1999/174/EC: Council Decision of 25 January 1999 adopting a specific programme for research and technological development, including demonstration, to be carried out by means of direct actions for the European Community (1998 to 2002) by the Joint Research Centre
Date: 1999-01-25
Institutions: Council of the European Union
Subjects: EU programme, Joint Research Centre, research programme, technological change, testing

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COUNCIL DECISION

of 25 January 1999

adopting a specific programme for research and technological development,
including
demonstration, to be carried out by means of direct actions for the European Community
(1998 to 2002) by the Joint Research Centre

(1999/174/EC)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 130i(4) thereof,

Having
regard
Commission (1),

to

the

proposal

from the

Having regard to the opinion of
Parliament (2),

the European

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee (3),

of

fifth

framework

programme

(1) Whereas by Decision No 182/1999/EC (4), the
European Parliament and the Council adopted
the
the
European Community (hereinafter referred to as
the fifth framework programme) for research,
technological development and demonstration
(hereinafter
activities
for the period 1998 to 2002 setting out the
general outlines and scientific and technological
objectives of the activities to be carried out by
the
the
European Community;

Joint Research Centre

referred to as RTD)

(JRC)

for

the

framework
through

programme
specific

(2) Whereas Article 130i(3) of the Treaty stipulates
shall
be
that
programmes
implemented
developed within each activity under
the
framework programme, and that each specific
programme shall define the detailed rules for
implementing it, fix its duration and provide for
the means deemed necessary;

(3) Whereas,

Decision No 1110/94/EC of

in accordance with Article 4(2) of
the European

(1) OJ C 260, 18.8.1998, p. 105.
(2) Opinion delivered on 15 December 1998 (not yet

published in the Official Journal).

(3) OJ C 407, 28.12.1998, p. 123.
(4) OJ L 26, 1.2.1999, p. 1.

research,

technological development

the Council Decision on

Parliament and of the Council of 26 April 1994
concerning the fourth framework programme of
the European Community activities in the field
of
and
demonstration (1994 to 1998) (5) and Article 7(3)
of
specific
programmes implementing the direct actions of
the
the
fourth
Commission has
an external
conducted which it has
assessment
transmitted to the European Parliament,
the
the Economic and Social Committee
Council,
and the Committee of the Regions together with
its conclusions and comments;

arranged for

programme,

framework

to be

the

(4) Whereas, in accordance with Article 130j of the
Treaty, Council Decision
1999/65/EC of
22 December 1998 concerning the rules for the
participation of undertakings, research centres
and universities and for the dissemination of
research results for the implementation of the
the European
fifth framework programme of
(hereinafter
Community
for participation
referred to as
rules
specific
to this
and dissemination’) applies
programme as regards dissemination of research
results; whereas
allow the
these
participation of the Joint Research Centre in the
indirect
specific
covered
programme;

(1998 to 2002) (6)

actions

rules

(cid:28)the

this

by

(5) Whereas, for the purpose of implementing this
programme, in addition to cooperation covered
by the Agreement on the European Economic
Area or by an Association Agreement, it may be
appropriate
international
engage
cooperation activities, in particular on the basis
of Article 130m of
the Treaty, with third
countries or international organisations;

to

in

(6) Whereas implementation of this programme will
also comprise activities and mechanisms aimed
stimulating, disseminating and exploiting
at
in particular vis-a` -vis small and
RTD results,
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and activities
to stimulate
the mobility and training of
researchers;

(5) OJ L 126, 18.5.1994, p. 1. Decision as last amended by

Decision No 2535/97/EC (OJ L 347, 18.12.1997, p. 1).

(6) OJ L 26, 1.2.1999, p. 46.

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(7) Whereas

the

fifth
research activities under
framework programme should also be geared
towards innovation in order to contribute, inter
alia, to the objectives of the first action plan for
innovation; whereas the JRC should actively
pursue activities in innovation and technology
transfer;

An indicative breakdown of this amount is given in
Annex I.

