CELEX: 51988PC0632
Language: en
Date: 1988-11-21
Title: PROPOSAL FOR A COUNCIL DECISION ADOPTING TWO SPECIFIC RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMES IN THE FIELD OF THE ENVIRONMENT: STEP: SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION; EOPCH: EUROPEAN PROGRAMME ON CLIMATOLOGY AND NATURAL HAZARDS 1989-1992

No C 327/10                           Official Journal of the European Communities                                20. 12. 88
                                                             II
                                                     (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
             Proposal for a Council Decision adopting two specific research and technological development
             programmes in the field of the environment (1989 to 1992):
             — STEP: Science and technology for environmental protection
             — E P O C H : European programme on climatology and natural hazards
                                              COM(88) 632 final — SYN 168
                                   (Submitted by the Commission on 24 November 1988)
                                                       (88/C 327/06)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         scientific bases of environment policy, inter alia through
                                                                 appropriate research programmes, was one of the
                                                                 priority areas of Community action;
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European
Economic Community, and in particular Article 130Q
(2) thereof,                                                     Whereas the participation of certain              European
                                                                 non-member States in a Community R&D programme in
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               the field of the environment would be beneficial;
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                     Whereas the Scientific and Technical              Research
                                                                 Committee (Crest) has been consulted,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,                                                HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
Whereas Article 130K of the Treaty provides that the
framework programme shall be implemented through                                           Article 1
specific programmes developed within each activity;              Two specific research and technological development
                                                                 programmes for the European Economic Community in
Whereas by its Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC ( l ), the           the field of the environment, as defined in the Annex,
Council     adopted     a framework        programme     of      are hereby adopted for a period of four years, starting
Community research and technological development                 from . . .
(1987 to 1991), providing inter alia for activities in the
field of the environment;
                                                                                           Article 2
Whereas, for the selection of Community actions, the             The amount deemed necessary for the execution of the
framework programme sets out criteria among which is             two programmes is Ecu 115 million, including expen-
that of contributing to the strengthening of the economic        diture on a staff of 30, subdivided as follows:
and social cohesion of the Community, consistent with
the pursuit of scientific and technical quality;                 — STEP (Science and technology for environmental
                                                                     protection): Ecu 75 million,
Whereas the Council of the European Communities and
the Representatives of the Member States, meeting                — EPOCH (European programme on climatology and
within the Council, declared in their Resolution of 19               natural hazards): Ecu 40 million.
October 1987 on the continuation and implementation of
a European Community policy and action programme on
the environment (1987 to 1992) (2) that improving the                                      Article 3
                                                                 Detailed rules for the implementation of the programmes
(l) OJ No L 302, 24. 10. 1987, p. 1.                             and the rate of the Community's financial participation
O OJ No C 328, 7. 12. 1987, p. 1.                                are set out in the Annex.
 ---pagebreak--- 20. 12. 88                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    N o C 327/11
                            Article 4                                   2.     The contracts entered into by the Commission shall
                                                                         regulate the rights and obligations of each party,
 1.   In the third years of the programmes' implemen-                    including the methods of disseminating, protecting and
tation, the Commission shall undertake a review of the                   exploiting the research results.
programmes and shall report to the Council and the
European Parliament on the results thereof, together, if
necessary, with any proposals for modification or                                                   Article 6
prolongation.
                                                                         1.    The Commission is hereby authorized to negotiate,
2.    An evaluation of the results achieved shall be                    in accordance with Article 130 n of the Treaty,
conducted by the Commission, which shall report                         agreements with non-member States and international
thereon to the Council and the European Parliament.                     organizations, in particular with those countries partici-
                                                                        pating in European cooperation in the field of scientific
3.    The abovementioned reports shall be established                   and technological research (COST), and those having
having regard to the objectives set out in the Annex and                concluded framework agreements for scientific and
in conformity with the provisions of Article 2 (2) of                   technical cooperation with the Community, with a view
Decision 87/516/Euratom, EEC on the framework                           to associating them wholly or partly with the
programme.                                                              programmes.
