Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

5. 3. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 62/7

## II

_(Preparatory Acts)_

# COMMISSION

Proposal for a Council Decision to adopt a first multiannual programme (1988 to 1993) for
biotechnology-based agro-industrial research and technological development — 'Eclair'

(European collaborative linkage of agriculture and industry through research)

_COM(87) 667 final_

_(Submitted by the Commission to the Council on 22 December 1987)_

(88/C 62/08)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty setting up the European
Economic Community, and in particular to 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 its Decision of 28 September 1987 the
Council has adopted a framework programme for
Community activities in the field of research and technological development (1987 to 1991) ('), providing for
activities to be implemented to ensure the exploitation
and optimum use of biological resources;

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 ( [2] ), has emphasized that it must be used to
promote an agricultural policy geared to quality, with
high added value, and that the Community should
support biotechnological research aimed at improving
alternative forms of production and/or finding new

ones;

(») OJ No L 302, 24. 10. 1987.
O OJ No C 76, 23. 3. 1987, p. 22.

Whereas such activities would 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 it is necessary to involve small- and mediumsized enterprises to the maximum extent possible in the
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 DECIDED AS FOLLOWS:

_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, 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 organizations. Research institutes which are
funded principally or exclusively by industrial organizations shall be considered as industrial participants.

No C 62/8 Official Journal of the European Communities 5. 3. 88

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 predominantly from industrial 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_

In the third year of the programme implementation, the
Commission shall undertake a review. An evaluation will

be conducted before the end of the programme and in
the light of the objectives set out in Annex II.

_Article 4_

The Commission shall be responsible for the execution
of the programme and will be assisted in its implementation by a Management and Coordination Advisory
Committee (CGC), created in accordance with Council
Decision No 84/338/Euratom, ECSC, EEC of 29 June
1984 (»).

_Article 5_

This Decision shall apply from 1 July 1988 until 30 June
1993.

(') 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.

Conservation, enhancement of nature and environmental protection issues will be systematically taken into
consideration in the execution of the programme.

Content

The programme shall consist of the following sectors:

1. PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION TRIALS OF CANDIDATE SPECIES OR ORGANISMS

2. INDUSTRIAL PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

3. INTEGRATED APPROACHES

1. PRODUCTION AND EVALUATION TRIALS OF CANDIDATE SPECIES OR ORGANISMS

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 from them 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.

5. 3. 88 Official Journal of the European Communities N o C 62/9

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. _whole-crop harvesting, preservation and separation systems_ through trial systems to develop whole
plant harvesting and its fractionation into constituents appropriate for subsequent applications,
such 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_ 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, and diffusion of information on the progress and results of the projects.

_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 to contribute to the competitiveness of Europe's agriculture and industries by improving the links between these two fundamental sectors of our economy.
The Commission proposes to achieve this objective by launching this programme of pre-competitive
development projects. The projects seek to promote the close collaboration between agricultural and
industrial activities, by their participation in the research and technological development of the recent
progress in the life sciences and biotechnology.

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

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

No C 62/10 Official Journal of the European Communities 5. 3. 88

3. Particular objectives to be attained within three years of the programme implementation 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 shall be 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 'whole-crop harvesting', and that corresponding measures of performance have been or are in the 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; and

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.

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;

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 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 throughout the execution of the programme the projects should have taken into consideration
adequately the conservation, enhancement of nature and environmental issues;

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 contributed to the
application of the results of the said research activities in regions of the Community other than
those in which the research was conducted, and has produced added value attributable to the
Community character of the programme (i.e. not readily obtainable via Member State actions
alone).