CELEX: 51990PC0163
Language: en
Date: 1990-05-28
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ADOPTING A SPECIFIC RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME IN THE FIELD OF LIFE SCIENCES AND TECHNOLOGIES FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES ( 1990-1994 )

No C 174/72                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                 16. 7. 90
              Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specific programme of research and technological
                    development in the field of life sciences and technologies for developing countries
                                                        (1990 to 1994)
                                               COM(90) 163 final — SYN 268
                                      (Submitted by the Commission on 3 May 1990)
                                                        (90/C 174/11)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         Whereas this programme must be implemented by the
                                                                  Commission; whereas, to help accomplish this, the
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European            Member States are bound, pursuant to Article 5 of the
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130q                Treaty, to facilitate the achievement of its tasks, where
 (2) thereof,                                                     necessary, notably within a committee;
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                Whereas this programme must be implemented essen-
                                                                  tially by the selection of research and development
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                      projects to enable them to benefit from Community
                                                                  participation; whereas the Commission should encour-
                                                                  age the submission of such projects by the usual means
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  of publishing calls for proposals in the Official Journal
Social Committee,                                                 of the European Communities; whereas a special pro-
                                                                  cedure should also be devised so as to maintain a degree
Whereas, by Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEQ 1 ), the                 of flexibility enabling the Commission, in the face of
 Council adopted a third framework programme for                  the continuous evolution and gradual acceleration of
Community activities in the field of research and tech-           technological progress, also to take into consideration
nological development (1990 to 1994), specifying inter            spontaneous proposals consistent with the objectives of
alia the activities to be pursued in the area of life             the programme;
sciences and technologies for developing countries;
whereas this Decision should be taken in the light of
the grounds set out in the preamble to that Decision;             Whereas the projects to be carried out under the pro-
                                                                  gramme must be selected with special attention to the
                                                                  principle of economic and social cohesion in the Com-
Whereas Article 130k of the Treaty stipulates that the
                                                                  munity, the transnational nature of the projects and
framework programme is to be implemented through                  the support to be given to small and medium-sized
specific programmes developed within each activity;               enterprises;
Whereas an estimate should be made of the amount of
Community financial resources needed to carry out this            Whereas it is only in the light of experience gathered
specific programme; whereas the definitive amounts                in the course of this programme that the Commission
will be fixed by the budgetary authority in line with             will be able to propose and the Council to adopt sup-
the financial perspectives covering the period 1988 to            plementary programmes by having recourse to the
1992 included in the Interinstitutional Agreement of              means provided for in Articles 1301, 130m or 130o of
29 June 1988 (2) and with any future financial perspec-           the Treaty, if they contribute to the achievement of the
tives covering the period 1993 to 1994;                           programme's objectives, in accordance with the option
                                                                  made available by Article 2 (2) of Decision 90/221/
                                                                  Euratom, EEC;
Whereas, pursuant to Article 4 of and Annex I to
Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEC, the amount deemed
necessary for the whole framework programme includes              Whereas, in accordance with Article 130g of the Treaty,
an amount of ECU 57 million for the centralized dis-              the Community's activities aimed at strengthening the
semination and exploitation of results, to be divided up          scientific and technological basis of European industry
in proportion to the amount envisaged for each activity;          and encouraging it to become more competitive include
whereas in view of the importance of this specific                promoting cooperation on research and technological
programme within the 'Life sciences and technologies'             development with third countries and international
action the estimate of the financial resources needed by          organizations; whereas such cooperation may prove
this programme is to be reduced by ECU 1 100 000,                 particularly beneficial for the development of this pro-
which amount is to be allocated to the centralized                gramme;
activities, in order to comply with the second sentence
of Article 130p (2) of the Treaty;
                                                                  Whereas it is necessary, as Annex II to Decision 90/
                                                                  221/Euratom, EEC provides, to increase cooperation
                                                                  between European scientists and those from developing
 (*) OJ No L 117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 28.                              countries in order to facilitate complementarity of
 (2) OJ No L 185, 15. 7. 1988, p. 33.                             research and methods and to improve access to the
 ---pagebreak--- 16. 7. 90                            Official Journal of the European Communities                             No C 174/73
 different networks of scientific relationships established                             Article 5
 by the Member States with the developing countries
 in the areas of agriculture and health; whereas this            1. During 1992 the Commission shall review the pro-
 programme should have as its aim to promote develop-           gramme and address a report on the results of the
 ment of the research capacity of these countries while         review to the Council and the European Parliament,
 encouraging the strengthening of that existing in the          together with proposals for any necessary changes.
