Commission Communication on the implementation of the Preparatory Action on the enhancement of the European industrial potential in the field of Security research, Towards a programme to advance European security through Research and Technology
Date: 2004-02-03
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU action, European security, research and development

COMMISSION OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES 

Brussels, 3.2.2004 
COM(2004) 72 final 

COMMISSION COMMUNICATION 

On the implementation of the Preparatory Action on the enhancement of the European 
industrial potential in the field of Security research,  
Towards a programme to advance European security through Research and Technology 

EN 

   EN 

 
 
 
  
Introduction 

Europe has entered a new phase in its history, marked by major political, demographic, social 
and economic evolutions. The challenge facing the EU-25 is to adapt and prosper within this 
changing environment, whilst being guided by the fundamental values and objectives of the 
Union. 

Security  is  one  particular  global  challenge  that  has  recently  come  to  the  fore  due  to  world 
events and societal changes. Europe needs to invest in a “security culture” that harnesses the 
combined  and  relatively  untapped  strengths  of  the  “security”  industry  and  the  research 
community  in  order  to  effectively  and  innovatively  address  existing  and  future  security 
challenges. 

The  Commission,  encouraged  by  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council,  and  industry1  is 
launching  a  “Preparatory  Action2”  in  the  field  of  Security  Research,  with  a  view  to  the 
establishment of a comprehensive programme after 2007. 

The  specific  aims  of  this  Communication  are  to  explain  why  action  now  needs  to  be 
undertaken  at  Community  level  and  to  present  the  type  of  issues  that  need  to  be  explored 
during the initial phase (the Preparatory Action) and the procedures applying (Programme of 
Work and Rules for Participation). 

The  Preparatory  Action  therefore  constitutes  a  Commission  contribution  to  the  wider  EU 
agenda  to  address  Europe’s  challenges  and  threats  as  set  out,  inter  alia,  in  the  European 
Security  Strategy  that  was  endorsed  by  the  European  Council  in  December  2003.  It  is 
complementary to the actions and efforts that are being deployed by the Member States and 
the  other  EU  Institutions  in  this  area.  The  Preparatory  Action  focuses  in  particular  on  the 
development of a research agenda for advanced security and will take account of the decisions 
to be taken in the Council and the Intergovernmental Conference concerning an Agency in the 
field of defence capabilities development, research, acquisition and armaments. 

European Challenges 

Security is an evolving concept and presents many challenges to the EU-25 that impact on a 
wide range of existing and emerging EU policies3, citizens’ concerns, including the protection 
against terrorist threats, and the adaptation of governance structures to effectively deal with 
these matters. 

1 

2 

3 

European  Parliament:  Resolution  172  (April  2002),  Presidency  Conclusions  of  the  Brussels  Spring 
Council  (21  March  2003),  The  Conclusions  of  the  EU  Competitiveness  Council  (13  May  2003),  The 
Conclusions of the EU Thessaloniki European Council (20-21 June 2003), Star 21 (Strategic Aerospace 
Review for the 21st century). 
Preparatory actions, based on article 49, point 2b of the Financial Regulation N°1605/2002 and article 
32,  point  2  of  the  Implementing  Rules  on  the  Financial  Regulation  (N°2342/2002),  are  intended  to 
prepare proposals with a view to the adoption of future Community actions.  
Policies  include  Competitiveness  (COM(2003)  704),  Transport,  Environment,  Energy,  Health, 
Consumer  Protection,  Finances,  Trade,  Space  and  Telecommunications;  as  well  as  the  Common 
Foreign  and  Security  Policy  (CFSP)  and  the  European  Security  and  Defence  Policy  (ESDP).  Also 
relevant are policies in respect of Justice and Home Affairs. 

