CELEX: 51988PC0459
Language: en
Date: 1988-09-12
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ADOPTING A RESEARCH PROGRAMME ON COMPETITIVENESS OF AGRICULTURE AND MANAGEMENT OF AGRICULTURAL RESOURCES ( 1989-1993 )

13. 6. 89                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                        No C 146/15
                                                  COMMISSION
               Proposal for a Council Decision adopting a research programme on competitiveness of
                           agriculture and management of agricultural resources (1989 to 1993)
                                                COM(88) 459 final — SYN 152
                                     (Submitted by the Commission on 20 September 1988)
                                                         (89/C 146/10)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         W h e r e a s a p r o g r a m m e of agricultural research has the
                                                                  objective of e n h a n c i n g the competitiveness of agriculture
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European            a n d m a n a g e m e n t of agricultural resources with the
 Economic Community, and in particular Article 130q (2)           purpose of increasing the efficiency of h u m a n and
thereof,                                                          financial resources devoted to agriculture and of
                                                                  providing a response to the e c o n o m i c , social, environ-
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               mental a n d regional challenges arising from the w a y
                                                                  farming and farming m e t h o d s are changing in the socio-
                                                                  e c o n o m i c f r a m e w o r k of rural areas;
In cooperation with the European Parliament,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and                  W h e r e a s in the C o m m u n i t y efforts are n e e d e d to
Social Committee,                                                 overcome the problems of agricultural                          surpluses,
                                                                  p r o d u c t i o n has to be adjusted in line with m a r k e t
Whereas Council Regulation (EEC) No 1728/74 of                    d e m a n d , agricultural incomes have to be maintained at a
27 June 1974 on the coordination of agricultural                  reasonable level, agricultural structures have to be
research (x), as last amended by Regulation (EEC) No              rationalized a n d m o d e r n i z e d and all at the same time as
3768/85 (2), provides for coordination at Community               caring for and improving the e n v i r o n m e n t ;
level of national agricultural research activities, in order
to contribute towards attaining the objectives of the
                                                                  W h e r e a s efforts must be directed to the p r o m o t i o n a n d
common agricultural policy;
                                                                  development of p r o d u c t s w h i c h are in deficit in the
                                                                  C o m m u n i t y , on the i m p r o v e m e n t of the quality of agri-
Whereas Article 5 of Regulation (EEC) No 1728/74                  cultural p r o d u c t s a n d the development of n e w uses for
provides that the Council is to decide upon specific              traditional a n d novel agricultural p r o d u c t s to give higher
measures for the coordination of national research acti-          added value;
vities so as to allow rational organization of resources
employed, efficient use of results and the orientation of
such work towards the aims of the common agricultural             W h e r e a s n u m e r o u s areas in the C o m m u n i t y lag behind
policy, as well as for implementation of projects designed        others in development a n d w h e r e a s there is therefore a
to second or supplement work undertaken in Member                 need to define viable solutions, to meet existing o p p o r -
States in fields which are of particular importance to the        tunities, to reduce the e c o n o m i c a n d social disparities
Community;                                                        between the slower zones to develop, particularly in the
                                                                  M e d i t e r r a n e a n regions, and the economically m o r e
Whereas by its Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC (3) the               developed parts of the C o m m u n i t y ;
Council adopted         a framework        programme      for
Community research and technological development
                                                                  W h e r e a s o n e of the major problems facing agricultural
(1987 to 1991) providing for activities to be implemented
                                                                  research will be confining the rapidly escalating costs of
to ensure the exploitation and optimum use of biological
                                                                  agricultural inputs by, inter alia, developing n e w
resources;
                                                                  p r o d u c t i o n , processing and conservation systems aimed
                                                                  at reducing costs;
Whereas Article 130k of the Treaty stipulates that the
framework programme shall be implemented through
specific programmes developed within each of the acti-            W h e r e a s the elaboration of l o n g - t e r m schemes in
vities;                                                           resource m a n a g e m e n t can result in new ways of
                                                                  m a n a g i n g land a n d w a t e r to the advantage of agri-
                                                                  culture, the e n v i r o n m e n t and the countryside;
(*) OJ No L 182, 5. 7. 1974, p. 1.
(2) OJ No L 362, 31. 12. 1985, p. 8.                              W h e r e a s the development of m e t h o d s a n d services to
(3) OJ No L 302, 24. 10. 1987, p. 1.                              disseminate agricultural information will assist farmers to
 ---pagebreak--- No C 146/16                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                  13. 6. 89
adapt easily and efficiently to changes which will                The representative of the Commission shall submit to the
accompany the evolution of the common agricultural                Standing Committee on Agricultural Research (the
policy;                                                           'committee') set up by Regulation (EEC) No 1728/74, a
                                                                  draft of measures to be taken. The committee shall
Whereas the programme will be developed in close colla-           deliver its opinion on the draft within a time limit which
boration, coordination and interaction with the actions           the chairman may lay down according to the urgency of
of the framework programme which directly and indi-               the matter. The opinion shall be delivered by the
rectly involve agricultural activities;                           majority laid down in Article 148 (2) of the Treaty in the
                                                                  case of Decisions which the Council is required to adopt
Whereas the sum estimated to be necessary is fixed at             on a proposal from the Commission. The votes of the
ECU 55 million in the framework programme, adopted                representatives of the Member States within the
for the period 1987 to 1991, for actions on the competi-          committee shall be weighted in the manner set out in
tiveness of agriculture and management of agricultural            that Article. The chairman shall not vote.