2. Of the amount in paragraph 1:

— EUR 189 million is for the period 1998 to 1999,

(8) Whereas the equal opportunities policy of the
Community must be taken into account in the
implementation of this programme;

and

(9) Whereas the implementation of this programme
should be monitored with a view to adapting it,
where appropriate, to scientific and technological
developments and needs; whereas in due course
there should also be an assessment of progress
with the programme by independent experts;

(10) Whereas,

in

of

the

implementation

this
programme, the Board of Governors of the JRC
is consulted by the Commission in accordance
with the relevant provisions of the Commission
Decision concerning the organisation of the JRC;
whereas the current provisions are set out in
Commission Decision 96/282/Euratom (1);

(11) Whereas the Board of Governors of the JRC has
and
been
on
technological content of this specific programme,

consulted

scientific

the

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

In accordance with Article 3(1) of the fifth framework
programme, a specific programme related to direct
actions of research and technological development,
including demonstration, to be carried out by the JRC
(hereinafter referred to as the specific programme) is
hereby adopted for the period from 25 January 1999
to 31 December 2002.

Article 2

1.
The amount deemed necessary for the execution
of direct actions by the JRC under this programme is
EUR 739 million.

— EUR 550 million is for the period 2000 to 2002.

In the case referred to in Article 2(1)(c) of the fifth
framework programme, the Council shall adapt the
latter figure in accordance with Article 2(1)(c), second
indent of the fifth framework programme. Pending a
decision by the Council, this specific programme shall
not be implemented beyond the provision of the first
indent.

The budgetary authority shall,

3.
in compliance
with the scientific and technological objectives and
priorities
the
laid down in this Decision,
appropriations for each financial year taking into
account
resources within the
multiannual financial perspective.

the availability of

set

Article 3

the

The

general

outlines,

and
1.
technological objectives and the priorities
for the
specific programme are set out in Annex II. They are
consistent with the principles and the three categories
of selection criteria indicated in Annex I to the fifth
framework programme.

scientific

The rules for dissemination of results shall apply

2.
to this specific programme.

3.
The detailed rules for financial participation by
the Community in the specific programme are those
referred to in Article 4 of
the fifth framework
programme.

Direct RTD actions are defined in Annexes II and IV
to the fifth framework programme.

(1) OJ L 107, 30.4.1996, p. 12.

Specific rules for implementing the programme are set
out in Annex III to this Decision.

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Article 4

In the light of the criteria referred to in Article 3(1),
and the scientific and technological objectives and
priorities set out in Annex II, the Commission:

(a) shall monitor, with appropriate assistance from
independent external experts, the implementation
of the specific programme and, where appopriate,
submit proposals to the Council for adapting it, in
accordance with Article
fifth
framework programme;

5(1)

the

of

in Article 5(2) of

(b) shall arrange for the external assessment provided
fifth framework
for
programme
conducted concerning the
activities carried out in the fields covered by the
specific programme.

to be

the

Article 5

The Commission shall draw up a work

1.
programme specifiying:

(a) in greater detail, the objectives and RTD priorities

of Annex II;

(b) the indicative timetable for the implementation of

the specific programme.

2.
The work programme shall be updated where
appropriate and be made available by the Commission
in a user-friendly form,
to all
including in electronic form.

interested parties

The Board of Governors of the JRC (hereinafter
2.
shall be
referred to as the Board of Governors)
consulted by the Commission in this
in
task,
accordance with the relevant provisions concerning the
organisation of the JRC.

The Commission shall

3.
regularly inform the
Board of Governors of the implementation of this
specific programme.

Article 7

The Commission may request the JRC to execute, on
the basis of the criterion of mutual benefit, projects
with legal entities established in third countries when
this contributes effectively to the execution of direct
actions.

Article 8

In accordance with Article 5(4) of the fifth framework
programme, the Commission shall regularly inform
the
the Council and the European Parliament of
overall progress of
the
implementation of
the
programme.

Article 9

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 6

Done at Brussels, 25 January 1999.

1.
The Commission shall be responsible for the
implementation of this specific programme, carried
out by the JRC.

For the Council

The President

J. FISCHER

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ANNEX I

INDICATIVE BREAKDOWN OF THE AMOUNT DEEMED NECESSARY

Type of activity

Serving the citizen

Enhancing sustainability

Underpinning European competitiveness

(million EUR)

Amount

292

321

126

Total

739 (1) (2)

(1) Of which approximately 6 % may be allocated to exploratory research.
(2) This total includes the JRC’s budget contribution necessary for its participation in shared-cost actions.

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ANNEX II

THE GENERAL OUTLINES, SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL OBJECTIVES AND
PRIORITIES

A. THE MISSION OF JRC

The mission of JRC is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception,
development, implementation and monitoring of Community policies. As a service of the European
Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Community.
Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being
independent of commercial or national interests.