2 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
The European security strategy, “A Secure Europe in a Better World” that was first presented 
by the Secretary-General / High Representative to the Thessaloniki Council in June 2003 and 
was endorsed by the European Council in December 2003, outlines the global challenges and 
key threats. The Union is now challenged to develop and maintain the capabilities to deal with 
security  related  issues  that  are  of  common  interest  to  the  European  citizen  and  Europe  as  a 
whole4. The paper proposes three strategic objectives for the Union: 

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

Addressing threats: The Union needs to use a range of instruments to deal with the 
current threats such as terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, failed 
states, regional conflicts and organised crime. 

Building  security  in  our  neighbourhood:  The  enlargement  process  will  result  in  a 
territorial  increase  of  34%  and  the  EU-25  will  have  direct  borders  with  less  stable 
regions.  The  EU  will  have  to  ensure  that  a  consistently  high  level  of  security  is 
established across its new, more diverse territory. 

An  international  order  based  on  effective  multilateralism:  In  a  world  of  global 
threats,  markets  and  media,  security  and  prosperity  depend  on  an  effective 
multilateral  cooperation.  No  single  European  country  is  or  will  be  able  to  tackle 
present or future broad and complex security problems entirely on its own. 

Meeting  these  ambitions  requires  the  Union  to  have  the  most  technologically  advanced 
instruments for anticipating new security threats and dealing with them in a way that serves 
its interests and respects its values. 

Europe  has  comparative  technological  strengths  in  many  areas  (including  dual-use 
technologies) and more explicit security-related areas but there is: 

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

iv. 

A significant degree of duplication and fragmentation of structures and programmes,  

Important  problems  of  interoperability  and  cost-efficiency  of  security  systems  and 
infrastructures,  

Unrealised potential for the cross-fertilization of ideas and results between the civil 
and non-civil security-related research fields, 

A recognised under investment in RTD is this area in comparison to other regions in 
the world.  

Europe now needs to capitalise on its strengths by adopting a more co-ordinated and coherent 
approach  in  innovation  policies  and  research.  This  would  contribute  to  the  Barcelona 
objectives of realising an investment of 3 % of GDP in research and development by the year 
2010.  The  cost  of  “non-action”  could  be  unacceptably  high  –  both  politically  and  for  the 
European citizen. 

4 

The  final  version of  the  European  Security  Strategy was  adopted  by  the  European  Council  on  12 
December  2003  and  provides  the  basis  for  the  development  of  a  new  European  security  culture  – 
including a framework for European security-related research in an enlarged Europe. 

3 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
I. 

THE  NEED  FOR  COMMUNITY  RESEARCH  AND  TECHNOLOGICAL 
DEVELOPMENT IN THE FIELD OF SECURITY 

Europe  needs  to  tackle  threats  that  are  more  diverse,  less  visible,  and  less  predictable.  This 
calls  for  behavioural  changes  as  well  as  more  innovative  means  to  deal  with  complex 
situations to address security in a comprehensive manner (“comprehensive security”).  

Europe  must  use  its  technological  strengths  to  build  the  capability  for  deploying  significant 
resources for peacekeeping, humanitarian aid and state-building activities, either on its own or 
in international alliances5. It requires an optimal use of the resources and the development of 
European industrial capabilities. 

In  an  increasingly  technological  and  knowledge-based  world,  excellence  in  Research  and 
Technological Development (RTD) is a prerequisite for the ability to tackle the new security 
challenges. There is scope for significant added value and economies of scale in the field of 
security-related  research  through  more  effective  co-ordination  and  harmonisation  of 
requirements and consistent approaches at a European level to RTD activities, capabilities and 
competencies. 

The experience of 20 years of European Research Programmes implemented on the basis of 
the “Community method” has proven the effectiveness of co-operative RTD activities and the 
value  of  collaborative  projects  in  federating  industrial  effort  leading  to  research  excellence 
and value for money by fostering true competition and collaboration at a European level. The 
activities  foreseen  in  security-related  research  and  proposed  in  this  Communication  are  not 
intended  to  replace  Member  States  own  efforts  in  this  field;  instead  in  accordance  with  the 
subsidiarity principle, their aim is to support, reinforce and supplement them, while providing 
a coherent reference framework at a European level. The activities will exploit synergies and 
complement ongoing RTD and policy work in Community programmes. 