resources; whereas, due to delays in adopting the 1988
budget, the supplementary ECU 20 million awarded in
March 1987, and inserted in the 1988 budget, largely for          The Commission shall adopt measures which shall apply
cost-shared contracts, would more logically be engaged            immediately. However, if these measures are not in
in the new programme specified for the period 1989 to             accordance with the opinion of the committee, they shall
1993, for actions spread over five years with more                be communicated by the Commission to the Council
developed objectives instead of being engaged at the end          forthwith. In that event:
of the preceding programme,
                                                                  the Commission may defer application of the measures
HAS ADOPTED THE DECISION:                                         which it has decided for a period of not more than one
                                                                  month from the date of such communication;
                          Article 1
                                                                  the Council, acting by a qualified majority, may take a
A research programme in the field of competitiveness of           different Decision within the time limit referred to in the
agriculture and management of agricultural resources              previous paragraph.
(1989 to 1993) covering a five-year period beginning on
1 January 1989, is hereby adopted in the form set out in
the Annex. The funds required for the execution of the                                       Article 3
programme are estimated at ECU 55 million, including
                                                                  The Commission shall implement the programme by
expenditure relating to additional staff of eight.
                                                                  concluding research contracts with the agencies partici-
The programme shall consist of work carried out as                pating in shared-cost activities and pilot activities.
shared-cost contracts, as pilot activities and as coor-
dinated actions. Participants in this research will be from       The Commission shall ensure implementation of the
national and regional institutions such as universities,          coordinated activities related to the main research targets
research centres and agencies involved in research and            and shall enhance their impact by organizing seminars,
development for agriculture. Commercial operations with           lectures, conferences, fact-finding visits, aids to training
a contribution to make to research and development will           and mobility of experts, networks, exchanges of research
be included.                                                      workers and working meetings of scientific experts, and
                                                                  the publication of results and assistance from high-level
Projects must involve participants from more than one             outside experts.
Member State.
The Community contribution shall not exceed 50 % in                                          Article 4
the shared-cost research activities but may be higher in
                                                                  In the third year of implementation of the programme,
high-priority pilot activities.
                                                                  the Commission shall undertake a review of the
                                                                  situation, in particular of financial aspects. An assessment
                          Article 2                               of the programme and of its global impact shall be made
Detailed rules for the application of this Decision,              before its completion. The results of the review and
concerning in particular scientific priorities to be              assessment shall be laid before the Council and
complied with within the programme, selection criteria            Parliament.
for participants cooperating in the execution of the
projects and the conduct of the programme on their                                           Article 5
execution, shall be adopted in accordance with the
following procedure:                                              This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- 13. 6. 89                               Official J o u r n a l of the E u r o p e a n C o m m u n i t i e s               N o C 146/17
                                                                  ANNEX
          1. The research programme will concentrate on the following research objectives:
             (a) to help farmers to adapt to the new situation created by over-production and a restrictive policy on
                 prices and markets;
             (b) to maintain the incomes from holdings and encourage structural reform whilst controlling output
                 and reducing production costs;
             (c) to care for and improve the agricultural situation, in line with the market situation, in regions which
                  have been slow to develop;
             (d) to supervise and improve the environment and the countryside;
             (e) to develop agricultural information services and infrastructures to improve the dissemination of
                 research results within and between Member States.
          2. To realize the research objectives the emphasis will be on some of the following themes:
             (a) conversion and diversification aimed at less intensive cropping and livestock-farming systems, and
                 improvement in marketing of traditional and new products;
             (b) improvement in production techniques of agricultural products and in their quality, and research for
                 new uses for traditional agricultural products with a view to enhancing their added value;
             (c) definition of viable solutions where agriculture can contribute to meet existing opportunities to
                 reduce the economic and social disparities between the slower zones to develop, particularly in the
                 Mediterranean regions, and the economically more-developed parts of the Community;
             (d) reduction of costs in agricultural production systems;
             (e) elaboration of long-term schemes which will result in different ways of managing land and water
                 resources to the advantage of agriculture, the environment and the countryside;
             (f) development of methods and services to disseminate agricultural information to assist farmers to
                 adapt easily and efficiently to changes which will accompany the development of the common agri-
                 cultural policy.