Carrying out specific high-level research in close contact with industry and other bodies, the JRC
supports the policy-maker in addressing the concerns of
improving the
the individual citizen,
interaction between man and the environment and promoting sustainable development.

In implementing its mission, the JRC will endeavour to coordinate RTD activities carried out in the
Member States. Its work depends on intensive networking with public and private institutions in the
Member States through, for example, research networks, joint projects or staff exchanges. This is
important because the JRC’s mission is complementary to the indirect action part of the fifth
framework programme; while the indirect actions will continue to be the main mechanism for
developing and testing new ideas, the JRC’s role is to help apply them in the service of the
policy-maker.

B. OBJECTIVE: SUPPORT THE MANAGEMENT OF CHANGE

Progress in technology, especially in the life sciences and information technology, is changing the way
we live, the way we do business and the world we live in. These changes are complex and interrelated
so those involved with policy need support in understanding how to harness the technologies to
provide better services to the citizen, to allow industry to take advantage of new opportunities and to
promote policies that protect the citizen from the risks that accompany the benefits of such changes.
JRC, as the scientific arm of the Commission, must be able to underpin the management of change by
supporting the Community policy-making process through: facilitating a better understanding of
emerging issues; providing scientific and technical support to the elaboration and implementation of
policies; providing realistic monitoring of the effectiveness of policy measures.

The two selection criteria for JRC activities are:

— relevance to Community policies. An understanding of the policy agenda allows JRC research to

be timely and support the formulation of policy where it is most needed,

— subsidiarity. This has two aspects. Firstly the research must be in an area where Community
involvement is appropriate and secondly it should be appropriate for this involvement to be
through the JRC. Thus JRC operates in areas such as cross-border issues, consumer protection and
anti-fraud where its unique pan-European identity provides an added-value.

C. THE JRC PROGRAMME

JRC’s specific programme for the fifth framework programme reflects the large changes that have
taken place in Europe and the wider world in the past 10 years. While these changes have all been
beneficial for growth and prosperity, care is needed to ensure that the growth continues, that European
industry can compete on a fair basis within the internal market and on the wider world market, that
the growth is sustainable and that Europe’s citizens can live in a clean and safe environment.

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Accordingly JRC’s programme has been divided into three main themes:

I.

Serving the citizen

II.

Enhancing sustainability

III. Underpinning European competitiveness

The objective of the first theme is to provide support to policy that protects individual citizens. This
includes measures to give the consumer confidence that the food he or she eats or buys is identified
and labelled correctly, that he or she is protected against fraud, that he or she can fully utilise the
benefits of modern medicine, that the information that he or she receives is dependable and that he or
she is protected against natural and man-made hazards.

The second main theme is sustainability; achieving growth while protecting the environment,
conserving natural resources, maintaining biodiversity and ensuring that the Community can continue
funding the relevant policies and avoiding that efforts in these regards are not undermined by fraud. It
is a major Community policy objective that environmental considerations be integrated into all other
policies and framing legislation that achieves this integration while maintaining a broad free market
policy is a major challenge to legislators. JRC will support sustainability through analysis of the
environmental impact of policy options, through support to anti-fraud measures in the agriculture and
fishery policies, through support to the international effort to prevent global change and through the
study of how European ecosystems are changing and could be preserved.

The main objective of the third theme is to contribute to the Community’s industrial competitiveness
policy by supporting the transfer of knowledge and research results from the scientific community to
industrial users. The JRC will for example exploit its specific expertise to facilitate the utilisation of
the latest technologies by emerging industries, such as earth observation and advanced materials (e.g.
biomaterials). Other appropriate actions will be taken to support key policy areas such as enlargement
and integration of candidate countries
into a common internal market, pre-accession and
EU-Mediterranean cooperation, where further efforts are required to optimise potential synergies
between the scientific and industrial communities of the EU and its partner countries.

Two horizontal elements run through all three JRC research themes. The first of these, measurements,
standards and testing, constitutes one of
the JRC. The second is a
techno-economic intelligence that can provide EU institutions with timely advice concerning the
development of new technologies, the likelihood of breakthroughs, the social challenges that they pose
and their possible impact on policy. This includes monitoring developments in the other major
industrialised trading blocs to determine what lessons can be learned. Both these tasks are generic to
all JRC activities — even where not explicitly mentioned.

the key specialities of

Finally the programme which follows should not to be considered a rigid blueprint for the work
programme of JRC over the next four years but rather a general outline that reflects the current view
of the policy agenda and its priorities. Changes to the JRC programme are to be expected as science
and technology advance and as the policy agenda and the priorities of the customer change.