The Preparatory Action 

The  Preparatory  Action  is  designed  to  assess  the  need  for  a  further  initiative  that  will 
complement and liaise with existing and future intergovernmental schemes; be open to all EU 
members  and  operate  on  the  basis  of  Community  principles;  and  contribute  to  bridging  the 
current gap between generic civil research (as supported by EC Framework programmes) and 
national and intergovernmental programmes oriented to defence procurement needs. 

Importantly, the Preparatory Action will also define at an EU level, based on European added 
value, ways to address issues related to serving an end user community essentially composed 
of  public  service  organisations  and,  in  particular,  government  departments  and  services, 
security agencies, non-governmental organisations, industry and the wider public sector. 

Following the Commission proposal, the Budgetary Authority has accorded6 an amount of 15 
Mio€7  for  2004  to  launch  a  Preparatory  Action  entitled  ‘Enhancement  of  the  European 

5 

6 
7 

The so called Petersberg’s tasks are expressly included in Article 17 of the Treaty on European Union 
and form an integral part of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESPD). 
Budget decision, Plenary December 2003. 
9 Mio€ for EU-15 plus 6 Mio€ for EU-10 to be adopted as an amending budget. 

4 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
industrial potential in the field of Security research 2004-2006’8, with a view to contributing 
to the improvement of European citizens’ security and in accordance with Article 1579. It is 
planned that the Preparatory Action will last three years with a estimated total budget of 65 
Mio€ (subject to the decision of the Budgetary Authority). 

A  successful  preparatory  phase  will  prepare  the  basis  for  a  decision  by  the  European 
Parliament and Council to establish a European Security Research Programme after 2006, by 
identifying the optimal EU added value and priorities to be addressed in such a programme. 
The  preparation  of  a  European  Security  Research  Programme  will  formally  start  with  the 
adoption  of  this  Communication,  with  a  view  to  completing  the  exercise  by  the  end  of  the 
Preparatory  Action.  The  legal  basis  for  such  a  programme  will  be  decided  on  and 
implemented in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community, taking into 
account  the  developments  with  respect  to  a  future  Constitutional  Treaty,  including  the 
creation  of  an  Agency  in  the  field  of  defence  capabilities,  research,  acquisition  and 
armaments, the seventh research Framework programme and other relevant issues. 

II. 

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PREPARATORY ACTION 

1. 

ISSUES TO BE EXPLORED DURING THE PREPARATORY ACTION 

The Preparatory Action provides an opportunity to undertake activities to identify and address 
critical  issues  in  order  to  prepare  the  foundations  for  a  comprehensive  European  Security 
Research Programme from 2007 onwards. 

To implement this Action, a series of precursory activities (projects and supporting activities), 
established after a broad consultation with Member States, industry and research entities will 
be carried out at Community level that will reference, complement and build on existing RTD 
projects and studies undertaken already at European, regional, national and intergovernmental 
contexts. 

Projects will aim at demonstrating the potential to address the immediate security challenges 
that  Europe  faces,  as  well  as  considering  possible  technical,  contractual,  and  implementing 
issues to be developed for the future programme. A limited number of projects (between 6-8) 
will be funded annually, such as: 

• 

• 

8 

9 

Mission-oriented projects delivering tangible results in selected priority areas within 
the period of the activity; 

Pre-normative  projects  working  in  areas  relating  to  standards  and  internationally 
interoperable  systems, 
in  particular  between  defence  and  other  security 
organisations; 

The  Commission’s  Communication  (COM(2003)113)  ‘Towards  an  EU  Defence  Equipment  Policy’ 
proposes to launch a preparatory action for advanced research in the field of global security. 
Article  157,  point  1,  4th  indent  of  the  T.E.C.  ‘foster  better  exploitation  of  the  industrial  potential  of 
policies of innovation, research and technological development’. 

