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18. 11. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 294/7

_Article 2_

The President of the Council shall give the notification provided for in Article 26 of the
Protocol ( [x] ).

_Article 3_

This Decision shall take effect on the day following its publication in the _Official Journal of the_
_European Communities._

(') The Protocol and the date of entry into force will be published in the _Official Journal_ _of_ _the European_
_Communities_ by the General Secretariat of the Council.

Amended proposal for a Council Decision to adopt a first multiannual programme (1988 to

1993) for biotechnology-based agro-industrial research and technology development ( [L] ) —

'Eclair' (European collaborative linkage of agriculture and industry through research)

_COM(88) 602 final_ — _SYN 113_

_(Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty on 28 October 1988)_

(88/C 294/07)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article
130Q (2) thereof,

Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,

In cooperation with the European Parliament,

Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,

Whereas Article 130K of the Treaty stipulates that the
framework programme shall be implemented through
specific programmes developed within each of its activities;

Whereas by Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC of 28
September 1987 the Council has adopted a framework
programme of Community research, and technological
development (1987 to 1991) ( [2] ), providing for activities
to be implemented to ensure the exploitation and
optimum use of biological resources;

(«) OJ No C 62, 5. 3. 1988, p. 7.
( [2] ) OJ No L 302, 24. 10. 1987, p. 1.

Whereas the abovementioned Decision 87/516/Euratom,
EEC stipulates that a specific objective of Community
research must be to strengthen the scientific and technological basis of European industry, particularly in
strategic sectors of advanced technology, and to
encourage industry by making it more competitive at the
international level; whereas the same Decision also lays
down that Community action is justified if it contributes,
among other things, to enhancing the Community's
economic and social cohesion and to encouraging its
overall harmonious development, while at the same time
being consistent with the pursuit of scientific and
technical excellence; whereas the Eclair programme is
intended to contribute to the pursuit of these objectives;

Whereas the specialized skills and capabilities relevant to
agro-industrial development are numerous, and Europe's
most internationally competitive capabilities are located
in diverse Member States, mutual benefit shall be derived
from collaboration in a Community programme;

Whereas the European Parliament, in its assessment of
the potential for 'biotechnology in the European farming
industry' ( [3] ) and of 'biotechnology in Europe and the
need for an integrated policy' ( [4] ), has emphasized that it
must be used to promote an agricultural policy

O OJ No C 76, 23. 3. 1987, p. 22.
( [4] ) OJ No C 76, 23. 3. 1987, p. 25.

No C 294/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 11. 88

geared to quality, with high added value, rather than to
further improvements in yields and increased production,
and that the Community should support biotechnological
research aimed at improving existing and developing new
and alternative forms of production;

Whereas these activities need to be accompanied by
ongoing analysis of their associated costs and benefits in
order to avoid giving rise to new industries, which can
only survive on the basis of permanently subsidized sales
of agricultural products, or to agricultural surpluses;

Whereas, _inter alia,_ the European Parliament has pointed
to the risks associated with the use, especially the release,
of genetically engineered organisms and to possible
undesirable social and structural effects of these new

technologies;

Whereas such activities should constitute a logical
complement to the Community research programmes in
the areas of biotechnology and of agriculture, promoting
the application of their results to the social and economic
objectives of the Community;

Whereas development activities at the interfaces between
agriculture and industry could contribute to the solution
of some of the problems which agriculture is currently
facing within the Community;

Whereas the principal and most urgent requirements that
must be satisfied centre on the development of types of
agricultural production suitable for industrial purposes,
of transformation technologies, and of industrial inputs
in agriculture such as pesticides or fertilizers less harmful
to the environment;

Whereas the European Parliament has called for a study
to be conducted into the structural and social conse
quences of promoting biotechnologies and genetic engineering;

Whereas it is important to avoid the concentration of
agricultural structures and further specialization causing
adverse effects for small and medium-sized agricultural
enterprises;

Whereas it is necessary to involve small and
medium-sized agricultural and industrial enterprises to
the maximum extent possible in this biotechnology-based
agro-industrial technological development programme;

Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research

Committee (CREST) has expressed its opinion on the
Commission's proposal,

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:

_Article 1_

A research and development programme of the
European Economic Community in the field of biotechnology-based agro-industrial development is hereby
adopted in the form set out in Annex I for a five-year
period starting on 1 July 1988.

The programme shall consist of work carried out as
contract-research and as coordination actions and by
training/mobility grants. Participants may be industrial
and agricultural enterprises — individual, associations or
cooperatives, research institutions, universities or combinations of them, established in the Community.