I. SERVING THE CITIZEN

The first theme of JRC’s research is centred on the citizen. The objective is to support those
Community policies that are intended to protect him or her, provide him or her with information,
maintain his or her health and protect his or her safety.

Consumer policy and consumer health protection are most important factors in Community policy
and, in fact, the legal basis for consumer protection will be further strengthened by the Amsterdam
Treaty. The main objectives of the policy are to protect the consumer in the internal market; to
reinforce market transparency; to improve consumer confidence, especially by more complete and

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effective information and education; develop a system of dialogue and consultation between the
European Commission and organisations representing consumers, and improve the dialogue between
the latter and industry; and to ensure that the interests of the consumer are given due consideration in
the development of other Community policies. The JRC will provide scientific support for this policy.

Along with biotechnology, information technology is the fastest moving technology and the EC’s
information society initiative, while recognising that progress is driven by market forces, ensures that
policy fully takes advantages of the benefits of the technology and that individuals can depend on
information that has been processed securely. The JRC will support the initiative through technical
advice on dependable services and improving the ease of access to information.

The third thrust of the JRC’s effort in services to the citizens is in health. The objective here is to
exploit specific technologies where the JRC has unique technologies and expertise for the diagnosis
and treatment of disease.

Beside safety of food and feed products, Community measures to protect the safety of citizens include,
among others, car safety legislation, directives on industrial safety and construction guidelines. The
JRC will provide a technical backup to these measures, determine how new technologies can help cope
with natural disasters with a cross-border dimension, such as flooding, and contribute to the Union
effort on civilian de-mining through appropriate coordination and support activities.

I.1. Consumer protection

For consumer health EC institutions manage scientific committees whose work is based on excellence,
independence and transparency; carry out inspections to ensure that rules of hygiene and food safety
are respected; and evaluate and assess possible risks to consumer health.

This marked strengthening of consumer policy has been prompted by the general desire to match, on
the one hand, the rapid growth in the possibilities offered by advanced technologies to increase the
variety and lower the costs of products in the market by, on the other hand, adequate measures to
protect consumers. It is clear that a strong scientific support to this policy is required, both to
understand the complex issues involved and to apply the latest technology for checking the quality and
origins of products. The JRC will support Community policy in this area by applying emerging
technologies for consumer protection measures and will be ready to assess and react to new hazards as
they occur. This work will involve:

— research to underpin the harmonisation and validation of methods for quality and safety analysis
of feeding stuffs, including possible European harmonisation of standards for organic foods, and
for animal feedstuffs, food, beverages, and consumer products; provision of references for the
determination of food and beverages authenticity and origin, for the establishment of inspection
practices and for risk-assessment; methods and references in support of
food-labelling and
development of anti-fraud techniques,

— support to the implementation of Community policy on biotechnology including methods for the

monitoring and detection of genetically modified organisms and risk-assessment studies,

— toxicological studies on the impact and health effects of diverse food contaminants,

toxic
chemicals (e.g. endocrine disrupters) and pathogenic micro-organisms; establishment of models
and procedures for risk-assessment,

— validation of safe alternative procedures to in-vivo experiments currently used to determine the

toxicological hazards posed by chemicals, pharmaceuticals and consumer products.

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I.2. Medical and health applications

Several JRC generated technologies related to nuclear engineering, metrology, informatics and material
sciences have potential applications in the area of medicine and healthcare and are sufficiently mature
for further development. The implementation of this work will rely on the use of JRC facilities and
unique expertise, and will continue to be carried out in networks together with the medical and
pharmaceutical communities. It will include:

— active support, including validation and standardisation, to development of anti-cancer therapies
based on nuclear technologies, applications of boron neutron capture therapies and alpha-immuno
therapies and to medical imaging,

— prenormative research and validation of

testing methods for bio-compatible materials and
bio-mechanical components; qualification of certain medical equipment for the harmonisation of
norms and standards; development, production and certification of reference materials for clinical
diagnostics and validation of testing instruments,

— support

to telematics

systems

for

the

secure

exchange of

regulatory information on

pharmaceuticals in the EC.