5 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
• 

The  understanding  of  human  factors,  social  and  ethical  values  including  public 
perception relating to threats and security measures as well as the acquisition of the 
necessary skills to deal with such matters. 

Supporting  activities  will  aim  at  addressing  the  fragmentation  of  structures  in  Europe,  the 
integration of heterogeneous networks, improving the understanding of the existing activities 
in  specific  fields,  socio-economic  and  market  studies,  road-mapping,  scenario  building 
including threat analysis, and technology foresight exercises. They will also contribute to the 
exploitation and valorisation of the results. A limited number of supporting activities will be 
implemented through calls for proposals and call for tenders, addressing in particular: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The  establishment  of  conditions  for  stimulating  the  uptake  of  results  by  the  user 
community  including  the  development  of  interfaces  with  end-users,  in  particular 
government  departments  and  services,  security  agencies,  non-governmental 
organisations, industry and the wider public sector; 

The networking of stakeholders, benchmarking of existing activities and studies; 

The  identification  of  the  technologies  that  will  be  required  for  future  European 
industrial investment; 

In addition, it is intended to establish a consultation and consensus-building platform 
with  the  relevant  stakeholders,  in  line  with  the  European  technology  platform 
concept already put to work in a number of fields such as aeronautics and endorsed 
by the European Council10. This activity will aim to develop a long-term vision and 
strategic agenda in security-related research. 

2. 

PROGRAMME  OF  WORK  AND  PROCEDURES  APPLYING  TO  THE  PREPARATORY 
ACTION 

This  chapter  contains  the  programme  of  work  and  procedures  applying  to  the  Preparatory 
Action. A call for proposals will be published toward the end of March 2004. The selection of 
the projects and the signature of the contracts will take place during the second half of 2004. 

The  Programme  of  work  takes  a  mission-oriented  approach.  The  activities  are  defined  as 
collaborative  multi-disciplinary,  multi-stakeholder  projects  that  will  strive  for  a  broad, 
strategic perspective in considering the topic areas addressed but give tangible outcomes that 
will provide the basis for the future Security Research Programme. 

The activities will stimulate the integration of a critical mass of technologies, knowledge and 
resources  to  provide  validated  solutions  to  the  specific  security  challenges  identified.  They 
will also explore and foster the conditions necessary to create an environment favourable to 
the enhancement of European scientific, technological and industrial capabilities in the field 
of security-related research. 

10 

Presidency conclusions, European Council, 20-21 March 2003. 

6 

 
 
  
 
                                                 
The  activities  take  account  of  the  ongoing  legislative  and  regulatory  initiatives  taken  at 
Community level in different areas such as justice and interior affairs, taxation and customs, 
external  relations,  transport  and  energy,  agriculture,  health  and  others,  aiming  at  supporting 
technologies  and  concepts.  Related  programmes  need  to  be  considered  in  order  to 
complement  these  activities  and  avoid  any  unnecessary  duplication  of  work  and  ongoing 
standardisation work must be taken into account.  

2.1. 

FIELDS OF ACTIVITY 

The activities should support EU policies and initiatives and be consistent with EU policies 
and values, especially addressing the major concerns of EU citizens with respect to security 
and  privacy  as  well  as  those  of  common  interest  to  Europe  in  a  global  context.  In  addition 
they should respect certain broader principles: 

i. 

ii. 

iii. 

iv. 

The  relevance  of  the  activities  to  the  objectives  of  the  Preparatory  Action  and  the 
potential to contribute tangible and demonstrable improvements in security that can 
be brought to “maturity” within the timeframe of the Preparatory Action; 

The  stimulation  of  market  conditions  and  innovative  mechanisms  to  create 
opportunities for European industry to gain a comparative advantage; 

The  ability  of  the  consortium  to  carry  out  the  activities  successfully,  and  to  ensure 
the  management  of  the  intellectual  property  and  where  applicable,  the  proper 
treatment of classified information; 

The  building  of  sustainable  and  effective  partnerships,  networks  and  working 
methodologies between (public) users, industry and research organisations. 

