Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

C 332 E/238 EN Official Journal of the European Communities 27.11.2001

Proposal for a Decision of the European Parliament and of the Council concerning the production
and development of Community statistics on science and technology

(2001/C 332 E/04)

COM(2001) 490 final �2001/0197(COD)

(Submitted by the Commission on 27 August 2001)

THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND THE COUNCIL OF THE

EUROPEAN UNION,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Community, and in particular Article 285 thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

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

Whereas:

(1) There is a need for comparable statistics on research and
development, technological innovation and science and
technology in general in order to support Community
policies.

(2) Council Decision (94/78/EC, Euratom) of 24 January 1994
establishing a multiannual programme from 1994 to 1997
for the development of Community statistics on research,
development and innovation ( [1] ), highlighted the objectives
to set out a Community reference framework for statistics
and to establish a harmonised Community statistical
information system in this field.

(3) The final report for the programme period 1994 to 1997
emphasises that the work should be continued and that
data should be made available more rapidly, that the
regional coverage should be extended and that the
comparability of the data must increase.

(4) In accordance with Council Decision 1999/126/EC of
22 December 1998 establishing the Community statistical
programme 1998-2002 ( [2] ), the statistical information
system shall support the management of science and technology policies in the Community and assess R & D and
innovation capability of regions for administration of
structural funds.

(5) In order to ensure their usefulness and comparability, the
details of data to be provided by the Member States
should be established by the Commission taking into
account work carried out by OECD and other international organisations.

(6) Community policy on science, technology and innovation
places particular importance on strengthening the

( [1] ) OJ L 38, 9.2.1994, p. 30.
( [2] ) OJ L 42, 16.6.1999, p. 1.

scientific and technological basis of the European businesses to be more innovative and competitive on the
international and regional level, realising the benefits of
the information society and promoting the transfer of
technology, improving activities in the domain of intellectual property rights and the development of mobility
of human resources, and promoting equality between men
and women in science.

(7) The principle of cost-effectiveness shall apply for the data
collection procedures for industry and administrations,
while still maintaining the necessary quality of the data.

(8) It is essential that developments in official statistics on
science and technology are coordinated to also meet the
essential needs of national, regional and local administrations, international organisations, economic operators,
professional associations and the general public.

(9) Council Decision 1999/173/EC of 25 January 1999
adopting a specific programme for research, technological
development and demonstration on improving the human
research potential and the socio-economic knowledge base
(1999 to 2002) ( [3] ) will be taken into account to avoid
overlap of work.

(10) Council Resolution 1999/C 201/01 of 20 May 1999 on
women and science underlines the need for information
on the participation of women in the development of
science and technology.

(11) The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision, being management measures within the
meaning of Article 2 of Council Decision 1999/468/EC
of 28 June 1999 laying down the procedures for the
exercise of implementing powers conferred on the
Commission ( [4] ), should be adopted by use of the
management procedure provided for in Article 4 of that
Decision.

(12) The Statistical Programme Committee established by
Decision 89/382/EEC, Euratom ( [5] ) has been consulted in
accordance with Article 3 of the aforesaid Decision.

(13) The Scientific and Technological Research Committee
(Crest) has given its opinion,

( [3] ) OJ L 64, 12.3.1999, p. 105.
( [4] ) OJ L 184, 17.7.1999, p. 23.
( [5] ) OJ L 181, 28.6.1989, p. 47.

27.11.2001 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 332 E/239

HAVE ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

Article 1

The objective of this Decision is to establish a Community
statistical information system on science, technology and innovation to support and monitor Community policies.

Article 2

The objective described in Article 1 shall be implemented by
individual statistical actions as follows:

�Delivery of statistics by the Member States on a regular
basis and within specified deadlines, in particular statistics
on R & D activity in all sectors of performance, taking into
account the regional dimension, and on the funding of
R & D activity, including the government budget appropriations for R & D.

�Development of new statistical variables to be produced on
a permanent basis for the measurement of the output of
science and technology activities, the diffusion of
knowledge and more generally the performance of innovation needed for the formulation and assessment of
science and technology policies in the increasingly
knowledge-based economies. Priority will be given, in
particular, to the following domains:

�innovation (new and improved products and processes
introduced by enterprises in the market),

�human resources devoted to science and technology,

�patents (patents statistics to be derived from the
databases of the national and European patent offices),

�high-technology statistics (identification and classification of products and services, measurement of
economic performance and contribution to economic
growth),

�gender statistics on science and technology.

�Improvement and updating of existing standards and
manuals on concepts and methods, with particular regard
to concepts in the service sector and coordinated methods
for measurement of R & D activity.

�Improvement to data quality, specifically comparability,
accuracy and timeliness.

�Improvement to the dissemination, accessibility and documentation of statistical information.

Available capacities within the Member States for data
collection and processing will be taken into account.

Article 3

The measures necessary for the implementation of this
Decision shall be decided in accordance with the procedure
referred to in Article 4.

Article 4

1. The Commission shall be assisted by the Statistical
Programme Committee instituted by Article 1 of Decision
89/382/EEC, Euratom.

2. Where reference is made to this paragraph, the
management procedure laid down in Article 4 of Decision
1999/468/EC shall apply, in compliance with Articles 7(3)
and 8 thereof.

3. The period provided for in Article 4(3) of Decision
1999/468/EC shall be three months.

Article 5

The Commission shall, within five years of the entry into force
of this Decision, and again every five years thereafter, present a
report to the European Parliament and the Council to evaluate
the implementation of the measures provided for in Article 2.

This report shall consider, inter alia, the costs of the actions and
the burden on the respondents in relation to the benefits of the
availability of the data and user satisfaction.

Following this report, the Commission may propose any
measures to improve the operation of this Decision.

Article 6

This Decision is addressed to the Member States.

Article 7

This Decision shall enter into force on the 20th day following
its publication in the Official Journal of the European
Communities.