I.3. Benefiting from the information society

The JRC’s information technology expertise will be used to support dependability aspects of the EC’s
information society initiative and to strengthen fraud control measures. The work includes:

— support to the dependability initiative including defined tests and tools of reliability, research on
systems’ survivability, dependability characterisation of services and qualification procedures for
embedded systems; application and demonstration of emerging networking technologies, decision
support systems and medical data systems; use of research results in statistical and geographic
information applications,

— support to anti-fraud measures including the development and operation of effective, reliable and
safe communication systems amongst public authorities in Member States and the Commission,
development of an early-warning system and methods for analysis and control of large quantities
of information from different sources.

I.4. Safety of the citizen: man-made hazards and natural hazards

The EC has a number of measures to protect individuals against hazards. These include standards in
car construction, high pressure equipment, obligations on the labelling and notification of dangerous
chemicals and the notification of accidents. The JRC plays an active part in the implementation of
these policies and in support for the development of new safety measures:

— support of Community industrial safety regulations through analysis of industrial accident data,
supply of information to the competent authorities and industry and technical advice to the
Commission,

— design, development, validation and harmonisation of inspection procedures for high pressure
equipment, with a view to provide maximum safety at the work place; support to the development
and implementation of new standards. Interactions of hydrogen with structural materials and
preparation of industrial safety norms and standards,

— monitoring, control and management of chemical products: implementation and improvement of
regulations for the notification, authorisation, classification and labelling of new and existing
chemicals; research on environmental risk-assessment,

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— maintenance and further development of a research platform contributing to the scientific and
technical basis needed for civilian land de-mining operations; compilation of an index of mine
types and their signatures; development of strategies for examining mine fields and establishing
secure detection and destruction methods; establishment of reference criteria and standards and
validation of clearing methods and available devices,

— chemical characterisation and tools for the determination of the origin of illicit drugs,

— characterisation of the structural safety of transport vehicles and crash barriers; calibration of test
facilities in the Member States together with the validation of simulation methods intended to
complement traditional impact tests,

— support to the establishment of a common European reporting system for in-flight incidents

including analysis of the influence of human error,

— support to the formulation and development of construction standards (Eurocodes); research to
ensure safety and reliability of buildings and civil engineering structures against
seismic
movements, rapid impacts and traffic vibrations including applications for the preservation of
significant monuments for the European cultural heritage, assessment of their degradation and
techniques for their restoration,

— applications of earth observation techniques for the risk and damage assessment, monitoring and
post-crisis management of natural hazards such as forest fires, floods, landslides, droughts, and
coastal storms.

II. ENHANCING SUSTAINABILITY

Technological development, sustainable growth, respect and care for the environment are key issues
for the Community, enshrined in the Treaty and pursued through common policies and actions.

The Community’s fifth environmental action programme (1992 to 2000)
forms the basis of
environment policy of the EC and describes the challenge of the 1990s as making progress towards
sustainable development. A recently published action plan identifies five priority areas where
Community action needs to be stepped up. These are firstly improved integration of the environment
into other policies such as agriculture, transport, energy, industry and tourism; secondly the use of a
wider range of
to
implement Community policy; thirdly improving the implementation and enforcement of Community
legislation; fourthly a raising of public awareness; and lastly a raising of the Union’s profile in
international affairs — strengthening cooperation with central and east European countries and the
Mediterranean partnership countries, enhancing the EU’s role in international environmental actions
and dealing with trade and environmental issues.

instruments, especially market based instruments but also structural policy,

the production of commonly accepted reference materials and measurements

The JRC’s scientific and technical services will provide the expertise necessary to help in the
understanding of the issues involved and to support the implementation of all five points of the action
plan. Its broad range of disciplines will contribute to the establishment of sound and feasible limits for
pollutants,
for
monitoring them, the determination of the impact of proposed legislation, the identification of the best
available technologies and the assessment of available scientific knowledge for improving industrial
processes and reduce pollution, the understanding of global climate change processes and their impact,
the identification of new technologies that could affect sustainability. Particular efforts will be made in
the energy and transport sectors.

The JRC research aimed at enhancing sustainability will provide support to the Commission, the
European Parliament, the Member States and relevant EU agencies, and will include the following
targeted issues.

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II.1.