The following priority missions have been identified in consultation with national authorities, 
industry and a Group of Personalities (section III): 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

Improving situation awareness; 

Optimising security and protection of networked systems; 

Protecting  against  terrorism  (including  bio-terrorism  and  incidents  with  biological, 
chemical and other substances); 

Enhancing  crisis  management  (including  evacuation,  search  and  rescue  operations, 
active agents control and remediation); 

Achieving 
communication. 

interoperability 

and 

integrated 

systems 

for 

information 

and 

The activities subject to grants in the context of the Preparatory Action will be projects and 
supporting  activities  addressing  the  priorities  indicated,  wherever  needed  and  appropriate  in 
co-ordination with the relevant standardisation work of the European standards organisations. 
These  will  be  implemented  through  calls  for  proposals  and  calls  for  tenders.  This  priority 
listing does not prejudice the possibility of selecting additional projects that can be justified. 
The priorities of the Preparatory Action will be reviewed on a yearly basis. 

7 

 
 
  
 
2.2 

A. 

PROJECTS 

Improving situation awareness 

Aim: to identify the main threats that could affect Europe, particularly land and sea borders 
and assets of global interest, by appropriate information gathering, interpretation, integration 
and  dissemination  leading  to  the  sharing  of  intelligence.  Concepts  and  technologies  for 
improved situation awareness at the appropriate levels could be developed and demonstrated. 

Relevant issues for Projects: 

- Demonstration of concepts, technologies and capabilities for situation awareness systems, to 
enhance  surveillance  of  land  and  sea  borders,  especially  supporting  measures  for  new  land 
borders in EU-25 and assets of global interest. 

-  Demonstration  of  the  appropriateness  and  acceptability  of  tagging,  tracking  and  tracing 
devices  by  static  and  mobile  multiple  sensors  that  improve  the  capability  to  locate,  identify 
and follow the movement of mobile assets, goods and persons, including smart documentation 
(e.g.  biometrics,  automatic  chips  with  positioning)  and  data  analysis  techniques  (remote 
control and access). 

B. 

Optimising security and protection of networked systems 

Aim: to analyse established and future networked systems, such as communications systems, 
utility systems, transportation facilities, or networks for (cyber) commerce and business, with 
regard to the security of use, vulnerabilities, and identification of interdependencies to show 
how to implement protective security measures against both electronic and physical threats. 

Relevant issues for Projects: 

- Development of standardised methodologies and decision tools for assessing the nature of 
the  potential  threat  to  critical  networked  infrastructures  and  to  assess  the  respective 
vulnerabilities. 

-  Demonstration  of  measures  for  enhanced  protection  and  assurance  of  elements  critical  to 
public, private and government infrastructures to maintain security in an enlarged Europe. 

-  Development  of  detection,  prevention,  response  and  alert  capabilities  to  strengthen 
information and control systems, integrating, where appropriate, the use of space-based assets 
as well as fixed terrestrial and wireless terrestrial systems. 

C. 

Protecting  against  terrorism  (including  bio-terrorism  and  incidents  with 
biological, chemical and other substances) 

Aim:  to  identify  and  prioritise  the  material  and  information  requirements  of  governments, 
agencies and public authorities in combating and protecting against terrorism and  to deliver 
technology solutions for threat detection, identification, protection and neutralisation as well 
as  containment  and  disposal  of  threatening  substances  including  biological,  chemical  and 
nuclear ones and weapons of mass destruction. 

8 

 
 
  
 
Relevant issues for Projects: 

- Demonstration of effective integration of active and passive sensor techniques, suitable for a 
wide  range  of  platforms  and  data  correlation  techniques  for  detection  and  identification 
systems. 

- Development of models of large scale dispersion over large areas and using multiple routes 
of  high  risk  pathogens  of  concern  (smallpox,  anthrax,  C.  botulinum,  Yersinia  pestis, 
haemorrhagic  fever  viruses,  Francisella  tularensis  and  genetically  modified  organisms)  to 
produce a validated model for use by public authorities. 

