially  multidisciplinary  technologies)  at  the 
precompetitive  stage  and  their  application,  but  also  in  the  need  to 
use  research  resource  more  efficiently  through  co-operation  across  the 
frontiers.

Among  the  major  priorities  supported  by  the  governments  in  the  USA  and 
Japan  are  research  projects  of  an  inter-disciplinary  character  in  new 
production  technologies  and  in  the  engineering  aspects  of  new 
For  example,  in  the  USA  the  university-industry  co­
materials. 
operative  research  centres  in  fields  such  as  polymer  processing, 
welding,  process  control  and  triboloby  and,  in  Japan,  the  R&D  project 
on  basic  technologies  for  future  industries  receive  annually  several 
hundred  million  dollars  from  the  central  governments.  Moreover,  as  is 
well  known,  the  US  Department  of  Defense  and  NASA  both  continue  to 
fund  research  in  these  fields  on  a  major  scale  which  has  a  rapid 
impact  on  industry  and  there  is  a  constant  flood  of  technical 
information.  These  programmes  are  ample  evidence  of  the  strategic 
importance  which  these  countries  attach  to  these  technologies.

b.  BRITE  continues  to  develop  in  constant  and  continuing  close 

consultation  with  industry  and  the  fields  currently  of  the  highest 
priority  but  constantly  under  review  together  with  industry  are  :

-  the  improvement  of  the  strength  and  inherent  reliability  over  long 

periods  of  time  of  engineering  materials  and  components,

-  the  reduction  in  the  deterioration  of  materials  through  corrosion, 

wear,  biodeterioration,  etc...,

-  the  tribology  of  mechanical  systems,

3.5  -  2

-  Laser  technology  for  manufacturing,
-  joining  techniques  :  new  and  improved  welding  techniques,  and 

adhesive  bonding,

-  new  testing  methods  including  non-destructive  testing,  on-line 

testing  and  computer-aided  testing,

-  advanced  design  and  manufacturing  techniques,  in  particular  those 

suitable  for  SMEs  and  for  specialised  industrial  purposes,

-  membrane  science  and  technology,
-  catalysis  and  particle  technology,
-  specific  applications  of  advanced  materials  (see  3.7  for  enabling 

R&D  on  materials),

-  applications  of  new  technologies  in  manufacturing  processes  with 
special  problems,  e.g.  production  processes  involving  the  use  of 
flexible  materials.

The  reaction  of  manufacturing  industry  to  the  first  call  for  proposals 
has  confirmed  its  interest  in  co-operative  precompetitive  research 
aimed  at  :

-  improving  the  co-ordination  of  work  otherwise  carried  out 

independently  in  several  Member  States  by  industry  and  other 
organisai i ons,

-  helping  cross  frontier  collaboration  between  different  industry 

sectors  and  between  industry  and  university.

The  conditions  for  participation  (participants  from  more  than  one 
Member  State  with  at  least  one  industrial  participant,  50  %  industrial 
participation  in  the  costs)  have  ensured  the  industrial  nature  of  the 
projects  proposed  and  their  overall  high  quality.

559  projects  were  received  nearly  all  of  great  interest  and  of  high 
quality  (with  on  average  four  participants  in  each  project)  of  which 
only  102  could  be  accepted  because  of  the  budgetary  constraints.  This 
represents  much  too  high  a  disappointment  rate  and  could  discourage 
firms  -  in  particular  SMEs  -  from  participating.  Despite  intensive 
information  campaigns,  many  firms  had  not  heard  of  BRITE  in  time  to 
prepare  for  the  first  round  and  the  adhesion  of  Spain  and  Portugal 
will  increase  the  number  of  potential  participants. 
surprising  if  the  number  of  proposals  for  the  second  round  of  BRITE 
was  several  times  that  for  the  first  round.

It  would  not  be 

In  view  of  the  need  to  create  for  manufacturing  industry  a  European 
cross-frontier  co-operation  infrastructure  and  to  respond  to  the 
international  competition  a  major  increase  in  the  budget  is  necessary 
for  the  second  call  for  proposals  (IRDAC  has  advised  that  for  the 
second  round  this  should  be  at  least  300  MioECUs).

c.  Ultimately,  BRITE-type  projects  should  become  self-supporting  and  co­

operation  within  a  revitalised  Community  become  a  naturaL  and  accepted 
procedure  without  support  from  Community  funds.  There  is  nevertheless 
likely  to  be  a  continuing  need  fro  BRITE  well  into  the  1?90s.

A  follow-on  activity  (BRITE  revised)  is  therefore  envisaged  to  be 
developed  in  close  consultation  with  industry.

3.5  -  3

The  experience  of  the  first  and  second  rounds  of  BRITE  will  make  it 
possible  to  deepen  and  concentrate  its  strategic  approach  by  tackling 
in  depth  new  areas  including

-  the  problem  of  bringing  new  technologies  emanating  from many sectors 

to  the  manufacture  of  a  wide  range  of  new  or  technologically 
improved  products  including  furniture,  textiles,  paper-based 
products,  machine-tools,  etc..,

-  the  use  and  means  of  use  of  new  materials  by  including  all  aspects 
finally  needed  for  economic  performance  such  as  design,  handling, 
manufacturing,  inspection,  standards  and  training.

IRDAC  has  already  explained  the  need  for  cooperative 

This  activity  is  likely  to  include  a  range  of  pilot  and  demonstration 
projects. 
projects  based  on  the  "pilot  demonstration  plant"  or  "demonstration 
factory"  approach  in  order  to  encourage  the  wider  adoption  of  the  new 
technologies  in  European  industry.  Moreover,  many  BRITE  projects  will 
within  a  few  years,  need  follow-on  action  to  demonstrate  at  larger  or 
at  full-scale  the  technological  and  economic  viability  of  the 
processes  developed.

d.  The  financial  amount  estimated  necessary  for  these  activities  for  the 

period  of  the  Framework  Programme  is  situated  between  600  and 
900  MioECUs.

Research  and  pilot  demonstrations  in  favour  of  the  steel  sector  (new 
and  improved  production  processes  and  improved  steel  properties  and 
fabrication  procedures)  will  continue  to  be  funded  from  the  ECSC 
b u d g e t .

3.6  -  1

3.6.  Biotechnologies  and  Agro-Industrial  Technologies

3.6.1.  Biotechnologies

a.  As  in  the  1984-87  version  of  the  Framework  Programme,  the 

recognition  of  biotechnology  as  a  specific  action  is  motivated  by 
the  major  impact  that  the  applications  of  modern  biology  to 
agriculture  and  industry  will  have  on  the  activities  of  several 
traditional  economic  factors.  Some  40%  of  manufacturing  output  in 
a  developed  economy  is  biological  in  nature  of  origin  and  numerous 
advances  of  fundamental  significance  (production  of  new  crop 
plants,  synthesis  of  vaccines,  drugs  and  chemicals  with  high  added 
value,  development  of  techniques  for  processing,  transformation, 
extraction,  detoxification,  ..)  are  now  being  made  or  are  expected 
before  the  end  of  the  present  century.

b.  The  main  reasons  for  current  relative  weaknesses  of  the  Community 
in  modern  biotechnology  have  been  identified  (C0M(83)672)  and  can 
be  attributed  to  the  fragmentation  and  dispersion  of  research 
efforts,  a  shortage  of  scientists  with  advanced  training  adapted 
to  the  requirement  of  Biotechnology  R&D  and  the  absence  in  the 
Community  of  a  supportive  context  for  the  rapid  development  of 
modern  biotechnologies.  The  objectives  of  the  proposed  activities 
are  to  provide,  in  the  most  important  areas  of  biotechnology,  a 
transnational  dimension  to  the  isolated  efforts  carried  out  in 
each  Member  State  for  :

-  encouraging  mission-oriented  research  and  the  reinforcement  of 
R&D  contextual  infrastructures  in  those  sectors  where  important 
bottlenecks  have  clearly  been  identified  which  cannot  be  rapidly 
overcome  without  the  pooling  of  competences  and  facilities 
dispersed  throughout  the  Community;

-  organizing  these  dispersed  competences  and  facilities  in  a 

Community  training  network  of  exceptional  quality  from  which 
young  scientists  in  each  Member  State  can  fully  benefit.

The  fields  of  biotechnology  R&D  where  Community  efforts
for  transnational  research  and  training  should  be
conducted  in  priority,  through  cost-shared  actions  and
training  contracts,  are  the  following  :
-  data  banks  :  modelling  of  biological  structures, 

processes  and  systems;

-  collections  of  biotic  materials;
-  enzyme  engineering  and  protein  design;
-  genetic  engineering;
-  physiology,  genetics  and  molecular  biology  of  species 

important  for  agriculture  and  industry  (area,  essential 
for  long  term  innovations  in  biotechnology,  not  covered 
by  the  current  RAP  Biotechnology  (1985-89);

-  technology  of  cell  and  tissue  culture  in  vitro;
-  development  of  in  vitro  tests  for  pharmacology  and 

toxicology;

3.6  -  2

-  evaluation  of  risks  associated  with  modern 

biotechno logy.

-  promoting  the  concertation  of  the  Member  States  for  the 

effective  implementation  of  the  Community  action  priorities 
which,  in  addition  to  research  and  training,  and  concertation 
itself,  comprise  :  raw  materials  of  agricultural  origin, 
regularoty  regimes,  intellectual  property,  demonstration 
activities.

c.  What  is  proposed  above  by  the  Commission  is  in  fact  a  continuation 

and  amplification  of  the  work  carried  out  in  the  biomolecular 
engineering  programme  (BEP)  (April  82  -  March  86)  and  in  the  RAP 
Biotechnology  (1985-1989).  The  results  obtained  in  the 
biomolecular  engineering  programme  and  the  launching  in  1985  of 
the  RAP  Biotechnology  have  demonstrated  the  possibility  and 
utility  of  Community  research  and  Community  training  in 
biotechnology.  Transnational  networks  of  laboratories  of  high 
scientific  quality  have  been  constituted  throughout  Europe  which 
undertake  joint  research  for  the  elimination  of  important 
bottlenecks  to  innovative  applications  and  which  provide  an  array 
of  services  and  training  facilities  adapted  to  the  complex 
requirements  of  modern  biotechnology.  It  remains,  through 
additional  efforts  during  the  period  1987-1991,  to  intensify  the 
activities  of  this  large  multi-disciplinary,  polyvalent  "institute 
without  walls"  distributed  throughout  the  entire  territory  of  the 
Community  and,  now  that  the  foundations  of  a  transnational  network 
are  firmly  established,  to  stimulate  much  more  actively  than  in 
the  past,  joint  partnerships  at  Community  level  between 
universities  and  industries.  A  very  important  task,  in  this 
connexion,  wilt  be  the  continuation  and  amplification  of  long-term 
Community  research  leading  to  the  development  of  new  crop  plants 
adapted  to  the  industrial  requirements  of  the  Community  and  to  the 
promotion  of  innovative  technologies  for  the  exploitation  by 
industries  of  agricultural  feedstocks.

As  far  as  concertation  is  concerned,  the  work  initiated  in  1985 
for  assessing  the  strategic  significance  of  new  developments  in 
biotechnology  and  for  promoting  the  necessary  coherence  between 
the  various  areas  of  Community  policy  affecting  o r   affected  by 
biotechnology  needs  to  be  continued  and  amplified,  together  with 
the  promotion  of  the  concertation  necessary  between  Member  State 
and  Community  activities  in  biotechnology.

d.  The  action  includes  work  to  be  carried  out  as  cost-shared  actions 

(research),  training  and  concerted  actions.

/

3.6  -  3

3.6.2. Agro-Industrial technologies

a.  The  advances  of  modern  biology  and  biotechnology  have  increased  and 
will  continue  to  increase  agricultural  productivity;  throughout  the 
world,  developed  economies  face  the  prospect  of  growing  surpluses, 
with  heavy  economic  and  political  problems  of  disposal,  unless  they 
can  find  nex  uses  for  land,  new  ways  of  creating  real  value  from  the 
products  of  agriculture.  Advances  in  animal  and  plant  genetics,  in 
the  applications  of  science  on  the  farm,  and  in  the  conversion  and 
addition  of  value  to  agricultural  outputs,  particularly  by 
biotechnolgy,  enlarge  the  range  of  possible  source  materials  and  of 
industrial  products  obtainable  from  agriculure.  The  need  in  Europe  is 
particularly  urgent  because  of  past  successes  of  productivity;  the 
scope  for  innovation  expands  as  we  increase  our  understanding  of  plant 
molecular  genetics  and  physiology,  of  microbial  and  cellular 
metabolism,  and  of  enzymology  and  fermentation  science.  The  future  of 
agriculture  in  the  EC  will  depend  increasingly  on  developing  sources 
of  non-food  income.

b.  In  order  to  exploit  these  new  possibilities,  a  "total  system"  approach 

is  needed,  and  its  feasibility  needs  to  be  developed  and  convincingly 
demonstrated  by  exploratory,  pilot  and  demonstration  activities.
The  detailed  choice  of  activities  will  typically  be  driven  by  market 
considerations,  but  the  industries  concerned  must  interact  in  close 
partnership  with  the  research  laboratories  and  with  agricultural 
expertise.  Research,  development  and  pi lot/demonstration  activities 
will  be  sought  in  three  areas  :

-  the  industrial  inputs  to  agriculture;
-  new  product  and/or  production  opportunities  through  agro-industrial 

technologi e s ;

-  quality  and  production  competitiveness  in  food  products.

