CELEX: 51989PC0270
Language: en
Date: 1989-06-01
Title: RE-EXAMINED PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ADOPTING A COMMUNITY PROGRAMME IN THE FIELD OF STRATEGIC ANALYSIS, FORECASTING AND EVALUATION IN MATTERS OF RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGY; ( 1989-1992 ); MONITOR ( PRESENTED BY THE COMMISSION PURSUANT TO ARTICLE 149, PARAGRAPH 2, SUB-SECTION D ) OF THE EEC TREATY )

No C 161/12                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                             28. 6. 89
              Re-examined proposal for a Council Decision adopting a Community programme in the field of
              strategic analysis, forecasting and evaluation in matters of research and technology (Monitor)
                                                         (1989 to 1992) (*)
                                                 COM(89) 270 final — SYN 147
              (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to point (d) of Article 149 (2) of the Treaty establishing
                                      the European Economic Community on 1 June 1989)
                                                           (89/C 161/09)
                                                               PART I
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                             contributes, inter alia, to the strengthening of the
                                                                     e c o n o m i c and social cohesion of the C o m m u n i t y and the
                                                                    p r o m o t i o n of its overall h a r m o n i o u s development, while
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European              being consistent with the pursuit of scientific and
 Economic Community, and in particular Article 130q (2)             technical quality; whereas it is intended that the M o n i t o r
 thereof,                                                           p r o g r a m m e should contribute to the achievement of
                                                                    these objectives;
 Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,
                                                                    W h e r e a s the g r o w i n g impact of science and t e c h n o l o g y
 In cooperation with the European Parliament (2),                   on social and economic life reinforces the role and utility
                                                                    of analysis of the social and e c o n o m i c consequences of
                                                                    developments in science and t e c h n o l o g y ;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee (3),
                                                                    W h e r e a s several i m p o r t a n t initiatives have been taken in
Whereas Article 130k of the Treaty states that the                  the M e m b e r States in matters of p r o g r a m m e evaluation,
framework programme shall be implemented through                    forecasting and technology assessment;
specific programmes developed within each activity;
                                                                    W h e r e a s the Commission, in carrying o u t its duties
Whereas, by Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC (4), as
                                                                    r e g a r d i n g evaluation of R & D activities, must have the
amended by Decision 88/193/EEC, Euratom (5), the
                                                                    support of reliable m e t h o d s , appropriate indicators and a
Council     adopted     a framework         programme       for
                                                                    n e t w o r k of experienced E u r o p e a n specialists in o r d e r
Community activities in the field of research and techno-
                                                                    that the effectiveness of its evaluations a n d its capability
logical development (1987 to 1991), providing for acti-
                                                                    to measure the impact of R & D activities are improved;
vities in the fields of forecasting and assessment in
science and technology and in evaluation of
programmes;
                                                                    W h e r e a s the evaluation report of the                   FAST     II
                                                                    p r o g r a m m e has been taken into a c c o u n t ;
Whereas the quality and independence of the evaluation
of each research action programme should be maintained
within the context of an evaluation procedure applicable
to all research activities at European level;                       Whereas            the   Scientific       and      Technical  Research
                                                                    C o m m i t t e e (Crest) has given its opinion,
Whereas Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC provides that
a particular aim of Community research shall be to
strengthen the scientific and technological basis of                HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
European industry and to encourage it to become more
competitive at the international level and that
Community       action    is justified      where     research
                                                                                                       Article 1
(') OJ No C 74, 22. 3. 1989, p. 12.                                 A Community programme in the field of strategic
(2) OJ No C 69, 20. 3. 1989, p. 78.                                 analysis, forecasting and evaluation in matters of
(») OJ No C 337, 31. 12. 1988, p. 12.                               research and technology (Monitor), as defined in
(4) OJ N o L 302, 24. 10. 1987, p. 1.                               Annex I and hereinafter referred to as 'the programme',
(5) OJ No L 89, 6. 4. 1988, p. 35.                                  is hereby adopted for a period of four years from . . . .