Normally, research institutes and universities should
participate in a group together with one or more
industrial or agricultural organization(s). Research
institutes which are funded principally or exclusively by
industrial organizations shall be considered as industrial
participants.

Projects must be carried out by participants from more
than one Member State.

As a general rule, the Community contribution will not
exceed 50 %, the remainder to be provided by the
partner(s), predominantly from industrial or agricultural

sources.

_Article 2_

The funds necessary for the execution of the programme
are estimated at 80 million ECU, including expenditure
on a staff of 13.

_Article 3_

1. In the third year of the programme implementation,
the Commission shall undertake a review of the

programme and it shall report to the Council and the
European Parliament on the results thereof, together, if
necessary, with any proposals for modification of the
content and funding, or prolongation.

2. An evaluation of the results achieved shall be

conducted by the Commission, which shall report to the
Council and the European Parliament. The report shall
be drawn up by independent experts.

18. 11. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 294/9

3. The abovementioned reports shall be established Decision 84/338/Euratom, ECSC, EEC of 29 June
having regard to the objectives set out in Annex II to this 1984 (*).
Decision and in conformity with the provisions of Article T h e c o n t r a c t s e n t e r e d i n t o b y t h e [ Commission shall ]
^
2 (2) of the framework programme. r e g u k t e f i g h t s a n d o b l i g a t i o n s o f e a c h p a r t v >

including the methods of disseminating, protecting and
exploiting research results.

_Article 4_
_Article 5_

The Commission shall be responsible for the execution, _ . . _ . . . . . . . ., 0
of the programme and will be assisted in its implemen- T h l s D e c i s l o n 1S ^dressed to the Member States.
tation by a Management and Coordination Advisory
Committee (CGC), created in accordance with Council (*) OJ No L 177, 4. 7. 1984, p. 25.

_ANNEX I_

Programme for the first multiannual action programme for biotechnology-based agro-industrial research
and technological development (1988 to 1993)

Aims

The objective of the programme here proposed is to promote in Europe the useful application of recent
developments in the life sciences and biotechnology. This shall be achieved by a programme of
pre-competitive research and technical development projects and coordination activities, based on close
collaboration between agriculture and industrial activities, and supported by training/mobility grants. The
programme will contribute in the medium and longer terms to enhancing Europe's competitiveness in the
economic activities which will be based on these developments and to strengthening economic and social
cohesion in the Community.

The programme shall avoid adverse effects on public health and the environment, and the creation of
problems with regard to the protection and enhancement of nature.

The principal objectives of this programme are enumerated below.

(i) research, adaptation and development of agricultural products destined for industrial use, as well as the
research and promotion of new industrial techniques for processing and transforming agricultural raw
materials with a view to obtaining, under economically viable conditions, industrial products which
respond to the needs of the market;

(ii) research and development of industrial inputs in agriculture such as pesticides and fertilizers and of
eradication and disease-control systems less harmful or better adapted to the environment; the
reduction and elimination of by-products of processing by recovering resources and reducing waste.

Content

The programme shall be pursued through the measures set out below:

1. _Evaluation_ _trials_ _and_ _production_ _of new_ _species_ _or_ _organisms_

This sector shall consist of test trials at appropriate scale and under various conditions of novel or
modified species or organisms (plants, livestock, other) in order to test performance, pest resistance,
input requirements, and aspects relevant to suitability for industrial processing, animal nutrition and
market acceptability of the organism, its constituents, and the products derived therefrom with special
emphasis on the use of new biotechnological methods in the identification, characterization, selection,
modification, propagation, cultivation or other aspect of developing and appraising the candidate
organisms.

N o C 294/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 18. 11. 88

_2._ _Industrial products and services shall consist of:'_

2.1. more precise and effective inputs to agriculture through research and development work, based on
the use of life sciences and biotechnology, aiming at the creation of products and services for use in
agriculture, offering advantages in terms of precision, cost-effectiveness, enhanced plant or animal
performance, suitability for subsequent product processing and/or marketing, and avoiding possible
undesirable side effects; and

2.2. more precise and effective extraction, transformation and production processes through research
and development work on methods to increase the use and value of agricultural produce, by
extraction, transformation or other processes, in industry or elsewhere, which by biotechnological
or other means make greater or more valuable use of the intrinsic properties of these materials.