The  influence  of  the  Community  on  agricultural  policy,  the  importance 
of  a  "total  system"  approach  within  which  a  favourable  (or  non­
obstructive)  policy  context  is  required  at  European  level,  and  the 
desirability  of  pooling  experience  Europe-wide,  all  indicate  the  value 
of  setting  these  initiatives  in  the  context  of  a  Community  framework.

c.  The  biomolecular  engineering  programme  (1982-86)  has  been  focussed  on 

agriculture  and  food  industry  topics,  and  has  led  to  important 
advances  in  plant  genes  and  enzymology;  such  work  is  being  continued 
in  the  biotechnology  action  programme.  But  these  and  other 
breakthroughs  at  a  pre-competitive  level  require  innovations  at  the 
boundary  between  agriculuture  and  industry  to  enable  them  to 
contribute  to  socio-economic  objectives.  Evidence  from  other  areas 
(e.g.  energy  demonstration  projects)  demonstrates  the  value  and  need 
for  propagating  innovation  in  this  way.  Hitherto  no  such  provision 
has  been  made  in  Community  biotechnology  research  programmes;  although 
the  importance  of  such  systematic  promotion  is  increasingly  recognised 
both  in  Member  State  national  programmes  and  by  our  major  industrial 
competitors.

It  is  envisaged  that  the  proposed  actions,  carried  out  in  close 
correlation  with  the  actions  in  agricultural  research,  should  be 
shared  cost,  (up  to  50  %  of  full  costs).  Industrial  co-finance  and 
collaboration  will  be  actively  solicited.

*  

*

•k

The  Community  contribution  necessary  to  fund  these  activities  should 
be  in  the  range  of  350  to  460  MioECUS.  This  would  allow  to  provide  a 
transnational  dimension  to  the  main  efforts  carried  out  by  each  Member 
State  in  the  most  important  areas  of  biotechnology,  as  well  as 
starting  in  agro-industrial  technologies  three  projects  per  year  and 
per  Member  State  for  each  of  the  last  four  years  of  the  planned 
period.

3 . 7 - 1

3.7.  Materials  Science  and  Technology

a.  Advanced  materials  are  already,  and  will  remain  for  the  future, 

crucial  elements  in  almost  all  important  manufacturing  industries.
The  scientific  and  technical  progress  linked  with  materials  will  have 
a  considerable  effect  on  the  prosperity  of  sectors  such  as  motor 
vehicles,  aerospace,  shipbuilding,  railways,  electronics,  telematics, 
building,  energy  production,  biomedical  and  many  others.

This  field  includes  a  wide  variety  of  items  such  as  metals,  plastics, 
ceramics,  concrete,  glass,  electronic  materials  and  composites. 
Equally,  the  properties  to  be  improved  are  also  numerous  :  mechanical 
strength,  lightness,  stiffness,  cheapness,  flexibility,  electrical  and 
magnetic  properties,  high  or  low  temperature  related  properties,  etc.

The  considerable  economic  significance  of  this  area  is  best 
highlighted  by  the  following  figures  :  the  added  value  generated  by 
the  materials  industries  for  all  OECD  member  countries  may  be 
estimated  at  about  $  500  billion  and  the  corresponding  number  of  jobs 
at  20  mi llion.

It  is  with  advanced  materials  and  their  rational  use  that 
manufacturing  industries  will  be  able  to  improve  the  performance  of 
their  products  and  thus  make  them  more  competitive.  Advanced 
materials  will  also  contribute  to  the  rational  use  of  raw  materials 
and  energy  and  the  control  and  reduction  of  pollution.

b.  Europe  has  lost  some  ground  to  the  United  States  and  Japan.  Although 
there  are  materials  laboratories  with  a  high  reputation  in  Europe, 
their  innovative  capacity  is  in  decline.  This  failure  to  keep  up  in 
the  field  of  advanced  materials  bears  a  certain  similarity  to  what  has 
happened  in  the  field  of  information  technologies.  Europe's  creative 
spirit  is  receding  and  its  laboratories  are  less  efficient  than  their 
overseas  partners.  4  out  of  5  patents  on  materials  are  applied  for  by 
American  and  Japanese  companies  and  a  major  part  of  the  high 
technology  materials  available  in  Europe  is  either  produced  under 
license  or  imported  (carbon  fibers,  special  polymers,  etc.)

No  single  Member  State  can  afford  the  resources  necessary  to  be 
competitive  over  the  entire  spectrum  of  advanced  materials.  A 
Community  action  is  essential  to  encourage  worksharing  and  pooling  of 
financial  and  manpower  resources  on  the  european  scale.  Only  by 
reducing  duplications  and  sharing  large  research  facilities  and 
equipments  can  Europe  maintain  the  pace  with  its  overseas  competitors.

Effective  use  of  advanced  materials  is  essential  for  the  success  of 
the  products  of  European  Industry.  Development  of  improved  materials 
and  development  of  improved  techniques  for  exploiting  materials  make 
complementary  contributions  to  this  goal.  Although  generally 
distinct,  these  activities  must  be  carried  out  in  continuous  close 
inter-action. 
science  and  technology  and  the  work  in  the  area  of  technologies  for 
manufacturing  industry  (section  3.5)  are  and  will  be  carried  out  in 
close  consultation.

For  this  reason  the  work  in  the  area  of  materials 

3.7  -  2

c.  The  former  materials  research  programme  on  substitution  and  technical 
ceramics  was  rather  small.  It  was  limited  to  the  fundamental  aspects 
of  substitution  of  strategic  metals  such  as  chromium,  cobalt  and 
tungsten,  and  the  investigation  of  technical  ceramics  in  regard to 
ceramic  powder  preparation  and  characterization.

A  Community  action  commensurate  with  the  challenges  will  need  to 
address  the  following  wide  range  of  advanced  materials  which  are 
promising  in  terms  of  improved  or  new  performances,  functions  and 
applications.

The  effort  will  cover  fundamental  research  (understanding  of 
properties  and  phenomena)  as  well  as  technological  R&D  on  means  of 
processing,  testing,  characterising  and  producing  these  materials  :

-  engineering  ceramics  :  powder  quality  and  processing,  reliability, 

brittleness,  shaping;

-  polymers  :  in  particular  investigation  of  new  types  of  polymers  with 
high  thermo-mechanical  properties,  large  stability  area,  polymer 
blends,  and  conducting  polymers;

-  composite  materials  and  fibres  :  further  development  of  organic 

matrix  composites  and  high  strength  fibres;  optimisation  of  metallic 
matrix  composites  with  ceramic  fibres;  special  composites  with 
amorpheous,  vitreous,  or  elastic  matrices;  matrix/fibres  interface 
phenomena;

-  advanced  metal  alloys  :  light  and  hard  metal  alloys,  magnetic 

alloys;  powder  techniques  (rapid  solidification),  near  net  shape 
forming;

-  electronic  materials  science  :  including  special  semi-conductors

( 11 / VI  amorphous,  organic,  etc...)  and  biomaterials  (detailed  work 
to  be  defined  in  relation  with  activities  described  under  items  3.1 
and  3.4);

-  amorpheous  and  disordered  materials  :  special  materials  including 

glasses,  vitreous  materials,  non  crystalline  solids,  such  as 
amorpheous  metallic  alloys,  prepared  by  fast  quenching.

Other  areas  which  could  also  be  considered  at  Community  level 
depending  on  resources  available  include  :  superconducting  materials, 
advanced  building  materials,  and  biomaterials.

A  Community  pilot  laboratory  integrating  equipments  for  advanced 
materials  synthesis  and  processing  research  should  be  set  up  in  the 
JRC.  This  ion/laser/electron  foundry,  would  operate  as  a  demonstrator 
project  open  to  industrial  participation  and  researchers  from  alt 
Member  States.

More  specific  orientations  and  the  allocation  of  the  Community 
resources  between  fundamental  research  and  technological  R&D  and  among 
the  various  material  families,  materials  for  specific  functional 
applications,  and  processes  will  be  defined  and  reviewed  on  the  basis 
of  economic  studies  and  surveys  on  new  opportunities  and  industrial 
requirements  and  taking  into  account  the  national  activities.

Most  of  the  research  will  be  carried  out  through  cost-shared  projects 
with  an  average  Community  funding  of  50  %.

Concerted  projects  will  also  be  considered,  where  appropriate,  to 
encourage  sharing  of  information  and  experience  between  well 
established  teams  from  different  Member  States.

The  Community  will  also  promote  the  development  of  data  bases,  the 
training  of  scientists  and  the  transfer  of  knowledge  through 
conferences  and  symposia.

Considering  the  strategic  importance  of  materials  research  for  the 
European  industry,  the  Community  RSD  effort  should  be  substantially 
increased  to  improve  the  strategic  coherence  of  the  national  efforts 
which  are  still  too  fragmented  and  to  keep  up  with  the  massive  efforts 
in  the  United  States  and  Japan.

The  effort  estimated  necessary  for  the  1987-1991  period  is  estimated 
between  200  and  300  MioECUs.  This  level  of  effort  corresponds  to 
about  20  %  of  the  present  Member  States  effort  (excluding  military 
research).

3.8  -  1

3.8.  Marine  Science  and  Technology

a.  The  oceans  are  the  last  frontier,  the  least  known  part  of  our  planet. 
They  cover  70  %  of  its  surface  area,  have  been  used  by  man  from  times 
immemorial  to  reach  other  continents  and  to  supply  him  with  food  and 
other  resources.  Yet,  it  is  only  fairly  recently  that  their 
multifarious  role  has  been  fully  apprehended.

They  play  a  fundamental  function  in  the  mechanism  of  climate,  provide 
living  resources  for  food,  feed,  fertilizers,  drugs;  their  continental 
shelves  conceal  large  reserves  of  hydrocarbons,  the  deep  ocean  bottom 
is  a  potential  source  of  minerals.  Sea  water  itself  is  a  solution  of 
many  chemicals  useful  to  man.  The  ocean  is  also  the  ultimate 
depository  of  the  wastes  from  human  activity,  which  may  threaten  its 
equilibrium.  Its  capacity  to  absorb  carbon  dioxide  from  the  atmosphere 
may  determine  whether  man  will  eventually  cause  an  irreversible  and 
unfavourable  modification  of  the  climate.

The  increasing  realization  of  the  importance  of  the  marine  environment 
to  man  has  led  recently  to  the  preparation  and  adoption  by  many 
countries  of  the  Law  of  the  Sea.

It  is  important  for  the  EC  to  gain  a  better  knowledge  of  the  seas 
around  it  in  order  to  better  protect  and  exploit  them.  In  fact,  a 
sizeable  research  effort  is  already  devoted  to  marine  sciences  and 
technologies  in  the  Member  States,  in  the  civilian  and  military 
sectors.  It  is  estimated  that  public  non-defense  R&D  expenditure  in 
this  area  amounts  currently  to  about  400  -500  MioECUs  per  year.  This  is 
comparable  to  US  funding  for  non-military  research,  whereas  Japan 
spends  about  200  MioECUs.

It  appears  at  this  juncture  that  many  of  the  national  research 
programmes  are  being  re-assessed  or  renewed,  or  that  new  integrated 
programmes  will  soon  be  launched.  A  coordination  at  Community  level 
appears  thus  particularly  timely.

( *)

in  this  broad  field  is  justified  on  several 

A  specific  EC  action 
grounds  :  use  of  large  or  expensive  equipment  straining  the  resources 
of  any  single  country,  the  optimization  of  the  utilization  of  existing 
facilities  (research  vessels,  submersibles,  etc.),  complementarity  of 
skills  and  competences  available  in  the  various  Member  States,  the 
application  of  research  results  for  the  implementation  of  Community 
policies,  aid  to  developing  countries,  the  contribution  to  the 
development  of  the  internal  market  through  the  acceptance  of  common 
norms  and  standards,  etc.
There  is  indeed  a  large  scope  for  cooperating  at  EC  level.

b.  In  marine_ sciences,  the  objectives  would  be  :

1.  A  better  knowledge  and  understanding  of  the  EEZ  (exclusive  economic 

zone)  of  the  Member  States  (physical,  chemical,  biological, 
geological).  Regional  oceanography  projects  would  deal  respectively

There  are  at  present  several  ongoing  or  proposed  EC  research  programmes 
concerned  in  part  with  marine  problems  :  environmental  protection, 
remote  sensing,  navigation,  materials,  energy,  fisheries, 
radioprotection,  radio-active  waste  disposal,  etc.,  but  no  integrated 
action.

3.8  -  2

with  the  Mediterranean,  the  East  Atlantic,  the  Channel  and  North 
Sea,  the  Baltic.  Developing  countries  could  be  aided  in  similar 
studies  of  their  EEZ.

2.  The  scientific  basis  for  coastal  management  and  protection,  for 
which  Member  States  share  common  problems  and  preoccupations.

3.  A  contribution  to  the  understanding  of  the  arctic  and  antarctic 

regions.

In  marine  technologies  (which  would  contribute  i.a.  to  solving  the 
above-mentioned  problems),  the  objectives  might  be  :

1.  To  develop  jointly  the  next  generation  of  marine  instrumentation 

(buoys  systems,  underwater  acoustics,  unmanned  submersible  vehicles, 
autonomous  pollution  monitors,  etc.).

2.  To  promote  the  construction  of  a  deep  ocean  drilling  ship,  which 

would  provide  a  European  capability  in  this  field.

A  number  of  supporting  and  less  costly  initiatives  could  also  be 
implemented  to  further  European  marine  sciences  and  technologies  such 
as  :

1.  The  establishment  of  a  "clearing-house"  to  optimize  the  use  of  the 
high  sea  oceanographic  vessels  and  other  expensive  equipment  such 
as  the  existing  exploration  submarines  and  facilities  to  study  large 
marine  ecosystems  ("mesocosms"),  etc.

2.  The  training  of  scientific  manpower  in  the  oceanological 

disciplines,  including  for  scientists  from  the  developing  countries.

3.  The  development  of  data  bases  on  marine  science  and  technology.

4.  The  acquisition  of  a  minority  participation  in  large  facilities, 

mobile  or  not,  in  order  to  gain  access  to  them  for  the  Member  States 
which  were  not  involved  in  their  initial  funding.