-  Demonstration  of  the  viability  of  technologies  and  protocols  for  personnel,  facilities  and 
equipment decontamination against biological or chemical or other substances. 

- Assessment and identification of the overall needs of an enlarged EU for biosafety level 4 
laboratories in order to guarantee optimal complementarity and development of an effective 
methodology for networking. 

D. 

Enhancing  Crisis  Management  (including  evacuation,  search  and  rescue 
operations, active agents control and remediation) 

Aim: to address the operational and technological issues that need to be considered from three 
perspectives: crisis prevention, operational preparedness and management of declared crisis. 

Relevant issues for Projects: 

- Development of shared information management tools and models to facilitate the efficient 
integration  of  diverse  emergency  and  management  services  with  attention  to  inter  alia: 
organisational  structures,  inter-organisational  co-ordination  and  communication;  distributed 
architectures and human factors. 

E. 

Achieving 
communication 

interoperability  and 

integrated  systems  for 

information  and 

Aim : to develop and demonstrate interoperability concepts for (legacy) information systems 
in the domain of security, enabling the linking of existing and new assets in clusters to offer 
improved  performance  and  enhanced  adaptive  functionality.  To  support  interoperability, 
system providers need to involve end-users and standardisation. 

Relevant issues for Projects: 

-  Develop  and  demonstrate  with  existing  and  potential  categories  of  users,  concepts  and 
architectures  for  internationally  interoperable  systems  and  standards,  for  example  in  control 
and command as well as communication and information exchange systems. Attention should 
also  be  given  to  dependability,  organisational  aspects,  protection  of  confidentiality  and 
integrity of information. 

2.3 

SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES 

A small number (to a maximum of 10) of supporting activities are foreseen annually on topics 
selected  with  a  focus  on  RTD  roadmaps,  standardisation  or  requirement  analyses, 

9 

 
 
  
 
dissemination,  networking  and  coordinating  activities,  relevant  to  the  need  to  improve  the 
security of the European citizen and society, such as: 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Scenario building exercises for assessing threats and perceived risk to strategic sites 
and assets; 

Identification  of  the  critical  areas  (social,  psychological,  strategic,  information)  to 
reduce risks and vulnerability; 

Technical and financial feasibility studies of a European security information system 
(including the use of space-based assets); 

Survey  of  good  practice  in  screening  measures  (goods  and  persons)  in  Member 
States, and other regions and including an evaluation of the economic viability (costs 
and  throughput)  of  activities  and  of  the  transferability  of  systems  and  capabilities 
across the enlarged EU; 

Developing  procedures  and  good  practice  to  define  at  EU  level,  relevant  new 
technologies and capacities based on the needs of various public services.  

2.4 

MANAGEMENT 

The Preparatory Action and all the activities related to the preparation of the programme will 
be managed and executed by the Commission services. 

Although there are clear differences with the current 6th Framework programme, in particular 
the mission oriented approach and the rules for intellectual property rights and participation, 
well-tested  procedures  and  instruments  currently  applicable  in  the  Community  research 
programmes are the basis for the management of the Preparatory Action activities. 

Calls  for  proposals  and  Calls  for  tenders  will  be  published  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the 
Community based on the Programme of Work established in consultation with stakeholders. 

Grant contracts based on Commission models for standard grant agreements with elements as 
appropriate  and  necessary  from  the  6th  Framework  programme  contracts  will  be  established 
for  the  projects,  following  the  principles  laid  out  in  the  Annex  to  this  Communication. 
Supporting  activities  can  receive  a  grant  contract  if  they  are  selected  following  a  call  for 
proposals, or service contract if their selection follows a call for tenders. Particular efforts will 
be made to keep the implementation of the Preparatory Action flexible and simple to enable 
optimal  testing  of  the  concepts  outlined.  The  Commission  will  respect  EU  regulation  on 
classified and confidential information. Further details on the implementation are provided in 
the Annex to the Commission Decision on the implementation of the Preparatory Action on 
the enhancement of the European industrial potential in the field of Security research. 