 Member States; whereas special rules should be drawn
 up for the dissemination of knowledge resulting from
 the implementation of this programme;                          2. At the end of the programme the Commission shall
                                                                assess the results obtained. It shall address a report
                                                                thereon to the Council and the European Parliament.
 Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research Com-
 mittee (Crest) has been consulted,                             3. The reports shall be drawn up having regard to the
                                                                objectives set out in Annex I to this Decision and
                                                                in accordance with Article 2 (4) of Decision 90/221/
                                                                Euratom, EEC.
 HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION.
                                                                                        Article 6
                         Article 1
                                                                 1. The Commission shall be responsible for the
 A specific research and technological development pro-         execution of the programme. It shall be assisted by
gramme for the European Economic Community in the                an advisory committee, hereinafter referred to as 'the
field of life sciences and technologies for developing          Committee', composed of representatives of the Mem-
countries, as defined in Annex I, is hereby adopted for         ber States and chaired by a representative of the Com-
 a period of five years as from 1 January 1990.                 mission.
                                                                2. The contracts concluded by the Commission shall
                         Article 2                              govern the rights and obligations of each party, includ-
                                                                ing the procedures for disseminating, protecting and
 1. The Community funds estimated as necessary for              exploiting the research results, in accordance with the
the execution of the programme under this Decision              arrangements adopted pursuant to the second para-
amount to ECU 111 million. Of this amount ECU                   graph of Article 130k of the Treaty.
 1 110 000 is drawn for the centralized dissemination
and exploitation of results. The amount thus reduced
                                                                3. A work programme for each year shall be drawn
to ECU 109 890 000 includes staff costs which may not
                                                                up and updated where necessary. It shall set out the
exceed 5 %. An indicative breakdown of expenditure is           detailed objectives and types of projects to be under-
set out in Annex II.                                            taken, and the financial arrangements to be made for
                                                                them. The Commission shall make calls for proposals
                                                                for projects on the basis of the annual work pro-
2. Should the Council take a decision in implemen-             grammes.
tation of Article 1 (4) of Decision 90/221/Euratom,
EEC, this decision shall be adapted to take account of
the abovementioned Decision.
                                                                                        Article 7
3. The budgetary authority shall decide on the appro-           1. In the cases referred to in Article 8 (1), the represen-
priations available for each financial year.                   tative of the Commission representative shall submit to
                                                               the Committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The
                                                               Committee shall deliver its opinion on this within a
                                                               time limit which the chairman may set in accordance
                         Article 3                             with the urgency of the matter, if necessary by holding
                                                               a vote.
Rules for the implementation of the programme are set
out in Annex III.
                                                               2. The opinion shall be entered in the minutes; in
                                                               addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask
                                                               for its position to appear in the minutes.
                         Article 4
                                                               3. The Commission shall take the fullest account of
The rate of the Community financial contribution shall         the opinion delivered by the Committee. It shall inform
be laid down in accordance with Annex IV to Decision           the Committee of the way in which it has taken account
90/221/Euratom, EEC.                                           of the opinion.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 174/74                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                        16. 7. 90
                          Article 8                                    — accompanying measures, referred to in point 2 of
                                                                            Annex III,
1. The procedure laid down in Article 7 shall apply                    — concerted actions, referred to in point 2 of Annex III.
to:
— the preparation and updating of the work pro-
    grammes referred to in Article 6 (3),                                                        Article 9
— evaluation of the projects referred to in point 2 of                  In implementing this programme, supplementary pro-
    Annex III, as well as the estimated amount of the                  grammes within the meaning of Article 1301, partici-
    Community's financial contribution when these                      pation within the meaning of Article 130m and joint
    projects are submitted through the ordinary                        undertakings or any other structures within the mean-
    procedure referred to in point 4 of Annex III                       ing of Article 130o of the Treaty may also be decided
    and the abovementioned amount is more than                         on as the need arises.
    ECU 5 million,
— evaluation of all projects submitted through the                                              Article 10
    exceptional procedure referred to in point 4 of
    Annex III, as well as the estimated amount of the                   Where cooperation with third countries and inter-
    Community's financial contribution,                                 national organizations aiming at achieving the objec-
— measures for evaluating the programme.                                tives of this programme requires legal undertakings
                                                                        between the Community and the third parties con-
                                                                        cerned, the Commission shall be authorized to nego-
2. The Commission may consult the Committee on                          tiate, in accordance with Article 130n of the Treaty,
any matter falling within the scope of the programme.                   international agreements laying down the terms of such
                                                                        cooperation.
3. The Commission shall inform the Committee with
                                                                        Decisions on the conclusion of such agreements shall
regard to:
                                                                        be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred
— the progress of the programme,                                        to in Article 130q (2) of the Treaty.