A  sharper  definition  of  the  EC  activities  will  require  further 
consultation  of  government  authorities,  industry  and  the  scientific 
community,  possibly  by  means  of  "announcements  of  opportunities".

In  view  of  the  substantial  activities  carried  out  by  Member  States,  it 
is  likely  that  the  action  will  be  executed  by  means  of  (reinforced) 
concerted  action,  shared  cost  action  and,  possibly,  minority 
participation  and  joint  undertakings.

The  means  required  for  a  significant  action  at  Community  level  should 
be  determined  at  a  later  stage,  before  the  format  proposal  of  the 
Commission  is  submitted.  The  corresponding  amount  will  be  drawn  from 
the  financial  reserve  mentioned  in  the  summary  table.

3.9  -  1

3.9.  Transport

3.9.1. General Action

a.  Research  in  the  Member  States  has  produced  results  that  put  the 

Community  on  the  same  footing  as  the  most  advanced  industrialized 
countries  in  terms  of  new  transport  techniques.

However,  these  results  have  often  been  obtained  from  rival 
research  programmes  which,  although  possibly  spurred  on  for  that 
very  reason,  lead  where  uses  are  concerned  to  damaging 
situations  :

-  projects  for  public  services  or  captive  markets  have  great 

difficulty  in  finding  uses  in  the  Community  or  the  rest  of  the 
world.  This  is  the  case,  for  example,  in  high-speed  track  guided 
transport  on  land  and  in  urban  transport;

-  projects  for  normal  commercial  purposes  that  have  met  with 
competitive  worldwide  success  up  to  more  recent  years  are 
affected  by  the  crisis  and  will  face  growing  international 
competition.  This  is  the  case,  in  particular,  of  road  and 
maritime  transport.

On  the  other  hand,  projects  involving  international  cooperation, 
after  the  disappointing  commercial  showing  of  certain  technical 
successes  that  were  poorly  suited  to  the  market,  have  finally 
given  transport  operators  the  products  they  need,  the  chief 
example  being  the  airbus  programme.

The  Community's  technological  capital  in  the  transport  sector  must 
therefore  break  out  of  the  usual  national  straightjacket.  It  is  on 
this  that  the  productivity  of  research  and  utilization  of  results 
hinge,  and  what  is  at  stake  is  whether  the  Community  transport 
sector  can  :

-  adapt  to  the  new  demand  in  trade  within  the  Community  and  with 

the  rest  of  the  world  (network  changes,  effects  of  new 
techniques,  changes  in  the  quality  and  quantity  of  traffic 
patterns);

-  respond  to  the  constraints  of  the  economic  situation  and  the 

social  environment;

-  be  competitive  in  the  Community  economy  and  rise  to  the 

challenge  from  outside  Europe  and,  in  so  doing,  be  a  carrier 
market  for  the  Community  transport  equipment  industries.

b.  The  common  transport  policy  is  designed  to  ensure  that  the 

Community  transport  system  does  its  job  with  the  help  of  all  modes 
of  transport,  without  favouring  or  penalizing  one  or  the  other.
The  provisions  to  emerge  from  the  Treay  are  conceived  on  this 
basi s .

But  research  must  provide  the  way  for  the  transport  system  to 
adapt  in  the  long-term  to  requirements.

3.9  -  2

In  this  respect,  the  changes  and  increase  in  demand,  the  economic 
situation,  the  constraints  and  the  effects  produced  by  other 
sectors  are  considerable  factors  and  will  continue  to  develop.

Research  must  therefore  centre  on  the  following  :

-  for  track-guided  transport  :

.  automation  of  traffic  monitoring,  signalling  and  track 

equipment;

.  simulation  of  train-driving;
.  lightening,  noise  reduction  and  aerodynamics  of  vehicles;
.  linear  motors;
.  effects  on  passengers  (e.g.  travelling  through  tunnels)  and  on 

the  environment  (e.g.  noise,  unsightliness).

-  for  road  trafic  :

.  analysis  of  road  accidents;
.  improvement  of  the  safety  of  heavy  goods  and  passenger 

veh icles;

.  optimation  of  the  electric  vehicle.

-  for  maritime  transport  :

.  ship  management,  maintenance,  functions,  condition,  economic 

routing;

.  configuration  and  performance  of  the  ship,  sturdiness  of  the 

hull,  resistance  to  forward  motion;

.  new  types  of  ship  and  unconventional  propulsion  equipment  to 

meet  commercial  requirements;
.  management  of  maritime  traffic;
.  man-ship  system.

-  for  air  transport  :

.  flammability  and  toxicity  of  materials  used  in  the  cabin;
.  rationalization  and  modernization  of  air  traffic  control.

Community  action  will  be  called  upon  :

-  both  as  a  complement  to  schemes  in  the  Member  States  when 
national  programmes  coexist  and  cooperation  is  needed  for 
greater  efficiency  and  easier  dissemination  of  results  and, 
possibly,  standardization;

-  and  when  themes  require  a  Community  dimension  because  of  the 
resources  needed,  the  lack  of  incentive  from  regulations  or 
commercial  prospects,  or  the  final  use  of  Community  interest.

c.  Although  no  R&D  programmes  in  the  transport  sector  have  been 
implemented  by  the  Community  a  number  of  projects  concerning 
transport  have  shed  a  certain  amount  of  light  :

-  COST  projects  on  transport;
-  concerted  Community  action  (COST  301)  on  navigation  aids;
-  transport  projects  in  the  "Non-Nuclear  Energy"  programmes  or  the 

"Energy  Saving"  demonstration  programmes.

3.9 - 3

This  gives  rise  to  the  need  for  :

-  either  shared-cost  projects  or  concerted  action  schemes 

depending  on  the  case  in  question;

-  possible  association  with  non-Community  countries  that  are 

members  of  COST;

-  possible  additional  programmes  for  a  certain  number  of  projects.

The  importance  of  transport  research  differs  widely  from  one 
Member  State  to  another  although  it  is  a  major  item  in  non-member 
countries  that  are  geographically  significant  for  Community 
transport,  such  as  Switzerland,  Austria  and  the  Scandinavian 
countries.  It  sometimes  requires  substantial  funds  but  in  a  large 
number  of  cases  its  prime  need  is  for  momentum,  incentive  or  even 
simple  cooperation.

d.  A  general  research  action  with  a  budget  of  50-80  MioECUs  would 

enable  considerable  impetus  to  be  given  to  the  transport  sector. 
This  action  is  complemented  in  the  field  of  road  safety  with  a 
specific  activity  aimed  at  applying  information  technology  and 
telecommunications  (see  "DRIVE",  described  in  point  3.3.).

3.9.2.  Aeronautical Technology

a.  The  European  aeronautical  industry  is  a  major  source  of  strength 
to  the  countries  of  the  Community.  It  designs  and  manufactures  a 
full  range  of  fixed  and  rotary-wing  aircraft.  Substantial  volumes 
of  aircraft,  engines  and  equipment  are  exported.  The  industry  is  a 
"leading-edge"  developer  and  user  of  advanced  design  techniques, 
materials  and  manufacturing  methods.  Over  and  above  the  direct 
benefit  of  advanced  technology  in  its  own  business,  the  industry 
transfers  important  technological  benefits  to  other  industries  - 
in  areas  such  as  composite  materials,  joining  techniques,  etc..

The  commercial  success  of  an  aeronautical  product  is  vitally 
dependent  upon  the  quality  of  design  and  manufacturing  technology 
which  it  incorporates.  Thus,  all  readily  available  advanced 
technology  is  routinely  exploited  and  further  advancement  of  the 
state-of-the-art  is  costly,  not  only  because  of  the  refinement  of 
technologies  as  such  but  also  because  of  the  extreme  care  which  is 
taken  to  verify  the  adequacy  of  new  technologies  from  a  flight 
safety  point  of  view.

Despite  the  high  cost  of  furthering  technology,  the  pace  of 
advance  in  the  world  market  is  high.  Although  European  research 
continues  to  make  notable  contributions  to  aeronautical 
technology,  the  prevailing  state-of-the-art  is  overwhelmingly 
determined  by  the  very  large  US  aeronautical  research  effort.  This 
US  research  effort  is  partly  funded  by  the  US  industry,  but  it 
benefits  in  addition  from  very  large  US  government  support  under 
programmes  pursued  by  NASA  and  by  DOD.  The  scale  of  US  research 
activity,  both  generally  and  in  notable  programmes  such  as  SDI  and 
the  hypersonic  transatmospheric  aircraft,  is  such  that  the  pace  of 
technology  advance  outstrips  the  capacity  of  the  European 
aeronautical  industry,  supported  by  national  government 
programmes,  to  remain  abreast  of  the  prevailing  technological 
state-of-the-art.

3.9  -  4

b.  The  Commission  believes  that  this  situation  calls  for  remedial 

action  at  European  level.  Reliance  upon  licensing  or  importation 
of  US  technology  does  not  seem  to  be  an  acceptable  basis  for  the 
long  term  success  of  the  industry.  Equally,  solving  the  problem  by 
increasing  individual  national  support  programmes  does  not  provide 
an  efficient  remedy.  For  these  reasons,  the  Commission  believes 
that  steps  now  must  be  taken  to  review  the  longer  term  research 
needs  of  all  the  European  aeronautical  industry  with  a  view  to 
developing  a  harmonized  programme  for  medium  to  long-term  research 
requirements.  In  doing  so  it  believes  that  the  very  favourable 
experience  of  the  management  approaches  used  in  the  ESPRIT 
programme  and  in  the  BRITE  programme,  involving  a  major 
participation  of  the  industries  in  the  definition  and  guidance  of 
the  programmes  pursued,  should  be  taken  into  account.  Specific 
proposals  for  the  construction  of  an  action  are  not  yet  possible 
since  further  consultation  with  industry  and  with  Member  States' 
administrations  will  be  required.

c.  As  regards  the  scale  of  activity  which  should  be  contemplated,  it 

can  be  expected  that  to  achieve  a  significant  effect,  the  scale  of 
action  must  be  some  measurable  fraction  of  the  present  level  of 
aeronautical  research.  This  wouLd  imply,  for  the  Community  as  a 
whole,  activity  at  the  level  of  some  hundreds  of  MioECUs  per  year. 
The  corresponding  Community  contribution  would  be  drawn  from  the 
financial  reserve  mentioned  in  the  summary  table.

3.10 - 1

10.  Scientific  Norms,  Reference  Materials  and  Methods

The  satisfaction  of  the  need  for  further  harmonisation  and 
standardization  is  one  of  the  major  objectives  of  a  number  of 
Community  policies  :  the  completion  of  the  internal  market,  energy, 
consumer  protection,  agriculture,  environment  and  health.

In  addition  to  the  need  for  harmonisation  of  written  standards  is 
the  need  to  demonstrate  the  quality  of  a  product  and  to  prove  that  _ 
it  conforms  to  either  a  standard  or  regulation,  (this  requiring 
testing,  measurements  and  analysis).  Further  there  is  a  need  for 
research  and  data  bases  to  promote  and  facilitate  the  establishment 
of  written  standards.

Each  Member  State  possesses  a  metrology  service.  This  functions  as  a 
high  level  scientific  body  ensuring  the  standardization  of  the  most 
fundamental  units  and  that  there  is  agreement  throughout  the  country 
of  all  measurements.

The  provision  of  such  basic  metrological  infrastructure  necessary 
for  industrial  developments,  is  in  every  country  -  also  in  the  USA 
and  Japan  -  considered  to  be  a  public  service.

Problems  of  this  kind  have,  however,  often  a  transnational, character 
and  the  Community  can,  because  of  its  neutrality,  play  an  essential 
role  in  overcoming  differences  in  particular  by  using  know-how 
developed  in  its  laboratories  and  by  coordinating  the  efforts  of 
national,  public  and  industrial  laboratories.

.  The  actions  of  the  Community  in  this  area  are  threefold  :

1.  The  BCR  programme  has  established  efficient  means  of 

collaboration  between  the  metrology  institutes  within  the 
Community,  which  have  allowed  a  large  number  of  measurement 
problems  to  be  resolved  via  the  more  than  80  collaborative 
projects  sofar  executed.  This  collaboration  will  be  expanded  in 
particular  with  regard  to  the  development  of  the  measurement 
methods  required  by  the  new  technologies.

The  BCR  programme  will  also  establish,  for  those  areas  not 
covered  by  national  authorities,  collaborations  leading  to,  above 
all,  improvements  in  analytical  techniques  and  the  production  of 
ancillary  measurement  methods  recognized  at  the  Community  level. 
In  this  way  it  will  be  possible  to  ensure  traceability  of 
analyses  and  tests  in  such  difficult  and  varied  fields  as  health, 
the  environment  and  food,  not  forgetting  the  need  of  industry.

The  emphasis  on  standardization  for  the  completion  of  the 
internal  market  and  other  policies  and  the  introduction  of  new 
technologies  will  increase  the  demand  for  such  activities.

2.  The  programme  of  reference  measurements  and  materials  will 

continue  in  our  own  uniquely  qualified  laboratories  in  Geel,  and 
in  association  with  similar  large  institutes  both  within  the 
Community  and  the  rest  of  the  world,  to  establish  nuclear  data, 
principally  for  neutron  induced  reactions,  where  this  is

3.10  -  2

necessary  for  applications  involving  nuclear  fusion  and  fission. 
In  addition  an  important  part  of  the  measurement  and  reference 
material  activity  will  relate  to  radioactive  sources,  neutron 
flux  and  doses,  target  materials  and  the  analyses  of  fissile 
materials  and  isotopic  compositions.  Geel  will  also  use  its 
experience  in  the  nuclear  field  to  collaborate  increasingly  with 
BCR  in  other  areas.