                            Article 5                                   2.     Where framework agreements for scientific and
1.    The Commission shall be responsible for the                       technical cooperation between non-member States and
execution of the two programmes and shall be assisted in                the European Communities have been concluded, organ-
their implementation by the Management and Coordi-                      izations and enterprises established in those countries
nation Advisory Committee (CGC) on Environment and                      may participate in a project undertaken within these
Climatology,      set      up      by    Council      Decision          programmes.
84/338/Euratom, ECSC, EEC (l).
                                                                                                    Article 7
(*) OJ No L 177, 4. 7. 1984, p. 25.                                     This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
                                                               ANNEX
                                                           I. OBJECTIVES
             Environmental issues in one form or another, whether air pollution, groundwater quality or the greenhouse
             effect, pervade almost every aspect of human life. This is reflected in the three objectives which are shared
             by the two programmes, STEP (Science and technology for environmental protection) and EPOCH
             (European programme on climatology and hazards), namely
             — the provision of scientific and technical support for the environmental policy of the Community, and
                 for other relevant Community policies such as energy, agriculture, industry, aid to developing
                 countries, both for the solution of short term policy questions and for the medium and long-term
                 formulation of preventive and anticipatory policies;
             — the further improvement of the productivity of the overall research effort in the Community, the
                 reduction of overlaps and the identification of gaps, through the coordination of the national R&D
                 programmes in the field of environmental research;
             — the promotion of overall scientific and technical quality in the field of environmental research, as a
                 contribution to the strengthening of the economic and social cohesion of the Community, R&D capa-
                 bilities at the highest level in all parts of the Community being one of the prerequisites for its
                 harmonious development.
                                                           II. C O N T E N T S
                                      STEP (Science and technology for environmental protection)
                                                        RESEARCH AREA 1
             Environment and human health
             1.1. Development of biological markers of exposure and preclinical effects
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 320/12                             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           20. 12. 88
            1.2. Development of environmental epidemiology in the European Community
            1.3. Indoor air quality and its impact on man
                                                           RESEARCH AREA 2
           Assessment of risks associated with chemicals
           2.1. Development and validation of protocols in the context of Directive 79/831/EEC for the assessment
                 of health risks
           2.2. Alternatives to the use of animals in chemicals testing
           2.3. Assessment procedures for the abiotic degradation of chemicals
           2.4. Research on the assessment of ecological effects of chemicals
           2.5. Refinement and application of quantitative structure /activity relationships (QSARs)
                                                           RESEARCH AREA 3
           Atmospheric processes and air quality
            3.1. Tropospheric chemistry, including analysis, sources, transport and deposition of pollutants and other
                 airborne substances
            3.2. Stratospheric chemistry, ozone depletion and related issues
            3.3. Air pollution effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems
                                                           RESEARCH AREA 4
            Water quality
            4.1. Analysis and conversion of pollutants
            4.2. Effects of pollutants
                                                           RESEARCH AREA 5
            Soil a id groundwater protection
            5.1. Protection against inorganic pollutants
            5.2. Protection against organic pollutants
            5.3. Effects of agricultural and forestry practice
                                                           RESEARCH AREA 6
            Ecosystem research
            6.1. Terrestrial ecosystems
            6.2. Aquatic and coastal ecosystems (including wetlands)
                                                           RESEARCH AREA 7
            Protection and conservation of the European cultural heritage
            7A. Assessment of the mechanisms of the deterioration
           7.2. Critical environmental factors
           7.3. Damage assessment
           7.4. Material characterization
           7.5. Conservation techniques
                                                           RESEARCH AREA 8
            Technologies for environmental protection
            8.1. Waste research
 ---pagebreak--- 20. 12. 88                                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 327/13
            8.2. Emission abatement
            8.3. Clean technologies
                                                            RESEARCH AREA 9