— planned calls for proposals, referred to in Article 6 (3),
— projects, referred to in point 2 of Annex III, submit-
    ted through the ordinary procedure, for which the                                           Article 11
    Community contribution is less than ECU 5 million,
    and the results of their evaluation,                               This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
                                                              ANNEX / .
                                        Scientific and technical objectives and content
            The orientations of the third Framework Programme, its scientific and technical objectives, and the motiv-
            ations which have inspired it, form an integral part of this specific programme.
            Paragraph 4D of Annex II to the Framework Programme is an integral part in this specific programme.
            The programme will concentrate on two areas fundamental to the development of the Third World i.e.
            agriculture and medicine, health and nutrition. The environmental dimension, both in terms of environmental
            protection and the rational management of resources, will be taken into account.
            On the basis of and in the light of these elements the analytical description of the content of this specific
            programme is given below.
 ---pagebreak--- 16. 7. 90                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                          No C 174/75
            Area 1: Agriculture
            Reduction of food shortages
             The aim is to improve farm crop and livestock production for local use in regions where, for climatic,
             physical or human reasons, problems of food provision are the first priority.
            The research will cover: the operation and dynamics of production systems with a view to determining the
            constraints on viable and sustainable development; improving the production of food plants, including those
            which, though of secondary importance at international level, are vital locally, by, in particular, improving
            their hardiness and protection and the techniques for growing, preserving and processing them; developing
            livestock fanning and fisheries by effective production systems adapted to local conditions, by better use of
            local freshwater and coastal fishing resources and by aquaculture; and restoring fragile environments in order
            to allow appropriate agricultural activity there, particularly by means of reforestation of degraded areas, the
            association of trees, crop production and livestock (agroforestry), the regeneration of pastureland, better
            water management, etc.
            Agriculture production of high economic value
            The aim is to provide a scientific and technical basis for agricultural activities (including the utilization of
            the forest and the aquatic environment) that are of high economic value at the local level and for exportation
            in regions where there is no substantial food shortage.
            The specific objectives are, on the quantitative side: to improve plants or animal breeds, to reduce pre- and
            post-harvest losses and to improve agricultural and sylvicultural techniques and that of production systems
            management; and, on the qualitative side: to enable products to comply with more and more stringent
            international trade standards, to improve their market acceptability both by socioeconomic studies of the
            impact of the intended improvements and by reducing disease or damage due to harvesting, transport,
            packaging, etc., and to make possible the processing of farm produce on site so as to increase its added
            value.
            The research will cover: the main traditional export crops; the secondary crops giving a product of high
            economic value which could possibly replace crops from which narcotics are extracted; certain food products
            commanding a high price on urban markets or for export to neighbouring countries; the regeneration and
            management of forest resources by sylvicultural improvements, and the well-planned utilization of forest
            products and by-products (resins, gums, colourants, fibres, pharmaceutical substances); and bioenergy
            production.
            Area 2: Medicine, health and nutrition
           Prevention and treatment of the predominant diseases in the developing countries
           The aim is to reduce the impact of the transmissible diseases which continue to be the major public health
           problem in most of the developing countries.
           Research will focus on: perfecting new methods of diagnosis, using the most advanced techniques of molecular
           biology and immunology; developing new medicines with the help of innovative strategies for identifying
           biochemical targets for chemotherapy; preventing infectious diseases not only by developing vaccines but
           also by adapting existing vaccines to the specific needs of the developing countries. In the field of parasitology,
           the emphasis will be on a multi-antigenic approach taking into account, in certain cases, the different stages
          in the biological cycle of the parasite; the biology of the vector and its control by combining the traditional
          methods with the new ones of molecular biology and genetics; haemoglobinoses, diarrhoea and the sexually
          transmitted diseases, including AIDS, taking into account the socioeconomic context of the developing
          countries.
          Health care systems appropriate to the rural or urban environment of the developing countries
          The objective is to study ways of organizing health care taking into account the specific constraints and the
          socioeconomic context of the developing countries (financial, human and material resources) and the new
          opportunities offered by the results of biomedical research.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 174/76                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                         16. 7. 90
          This research comprises a number of themes, such as the selection, evaluation and validation of health
          strategies, the management and financing of health services, the study of the optimum development of human
          resources, the prerequisites for the transfer of existing and new technologies, and the elucidation of the
          factors determining the participation of the population.
          Nutrition
          The aim of this research is to develop the scientific basis necessary for improving the nutritional condition
          of underprivileged populations by means of a multidisciplinary approach between medicine, agronomy,
          economics and the social sciences. This embraces research on nutritional interventions, specific shortages,
          and protection mechanisms in the event of food shortage at the individual, family and community levels.