3.  The  JRC  activities  on  materials  and  structures,  conducted  in 

Petten  and  Ispra,  will  be  increased  to  respond  to  the  growing 
need  for  improved  reliability  and  standardization.  The  emphasis 
will  be  on  the  development  of  reliability  methods,  models  and 
codes  of  practice  for  industrial  structures  and  on  research  and 
data  bases  on  the  behaviour  of  materials  under  extreme 
performance  conditions  with  the  aim  to  promote  standards.

Increasingly,  collaboration  will  be  established  with  Community 
shared  cost  actions  (e.g.  BRITE  and  EURAM)  and  with  national 
laboratories.

c.  The  Community  financial  effort  necessary  to  carry  out  this  action  is

estimated  between  300  and  350  MioECUs.

4 . 1 - 1

4. 

QUALITY  OF  LIFE

4.1. 

Health

a.  Each  Member  State, 

is 
primarily  responsible  for  promoting  and  preserving  the  health  of  its 
citizens  but  becomes  increasingly  overcharged  by  the  steadily  mounting 
costs  of  health  care  which  is  escaping  national  control.

with  its  long  experience  and  vast  resources, 

Global  health  expenditures  are  presently  estimated  to  superate  yearly 
150  milliard  ECU  in  the  Community  of  which  less  than  one  percent  (about 
1.2  milliard  ECU)  are  spent  for  medical  and  public  health  research. 
However,  research  efforts  at  national  level  atone  prove  to  be  insufficient.

Since  most  national  programmes  consist  of  a  large  number  of  relative  small 
projects  carried  out  by  relative  small  and  scattered  research  teams,  co­
ordination  of  cooperation  is  indispensable. 
Especially  a  Community  effort 
of  pooling  in  advanced  fields  (such  as  application  of  modern  biotechnology, 
medical  informatics,  advanced  medical  technology)  the  more  or  less  scarce 
national  expertise  and  of  jointly  exploring  new  R,  D&D  avenues  will  create 
a  real  innovation  potential  capable  to  solve  major  health  care  problems  and 
to  curb  health  care  expenditures  efficiently,  and  will  contribute  to  the 
industrial  development.

b.  The  Community  effort  will  focus  on  three  main  R,  D&D  areas  :

Co-ordination  of  medical  and  public  health  research,  oriented  towards  :
_ major  health  problems  common  to  all  Member  Staites,  by  including  as  new 
targets  CANCER  (as  follow-up  of  the Luxemburg  summit)  and  AIDS  (at
request  of  the  European  Parliament), 
and  by  continuing  either  ones 
referring  to  age  related  (including  disabilities)  and  to  environment  and 
life-style  related  health  problems,  respectively.

. improvement  and  joint  use  of  health  resources,  encompassing  both  medical 
and  health  services  research  (research  on  health 

D&D 

technology 
R, 
care  delivery  and  organization).

For  such  an  effort 
investment  at  Community  level  (e.g. 
processing  with  cost  reduction  of  only 10%  will  save  100  Mio 
y e a r !)

there  will  be  a high  return  value  for 

electrocardiography  : 

low-cost
improvement  in
ECUs  per

Development  of  predictive  medicine  and  novel  therapy  :  this  new  intention
will  promote  the  application  of  modern  biotechnologies  in  their  most 
in  particular,  to  very  early 
advanced  aspects  to  the  medical  field  and, 
diagnosis  of  diseases  and  novel  methods  of  treatment. 
R,  D&D  will 
mainly  be  oriented  towards  better  knowledge  of  the  human  genoma,  immunity 
technology 
infections), 
genetic  engineering 
in  congenital  diseases  of  genetic  origine),  and  industrial  production  of 
diagnostic  tests  kits  (e.g.  AIDS).

procedures permitting  to  repair  DNA  defects 

(applicable  to  cancer, 

auto-immune  diseases, 

(e.g.

Its 

biotechnologies 

Such  Community  attempt  will  fill  in  some  gaps  subsisting  in  the  scientific 
and  technological  knowledge  (gaps  which  prevent  the  full  utilization  of 
a  European 
modern 
transnational  cooperation, 
speed  up  the  implementation  of  technologies 
already  applicable, 
and  at  the  same  time  promote  a  European  scientific 
milieu  which  generates  a  high  innovation  potential  with  promising  economic 
impact.

medical 

field), 

favour 

the 

in 

4.1  -  2

Improvement  of  occupational  medicine  as  continuing  institutional  task  is 
carried  out  under  the  ECSC  Treaty. 
The  inherent  activities  are  oriented 
towards  presenting  health  problems  and  occupational  diseases  associated 
They  will 
with  the  specific  environment  of  coal  and  steel  industries. 
research  on  chronic  diseases  such  as  those  of  the  respiratory 
include 
system, 
as  well  as  on  other  diseases  of  workers  in 
physiopathology, 
steelworks,  cooking  plants,  coal  and  iron  mines  such  as  back  problems,  skin 
diseases,...  and  aim  at  further  improvement  of  health  standards  in  the  ECSC 
industries  by  establishment  of  links  between  occupational  diseases  and 
workplace  nuisances, 
detection  techniques,  mitigation  measures.

and  by  development  of  preventive  measures,  early

both  among 
Occupational  diseases  are  among  the  major  cause  of  morbidity, 
miners  and  among  workers  in  cooking  plants  and  in  the  iron  and  steel 
industries,  and  hence  present  a  community-wide  problem.

c.  The  medical  and  public  health  research  include  two  new  targets  (cancer  and 
AIDS), 
the  continuing  ones  will  undergo  changes  in  their  S/T  content  (by 
terminating  several  projects,  reorienting  other  ones  and  adding  new  ones). 
Thus,  the  total  number  of  projects  will  increase  from  presently  30  to  more 
than  70. 
ordination  and  all  evaluation  reports  proved  its  scientific,  medico-social 
and  economic  value.

Past  experience  has  confirmed  the  importance  of  gradual  co­

The  predictive  medicine  and  novel  therapy  is  a  new  undertaking  based  on 
past  experience  from  the  Biotechnology  programmes  which  gives  confidence  in 
a  real  efficiency  of  such  operation.

The  third  area  includes  continuing  activities  under  the  ECSC  Treaty.

d.  The  medical  and  public  health  research  will  be  carried  out  by  means  of  the 
concerted  action  method  with  increased  support  to  centralized  facilities, 
the  predictive  medicine  and  novel  therapy  by  shared  cost  (or  marginal  cost) 
action,  and  the  occupational  medicine  through  contracts.

e.  The  Community  funding  needed  to  support  R,  D&D  in  the  above  areas  for  the 
period  1987  to  1991  is  estimated  to  amount  between  140  and  160  MioECUs. 
Additional  to  this  amount  is  the  research  on  occupational  medicine  covered 
by  the  ECSC  budget.

As  a  comparison, 
research  the  yearly  cost  of  research  , 
estimated  at  more  than  200  MioECUs  in  1987  at 
1990, 
activities.

in  the  sole  field  of  the  medical  and  public  health 
is 
more  than  400  MioECUs  in 
which  then  corresponds  to  a  co-ordination  of  25%  of  total  national 

performed  in  Member  States, 

4.2  -  1

4.2.  Safety

a.  No  human  activity  can  be  risk  free.  People  are  exposed  to  a  variety 
of  hazards  in  every  aspect  of  life  :  physical  from  various  human 
activities  and  the  forces  of  nature,  chemical  from  acute  and  chronic 
poisons,  or  even  biological  ones.  In  addition,  with  the  advance  of 
technology,  new  risk  factors  are  added  and  their  control  becomes  more 
complex.  Against  this  background,  public  interest  and  concern  in 
maintaining  a  safe  environment  are  growing.

Many  of  the  safety  issues  that  are  encountered  are  similar  in  nature 
throughout  the  Community,  and  thus  permit  common  solutions  to  be 
economically  developed  and  used.  Community  approach  is  often  the  best 
solution  when  a  considerable  investment  in  time,  money  and  effort  is 
required,  and  the  knowledge  gained  by  research  effectively  transferred 
into  application.

b.  The  proposed  effort  will  focus  on  selected  safety  issues  such  as  risks 
inherent  to  industrial  and  other  human  activities,  fires,  special 
technologies  for  hazardous  environments,  and  natural  hazards.  Primary 
prevention  will  have  a  high  priority.

1.  Characteristic  for  many  industrial  activities  is  that  they  raise  a 
diversity  of  safety  problems  whose  solutions  call  for  sizeable 
effort,  considerable  expertise,  and  in  many  cases  due  consideration 
of  issues  of  social,  legal,  etc...  nature.  An  integrated  approach 
for  safety  -  allowing  environmental  and  other  constraints  and  also 
technological  advances  to  be  taken  thoroughly  into  account  as  they 
become  known  -  is  playing  an  increasing  importance.

The  work  wilt  concentrate  on  technological  hazards  of  potentially 
significant  importance,  occupational  groups  exposed  to  a  higher 
accident  risk  than  the  rest  of  the  population,  and  major  risk 
factors  that  are  common  to  several  industries  :

« The  research  on  major  technological  hazards  will  be  oriented 

towards  the  understanding,  prevention,  and  mitigation  of 
consequences  of  important  chemical/petrochemical  accidents.  The 
problem  of  preventing  and  mitigating  such  events  is  shared  by  the 
entire  chemical/petrochemical  sector;  the  need  therefore  is  felt 
for  appropriate  Community  regulation  and  research  support.  The 
EC  directive  "on  major  hazards  of  certain  industrial  activities" 
is  a  first  step.

- Improvement  in  occupational  safety  in  the  coal  and  iron/steel 
industries  as  a  continuing  institutional  task  is  carried  out 
under  the  ECSC  Treaty.  In  this  field  further  co-ordinated  work 
is  needed  at  the  Community  level  to  assist  in  the  application  of 
research  results.

- The  rationale  for  activities  concerning  radiation  protection 

originates  from  the  obligations  of  the  Commission  to  maintain 
relevant  competences  as  laid  down  in  the  EURATOM  Treaty  and  in 
directives.  Scientific  support  is  important  for  the  assessment, 
management  and  political  evaluation  of  problems  of  radiation 
risk,  which  is  an  area  of  Community-wide  public  concern.

4„2  ~   2

2.  Almost  80  %  of  all  accidents  are  happening  in  the  private 
environment,  i.e.  in  connection  with  activities  at  home, 
recreation,  sport,  etc»..  The  corresponding  costs  for  insurance, 
medical  care,  etc...  ar e  several  tens  of  billions  of  ECUs  every 
year.  In  addition,  there  are  considerable  losses  of  production.

At  the  Community  level  no  common  effort  has  been  made  sofar  to 
reduce  the  above  expenses  while  there  are  ongoing  activities  in  the 
USA  and  Japan.

The  proposed  research  will  concentrate  on  the  elimination  of  risks 
in  the  private  environment,  in  particular  it  will  focus  on 
accidents  due  to  the  introduction  of  new  kind  of  home-equipments, 
on  relevant  data  banks,  on  consumer  protection  against  dangerous 
products,  on  special  products  for  the  elderly,  handicapped, 
chi Idren,  e t c ...

3.  The  overall  cost  of  fires  within  the  Community  has  been  estimated 

to  an  average  of  almost  1  %  of  6NP.  Whereas  fire-fighting 
techniques  are  generally  well  developed,  methods  of  optimizing 
levels  of  protection  are  still  at  the  empirical  stage.

The  proposed  fire  safety  effort  should  produce  a  scientifically 
based  approach  and  develop  relevant  quantitative  engineering 
techniques.  The  work  will  focus  on  three  areas  :  research  for 
harmonization  and  regulation  purposes,  basic  fire  research,  and 
applied  research.

4.  Remote  handling  technology  has  the  potential  to  extend  man's  access 
to  the  natural  wealth  of  the  world  and  the  range  of  his  productive 
activities  in  incompatible  or  dangerous  environments.  Such 
hazardous  domains  include  plants  in  key  industries  (handling 
radioactive,  biologically  active,  toxic  or  combustible  materials), 
the  space  and  the  oceans.  There  is  also  a  public  service  domain 
concerned  with  firefighting,  etc...

An  estimated  Community  market  for  this  technology  of 
500  MioECUs/year  from  1990,  of  which  at  that  time  about  1/3  would 
be  nuclear,  is  large  enough  to  serve  as  a  springboard  into  a  world 
market,  but  only  if  the  R&D  effort  can  be  focused  and  user-led 
demonstrations  coordinated.

The  proposed  effort  will  focus  on  the  three  most  relevant  problem 
areas  :  demonstrations  of  prototypes  (each  typical  of  a  class  of
applications),  user  and  technician  education,  and  underlying 
research.

5.  Although  destructive  natural  events  may  occur  Locally,  their 
economic  impact  is  going  to  be  shared  by  all  the  Community. 
Moreover,  some  hazards,  as  for  instance  earthquakes,  are  shared  by 
various  countries  of  the  EC,  so  that  the  ways  and  means  of  early 
alert,  and  efficient  prevention  and  mitigation,  are  a  matter  of 
Community  cooperation  in  a  multidisciplinary  approach  and  in  a 
coordinated  adoption  of  corrective  measures.  Community  cooperation 
is  therefore  particularly  appropriate  in  fields  where  it  is 
necessary  to  build  up  efficient  means  for  rapid  information 
exchange,  thorough  data  storage  and  trans-frontier  establishment  of 
survey  networks.

4.2  -  3

Natural  disasters  research  in  the  EEC  will  focus  upon  a  selected 
yet  typical  and  frequent  events  such  as  earthquakes,  storms,  floods 
and  forest  fires,  which  are  likely  to  cause  increased  loss  and 
damage  to  densely  populated  areas.  Depletion  of  land  resources  due 
to  drought  in  vulnerable  ecological  and  societal  contexts  should 
also  be  taken  account  of.

c.  Safety  R,  D&D  by  its  nature  requires  continuity.  The  following 

evolution  is  foreseen  :

The  scope  of  the  current  programme  on  technological  hazards/industrial 
risks  will  be  broaden.