 ---pagebreak--- 28. 6. 89                             Official Journal of the European Communities                              No C 161/13
                          Article 2                              3.    The Commission shall take the utmost account of
                                                                the opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform
The funds estimated as necessary for the Community's            the committee of the manner in which its opinion has
contribution to the execution of the programme amount           been taken into account.
to ECU 22 million, including expenditure on a staff of
25.
                                                                                          Article 7
An indicative breakdown of the estimated total amount
                                                                The procedure laid down in Article 6 shall apply in
between the various programme activities is given in
                                                                particular to:
Annex I.
                                                                — the work programmes drawn up in respect of each of
                          Article 3                                  the component parts of the programme,
Detailed rules for the implementation of the programme          — the content of calls for proposals or tenders,
and the rate of the Community's financial participation         — the assessment of the proposed activities and the
are set out in Annex II.                                             estimated amount of the Community's contribution
                                                                     to them,
                          Article 4
                                                                — the measures to be undertaken to evaluate the
1.    In the third year of the programme implementation,             programme,
the Commission shall undertake a review of the
                                                                — any adaptation of the internal indicative allocation of
programme and shall report to the European Parliament
                                                                     funds set out in Annex I, section I (2),
and the Council on the results thereof, together, if
necessary, with any proposals for modification or               — departures from the general rules governing
prolongation.                                                        Community participation in financing set out in
                                                                     Annex II,
2.    At the end of the programme, the Commission shall
report to the European Parliament and the Council on            — the participation in any activity by third country
the results achieved.                                                organizations or enterprises as provided for in
                                                                     Article 8,
3.    The reports provided for in paragraphs 1 and 2            — arrangements for the dissemination, protection and
shall be established having regard to the objectives set             exploitation of the results of research carried out
out in Annex III to this Decision and in conformity with             under the programme.
Article 2 (2) of Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC.
                                                                                          Article 8
                          Article 5
                                                                 1.    The Commission shall be authorized to negotiate,
1.    The Commission shall be responsible          for  the     in accordance with Article 130n of the Treaty,
implementation of the programme.                                agreements with international organizations, those
                                                                non-Member         States  participating      in   European
2.    The Commission shall be assisted by a committee           cooperation in the field of scientific and technical
of an advisory nature composed of the representatives of        research (COST) and those European countries having
the Member States and chaired by the representative of          concluded framework agreements in scientific and
the Commission.                                                 technical cooperation with the Community, with a view
                                                                to associating them wholly or partly with the
                          Article 6                             programme.
 1.   The representative of the Commission shall submit         2.     Where framework agreements for scientific and
to the committee a draft of the measures to be taken.           technical cooperation between non-Member States and
The committee shall deliver its opinion on the draft,           the European Communities have been concluded, organ-
within a time limit which the chairman may lay down              izations and enterprises established in those countries
according to the urgency of the matter, if necessary by          may participate in a project undertaken within the
taking a vote.                                                  programme.
2.    The opinion shall be recorded in the minutes; in                                    Article 9
addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask
to have its position recorded in the minutes.                   This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 161/14                             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                    28. 6. 89
                                                                  ANNEX       I
           COMMUNITY PROGRAMME IN T H E FIELD O F STRATEGIC ANALYSIS, FORECASTING A N D
                     EVALUATION IN MATTERS O F RESEARCH A N D T E C H N O L O G Y (MONITOR)
           I. General aims and activities
                1. (a) The purpose of the programme is to be instrumental in identifying new directions and priorities
                        for Community research and technological development policy and to help show more clearly
                        the relationships between R&D and the other common policies.
                    (b) The programme involves factual and strategic analysis and forecasting relating to the scientific
                        and technological environment and its interaction with economic and social developments.
                2. The programme comprises three activities. The internal indicative allocation of the funds estimated
                    as necessary for each of these activities is as follows:
                                                                                                              (million    ECU)
                   — strategic and impact analysis (SAST)                                                               3,1
                   — FAST forecasting                                                                                   4,5
                   — research and studies to improve methodologies and effectiveness of
                        evaluation of R&D activities (Spear)                                                            1,8
                   — still to be allocated                                                                              0,7
                   — staff costs                                                                                        9,6
                   — administrative costs                                                                               2,3
                                                                                                             Total     22,0 (»)
           II. Content and working methods
               Strategic and impact analysis (SAST)
                3. The SAST activities consist of carrying out 'targeted' analyses in a scientific field, technology sector,
                   or a challenging theme. The aim is to show the options available to the Commission's science and
                   technology policy and interactions with other policies as well as the way in which the different
                   actors concerned (industrialists, certain local public authorities, Member and non-member States,
                   social groups, etc.) situate themselves with regard to the options.