Integration of environmental protection in other Community policies

The Commission is obliged by the Treaty to assess the consequences of any proposal that has an
impact on the environment and to endeavour to integrate sustainability objectives into all sectoral
policies such as agriculture, energy, transport and regional development. The JRC will support this
effort through:

— socio- and techno-economic studies to improve the integration of environmental protection in
sectoral Community policies, including case studies and development of methods to measure and
analyse regulatory instruments (e.g. (cid:28)green accounting’),

— research on land cover and land use dynamics, regional and urban development trends; research
issues mainly using earth observation; coastal zone management,

on agro-environmental
development and harmonisation of indicators of environmental degradation.

II.2. Pollution

Community legislation requires that new industrial developments use the best available techniques in
order to reduce pollution in an integrated manner, i.e., to take account of all forms of pollution, air,
soil and water. As a support to this and all other pollution control management measures it is a
prerequisite that systems be developed for detecting pollutants and that measurements throughout the
Community be harmonised. The JRC’s work will therefore involve:

— support to environmental legislation for integrated (e.g. water, air, soil) pollution prevention and
control
the reference framework for the use of best available
techniques in several industrial sectors; assessment of the impact of legislation on competitiveness
and employment,

in industry; development of

— support to the international harmonisation of pollution-monitoring techniques; development and
production of reference materials and measurements in different materials (e.g. soil, water, air,
biota, etc.) for pollution control,

— research to underpin the harmonisation and validation of reference methods for the analysis of
water quality, water monitoring, water
treatment and water management; assessment of
toxicological risks posed by water pollutants; interventions in emergency cases; procedures and
criteria for water quality control; studies on water management practices and their impacts in
geographical areas protected by EC legislation and in those prone to flooding and drought,

— development of techniques for localisation of soil contamination due to industrial activities and to
monitor marine pollution events (e.g. algae blooms, oil spills) including the detection of vessels
causing pollution,

— research to underpin harmonisation and validation of air quality control methods and criteria for
air quality in urban and (cid:28)conurban’ areas; impact of alternative fuels on air quality and emissions
of micro-particles; surveillance of radioactivity in the environment; regional programmes for
environmental monitoring of selected regions (e.g. the Alpine Convention).

II.3. Global change

By signing the Kyoto Protocol,
industrialised nations have committed themselves to reducing
greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union, which negotiated on behalf of the Member States, has
promised to reduce emissions to 8 % below 1990 levels. The European Union needs strong technical
support in order to maintain credibility as a party to the Climate Convention, strengthen its position

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on the international scene, understand possible futures for Europe including implications for managed
and unmanaged natural resources, public health and biodiversity, highlight risks and uncertainties and
formulate appropriate policy. The JRC will support Community policy by:

— study on the fluxes of greenhouse gases and aerosols; research on the processes leading to
greenhouse emissions; assessment of the consequences of the Kyoto Protocol on emission levels, air
quality, climatic change and the European economy; support to European political initiatives,

— exploitation of Earth observation for mapping, monitoring and making an inventory of key global,
marine and terrestrial resources. Global information systems and models will support the analysis
and understanding of observed trends. Access to global datasets will be provided to European
research networks.

II.4. Energy and transport

The final consumption of energy in Europe is divided almost equally between industry (29 %),
transport (32 %) and the household and tertiary sectors (39 %). The majority of this is from fossil fuel
with petroleum products dominating the transport sector and almost two thirds of all coal being used
for the production of electricity. Only by effective measures to reduce emissions and replace fossil fuels
with renewable energies can Europe respect international agreements and achieve sustainable growth.
The 1996 Green Paper on renewable energy found that the EC Treaty offered ample scope for
promoting renewable energy and suggested that the Community reinforce its policy in order to achieve
a target 12 % of gross inland energy consumption by 2010. The JRC will support Community policy
through:

— integration of

renewable energies

in energy systems and related socioeconomic studies;
development of new testing techniques and proposals for the preparation of norms and standards
for photovoltaic and solar thermal systems, the new generation of energy-storage systems, fuel
cells and insulating and other energy-efficient materials and devices; study of hydrogen as a fuel
with particular regard to safety issues and analysis of techno-economic aspects,

— contribution to the development and harmonisation of testing methods, inspection procedures,
norms and standards for materials and components used in high-efficiency power generation
systems and high temperature systems. Particular attention will be paid to the enhancement of the
safety and operational lifetime and the reduction of emissions,

— research on the interaction between neutrons and materials; provision of neutron reference data
for energy production in the framework of international conventions. Related techno-economic
studies and high-level training as support to industry, with particular attention to partners in
enlargement and pre-accession countries,

— development and validation of new emission control and reduction technologies for land, air and
sea transport systems; analysis of data concerning various emission-reduction technologies and
creation of a reference laboratory for coordination of round-robin experiments and networks;
execution of cost-benefit studies and techno-economical modelling, and development of the
technical standards base,

— appropriate studies to assess demand evolution for urban and regional transport systems in

support of Community transport policy.

