Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

10 . 11 . 93 Official Journal of i:he European Communities No C 304 / 3

6 . Lastly, the Committee calls on the Member States including the importer and retailer, and that consumers
to take steps to ensure that the Directive 's provisions are properly informed about the risks of sensitization .
are respected by all links in the distribution chain,

Done at Brussels, 22 September 1993 .

The Chairman

of the Economic and Social Committee

Susanne TIEMANN

Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision concerning the conclusion of an Agreement
relating to scientific and technical cooperation between the European Economic Community

and Australia f 1 )

( 93 / C 304 / 03

On 15 July 1993 the Council decided to consult the Economic and Social Committee, under
Article 130 Q ( 2 ) of the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community, on the
abovementioned proposal .

The Section for Energy, Nuclear Questions and Research, which was responsible for preparing
the Committee 's work on the subject, adopted its Opinion on 9 September 1993 . The
Rapporteur was Mr Gardner .

At its 308th Plenary Session ( meeting of 22 September 1993 ), the Economic and Social
Committee adopted the following Opinion unanimously .

1 . Introduction

1.1 . Cooperation with Australia in Science and T ech ­
nology was initiated in 1986 with the signing of an
Arrangement which provides for the exchange of non ­
confidential information arising from research in a
limited number of fields : telecommunications and
information technologies, agriculture, biotechnology,
materials and energy .

1.2 . The present Agreement seeks to define a formal
framework for developing further scientific and techni ­
cal cooperation between the European Community and
Australia including the scope, supervision, funding and
intellectual property rights . It is the first of its kind
concluded with a non-European country . As such it is
the prototype for similar future Agreements with other
industrialized countries outside Europe .

1.3 . The entry into force of the Agreement will allow,
on the one hand, the participation of Australian persons
and legal entities in Community research projects . On
the other hand, persons and legal entities of the Member
States will be allowed to participate in publicly-funded
research projects in Australia . However, cooperation
will be restricted to activities listed in Article 4.2 of the
Agreement, though these restrictions can be amended
as provided for in Article 11 .

2 . General comments

2.1 . Australia is both very advanced and very well
organized in scientific and technical research, both
at academic and at applied levels . It has no less than
39 cooperative research centres distributed throughout
all the States of the Commonwealth of Australia .

2.2 . In its Communication of 19 June 1990 on scien ­
(!) OJ No C 181, 3 . 7 . 1993, p. 9 . tific and technical cooperation with third countries

No C 304 / 4 Official Journal of the European Communities 10 . 11 . 93

[ doc . COM ( 90 ) 256 final ], the Commission itself
stressed that Australia had ' centres of scientific excel ­
lence ' which justified developing a partnership and
identified a number of fields of interest .

3.1.2 . It would be wrong to deprive the Community
of the benefits of cooperative research in these fields .
This limitation should therefore be deleted .

2.3 . The Committee considers that scientific and 3.2 . Article 7 : Funding
technical cooperation will be of benefit to both Parties
to and the therefore following thoroughly comments approves and changes the proposal ., subject 3.2.1 incurred ties . However . by It is their right, it own would that participants both be better sides in should to cooperative have pay some the activi flexi costs ­ ­

bility and there should be provision for a contribution
3 . Specific comments on the Agreement to costs in cases where this is beneficial and where both
sides agree to it .

3.1 . Article 4.2 .: Scope
3.3 . Article 8 : Entry of personnel and equipment

3.1.1 . Article 4.2 restricts cooperation to only six
fields . Such limitation seems neither necessary nor sens ­
ible and is not found in any of the Agreements relating
to scientific and technical cooperation with European
countries outside the Community . Australia is particu ­
larly advanced in a number of fields, not in the present
list . These include research in food and agriculture,
mining methods, energy .

Done at Brussels, 22 September 1993

3.3.1 . Entry of personnel from outside the European
Community is in practice under the control of the
Member States and this Article should therefore be

modified as follows :

' Each party and the Member States of the European
Community shall take all reasonable steps (...).'

The Chairman

of the Economic and Social Committee

Susanne TIEMANN