                4. The activities consist of:
                   (a) the preparation of reports on the prospects for development and the strengths and weaknesses of
                        the European Community, a group of countries in the Community, particularly with respect to
                        R&D structures, a high-technology sector, a scientific field or in relation to important changes
                        in other countries' science and technology policies, particularly those outside the Community;
                    (b) the carrying-out of technology assessments into the state of development of a technology and its
                        future evolution, constraints to innovation, industrial and socioeconomic impact within the
                        Community (by sector, region, etc.), requirements in terms of R&D and investment financing,
                        etc.;
                    (c) the preparation of reports of strategic analyses (strategic dossiers) shedding light, for a given
                        problem, on alternatives open to the European Community and proposing precise orientations
                        for action.
                5. The Commission will establish an annual calendar of priority activities which will be adopted after
                   consultation with the Committee referred to in Article 5 of the Decision.
           (') Figures provided by the Commission services on the basis of a staff of 25.
 ---pagebreak--- 28. 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 161/15
              FA S Tfo recasting
               6. The FAST forecasting activities are a reoriented follow-up to previous FAST programmes: they
                   include study of scientific and technological changes and their many interactions with economic and
                   social changes. Their aim is to provide the Commission with global analyses and long-term
                   projections. The projections are to be useful in relation to the Community's major objectives for the
                   1990s, namely the creation of a single internal market and strengthening economic and social
                   cohesion within the Community, and in the light of worldwide economic and social developments.
               7. Forecasting includes:
                   (a) the preparation of reports (forecasting dossiers) on major topics or phenomena of a global
                        character. The choice of these topics will depend on their relevance and significance in relation
                        to the objectives of the common RTD policy. They may extend beyond the strictly European
                        framework;
                   (b) the undertaking of studies of the implications and consequences of selected scientific and
                        technical developments which present important challenges for society in the future;
                   (c) the synthesis and critical analysis of the main forecasting studies published worldwide;
                   (d) the preparation, every two years, of a report on the economic and social implications of techno-
                        logical change, particularly in Europe.
               8. These activities will be defined according to a biennial work programme established by the
                   Commission in consultation with the Committee referred to in Article 5 of the Decision.
               9. These activities will involve the participation of experts and working groups from outside the
                   Commission under the responsibility and guidance of the FAST team in consultation with other
                   Commission services concerned (including, where necessary, officials from other Directorates-
                   General seconded to the FAST team for limited periods) and visiting scientists on secondment from
                   the Member States or from non-member countries.
                   In addition, the activities under 7 (a) and (b) will be organized in such a way as to ensure the
                   broadest and most efficient possible interaction between the actors involved. T o that end, the
                   European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee will be regularly
                   informed of the results of these activities.
              10. FAST forecasting activities are also intended to continue to stimulate the development of European
                   forecasting efforts and expertise. To this end, it will be necessary to reinforce the FAST '12 + 1'
                   network (comprising the 12 national FAST units nominated by the Member States to ensure inter-
                   action between Community activities and similar work undertaken in their own countries) and to
                   encourage the setting-up of an informal network of European experts in the field of prospection.
              Activities in support of the evaluation of R&D programmes (Spear)
              11. Research and studies in support of evaluation of R&D activities at Community level are intended to
                   improve the theoretical and methodological bases, as well as the methods of organization and
                   management of Community R&D programmes within the context of, and drawing as appropriate
                   on, the experience of national and international R&D programmes. Such research and studies will
                   also analyse and improve the effectiveness and impact of R&D activities and define an evaluation
                   procedure applicable to the broad range of research activities at Community level carried out under
                   the responsibility of the Commission while preserving the quality and independence of such
                   evaluation.