             Most of these topics are mentioned in the targets and technical content given in Annex 1 to the
             framework programme (1987 to 1991) under the heading 'competitiveness of agriculture and the
             management of agricultural resources'. These topics are juxtaposed with those in the sub-schemes
             'biotechnology' and 'agro-industrial technologies' in the framework programme (1987 to 1991).
          3. The realization of the objectives of the programme, via more particularly the themes above, will be
             achieved in several ways:
             (a) Shared-cost activities
                 In the context of the five research objectives defined above the shared-cost activities will be:
                   (i) to help farmers to adapt to the new situation created by over-production and a restrictive policy on
                       prices and markets
                       — the development and introduction of improved varieties of existing crops to improve their
                           marketability, and of new varieties of existing crops and out-of-season products, for which
                           there are viable market opportunities,
                       — the development of specific types of farm products in specific areas or regions, which are of
                           high quality and high value added, and for which market opportunities clearly exist,
                       — the assessment of the influence of pre- and post-harvesting factors, with particular reference
                           to cropping methods and storage, on the quality of agricultural and horticultural products,
                       — the improvement of the profitability of farm woodland as an alternative enterprise through
                           the development or introduction of integrated forestry-livestock systems, and the identifi-
                           cation of ligneous species for rotation and undergrowth specific to various woodland areas,
                       — the identification of options for profitable alternative uses for land which may no longer be
                           required for agriculture;
 ---pagebreak--- No C 146/18                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                      13. 6. 89
                  (ii) to maintain the incomes from holdings and encourage structural reform whilst controlling output
                       and reducing production costs
                       — the definition of optimum (least-cost) combinations of agricultural resources which are
                           compatible with current and foreseeable market constraints,
                       — the control of crop pests and diseases with reduced quantities of chemicals by the devel-
                           opment of improved strategies of integrated biological control and the early detection of
                           plant diseases,
                       — the reduction of input levels in farming practice and the effective conservation of the envi-
                           ronment and maintenance of the countryside,
                       — the improvement of the health and welfare status of livestock by controlling disease,
                           parasites and other disorders of farm animals,
                       — the establishment in environmentally sensitive areas of land use systems conserving the
                           countryside and enriching its wildlife,
                       — the establishment of guidelines applicable to cropping and livestock farming systems in
                           marginal areas,
                       — support for the development of the common agricultural structures policy by providing the
                           range of data necessary for its conception, evaluation and management;
                 (iii) to care for and improve, in line with the market situation, regions which have been slow to develop
                       — the pursuit of the research objectives 1 (a) and 1 (b) concerning the specificities of regions
                           which have been slow to develop and taking account of the situation of the Community
                           markets for the products involved,
                       — the assessment of the scope for integrated rural development,
                       — the improvement and management of natural and local resources,
                       — the provision of alternative jobs for farmers and farm workers who cannot obtain viable
                           incomes in farming.
                Contracts with the Commission will provide Community finance for research projects at up to 50 %
                of the total project cost.
                The shared-cost activities will be launched by a call for proposals published by the Commission.
            (b) High-priority pilot activities
                In the context of research objectives defined for the 1989 to 1993 programme, high-priority pilot
                activities will be restricted to a very few main problems. The projects are expected to respond to:
                   (i) particular technical problems facing the Commission in connection with the common agri-
                       cultural policy;
                  (ii) possibilities of applying promising research results in farming practice;
                (iii) needs to demonstrate to farmers the real scope for improving the efficiency of agricultural
                       production, consequently agricultural income, by adopting and exploiting new techniques
                       derived from research results and from new technology.
                Contracts with the Commission will provide Community finance for high-priority projects at a level
                above 50 % of the total cost.
                The high-priority activities will be implemented by the Commission.
            (c) Coordination activities
                These activities will in particular serve the needs of the shared-cost and high-priority activities.
                Seminars and workshops will bring together scientists from the Member States to address a limited
                number of agricultural research problems of particular importance to the Community and the preoc-
                cupations of the common agricultural policy. By limiting resources to certain problems, the accent
                and the efforts will be where the needs are greatest. Such activities prime the pump for later colla-
                boration which will avoid duplication of research and will ensure more rapid dissemination of
                results and other information throughout the Community. This programme will include encour-
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              agement for laboratory twinning and training of scientists working on techniques and methods of
              crucial interest for the Community. The publications produced will assist in the overall coordination
              and publicize the results.
          (d) Information
              There must be improved dissemination of the research results (1989 to 1993) to advisory services
              and farmers. The priorities are:
                (i) to develop and implement the Community inventory of agricultural research (Agrep);
               (ii) to integrate Community information, particularly results from the Community agricultural
                    research programme, into national information systems;
              (iii) to support and develop Eur-Agris;
              (iv) to introduce, harmonize and utilize information technology in advisory and information
                    services and on-farm information systems.
          (e) Evaluation
              Independent evaluation is vital to proper management of the programme, since it is a check on the
              utility of the programme in terms of achieving objectives against a background of constant change
              and development of the common agricultural policy.