2.5 

REVIEW AND ASSESSMENT 

The Commission will inform the European Parliament, the Council and Member States on a 
regular  basis  of  the  results  and  progress  made  in  the  implementation  of  the  Preparatory 
Action. It will report on: 

10 

 
 
  
 
 
• 

• 

• 

Specific 
deliverables of the initiative; 

technological 

implementations  and  other  achievements  as  well  as 

The  degree  of  competency  pooling  and  consensus  reached  on  a  European  security 
research strategy amongst the key stakeholders; 

The future needs for security-related research to support EU policies in specific areas 
and to contribute to the new security challenges in a changing world. 

III. 

LONG TERM PERSPECTIVES 

To  complement  these  activities  and  in  order  to  give  a  longer  term  vision  to  the  security 
research  a  high-level  “Group  of  Personalities”  chaired  by  Commissioners  Busquin  and 
Liikanen (Research and Information Society respectively) and including CEOs from industry 
and  research  institutes,  high  level  European  political  figures,  members  from  the  European 
Parliament and observers from intergovernmental institutions, has been established. 

The Group will, in particular, elaborate a vision and propose a basis for establishing the future 
requirements of EU Security RTD and the contribution that could be made to addressing the 
new security challenges in a changing world. 

The  Group  of  Personalities  will  prepare  a  policy oriented  report  on  their  vision  for  security 
research  in  Europe,  that  will  be  the  subject  of  a  Commission  Communication  foreseen  for 
Spring 2004. 

IV. 

CONCLUSION 

This  Communication  responds  to  repeated  requests  to  the  Commission  by  the  European 
Parliament,  Council  and  industry.  It  constitutes  a  specific  response  to  the  Presidency 
conclusions of the Competitiveness Council of 13 May 2003. 

The  launching  of  the  Preparatory  Action  is  a  timely  reaction  to  the  growing  security 
challenges  that  Europe  is  facing  as  set  out,  inter  alia,  in  the    recently  adopted  EU  Security 
Strategy.  The  Preparatory  Action  is  a  Commission  contribution  to  the  wider  EU  agenda  to 
address  Europe’s  challenges  and  threats.  It  is  complementary  to  the  actions  and  efforts  that 
are  being  deployed  by  the  Member  States  and  the  other  EU  Institutions  in  this  area.  The 
Preparatory  Action  focuses  in  particular  on  the  development  of  a  research  agenda  for 
advanced security and will take account of the decisions to be taken in the Council and the 
Intergovernmental  Conference  concerning  an  Agency  in  the  field  of  defence  capabilities 
development, research, acquisition and armaments. The Preparatory Action also constitutes a 
contribution  to  the  Initiative  for  Growth  (EU  Council  conclusions,  16-17  October  2003)  by 
providing an opportunity to reinforce European technological and industrial potential in this 
area. 

The Communication sets out the main objectives of the Preparatory Action, outlines the initial 
actions that the Commission intends to take as well as the procedures for its implementation. 

Member  States,  industry  and  the  research  community  are  and  will  continue  to  be  the  main 
Commission  partners  during  the  development  of  the  new  programme.  In  addition  to  the 
technological focus of the action, socio-economic aspects, the acquisition of skills and public 
awareness raising are also issues that will be addressed during this preparation phase. 

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The Preparatory Action should lead to a European Security Research Programme starting in 
2007.  Experience  and  knowledge  gained  from  this  phase  will  help  to  ensure  that  the  future 
Research  Programme  will  be  optimally  designed  by  the  relevant  EU  institutions,  with 
appropriate financial resources, and that it will contribute to the technological excellence and 
capabilities  for  the  EU  to  promote  peace,  security  and  prosperity  both  within  and  beyond 
Europe. 

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