              12. To this end, the Spear activities comprise:
                   — the preparation, in conformity with the Community plan of action relating to the evaluation of
                       Community research and development activities for the years 1987 to 1991 ('), of four to five
                       horizontal evaluations, within the context of, and drawing as appropriate on, the experience of
                       national or international research programmes, in order to analyse their impact and identify
                       means to improve their effectiveness at Community level. This covers analyses of methods of
                       support and of management of national and Community research.
          (') OJ No C 14, 20. 1. 1987, p. 5.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 161/16                               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               28. 6. 89
                    — research actions into methodologies of evaluation of R&D programmes in order to increase their
                        utility and make them more credible to their users. This will be in conformity with points 5, 6
                        and 7 of the aforementioned plan of action.
                        In particular the programme must:
                        — improve methods for evaluations of Community R&D programmes within the context of,
                             and drawing as appropriate on, the experience of related national R&D programmes,
                        — stimulate research into the methodology of evaluation and its use in Member States,
                        — develop quantitative indicators that can describe the quality and utility of research and its
                             contribution to the Community's economic and social development,
                        — prepare guidelines for the carrying-out of Community R&D programme evaluations in the
                             light of the European experience,
                        — prepare guidelines for evaluating the quality of management using a set of related criteria
                             (utilization of appropriations, allocation of contracts, meeting of deadlines, etc.),
                        — examine the idea of assigning parts of a given evaluation to a working group or contractor to
                             investigate points of detail and to assess the application of results of the research programme
                             in question.
               13. The Commission will establish an annual calendar of priority activities which will be adopted after
                    consultation with the Committee referred to in Article 5 of the Decision.
                                                                    ANNEX      II
                                                  PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
           The implementation of the programme will vary according to the specific nature of the activity involved,
           but will include in particular:
           — the involvement of research centres or research teams from the Community countries specializing in
                strategic and impact analyses, forecasting and evaluation of R&D programmes, especially by setting up
                networks, organizing workshops, seminars, etc.,
                the setting-up of two '12 + 1' networks, one linked to FAST forecasting, the other to Spear. Their
                objectives will be the exchange and diffusion of information, promotion within the Community of more
                effective means of forecasting and of evaluation of R&D, and also the exploitation of results,
                the secondment of visiting scientists from national institutions and governments to take part in the
                various activities,
                the dissemination of the knowledge and results acquired in the context of the SAST, FAST and Spear
                activities in the form of publications in the field of research, policy notes, the organizations of national
                Monitor days and other publicizing activities.
           (') OJ No C 14, 20. 1. 1987, p. 5.
 ---pagebreak--- 28. 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 161/17
          The above activities will be implemented chiefly by means of contracts for studies and services to be carried
          out on behalf of the Commission.
          The Communities' financial contribution towards the activities in question may be up to 100 % of the
          expenditure involved.
          The contracts entered into by the Commission shall regulate the rights and obligations of each party,
          including the methods of disseminating, protecting and exploiting the research results.
          As a general rule, contracts will, where appropriate, be awarded on the basis of calls for proposals or for
          tenders (restricted or public) published in the Official Journal of the European Communities.
                                                              ANNEX      III
                               PROGRAMME OBJECTIVES AND EVALUATION CRITERIA
          The general objective of the programme is that its three component parts — SAST, FAST and Spear —
          should form as far as possible an integrated whole to achieve the purpose set out in section 1.1 of Annex I,
          namely that it should be instrumental in identifying new directions and priorities for Community research
          and technologial development policy and should help show more clearly the relationships between R&D
          and the other common policies. The particular objectives of the three component parts are:
          1. SAST
             1.1. The unit should satisfy the demands for strategic analysis expressed by the various services and
                  committees associated to Community science and technology. A calendar of projects to be
                  implemented should be established annually, following consultation of the Committee referred to in
                  Article 5 of the Decision.
             1.2. Each SAST project, once selected, should be conducted in such a way as to ensure access and
                  commitment to the exercise, from the definition of the project to the diffusion of its results through
                  the various implementation phases, by all those directly concerned.
             1.3. Each project intended to produce a strategic dossier should be supervised by a steering group with
                  the requisite authority, legitimacy and expertise, involving customer(s)' representative(s), SAST
                  personnel and external expert(s).