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II.5. Agriculture, rural development and fisheries

Community policy is to make agriculture more competitive in world markets and to give new priority
to sustainable rural development, consumer-friendly products and more environmentally sensitive
practices. It should prepare for the enlargement to the East which means a 50 % increase of
agricultural land and a doubling of the farm labour force. Fraud control is important because of the
size of the budget involved and because of health concerns in the case of agriculture, and because of
sustainability concerns in the case of fisheries. JRC will continue to play an active role in supporting
policy through:

— prospective techno-economic studies and scenarios to support better understanding of long-term
trends of policies related to the food chain and to regional development policies. Emphasis will be
on the contribution of science and technology to these central Community policies and will
consider the wider political context (e.g. enlargement, Mediterranean policy),

— studies on the evolution of the rural environment; earth observation monitoring of changes in rural
trends in

forest development and management,

and coastal areas (environmental
agriculture and aquaculture, tourism); coastal zone management,

impacts,

— development and assessment of methods for the surveillance of regulated activities in the fisheries

sector,

— development of agro-meteorological models for the prediction of crop yields (particularly with a
view to EU enlargement); monitoring of results to ensure consistency with priorities of the
common agricultural policy and anti-fraud measures; harmonisation and quality control of work
done in Member States on farmers’ declarations; reorientation of the agriculture information
system towards priority sectors of agricultural activities; development of advanced statistical
methods and sampling strategies to control subsidies at the decisive stage of the clearance of
accounts,

— design and operation of a database for registering and monitoring livestock movements throughout
the Community; technical support for the implementation of a reliable identification and labelling
system for the entire Community herd, including overall quality control and electronic systems
certification,

— development and production of certified reference materials and development of reference methods
for securing the quality of agricultural products (e.g. nutritional components, trace contaminants
in raw materials, etc.).

III. UNDERPINNING EUROPEAN COMPETITIVENESS

The primary contributions of the Community towards economic development, growth and the creation
of employment are the promotion of industrial competitiveness and an efficient internal market in all
products and services. The Community likewise negotiates trading agreements with third countries
that ensure fair access to markets for Community products and stimulate economic growth in
developing countries. Economic growth is also the objective of
including
programmes such as PHARE and TACIS, that can help prepare less-favoured regions and countries for
fuller integration in the internal market and the global economy.

structural

funding,

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Fair trading depends on internationally agreed standards and the JRC will continue to support the
promotion and development of soundly-based European and international norms, standards, codes of
practice and reference tools. Support to structural policy will
include the transfer of technology
developed in the JRC to industry and measures to stimulate the competitiveness on world markets of
emerging industries such as the earth observation industry, where the JRC has specific expertise, and
the development of a scientific infrastructure in the Mediterranean partnership countries. These efforts
will be backed up by more generic studies to determine how technology is transferred from research to
industry and how employment is affected by changing patterns of industry.

III.1. Employment, technology and industrial competitiveness

The issues related to employment and competitiveness will continue to dominate the political debate in
Europe in the years to come. The JRC will support this issue through:

— investigation of the technology, employment and competitiveness interrelationship. Identification
of best practices to foster growth and employment. Analysis of the influence of societal trends
(age, gender, etc.), structural changes in sectors (industry, services, institutions, etc.) technology
changes and Community policies
etc.) on future
(euro,
competitiveness and employment in Europe,

enlargement and deregulation,

— analysis of factors limiting the development of less-favoured European regions with a view to
eliminating bottlenecks and improving competitiveness and employment; prospective analysis of
Community research priorities and role of science and technology for regional development.