The  occupational  safety  effort  includes  continuing  activities  under 
the  ECSC  Treaty.

As  far  as  work  on  radiation  protection  is  concerned,  projects  of  a 
more  fundamental  character  wilt  be  gradually  diminished,  increasing 
emphasis  will  be  given  to  scenarios  of  accidental  and  environmental 
exposure,  their  consequences  for  man  and  society,  and  the  reduction  of 
exposure  using  risk  evaluation  and  optimization,  in  support  of  EC 
Basic  Safety  Standards.

The  coordinated  efforts  in  the  fields  of  private  environment,  fire 
safety,  and  special  technologies  for  hazardous  environment  represent 
new  initiatives.

The  existing  climatology  and  natural  hazards  research  programme 
includes  the  study  of  the  mechanisms  and  impacts  of  some  extreme 
climatic  events  and  of  earthquakes,  but  so  far  with  appropriations 
which  are  very  much  below  the  real  needs.

d.  Work  will  be  apportioned  according  to  the  best  availability  of 
competences  and  with  a  view  to  the  maximum  possible  benefits  :

The  major  technological  hazards  effort  will  be  carried  out  by  means  of 
in-house-,  cost  shared-,  and  concerted  actions,  the  occupational 
safety  through  contracts,  and  the  radiation  protection  through  cost 
shared  action.The  work  on  risks  in  private  environment  will  be  carried 
out  mainly  by  means  of  cost  shared  actions  and  to  a  lesser  extend  by 
the  JRC,  whereas  the  work  on  fire  safety  by  concerted-  and  cost  shared 
actions,  the  efforts  on  special  technologies  for  hazardous 
environments  and  on  natural  hazards  through  cost  shared  actions.

e.  Community  funding  required  to  support  R,  D&D  in  the  above  safety 

related  areas  for  the  period  1987  to  1991  is  estimated  between  230  and 
280  MioECUs.  Additional  to  this  amount  is  the  research  on 
occupational  safety  covered  by  the  ECSC  budget.

It  is  estimated  that  the  work  on  radiation  protection  will  cover  a 
significant  part  (35  to  45  %)  of  all  pertinent  national  research 
(which  in  EUR  12  is  estimated  at  80  to  100  MioECUs/year)  in 
collaboration  with  almost  all  national  centres  of  expertise.  The 
effort  on  special  technologies  for  hazardous  environments  and  on 
natural  hazards  could  represent  between  5  to  10  %  of  the  Member  States 
spendings  in  those  fields.

4.3  -  1

4.3.  Environmental  Protection

a.  Preserving  and  improving  the  environment  is  now  universally  recognized 
as  an  absolute  prerequisite  to  ensure  man's  survival  and  his  material 
and  psychological  well-being.  Long-term  economic  development  is 
contingent  upon  the  conservation  and  wise  use  of  natural  resources.
Of  utmost  importance  is  also  the  prospect  of  climate  modification  and 
consequences  thereof.  Increasing  emphasis  is  given  also  to  the 
protection  and  conservation  of  our  cultural  heritage.

The  problems  involved  are  essentially  of  a  trans-frontier  nature.  The 
economic  implications  of  environmental  policy  have  made  it  imperative 
to  give  it  a  Community  dimension.  Science  and  technology  are  needed 
to  provide  a  sound  basis  for  regulations  as  well  as  the  techniques 
needed  to  correct  or  prevent  environmental  damage.  Setting  high 
environmental  quality  objectives  spurs  technical  innovation.  Industry 
is  induced  to  develop  environmentally  safer  technologies  which  may 
find  a  market  at  home  and  abroad.

b.  Community  cooperation  in  environmental  research  is  thus  particularly 
appropriate  as  it  supports  one  of  the  main  policies  of  the  Community 
which  must  rest  upon  a  body  of  sound  scientific  and  technical 
knowledge.  Whilst  the  EC  research  action  in  this  vast  and  diversified 
field  should  not,  and  could  not,  substitute  national  efforts  which  are 
often  very  important,  it  should  coordinate  them,  complement  them,  and 
evaluate  the  results  achieved.  It  can  also  mobilize,  in  large 
international  projects  (such  as  epidemiological  surveys),  the 
expertise,  skills  and  equipment  spread  over  the  territory  of  the 
Communi t y .

EC  research  on  the  environment  must  have  the  triple  aim  of  :

-  solving  immediate  problems  for  the  preparation  or  implementation  of 

current  acts  of  the  EC  environmental  policy;

-  identifying  and  investigating  environmental  issues  which  will  emerge 

in  the  foreseeable  future,  in  view  of  the  often  long  lead  time 
necessary  to  obtain  results;

-  developing  the  basic  understanding  of  ecological  processes,  and  of 

the  climate  system.

It  should  be  stressed  that  the  problems  posed  by  the  environment  not 
only  need  a  multidisciplinary  (hence  often  international)  approach  for 
their  solution,  but  also,  due  to  their  strong  economical  implications, 
they  are  of  capital  importance  for  resource  planning  in  an  integrated 
economical  unit  such  as  the  EC.

c.  EC  environmental  research  was  initiated  in  1972  and  has  yielded  many 

useful  results  as  attested  recently  by  an  evaluation  panel.  (Research 
Evaluation  Report  No  14,  1985).  These  results  have  been  applied  in 
the  formulation  of  environmental  policy  measures.

4.3  -  2

Over  the  years,  research  has  evolved  from  a  corrective  to  a  more 
preventive  approach,  as  well  as  towards  more  fundamental  concerns. 
Consequently,  the  research  efforts  on  straight-forward  effects  of 
major  pollutants,  on  which  now  a  considerable  body  of  knowledge  is 
available,  has  been  considerably  reduced  and  is  now  limited  to  rather 
few  unsolved  problems.

For  the  1987-1991  time  frame  it  is  proposed  to  carry  out  research 
under  this  heading  in  the  fields  of  environment  proper,  climatology 
and  cultural  goods.

1.  Environmental  research  will  deal  in  particular  with  :

-  detection,  measurement,  analysis  and  monitoring  techniques  for  a 
wide  range  of  pollutants  and  environmental  conditions  (including 
aerospace  remote  sensing);

-  effects  of  pollutants  on  health  and  on  ecosystems  (e.g. 

consequences  of  "acid  rain"),  and  on  the  cultural  heritage 
(buildings,  monuments);

-  assessment  of  human  activities  on  environment  quality,  such  as 

testing  and  evaluation  of  chemicals;

-  elucidation  of  basic  principles  of  environmental  process 

(ecosystem  research,  bio-geochemical  cycles);

-  development  of  technologies  for  the  reduction  and  prevention  of 

pollution,  and  waste  management;

-  restoration  of  the  deteriorated  environment,  in  particular  of 

damaged  ecosystems.

2.  Climatological  research  concerns  a  most  important  component  of  the 

human  environment,  the  one  upon  which  our  harvests,  water 
resources,  health  and  energy  needs  depend.  It  should  aim  at  a 
thorough  understanding  of  the  climate  system,  and  at  developing 
techniques  for  climate  forecasting  and  for  assessing  the 
ecological  and  societal  consequences  of  any  climate  change,  such 
as  the  one  likely  to  occur  in  the  course  of  the  next  century 
because  of  the  warming  induced  by  the  atmospheric  C02  increase  due 
to  fossil-fuel  burning.

In  either  case  the  inclusion  of  Spain  and  Portugal  in  the 
Community  brings  with  it  new  or  intensified  environmental  problems 
(e.g.  water  conservation,  desertification)  which  must  be  taken 
into  consideration.

3.  Research  on  the  protection  and  conservation  of  the  cultural  goods 
is  not  limited  to  assessing  the  effects  of  pollution  on  materials 
already  mentioned,  but  has  also  to  aim  at  establishing  methods  for 
damage  prevention,  the  elimination  of  the  man-made  increment  to 
natural  decay  and  to  investigate  methods  for  the  restoration  of

irreplaceable  cultural  objects. 
historical  buildings  and  freely  accessible  monuments,  has  to  be 
enlarged  to  public  collections  of  art,  printings  and  books  and 
archeological  objects,  etc.

The  emphasis,  placed  until  now  on 

EC  research  on  environmental  protection  encompasses  in-house,  contract 
research  and  concerted  actions.  Tasks  assigned  to  the  JRC  in  this 
respect  tend  to  be  those  of  a  central  nature  such  as  the  constitution 
of  data  bases  (e.g.  ECDIN  on  environmental  chemicals)  reference 
measurements  for  environmental  monitoring  (e.g.  the  Central  Laboratory 
for  Air  Pollution  Measurements)  the  organization  of  joint  field 
experiments  etc. 
non-Member  States  within  the  COST  system,  are  carried  out  on  subjects 
for  which  a  sizeable  programme  exists  at  the  national  level. 
Shared- 
cost  contracts  are  the  instrument  used  to  fill  research  gaps  and  to 
stimulate  cooperation  between  research  organizations  in  the  Member 
States.

Concerted  actions,  which  involve  several  European 

In  financial  terms,  the  EC  effort  should  represent  a  significant 
fraction  of  the  total  amounts  spent  within  the  Community  (EC  plus 
national  programmes),  in  order  to  ensure  an  efficient  coordination  on 
European  level  by  means  of  complementary,  gap-bridging  contract 
research  and  concerted  actions. 
public  spendings  in  the  Community  for  environmental  research  seems 
adequate  to  achieve  this  goal.

A  share  of  about  15  %  of  the  total 

In  view  of  these  considerations  it  is  estimated  that  EC  funding  in 
environmental  research  should  be  between  285  and  320  MioECUs  for  the 
1987-1991  period.

5  -  1

5.  SCIENCE  AND  TECHNOLOGY  FOR  DEVELOPMENT

a.  The  action  concerned  with  a  scientific  and  technical  aid  to 

development  envisaged  for  the  period  1987-1991  follows  the  first 
Community^programme  "Science  and  Technology  for  Development"
1983-1986  .  The  latter  represented  the  very  first  initiative  aimed  at 
applying  science  and  technology  to  the  solution  of  Third  World 
problems  within  a  well  structured  multiannual  R&D  programme.

The  new  Community  action  will  continue  to  play  an  important  role  in 
the  revival  of  European  tropical  research,  in  decline  after  the 
acquisition  of  independence  of  former  colonies.  The  new  action  must 
also  allow  for  a  more  extensive  and  successful  participation  of  Third 
World  research  institutes  in  the  research  projects  which  interest 
them.

b.  The  action  covers  two  main  research  areas:

1.  Tropical  and  subtropical  agriculture  including:

-  food  production:  development  of  food  crops  resistant  to  adverse 
natural  conditions  (drought,  disease,  pests  etc.),  improved 
management  of  forage  resources,  fisheries  and  livestock  (animal 
genetics,  veterinary  medicine);

-  forestry  production:  species  suitable  for  humid  and  arid  zones;
-  land  conservation  and  regeneration:  protection  from 

desertification,  improvement  of  water  resources;

-  improvement  of  farming  systems  taking  into  account  the  needs  of 
the  rural  population  and  the  preservation  of  natural  resources;
-  post-harvest  technology  and  product  processing  in  liaison  with 

human  nutrition  and  animal  feed.

To  support  these  activities,  modern  techniques  such  as  remote
sensing  or  techniques  adapted  to  local  needs  (especially  for  energy
supply  in  rural  areas)  will  be  applied.

2.  Tropical  medicine,  health  and  nutrition  including:

-  transmissible  tropical  diseases  (prevention,  diagnosis, 

treatment)  and  non-transmissible  tropical  diseases  (such  as 
haemoglobinoses);

-  health  systems  and  the  population:  socio-medical  research  carried 
out  with  the  help  of  the  populations  with  a  view  to  organizing 
health  systems;  demographic  studies  and  surveys,  applied  research 
on  populations  in  relation  with  ecosystems;

-  interdisciplinary  research  taking  into  account  the  agricultural, 

socio-economic  and  medical  aspects  of  nutrition  into  the  problems 
of  nutritional  deficiencies,  malnutrition,  food  toxicology.

The  research  already  undertaken  or  planned  in  the  above-mentioned 
sectors  contributes  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Community 
"Development"  and  "Science  and  Technology"  policies.  Science  and 
technology  are  considered  essential  instruments  of  development  which 
on  the  medium-long  run  will  make  the  developing  countries  true 
partners  of  the  EC  Member  States.

O.J.  n°  L352  of  14.12.1982

In  particular,  Community-promoted  research  on  tropical  medicine  offers 
more  opportunities  to  develop  diagnostic  tools  and  to  prepare 
appropriate  drugs  and  vaccines  to  fight  the  most  frequent  diseases, 
thus  improving  the  world  position  of  the  Community  from  a 
humanitarian,  political  and  economical  point  of  view.  And  the 
agricultural  research,  through  Community  action  can  count  not  only  on 
the  European  genetic  resources,  but  also  on  those  still  largely 
available  of  developing  countries.

The  importance  of  this  Community  action  resides  also  in  the  training 
possibilities  and  therefore  in  the  learning  opportunities  it  offers 
not  only  to  people  from  developing  countries,  but  also  to  young 
European  scientists.

Furthermore,  the  action,  as  well  as  other  EC  R&D  programmes,  will 
permit  to  avoid  duplication  of  national  and  international  efforts  and 
will  make  the  results  more  meaningful  and  of  wider  application.