             1.4. The strategic dossiers should demonstrate the need, and give precise recommendations, for action
                  and, where appropriate, the conditions under which it could best be pursued. The dossiers should
                  represent a broad consensus among their steering groups.
          2. FAST
             2.1. The FAST activity should elaborate and implement the two-yearly working programmes to the
                  satisfaction of the FAST interservice group of Directors-General of the Commission, and the
                  national units of FAST 12-1-1 network.
             2.2. The FAST activity should have produced two two-yearly reports on the economic and social conse-
                  quences of scientific and technological change mainly in Europe to the satisfaction of the
                  Commission, the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the Economic and Social
                  Committee.
             2.3. The global prospective studies, the FAST technological assessment examples and the analytical
                  synthesis should be of such a relevance and quality that they have been significantly useful for the
                  Commission orientation not only of Community RTD choices and options but also of other
                  relevant Community policies.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 161/18                            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             28. 6. 89
              2.4. The prospective activities of FAST should have stimulated the development of European pros-
                    pective efforts and expertise. Furthermore, the 1 2 + 1 network should have been reinforced to the
                    satisfaction of both Member States and the Commission.
              2.5. An informal network of prospectivists should have been set up. The activities of other FAST
                    networks (such as Eureta or the ROME network which has to be established) should have been
                    supported.
           3. Spear
              3.1. The Spear activity should lead to the production by the Commission of evaluation guidelines that
                    include criteria to guarantee the relevance, rigour and independence of the evaluations of
                    Community RTD programmes. These guidelines should be prepared no later than June 1993.
              3.2. Approximately one 'horizontal' evaluation per year should be performed and these evaluations
                    should indentify potentially significant improvements in the Commission's support mechanisms for
                    R&D.
              3.3. As a result of the activities of Spear, the Commission's evaluators should be provided with
                    improved tools for the analysis of he management and impact of R&D programmes.
              3.4. Suitable quantitative indicators should Jbe developed in order to provide a valuable contribution to
                    evaluations.
              3.5. The activities related to the Spear network should provide a useful support to the evaluation acti-
                    vities of its members and in particular improve the means of evaluating Community programmes.
           The programme shall also be evaluated in the light of all the selection criteria set out in Annex III to
           Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC which includes that of contributing to the strengthening of the economic
           and social cohesion of the Community, while being consistent with the pursuit of scientific and technical
           quality.
 ---pagebreak--- 28. 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 161/19
                                                                PART II
                                                            Declaration Annex
                           Amendments of the European Parliament not accepted by the Commission
          COMMON POSITION OF THE COUNCIL                                       AMENDMENTS PROPOSED BY THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT
                                                                                                          Amendment 2
                                                                                                            Article 2
                                                                        New third and fourth paragraphs
                                                                         Each year the Commission, as part of the annual budgetary
                                                                        approval procedure, shall propose to the budgetary authority
                                                                        that it enter the appropriations intended for the programme with
                                                                        due regard for the actual reguirements of the financial year
                                                                        concerned and the financial estimates as set out in the Inter-
                                                                        Institutional Agreement.
                                                                        The Commission shall state in the Annex what proportion of the
                                                                        expenditure per programme relates to temporary officials,
                                                                        regardless of grade, and what proportion to collaborating
                                                                        researchers.
          Although the Commission recognizes, in principle, the opportunity to specify in research programme
          decisions the relationship between the term 'amount deemed necessary', the budgetary procedure and the
          institutional agreement on budgetary discipline, it considers untimely the introduction of such a new
          provision for proposals already submitted as this could delay the adoption of the programmes concerned.
          As regards the second part of this amendment, the Commission has not included it as it is not possible at
          the date of the programme proposal to indicate the number of collaborating researchers who will
          participate in the programme.
                                                                                                          Amendment 4
                                                                        ANNEX       I
                                                                        I. General aims and activities
                                                                        Paragraph 1, new third subparagraph
                                                                        (c) The programme shall form an integral part of the procedure
                                                                              for the revision of the framework programme of Community
                                                                              research and technological development.
          This amendment is not accepted by the Commission which considers it to be redundant with the first
          subparagraph (a) of this same paragraph 1.