III.2. Normative support to the international trading system

Industries need predictable and reliable market access conditions before making the considerable
investments needed for their penetration. There is also a need for all market operators to refer to
to ensure the
well-established, verifiable and internationally accepted measurements,
transparency of market regulations and avoid unfair competition and unnecessary litigation. In
pursuance of these objectives, the JRC will undertake:

in order

— the characterisation, production, storage,

stability testing and international distribution of
Community Bureau of References (CBR) certified reference materials is underpinning many of the
activities performed by JRC in support of different policies (environment, consumer protection,
health,
industrial competitiveness, etc.); production of industrial certified reference materials
particularly when urgent intervention is needed or when stocks need to be replaced,

— development and performance of primary isotopic measurements; production of isotopic reference
materials and establishment of a virtual institute of primary isotopic measurements with national
measurement institutes, for transboundary comparability of chemical measurements, to support
accreditation bodies and quality assurance systems and to realise traceability of chemical
measurements to common references; support
to Member States in building up their own
metrology systems,

— development and validation of analytical reference methods for elements and their chemical forms,
radionuclides and organic constituents; research on radionuclide metrology for the preparation of
primary standards, equipment calibrations and determination of trace elements,

— prenormative research and support to the development of measurement and testing standards for

materials in emerging technologies such as nanotechnologies.

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III.3.

Innovation and technology transfer

It is universally acknowledged that innovation drives competitiveness and growth. The JRC will
support efforts to understand the processes that control the transfer of knowledge from the research
sector to the private sector and take steps to maximise the benefit of its own technology to industry.
The work includes:

— studies related to Europe’s innovation system aiming at improving the exploitation of Europe’s
scientific and technological potential. Particular attention will be given to the identification of best
methods and practices for the creation, transfer and trading of knowledge, organisation of
enterprises, educational and training requirements and the specific needs of SMEs, developing the
interface of JRC networks with the enterprise policy’s networks,

— support to the development of a competitive and sustainable value-added earth observation
industry in Europe by identification of new users, development of new products and services and
development of tools support customers of earth observation data, information and services,

— exploitation of JRC results; studies to understand users’ needs; selection of innovation and
technology transfer projects for JRC-developed technologies; demonstrations to users and potential
investors. Priority will be given to collaboration with high-technology SMEs.

III.4. Enlargement, pre-accession and international cooperation

The increased technology flows under the globalisation of markets, the current European Union
external policy objectives and the need for efficient protection of the financial interest of the EC, call
for strengthening dialogue and cooperation on science and technology issues with future partner
countries. The JRC will support the enlargement process by sharing its knowledge with scientists from
future Member States, hosting their scientists and encouraging them to use its facilities and join its
networks. In particular, the JRC:

— will promote the association to international measurements evaluation programmes of relevant
organisations in candidate countries to European Union enlargement and in other third countries;
extension to industries and research institutions in these countries of the networks for advanced
materials and standards,

— will develop the cooperation with southern and eastern Mediterranean partnership countries with
a view to exchanging best practices, scientific knowledge and produce techno-economic input to
the objectives of the Barcelona process,

— will develop a multidisciplinary database of harmonised and coherent geographical data for an
enlarged European Union. The JRC will provide the necessary technical coordination and will
foster
the complete
interoperability of geographic information systems.

software and methods aiming at

the development of

standards

for

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ANNEX III

SPECIFIC RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING THE PROGRAMME

1. The Commission, after consulting the Board of Governors of the JRC, shall implement the direct
actions on the basis of the scientific objectives and contents described in Annex II. The activities
relating to this action shall be performed in the relevant institutes of the Joint Research Centre
(JRC).

2.

In the implementation of its activities, the JRC will, whenever appropriate and feasible, participate
in or organise networks of public and private laboratories in the Member States or European
research consortia. Particular attention shall be paid to cooperation with industry, especially with
small and medium-sized enterprises. Research bodies established in third countries may also
cooperate on projects of scientific and technological cooperation between the Community and the
third countries concerned. Particular attention will be paid to cooperation with research
laboratories and institutes in the countries of central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet
Union.

The knowledge gained through implementation of the projects will be disseminated by the JRC
itself (taking into account possible limitations due to confidentiality issues).

3. The accompanying measures shall include:

— the organisation of visits to JRC institutes of grant-holders, visiting scientists and seconded

experts,

— organisation of the secondment of JRC staff to national laboratories, industrial laboratories

and universities,

— specialised training in support of the elaboration or implementation of European policies and

specialised training with emphasis on multidisciplinarity,

— systematic exchange of information, through, inter alia, the organisation of scientific seminars,

workshops and colloquiums and scientific publications,

— the independent scientific and strategic evaluation of the performance of the projects and

programmes.