                                                             ANNEX //
                           Indicative distribution of expenditures for the period 1990 to 1994
                                                                                                                     (%)
          Area 1: Agriculture                                                                                       63-69
          Area 2: Medicine, health and nutrition                                                                    31-37
          The breakdown between different areas does not exclude the possibility that projects could cover several
          areas.
                                                            ANNEX ///
                                          Rules for implementing the programme
                             and activities for dissemination and exploitation of the results
          1. The Commission shall implement the programme on the basis of the scientific and technical content
              described in Annex I. This programme concerns all developing countries.
          2. The rules for implementing the programme, referred to in Article 3, comprise research and technological
              development projects, accompanying measures and concerted actions.
              The projects shall be the subject of shared-cost research and technological development contracts.
              The accompanying measures consist of applying the means to ensure proper technical execution, manage-
              ment and evaluation of the programme, as well as adequate dissemination and accessibility of the results,
              and coordination, training and consciousness-raising of the participants in the programme.
              The concerted actions are those defined in the Financial Regulation.
          3. The participants in the projects must be natural or legal persons established either in the Community or
              in developing countries, such as universities, research organizations and industrial firms, including small
              and medium-sized enterprises, or associations thereof, in particular European economic interest groupings
              (EEIGs).
              Natural or legal persons established in countries other than developing countries which have concluded
              agreements with the Community foreseeing scientific and technical research, may, based on the criterion
              of mutual advantage, take part in the projects undertaken in the context of this programme. The
              contracting parties under such arrangements shall not benefit from Community funding. They shall
              contribute to the general administrative costs.
 ---pagebreak---  16. 7. 90                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                     No C 174/77
              4. The choice of projects shall be carried out according to the following order of priority, the first method
                  being the rule, the second the exception.
                  The participants in the projects shall be selected on the basis of the ordinary procedure of calls for
                  proposals referred to in Article 6 (3) and published in the Official journal of the European Communities.
                  The Commission may also accept proposals according to an exceptional procedure and under the
                  conditions mentioned below, when they make a particularly promising and significant contribution as
                  regards the originality of the theme proposed, the novelty of the scientific and technical approach and
                  the methodology of execution, also taking into account the particular nature of the proposers.
                  A favourable technical evaluation of such proposals shall not by itself be a sufficient justification for
                  accepting a project; this exceptional procedure may only apply after verification that the nature of the
                  project, as defined above, does not justify the use of the normal procedure for calls for proposals.
                 The exceptional procedure must be completed before the ordinary procedure in such a way that the
                 available amount for the Community's financial participation in projects retained by the ordinary
                 procedure can be determined precisely. The closing date for the exceptional procedure shall be published
                 each year in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
                 The amount of the financial participation of the Community for all the projects retained by the exceptional
                 procedure will be decided each year, in relation to the projects selected according to particularly strict
                 criteria of excellence. In any case, this amount may not exceed 15%; it may be revised each year in the
                 light of experience.
                 The Commission shall draw up a vade mecum setting out all the rules applicable to this exceptional
                 procedure in order to guarantee full transparency.
             5. The projects must provide for participation by at least two mutually independent partners established in
                 different Member States, as well as at least one partner established in a developing country.
             6. The Commission may encourage the participants to form a European Economic Interest Grouping (EEIG)
                 or make other arrangements for carrying out projects, such as those on a large scale, permitting
                 decentralized management adapted to the specific requirements of the project.
             7. The knowledge acquired during the course of the projects shall be disseminated on the one hand within
                 the specific programme and on the other and by means of a centralized activity, pursuant to the Decision
                 referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 4 of Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEC.
                 This dissemination and exploitation will be characterized by the results obtained being placed directly
                 and systematically at the disposal of all the developing countries.
             Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specific programme of research and technological
                                development in the field of non-nuclear energies (1990 to 1994)
                                                  COM(90) 164 final — SYN 269
                                         (Submitted by the Commission on 3 May 1990)
                                                             (90/C 174/12)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                                   Whereas, by Decision 90/221/Euratom, EECf1), the
                                                                           Council adopted a third framework programme for
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                      Community activities in the field of research and tech-
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130q                         nological development (1990 to 1994), specifying inter
(2) thereof,                                                              alia the activities to be pursued for developing the
                                                                          scientific knowledge and technical know-how needed
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,                        by the Community, in particular in the field of non-
                                                                          nuclear energies; whereas this Decision should be taken
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                              in the light of the grounds set out in the preamble to
                                                                          that Decision;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                         (!) OJNoL117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 28.