           Major technological hazards and fire safety
           9.1. Physical and chemical phenomena
           9.2. Technologies of accident prevention
           9.3. Evaluation and management of risk
                                 E P O C H (European programme on climatology and natural hazards)
                                                            RESEARCH AREA 1
           Past climates and climate change
            1.1. Modelling of extremes
            1.2. Transient behaviour of the European climate: data and modelling
                                                            RESEARCH AREA 2
            Climate processes and models
           2.1. Climate change detection, modelling and prediction, especially as regards greenhouse gas effects
           2.2. The global carbon cycle
           2.3. Land surface processes
           2.4. Climatic aspects of ozone changes and troposphere-stratosphere interactions
           2.5. Cloud-radiation interactions
           2.6. Ocean circulation and air-sea fluxes
           2.7. Cryospheric processes
                                                            RESEARCH AREA 3
           Climatic impacts and climate-related hazards
           3.1. Sea level change
           3.2. Climatic impacts on land and water resources
           3.3. European land degradation and desertification in a changing climate
           3.4. Instability and erosion of natural slopes
           3.5. Storms and floods
           3.6. Wildfires
                                                           RESEARCH AREA 4
           Seismic hazard
           4.1. Strong-motion measurements
           4.2. European data centres and information services
           4.3. Multidisciplinary earthquake prediction studies
           4.4. Risk assessment including methods of evaluating seismic vulnerability of housing stock, lifelines,
                 historical buildings and monuments
           4.5. Establishment of a task force for scientific field missions after a destructive earthquake
 ---pagebreak--- ^oC^OBt^                                          ^hc^l]ourn^lo^rli^Euroo^nCornrriLinin^                                                         ^0 t ^ ^^
                                                                  hT     ^^L^^t^^TATtO^
        The programmes shall be implemented by means of ^ sharedcost research contracts, ^ concerted
         actions, ^111^ coordination activities, ^ education and trammgactivities and ^ studies andassessments
        The programmes are open to universities, research organizations and industrial companies, including small
         and medium^sized enterprises,individuals,or any combination thereof estabhshedmthe Community A s a
         rulepro^ects mustbe transnational
        The association and involvement of nonmember states, international and national organizations ^vill be
         f o u n d e d o n t h e c n t e n o n o f mutualadvantage M the caseof European non member states, their associ
         ation and involvement ^vdl be made possible through the C C ^ T system and through the bilateral
         frame^vorl^ agreements ^vithr^rTA^uropean^reeTradeAssociation^ countries
        r^or sharedcost contracts,the Community participation ^vill generally be ^ O ^ o f the total expenditure,but
        thispercentagemay be varied according t o t h e n a t u r e a n d t h e s t a g e o f d e v e l o p m e n t o f t h e r e s e a r c h tn
        respect of universities and research institutes carrying out projects, the Community may bear up to tOO^Bo
        of theadditionale^pendituremvolved
                                                             rr       ^VALUAT^O^C^T^^A
        The Commission'sCommumcation to the Council concerningaCommumtyman for Action relating to the
        evaluationof Community researchanddevelopment activities for the years t ^ B ^ t o t ^ t ^ C O ^ ^ ^ O
        finals states that the objectives and milestones of each research programme have to be set o u t m a t e s t a b l e
        form
         t The first objective of the t^voprogrammes is theprovision of scientific and technical support for the
             environmental policy of the Commumty,and for other relevant Community policies
             Taking into account the general goals of the separate research areas fo the programmes, the evaluation
             criteria should consist of the following
             — the scientific and technical progress made, contributing to the solution of short term policy
                  questions,
             — the a d v a n c e s m t h e u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f environmentalprocesses as a b a s i s f o r t h e medium and long
                  term formulation of preventive and anticipatory policies,
             — the contribution to the definition of norms and standards
        ^ The coordination of national ^ ^ t O programmes ^vdl be evaluated by criteria such as
             — the added value due to coordination ^vhich^vas not obtainable in one national programme alone,
             — the repartition of research tasl^s between national programmes asaresult of coordination
         ^ T h e p r o m o t i o n o f overall scientificc^ualitymthefieldof environmental research, a s a c o n t n b u t i o n t o
             the strengthening of the economic and socialcohesionof the Community,^villbeevaluatedbycnteria
             such as
             — the degree of transnational^ of the research projects,
             — the participation in training and educational activities,
             — the application of the results obtained, to regions of the Community other than those^vhere the
                  research ^vas conducted,
             — the duality of environmental research as measured by suitable bibliometnc studies