The  new  action  covers  essentially  the  same  sectors  considered  within 
the  first  programme  "Science  and  Technology  for  Development"
1983-1986.  The  evaluation  of  the  research.potential  expressed  by  the 
about  2.000  proposals  received  in  reply  to  the  calls  of  the  first 
programme  and  the  analysis  of  the  preliminary  results  of  about  430 
research  contracts  concluded  have  permitted  to  individuate  the 
research  priorities  to  be  taken  into  consideration  within  the  new 
action.  In  its  implementation  the  action  :

-  will  place  more  emphasis  on  the  stimulation  of  the  research 

activities  of  developing  countries,  thus  improving  or  creating  their 
endogenous  capacities  in  science  and  technology;

-  will  provide  those  countries  with  appropriate  infrastructure  and 
scientific  equipment  when  necessary,  according  to  appropriate 
contractual  procedures;

-  will  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  cooperation  between  scientists 

as  well  as  to  the  setting  up  of  associative  networks;

-  will  include  an  enlarged  training  component  with  possibility  of  an 
exchange  of  scientists  between  laboratories  and/or  assignment  of 
experts  to  projects  requiring  a  competent  aid;

-  will  aim  for  a  more  effective  application  of  the  research  results, 

for  the  benefit  of  the  people  of  developing  countries.

The  action  will  be  implemented  by  means  of  shared  cost  contracts 
between  CEC  and  institutes  from  developing  countries  and  member 
States.  However  the  possibility  to  organize  some  concerted  actions, 
especially  for  the  creation  of  associative  networks  is  not  excluded.

The  estimate  of  the  financial  resources  considered  necessary  for  the 
implementation  of  the  new  action  is  based  on:

-  the  research  potential  expressed  in  the  course  of  the  first 

programme,  especially  by  developing  countries;

-  the  impact  the  action  should  have  on  the  bilateral  and  multilateral 

activities  of  Member  States  in  order  to  ensure  a  coordination  effect 
(7-8%  of  national  R&D  activities);

-  the  impact  on  Community  activities  implemented  in  the  framework  of 

its  development  policy.

5 - 3

The  overall  financial  means  should  amount  between  100  and  200  MioECUs 
for  the  period  1987-1991,  taking  into  consideration  the  above 
conditions  and  the  enlarged  context  (12  Member  States).  This 
enlargement  certainly  requires  increased  efforts  for  the  attainment  of 
the  objective  of  a  common  policy  and  a  common  structure  in  the 
implementation  of  the  new  action,  but  it  will  also  offer  the 
opportunity  to  benefit  from  the  historical  links  existing  between  the 
two  new  Member  States  and  the  Latin  American  countries.

6 

  1

-

6. 

EUROPE'S  SCIENTIFIC  AND  TECHNICAL  POTENTIAL 
The  Researchers'  Europe

a.  To  improve  the  Community's  scientific  and  technical  competitiveness  by 

breaking  down  the  compartments  in  Europe's  "science  space"  and 
establishing  a  true  "researchers'  Europe";  this  is  a  major  requirement 
in  the  Community's  medium  and  long  term  socio-economic  development.

b.  Faced  with  the  need  to  strengthen  the  effectiveness  of  their  potential 

to  undertake  research  and  produce  inventions,  Member  States  have 
implemented  measures  to  stimulate  scientific  and  technical  creativity 
at  a  national,  as  well  as  at  the  international  level.  However  these 
measures,  which  are  often  close  to  individual  fields  of  activity  (such 
as  molecular  biology)  or  exclusively  linked  to  specific  research 
topics,  and  which  are  confined  to  what  is  essentially  a  national  or 
binational  geographical  area,  correspond  only  partly,  despite  their 
undeniable  value,  to  the  constantly  changing  needs  of  the  Community 
and  its  Member  States.  A  multinational  activity  is  therefore  needed 
in  order  to  reinforce  and  develop  the  range  of  existing  measures.

It  would  seem  therefore  that  the  Community  level  is  the  most 
appropriate  one  to  achieve  this  aim.  Modern  science  and  technology 
requires  a  multitude  of  views  and  complementary  approaches,  often  of  a 
multidisciplinary  character,  which  call  for  synergy  between  men  and 
ideas  as  well  as  for  research  teams  possessing  a  certain  "critical 
size".  This  implies  of  necessity  that  there  be  a  "geographical 
context"  such  as  the  Community,  which  is  as  big  as  possible.

In  these  circumstances  the  Commission  proposes  to  develop  its  activity 
in  two  main  directions  :

1.  Researchers  :

Reducing  administrative  and  social  obstacles  to  the  mobility  of 
researchers.

Research  training,  developing  specialities,  supplementary  training 
for  scientists.

Developing  intra-European  scientific  and  technical  cooperation  and 
the  mobility  of  researchers.

Retaining  and  supporting  high  calibre  researchers  in  Europe.

2.  Facilities  :

Optimising  the  development  and  exploitation  of  major  scientific  and 
technical  installations.

Eliminating  obstacles  to  and  providing  help  for  the  free 
circulation  of  scientific  and  technical  equipment.

c.  With  its  "Plan  to  Stimulate  European  Cooperation  and  Scientific  and 

Technical  Interchange  1985-1988",  which  followed  on  from  the 
experimental  activity  1983-1984,  the  Commission  followed  this  route.

Up  to  date  some  650  teams  of  researchers  in  the  Community  have  been 
linked  in  this  way,  in  265  joint  projects,  and  several  dozen

"scientific  networks"  have  been  set  up  thanks  to  the  Community 

action,  which  has  been  recognised  in  all  the  circles  concerned  as  a 
success.

It  has  aroused  a  deep  interest,  not  just  in  the  Member  States  some  of 
which  have  now  started  similar  activities  themselves  on  a  national 
level,  but  also  in  international  organisations  such  as  the  Council  of 
Europe  and  in  European  non-Member  States  (Austria,  Finland,  Norway, 
Sweden,  Switzerland).  Some  of  the  latter  have  officially  made  known 
their  wish  to  take  part  in  the  action  and,  in  accordance  with  the 
mandate  given  by  the  Council  in  March  1985,  negotiations  have  been 
started  to  agree  the  conditions,  particularly  the  financial  conditions 
under  which  such  participation  could  take  place.

Encouraged  by  this  success  and  by  the  interest  which  it  has  aroused 
the  Commission  now  proposes  to  build  upon  the  activity  which  has  been 
carried  out  up  to  now.  In  this  respect  the  Commission  considers  that 
a  particular  emphasis  should  be  placed  on  the  social  and  cultural 
aspects  of  the  "researchers'  Europe"  and  on  making  full  use  of  the 
Community's  potential  so  far  as  major  scientific  and  technical 
installations  are  concerned.

Avenues  for  actions  :

1.  Researchers  :

The  Commission  proposes  to  identify  and  implement  contextual 
measures  of  an  administrative  and  regulatory  nature  both  to 
eleminate  obstacles  and  support  mobility.

Again,  it  is  intended  that  incentives  in  the  shape  of  financial 
support  will  be  made  available  in  various  forms  (research  grants, 
laboratory  twinnings,  operations  contracts,  sectoral  "bourses", 
advanced  courses,  scientific  awards  and  prizes)  to  promote 
training,  scientific  and  technical  cooperations,  the  mobility  of 
researchers  and  the  retention  in  Europe  of  high  calibre  researchers.

2.  Facilities  :

The  Commission  feels  that  it  would  be  opportune  on  the  one  hand  to 
provide  Community  support  so  as  to  enable  researchers  in  the 
Community  to  make  use,  free  of  charge,  of  time  and  experimentation 
facilities  at  a  major  scientific  and  technical  installation.  In 
return,  the  installation  could,  thanks  to  the  Community 
contribution,  be  adapted,  given  special  features  and  operated  more 
economically.

With  a  view  to  involving,  ultimately,  5%  of  European  researchers  in 
transnational  cooperation  activities  of  this  kind  the  Commission  feels 
that  the  goal  of  2.5%  of  researchers  (10,000  people)  should  be  adopted 
for  the  year  1991.

To  this  end  and  on  the  basis  of  the  experience  so  far  gained,  the 
financial  resources  required  may  be  estimated  between  400  and 
500  MioEcus  for  the  whole  period  1987-1991  (corresponding  to  0.2%  of 
public  R&D  expenditure  budgeted  for  the  Europe  of  12  during  the  same 
period).

7.1  -  1

7.  GENERAL SUPPORT  FOR SCIENTIFIC  AMD  TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT

7.1.  Innovation

The  European  Council  has  underlined  the  importance  of  reinforcing  the 
scientific  and  technical  foundations  of  European  industry  and  of 
promoting  its  international  competitiveness.

To  this  end,  the  Commission  proposes  to  stimulate  the  whole  innovation 
process  in  the  Community  through  two  specific  fields  :

-  an  improved  dissemination  and  exploitation  of  the  results  of  Community 

research,  demonstration  and  technological  development  (RDTD) 
activities;

-  a  strategic  programme  for  the  transnational  promotion  of  innovation  and 

technology  transfer  (SPRINT).

7.1.1.  Dissemination and Exploitation of RDTD Results

a.  The  proposed  amendments  to  the  EEC  Treaty  explicitly  confirm  that 

"dissemination  and  exploitation  of  the  results  of  Community  research, 
demonstration  and  technological  development  (RDTD)  activities" 
constitute  one  of  the  four  inter-related  types  of  action  to  be 
undertaken  by  the  Community  in  the  field  of  technology.

In  the  context  of  a  Community-wide  market,  improved  dissemination  and 
exploitation  of  results  will  lead,  throughout  the  enlarged  Community, 
to  an  increase  in  general  scientific  and  technical  knowledge,  a 
general  improvement  in  economic  competitiveness  and  an  increase  in  the 
number  of  jobs  created.  Certain  investigations  indicate  that,  even 
with  the  scarce  resources  so  far  available,  this  action  has  already 
led  to  the  creation  of  about  three  thousand  (direct  and  indirect) 
permanent  jobs,  at  a  cost  per  job  substantially  lower  than  costs  which 
are  usual  in  either  the  public  or  the  private  sector.  About  half  of 
these  new  jobs  involve  transnational  activities.

b.  This  horizontal  action  will  be  implemented  to  the  benefit  of  all 

regions  through  three  lines  :

1.  An  activity  covering  the  dissemination  of  all  Community  RDTD 

results  including  :

-  patent  screening,  filing  and  defending,  to  ensure  that 

exploitable  material  is  protected;
translating  Community  RDTD  results  into  several  languages  and 
providing  appropriate  ways  and  means  for  dissemination  to  the 
scientific  community,  to  decision  takers  in  the  public  and 
private  sectors  and  to  the  general  public.

2.  An  activity  covering  the  exploitation  of  the  JRC's  R&D  results: 
market  evaluation  of  JRC  inventions;  support  for  constructing 
prototypes  and  pilot  plants;  search  for  industrial  partners  for 
exploitation  or  further  development;  granting  licences;  publicity.

3.  An  activity  covering  the  exploitation  of  the  results  from  all  other 

RDTD  activities  as  far  as  the  Community  as  such  is  involved 
(shared-cost  actions,  including  demonstration  projects,  COST,
EUREKA  and  cooperation  agreements  with  third  countries,  etc..)  :

-  to  ensure  proper  exploitation  by  adherence  to  the  relevant  legal 
and  contractual  obligations  for  protection,  exploitation  and 
licensing  in  the  interest  of  the  Community;

-  to  offer  selective  and  precompetitive  support  in  the  field  of 

protection,  exploitation  and  licensing,  limited  to  certain  types 
of  contractors  (research  centres  wholly  or  partly  publicly  owned, 
SMEs  and  universities),  providing  that  the  work  has  a 
transnational  character  or  cannot  be  adequately  supported  by 
national  measures  and  that  provision  is  made  via  royalties  for 
repayment  of  the  Community's  financial  support.

The  experience  of  the  Commission's  services  has  proved  that  these 
tasks  are  far  better  handled  by  an  approach  which  enables  specialized 
services  for  the  protection  of  inventions,  the  dissemination  of 
information  and  the  exploitation  of  research  results  to  be  put  at  the 
disposal  of  individual  research  activities.

A  notable  strengthening  of  this  existing  horizontal  action,  which 
could  be  achieved  at  a  cost  modest  in  relation  to  the  overall  research 
budget,  would  lead  to  benefits  far  in  excess  of  that  cost.

In  close  collaboration  with  managers  of  RDTD  activities,  researchers 
and  inventors  and,  where  appropriate,  the  technical  assistance  of  the 
JRC,  the  work  listed  under  b.  will  be  implemented  -  notably  for 
reasons  of  competence,  cost  effectiveness  and  budgetary  rules  -  by  the 
Commission's  specialized  services  (which  should  be  adequately 
reinforced),  assisted  by  external  experts  working  under  contract. 
Exploitation  projects  requiring  the  further  development  of  inventions, 
or  the  realization  of  demonstration  installations,  will  be  carried  out 
by  external  enterpreneurial  bodies  acting  under  contract  with  the 
Commi ssion.

1.2.  Strategic  Programme for the Transnational  Promotion of  Innovation 

and Technology  Transfer  (SPRINT)

The  proposed  amendments  to  the  EEC  Treaty  confirmed  that  "The 
Community's  aim  shall  be  to  stengthen  the  scientific  and  technological 
basis  of  European  industry  and  to  encourage  it  to  become  more 
competitive  at  international  level.  In  order  to  achieve  this,  it  shall 
encourage  undertakings  including  small  and  medium-sized  undertakings, 
research  centres  and  universities  in  their  research  and  technological 
development  activities;  it  shall  support  their  efforts  to  co-operate 
with  one  another,  aiming,  in  particular,  to  enable  undertakings  to 
exploit  the  Community's  internal  market  potential  to  the  full  _ _ ".

Consequently  a  horizontal  action  is  proposed  aiming  at  the  development 
of  a  European  supporting  infrastructure  for  innovation  and  technology 
transfer,  particularly  for  the  benefit  of  small  and  medium-sized 
enterprises  (SMEs).