3. _Integrated_ _approaches_ _shall consist of:_

3.1. the improved utilization of the entire crop by the development, through trial systems, of systems for
harvesting the whole crop, its preservation and fractionation into constituents appropriate for
subsequent applications; such trial system(s) to be of adequate scale to provide a basis for economic
appraisals, and the significant participation of industrial and agricultural interests. Priority to be
given to projects using new biotechnology; and

3.2. studies and development projects for the integrated use of new technologies which shall focus on
the joint exploitation of progress in biological knowledge and techniques in conjunction with
new-technology-based agricultural systems.

Implementation

Implementation of the projects shall be through cost-shared research and development actions and coordination activities. Training/mobility grants shall be included to facilitate the assembly of relevant skills at
appropriate locations for the work of the projects, and to promote effective diffusion of the knowledge
resulting from them. The programme shall also include the organization of meetings, consultation of
experts, studies on related topics, and diffusion of information on the progress and results of the projects
to all appropriate groups.

Each proposal shall include an environmental impact statement, indicating the possible effects of the
project on humans, fauna, flora, soils, water, air and on the interactions between these different factors.
This statement must also include an undertaking to respect existing safety regulations.

_ANNEX_ _II_

Evaluation criteria for the first multiannual action programme for biotechnology-based agro-industrial
research and technological development (1988 to 1993)

The Commission's communication to the Council concerning a Community plan of action relating to the
evaluation of Community research and development activities for the years 1987 to 1991 (COM(86) 660
final) states that the objectives and milestones of each research programme have to be set out in a testable
form. The objectives and milestones of the above programme are set out below.

1. The long term objective of this programme is described in Annex I.

2. The primary short-term objective is that the programme should succeed in eliciting proposals, with
commitments to co-finance from industry and/or agriculture, for development projects on a scale
commensurate with the Community resources proposed. This objective shall be testable in 1991 to 1992.

At this time, the programme should also demonstrate its promotion and encouragement of inter-sectoral
collaboration, across the Member States.

18. 11. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities N o C 294/11

3. The criteria for the evaluation of the objectives to be attained during the first three years of the
implementation of the programme are as follows:

3.1. that tests of new or modified species or organisms have been conducted, and have given grounds to
expect that these organisms, or the processes used to produce or modify them, represent progress
and could find applications;

3.2. that tests have been conducted of new or modified products, techniques or services for use in
agriculture; that advantages in terms of precision, effectiveness, or the avoidance of possible
adverse side-effects have been indicated; and that as a result of the tests the products, techniques or
services have practical applications;

3.3. that tests have been conducted of more precise and effective extraction, transformation and
production processes, applying biotechnological and/or other methods to an agricultural output;
and that as a result of the tests, the processes are useful;

3.4. that through the programme, arrangements have been organized between farming and
industrial/processing interests and facilities or equipment created, modified or made available, to
test on one or more crops the technical feasibility of harvesting and using the whole plant; and that
corresponding measures of performance have been or are in course of being defined, to provide a
basis for further system improvements and a basis for decision on the replication and diffusion of
similar larger-scale activities;

3.5. that studies have been financed and completed, and development projects supported, involving the
use in agriculture of new technologies (e.g. involving sophisticated detection/measurement/
recording techniques, information processing, automation of equipment and facilities), in
conjunction with the application of biotechnology; and that as a result of such studies and projects
new applications have been found; and 

3.6. that studies have been funded examining the socio-structural and ecological impact of promoting
biotechnology and genetic technology in agriculture.

4. In addition, the programme should ensure that the following general criteria are met:

4.1. that the potential increase in market opportunities, in medium or long term, as a result of the
improvements or benefits demonstrated, is of a size to justify the Community expenditures
committed, which imply an analysis of the costs and benefits of these activities and their possible
applications;

4.2. taking account of the final reports on the biotechnology action programme, which ends in
December 1989, and of the biomolecular engineering programme (1982 to 1986), and of the
evaluation report(s) on these programmes, consideration should be given as to whether this
programme is in fact effectively promoting the transfer towards application of the results of the
earlier biotechnology (or biomolecular engineering) research programmes;

4.3. that the execution of the programme has avoided harmful effects on public health and the environment; and has not created problems with respect to the protection and enhancement of

nature;

4.4. taking account of the results of Community, national or private-sector research activities in
biotechnology, the evaluation panel shall consider whether the Eclair programme has given
adequate consideration to the selection criteria set out in Annex III to the framework programme,
including 'the strengthening of the economic and social cohesion in the Community and the
promotion of its overall harmonious development, while being consistent with the pursuit of
scientific and technical quality'.