It  has  indeed  been  shown  that  SME's  are  not  in  a  position  to  exploit 
effectively  the  results  of  research  and  to  innovate  without  the 
support  of  an  infrastructure  giving  them  access,  across  national 
borders,  to  the  finance,  the  information  and  the  wide  range  of 
advisory  services,  etc.,  which  they  require.  In  this  connection,  it 
should  be  remembered  that  it  has  also  been  shown  that  the  largest 
potential  for  innovation  is  to  be  found  in  SMEs.

It  is  thus  fully  in  the  interest  of  SME's  that  this  infrastructure 
should  be  Community-wide,  because  this  enables  them  to  take  advantage 
of  the  size  of  the  European  internal  market.

This  action  is  split  into  three  chapters  :

1.  The  establishment  of  "human  networks",  namely  tha  transnational

interconnection  of  the  various  intermediaries  that  hold  the  know­
how  which  SMEs  need  :  technology  transfer  specialists.  Chambers  of 
Commerce,  technology  management  consultants,  marketing  consultants, 
venture  capitalists,  e t c _ _

2.  The  development  of  "instruments",  enabling  SMEs  (or  the 

intermediairies  that  work  for  them)  to  have  easy  access  to  the 
information,  originating  from  all  Member  States,  which  they 
require  :  technological  conferences,  information  systems  on 
technologies  available  for  licensing  or  on  the  research 
laboratories  which  can  provide  them  with  support,  on  technical 
standards  and  specifications  to  be  respected  in  each  country,  on 
research  reports  issued  at  a  national  level  containing  data  which 
could  be  exploited  by  industry,  etc..

3.  Systematic  concertation  between  Member  States  on  measures  to  be 
taken  at  a  national  level  to  promote  research,  innovation  and 
technology  transfer,  with  the  aim  of  not  only  enabling  Member 
States  to  take  advantage  of  each  other's  experiences,  but  also  to 
suggest  new  measures  to  be  taken  at  Community  level.

The  proposed  action  is  designed  to  follow  on  from  a  first  3  year 
experiment,  decided  by  the  Council  of  Ministers  on  25  November  1983, 
concerning  the  "Plan  for  the  transnational  development  of  the 
supporting  infrastructure  for  innovation  and  technology  transfer".

The  Commission  has  been  implementing  this  plan  for  over  2  years.  On 
the  basis  of  the  experience  acquired  it  can  be  confirmed  that  the 
"infrastructure"  approach  is  essential.  It  has  at  the  same  time  become 
very  clear  that  the  most  important  elements  of  this  infrastructure  are 
transnational  "human  networks"  and  an  effective  system  of  concertation 
between  Member  States.

7.1  -  4

It  should  be  pointed  out  that  this  concertation,  apart  from  the 
exchange  of  experience  to  which  it  leads,  provides  feedback  into  the 
Plan  and  generates  specific  new  actions  to  be  undertaken  at  a 
Community  level.

The  action  requires  both  a  number  of  preparatory  studies  or  pitot 
projects  and  the  implementation  of  full-size  transnational  operations 
on  the  basis  of  shared-cost  contracts.

* 

*

The  financial  resources  necessary  to  carry  out  these  activities  are 
estimated  between  80  and  150  MioECUs  for  the  duration  of  the  Framework 
Programme.  Additional  funding  for  activities  relating  to  dissemination 
and  exploitation  of  research  results  will  come  from  individual 
programmes.

★
7.2  -  1

7.2 

Communication  and  Information  Networks  and  Scientific  Data  Bases

a.  The  establishment  of  Europe-wide  communications  and  information 

networks  is  a  key  element  to:

1.  Strengthen  the  European  research  infrastructure  :

Fundamental,  technological  and  engineering  research  requires  good 
computer  based  communication  media  to  help  researchers

-  to  work  effectively  while  geographically  dispersed,  through 

better  and  quicker  access  to  relevant  information  sources  and 
improved  communication  with  other  scientists;

-  and  to  sharpen  their  fundamental  research  capabilities  in  Europe 

in  order  to  use  them  more  quickly  than  our  competitors.

The  creation  of  a  European  integrated  computer  network  should 
create  a  network  scientific  culture,  initiate  and  intensify 
cooperation  between  separate  national  research  groups.

2.  Improve  the  process  and  speed  of  innovation  and  stimulate  the 

industrial  exploitation  of  industrial  results,  through  the  links 
and  bridges  provided  between  universities,  industrial  research 
centres,  standardisation  specialists  and  marketing  people.

3.  Lead  to  consistent  approach  and  implementation  of  European  common 

standards. 
a  welcoming  structure  for  EARN  members  when  IBM  finance  ceases 
supporting  the  EARN  network).

(Furthermore  a  European  Computer  Network  should  provide 

b.  The  objective  is  the  provision  of  a  common  integrated  computer 

communication  infrastructure  and  associated  services,  using  public 
data  networks  and  linking  the  computers  and  individuals  of 
universities  as  well  as  academia  state  and  industrial  research 
centres.  It  will  allow  exchange  of  data,  software,  messages  and 
research  results  on  a  European-wide  basis  and  also  allow  for  the 
sharing  of  massive  and  expensive  resources  such  as  information  data 
bases,  super-computers,  specialised  services  centres  for  expert 
systems  and  artificial  intelligence.

This  infrastructure  will  build  upon  efforts  being  made  in  order  to 
develop  and  implement  OSI  standards  and  to  provide  the  EEC  with  high 
speed  and/or  broadband  communication  services  (in  the  framework  of 
ESPRIT  and  of  RACE).

Created  under  the  auspices  of  the  Commission,  the  RARE  association 
(Réseaux  Associés  pour  la  Recherche  Européenne)  aims  to  provide  a  high 
quality  networking  infrastructure  using  the  data  services  operated  by 
the  PTT  s,  for  the  support  of  research  and  academic  endeavour  on  a 
European  basis.

The  European  research  network  (ERN)  constitutes  another  important 
European  project  of  which  the  Commission  is  a  partner.  It  has  similar 
objectives.  Internal  discussions  are  currently  taking  place  within 
the  Commission  to  define  its  active  participation  and  contribution.

7.2  -  2

c.  Motivation  for  EEC  action  :

-  use  of  EEC  wide  capabilities  in  R  &  D  and  contribution  to  the 

creation  of  the  European  community  of  researchers;

-  coordinated  approach  required  to  develop  and  implement  common 

standards  (in  liaison  with  CEPT);

-  substantial  cost  savings  compared  to  a  multiplicity  of  incompatible 

national  networks  designed  for  the  same  purpose;

improvement  of  European-wide  transfer  of  technology,  including  SMEs 
and  less  favoured  regions  by  setting  down  geographic  barriers  to 
access  of  information.

d.  At  this  very  preliminary  stage,  one  could  envisage  a  Community 

contribution  of  approximately  20  MioECUs.  A  first  estimate  of  the 
actual  expenditure  from  the  different  national  programmes  of  the 
Community  is  in  the  order  of  magnitude  of  80  MioECUs  per  year.

Furthermore  part  of  the  work  which  does  not  involve  RDDT  is  carried 
out  within  other  programmes  such  as  INSIS  and  IT  &  T  standardisation 
action  plan.

f.5  -  1

7.3.  Linguistic  Problems

a.  Language  is  the  principal  medium  for  human  communication  and  for 

recording  of  knowledge. 
languages  two  classes  of  problems  arise  which  are  both  decisive  for 
its  success  or  even  survival  :

For  the  Community  with  nine  official 

-  Multilingualism  :  the  national  and  cultural  identity  of  the  Members 
is  inseparably  tied  to  their  national  (and  regional)  languages.  It 
is  therefore  a  duty  of  the  Community  to  make  sure  that  all  Members 
can  communicate  with  the  Community  institutions  and  with  each  other 
in  their  own  languages,  without  being  discriminated  against.  This 
calls  for  fast,  cheap  and  reliable  translation  and  interpretation 
services,  which  are  only  possible  through  an  extensive  employment  of 
advanced  information  technologies.  Only  if  the  language  barriers 
are  effectively  overcome  can  Europe  hope  to  avoid  both  external  and 
internal  linguistic  and  cultural  colonialism,  with  all  its  economic 
implications,  and  to  achieve  equal  chances  for  all  its  Members.

-  Language  understanding  :  the  Community  and  its  Members  are  making  a 

considerable  effort  to  close  the  gap  in  the  domain  of  advanced 
information  technologies  which  are  recognized  as  one  of  the  main 
factors  for  future  economic  growth.  IT  research  includes  as  a 
priority  area  advanced  information  processing  including  knowledge 
engineering  expert  systems,  man-machine  communication  (written  and 
spoken),  etc.  Since  the  large  majority  of  human  knowledge  is 
recorded  and  communicated  in  natural  language,  the  success  of  the 
technologies  ultimately  depends  on  our  ability  to  open  this 
information  source  to  advanced  information  systems,  and  to 
communicate  the  knowledge  to  the  users  in  their  own  language.

Our  competitors  in  the  USA  and  Japan  attribute  a  high  priority  to 
natural  language  understanding  in  their  respective  IT  programmes. 
Together  with  the  hardware,  they  export  in  a  growing  measure  natural 
language  components  (mostly  in  English)  such  as  text  processing,  data 
bases,  speech  synthesizers  etc.  At  stake  is  not  only  the 
competitiveness  of  the  Community  in  the  fast  growing  language 
industry,  but  ultimately  its  own  identity.  The  multilingual  dimension 
and  the  past  efforts  both  at  Community  and  at  national  level  have 
given  Europe  a  certain  advance  over  its  competitors  in  this  domain. 
This  advance  must  be  maintained  and  increased  through  a  coordinated 
effort  of  all  those  concerned.

b.  The  long  term  objective  of  a  Community  R&D  programme  (coordinated  with 

national  programmes)  is  the  creation  of  methods,  tools,  technologies, 
knowledge  bases  and  prototype  systems  which  can  become  the  basis  for 
the  development  of  an  autonomous  and  strong  European  language 
industry.  The  principal  motivation  for  a  Community  action  is  the  fact 
that  the  fundamental  problems  to  be  resolved,  such  as  the  analysis  and 
synthesis  of  written  and  spoken  language,  interfacing  linguistic 
modules  with  information  systems  etc.,  are  to  a  large  extent  common  to 
all  languages,  and  require  common  solutions.  These  common  methods  and 
tools  should  be  used  by  the  Member  states  (in  cooperative  ventures)  to 
create  the  monolingual  and  multilingual  analysis  and  synthesis 
modules,  which  in  turn  can  be  integrated  into  a  variety  of  (prototype) 
application  systems.

While  many  of  the  problems  are  unlikely  to  be  fully  solved  within  this 
century  and  require  long-term  basic  research,  the  main  concrete  lines 
of  action  for  the  period  1987-1991  are  the  following  :

-  Completion  by  1990  of  a  first  multilingual  prototype  machine

translation  system  (EUROTRA)  capable  of  dealing  with  all  official 
Community  languages  and  operational  in  a  limited  subject  field  and 
for  limited  text  types.  EUROTRA  was  approved  by  the  Council  in 
November  1982  (5  1/2  years,  16  million  ECU).  After  the  accession
of  Spain  and  Portugal  the  Commission  has  proposed  an  extension  of 
the  programme  by  18  months  and  of  the  funding  by  11  million  ECU  to 
cover  the  increase  of  languages  from  7  to  9  (and  language  pairs  from 
42  to  72).

-  Support  to  the  industrial  development  of  an  automatic  translation 

system  which  can  be  used  in  a  multitude  of  domains  and  environments 
(Community  institutions,  industry,  commerce,  services,  information 
and  documentation).  The  preparation  of  this  programme  should  start 
in  1988,  and  the  programme  itself  in  1990  (EUROTRA-II).

-  Development  of  methods  and  tools  for  the  reusability  of  lexical 

resources  in  computerized  applications,  and  creation  of  standards 
for  lexical  and  terminological  data  (LEXTERM).  This  action  should 
also  include  the  support  to  the  creation  of  national  terminologies 
in  domains  where  they  are  missinq  (preparation  phase  1987,  execution 
1989)

Long-term  basic  research  for  the  next  generation  of  high-quality 
machine  translation  systems  and  other  natural  language  processing 
systems.  This  research  should  include  advanced  semantic  methods, 
subject  field  expert  knowledge,  inference  techniques,  interfacing  of 
language  processing  modules  with  information  and  expert  systems, 
speech  analysis  and  synthesis  (EUROTRA  III).

The  cooperative  decentralized  organization  of  the  EUROTRA  project  has 
proven  its  adequacy  as  it  acted  as  a  stimulating  and  catalyst  factor. 
But  it  also  showed  some  structural  weakness  of  R8D  in  the  domain  of 
linguistic  problems  at  national  level,  which  in  a  few  cases  lead  to 
considerable  delays  in  the  start-up  of  the  national  contributions  to 
the  programme.  Especially  objective-oriented  contract  research  is 
insufficiently  organized  in  many  of  the  Member  States  and  future 
programmes  should  contribute  to  the  improvement  of  the  structures  and 
to  the  training  of  professionals.

For  all  projects  a  cost-shared  action  is  foreseen.  Projects  with  a 
prevalent  research  orientation  should  be  funded  by  the  public  sector 
(Community,  national  contributions)  while  for  projects  with  a  clear 
development  component  contributions  from  the  private  sector  should  be 
expected.

The  overall  effort  is  estimated  at  about  280  MioECUs  to  which  the 
Community  would  contribute  between  80  and  100  MioECUs,  the  Member 
States  80  MioECUs  and  the  private  sector  110  MioECUs.  This  Community 
level  of  effort  would  represent  15  to  20  %  of  the  present  overall 
public  effort  of  the  Member  States.

7.4  -  1

7.4.  Forecasting,  Evaluation  and  Statistical  Tools

7.4.1.  Forecasting  (FAST)

a.  Forecasting  and  assessing  the  implication  and  consequences  of  long 

term  scientific  and  technological  change  for  the  economic  and  social 
development  of  the  Community  Member  Countries  remains  one  of  the 
principal  tools  available  to  the  Commission  in  view  of  identifying  new 
objectives  and  new  priorities  areas  for  its  action  in  the  field  of 
RDTD.

b.  During  the  execution  of  FAST  II,  an  entire  new  generation  of  R&D 

programmes  and  actions  has  come  into  life  (ESPRIT,  RACE,  BRITE,  CUBE, 
STIMULATION...)  which  have  increased  the  capacity  of  the  Commission  to 
analyse  tong  term  scientific  and  technological  development  and  derive 
strategic  orientation.

Furthermore,  greater  and  more  systematic  attention  is  paid  to 
technological  change  and  its  economic  and  social  implications  and 
consequences  by  other  services  within  the  Commission  (particularly  by 
the  Directorate  General  for  Employment,  Social  Affairs  and  Education). 
The  European  Parliament  itself  has  also  decided  in  1985  to  set  up  a 
Parliamentary  office  for  the  evaluation  of  scientific  and 
technological  choices.

Thus,  the  FAST  programme  will  no  longer  be  the  unique  place  within  the 
Commission  and  the  Community  Institution  where  activities  comparable 
to  forecasting  and  assessment  in  the  field  of  science  and  technology 
are  carried  out.

A  renewed  interest  is  equally  shown  in  the  member  countries,  both  at 
executive  (government)  and  legislative  (parliament)  levels,  into  the 
analysis  of  long  term  societal  implications  and  consequences  of 
scientific  and  technological  development.

These  new  developments  call  therefore  for  :

1.  an  intensification  of  the  specific  role  of  the  FAST  programme;
2.  opening  new  directions  in  the  FAST  research  approach  and  portfolio

c -  Ad  1 ■  The  intensification  of  the  specific  role  of  the  FAST  programme 

within  the  new  Commission  environment  and  in  relation  to  recent 
developments  in  the  Member  Countries.

This  means  :

-  a  strenghtened  emphasis  on  the  entire  spectrum  of

technological  "families"  and  particularly  in  the  long  term 
prospects  of  their  integration  (between  IT,  materials  and 
biotechnologies,  between  oploelectronics,  IT  automation  and 
materials,  etc...)  and  the  consequences  for  the  European  R&D 
structure,  industrial  and  education  systems;

7.4  -  2

-  greater  focus  on  assessment  of  the  implications  and 

consequences  of  new  emerging  fields  of  science  and  technology 
applications;

-  a  greater  emphasis  on  the  "network"  approach,  in  order  to 
bring  together  the  forecasts  and  analyses  made  within  the 
Commission  and  Community  institutions,  and  in  the  Member 
States,  and  to  integrate  their  results  in  science  and 
technology  policy  options.

Ad  2 .  Opening  new  directions  in  research  approach  and  portfolio  :

This  means  :

-  improvement  and  diversification  of  the  proper  tools 

(information  data  bases,  promotion  and  ad  hoc  European 
"observatories")  for  better  observing  and  analysing  the 
changes  in  the  scientific  and  technological  system;

-  greater  attention  to  the  long  term  factors  and  dynamics  in  the 

innovation  processes,  transfer  and  diffusion;

-  carry  out,  on  a  more  systematic  manner,  studies  focussing  on 
the  world  development,  problems  and  prospects  of  science  and 
technology,  taking  into  account  the  accelerated 
transnationalisation  of  economy,  technology  and  R&D;

-  and,  in  close  relation  with  IRIS,  strengthening  the  links  with 

the  world  of  producers  and  users  of  new  application  of 
advanced  science  and  technology.

d.  The  work  will  be  carried  out  as  a  shared  costs  action,  as  it  is  the 

case  since  the  beginning  of  FAST.

e.  The  amount  to  be  spent  on  this  action  during  1987-91  is  estimated 

between  15  and  18  MioECUs.

7.4.2.  Evaluation

a.  A  close  scrutiny  of  scientific  activities  is  necessary  not  only  for 
the  development  of  more  effective  science  policies,  but  also  for 
ensuring  that  in  an  era  of  growing  demands  for  accountability,  society 
at  large  is  provided  with  the  necessary  assurances  that  public  funds 
expended  on  research  are  effectively  contributing  to  the  attainment  of 
social  and  economic  objectives  set  by  the  Community  and  its  Member 
States.  Furthermore  the  increasing  awareness  of  the  importance  of  R&D 
for  economic  growth  has  resulted  in  a  growing  recognition  of  the  value 
of  R&D  evaluation.  This  is  proven  by  the  interest  shown  by  the  Member 
Countries  and  by  several  international  organizations  such  as  the  UN 
and  the  OECD.

( . h   -   5

b.  For  the  period  1987-91  the  Commission  will  continue  to  follow  the 

principles  exposed  by  the  plan  of  action  relating  to  the  evaluation  of 
Community  R&D  approved  by  the  Council  on  28  June  1983.  This 
evaluation  is  performed  at  the  level  of  each  individual  activity  in 
time  to  provide  input  for  the  formulation  of  the  next  programme.  Its 
methodology  is  based  on  the  "peer  evaluation"  carried  out  by  external 
groups  of  independent  experts,  without  neglecting,  whenever  possible, 
the  use  of  quantitative  indicators.

In  order  to  carry  out  this  activity  in  an  effective  way,  the 
Commission  will  encourage  research  in  this  field  in  the  Community  and 
continue  its  efforts  in  the  development  of  appropriate  evaluation 
methodologies  and  in  the  establishment  of  a  Community  evaluation 
network.

c.  Evaluation  techniques  will  reflect  the  growing  Community  R&D  priority 

towards  programmes  contributing  to  industrial  competitiveness.  This 
implies  that  a  specific  effort  will  be  devoted  towards  the  analysis  of 
all  aspects  contributing  to  industrial  innovation  and  competitiveness.

The  importance  of  socio-economic  impact  assessments  has  been 
repeatedly  stressed  by  several  Member  States.  A  full  consideration  of 
this  aspect  will  require  evaluations  at  a  higher  aggregation  level 
than  carried  out  up  to  now.

d.  The  amount  to  be  spent  on  evaluation  activities  during  1987-91  is 

estimated  between  10  and  12  MioEcus.

7.4.3.  Statistical  tools

a.  Support  of  forecasting  and  evaluation  in  the  form  of  comprehensive 

statistical  data  bases  is  essential.  Such  support  consists  not  solely 
of  the  data  themselves  but  should  also  attempt  to  embody  the  expertise 
of  those  who  collect  and  use  the  data.  This  support  should  be 
developed  in  the  form  of  knowledge  based  expert  systems.  The 
objective  of  such  systems  is  to  improve  the  productivity  of 
statistical  information  by  enhancing  its  value  to  the  user.

b.  This  activity  should  include  a  fundamental  study  of  the  problems 
underlying  the  construction  of  expert  systems  in  the  field  of 
statistics,  proposals  for  standards  to  be  applied  in  order  to  ensure 
compatibility  of  future  work  in  this  area  and  complete  prototype 
systems  designed  to  operate  in  selected  areas. 
specific  results  in  the  field  of  statistics,  experience  of  more 
general  applicability  will  be  acquired  which  will  be  relevant  to  the 
wider  field  of  research  in  the  development  of  expert  systems.

In  addition  to  the 

A  Community  approach  is  necessary  to  coordinate  and  reinforce  the 
current  efforts  scattered  in  a  few  Member  States  by  providing  a 
general  integrating  frame,  and  to  develop  common  standards  to  promote 
the  generalised  use  of  these  new  tools.

c.  This  new  Community  activity  should  be  carried  through  cost-shared 

projects  and  would  require  an  amount  in  the  order  of  5  MioECUs  for  the 
1987-91  period.  This  would  represent  5  to  10  %  of  the  efforts  of  the 
Member  States  in  this  field.

7.5  -  1

7.5.  International  Cooperation

a.  A  more  active  scientific  presence  in  developing  countries  is  becoming 
an  important  part  of  the  Community  strategy.  An  appropriate  response 
can  only  be  decided  upon  through  a  detailed  knowledge  of  the  needs  of 
its  partners.  A  true  transfer  of  technology  to  developing  countries 
can  only  be  achieved  by  strengthening  this  cooperation  between  Europe 
and  these  countries.

As  a  consequence  of  the  strengthening  of  scientific  relations  with  all 
countries,,  economic  opportunities  arise  through  the  opening  up  of 
export  markets  and  at  the  same  time  more  assistance  can  be  given  with 
the  development  of  poorer  populations.

The  individual  countries  of  Europe  have  available  a  remarkable  science 
and  technology  potential;  however,  ohly  a  collective  effort  will  enable 
the  Community  to  respond  to  the  increasing  demand  for  cooperation  from 
developing  countries.

Scientific  and  technical  cooperation  provides  one  of  the  pillars  on 
which  increasingly  rest  the  worldwide  cooperative  agreements  which  the 
Community  signs  with  Third  Countries.  The  industrialized  countries, 
and  the  members  of  EFTA  in  particular,  wish  in  effect  to  join  the 
Community  in  order  to  increase  their  scientific  potential  and  to 
rationalize  the  resources  necessary  to  sustain  a  research  effort.

Developing  countries,  in  their  turn,  await  the  Community's  scientific 
and  technical  aid  that  is  so  necessary  to  speed  up  their  development.

b.  A  Community  action  was  launched  in  1984  with  a  modest  budget,  in  order 

to  support  actions  on  scientific  and  technical  cooperation  with 
industrialized  countries  on  one  hand  and  with  developing  countries, 
more  specifically  non  associated  Third  World  countries,  on  the  other. 
These  scientific  and  technical  actions  aim  at  strengthening  the 
cooperation  established  in  a  more  general  frame  within  other  Community 
policies.

The  objectives  and  the  methods  of  carrying  out  international  science 
and  technology  cooperation  differ  according  to  whether  they  relate  to 
developing  countries  or  to  industrialized  countries.

1. 

For  developing  countries  these  actions  are  aimed  either  at 
complementing  the  R&D  programme  "Science  and  Technology  for 
development"  (see  point  5)  or  at  preparing  future  R & D ·programmes. 
For  developing  countries,  the  need  is  for  aid  intended  to 
strengthen  local  research,  especially  through  the  establishment  of 
links  between  European  institutes  and  those  in  developing 
countries.  The  joint  execution  of  research  work  on  topics  of 
common  interest  is  the  final  objective  of  the  cooperation  which  we 
wish  to  attain.

The  main  ways  of  achieving  this  objective  are  the  following  :

-  assistance  with  the  establishment  of  research  programmes;
-  training  of  scientists;
-  exchanges  of  information;
-  joint  organization  of  seminars,  workshops  and  conferences;
-  creation  of  research  networks  between  European  and  Third  World 

institutes;
-  joint  research.

2.  Scientific  and  technological  cooperation  with  the  industrialized 

countries,  on  the  other  hand,  aims  essentially  at  strengthening 
exchanges  of  information  and  scientific  personnel  between  the 
Community  and  these  countries,  in  order  to  :

-  increase  research  capacities,
-  reduce  research  costs,
-  avoid  duplication  of  research  activities,  and
-  coordinate  the  work  involved.

The  principal  actions  which  are  in  progress  in  this  regard  are  the 
following  :

-  exchanges  of  information;
-  seminars,  workshops;
-  organization  of  joint  meetings;
-  visits  and  periods  of  training  and  information;
-  joint  projects  and  exchanges  of  research  workers.

These  actions  are  complemented,  in  the  case  of  non-EC  European 
countries,  by  their  direct  participation  in  Community  R&D 
programmes.

The  fields  covered  by  this  new  initiative  are  most  diverse  and  vary 
according  to  needs  and  mutual  interests.  Agriculture,  environment  and 
new  technology  have  been  the  sectors  in  which  the  greatest  number  of 
research  actions  have  been  initiated,  especially  in  developing 
countries.  Cooperation  with  industrialized  countries,  by  contrast,  is 
centred  in  the  field  of  more  advanced  technologies  and  fundamental 
research.

Identification  of  themes  for  cooperation  takes  place  jointly  with  the 
partners,  and  financial  participation  is  also  negotiated  by  mutual 
agreement.  It  is  normally  fixed  with  regard  to  the  degree  of 
development,  especially  scientific,  and  the  financial  capacity  of  the 
country  concerned.  With  certain  developing  countries  (China,  the  ASEAN 
states,  India,  Brazil,  Mexico,  etc.)  the  funding  has  been  set, 
initially  at  least,  as  almost  entirely  a  charge  on  the  Community.

The  tendency  now,  however,  is  to  transform  aid  into  a  true  cooperative 
relationship  and  for  the  developing  countries  to  be  responsible  for  a 
percentage  of  the  costs  of  the  research  activities.  Among  other  things 
this  permits  an  increase  in  the  number  of  activities  that  can  be 
carried  out.

The  attainment  of  "joint  funds"  with  our  partners  and  the  negotiation 
of  framework-contracts  are  the  important  administrative  and  budgetary 
instruments  on  which  to  base  the  enlargement  of  this  international 
cooperation.

7.5

In  order  to  be  able  to  respond  to  the  demand  for  scientific  cooperation 
which  is  destined  to  increase  considerably,  especially  regarding  the 
newly  associated  countries  in  Latin  America  (and  also  following  the 
Community  entry  of  Spain  and  Portugal),  substantial  credits  must  become 
available.  A  Community  action,  taking  account  of  the  needs  to  be  met 
and  the  objectives  to  be  followed,  must  be  able  to  count  on  a  sum 
estimated  between  50  and  60  MioECUs  for  the  period  1987-91  in  order  to 
be  of  significance.