CELEX: 51990PC0678
Language: en
Date: 1990-12-14
Title: AMENDED 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 )

N o C 15/12                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                   23. 1.91
                                                             II
                                                     (Preparatory Acts)
                                                COMMISSION
              Amended proposal for a Council Decision adopting a specific research and technological devel-
              opment programme in the field of life sciences and technologies for developing countries (1990
                                                        to 1994) (')
                                              COM(90) 678 final — SYN 268
               (Submitted by the Commission pursuant to Article 149 (3) of the EEC Treaty on 14 December
                                                           1990)
                                                       (91/C 15/14)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         Whereas, pursuant to Article 4 and Annex I' of Decision
                                                                 90/221 /Euratom, EEC, the amount deemed necessary
                                                                 for the whole of the framework programme includes an
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European           amount of ECU 57 million for the centralized dissemi-
 Economic Community, and in particular Article 130q (2)          nation and exploitation of results, to be divided up in
thereof,                                                         proportion to the amount envisaged for each activity;
                                                                 whereas in view of the importance of this specific
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission,               programme within the 'Life sciences and technologies'
                                                                 action the estimate of the financial resources needed by
                                                                 this programme is to be reduced by ECU 1,11 million,
In cooperation with the European Parliament,                     which amount is to be allocated to centralized activities
                                                                 in order to comply with the second sentence of Article
                                                                 130p (2) of the Treaty;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and
Social Committee,
                                                                 Whereas fundamental research must also be taken into
                                                                 account throughout the Community and the developing
Whereas, by its Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEC (2), the            countries;
Council adopted a third framework programme for
Community activities in the field of research and techno-
logical development (1990 to 1994), specifying inter alia        Whereas, in addition to the specific programme on
the activities to be pursued in the area of life sciences        human capital and mobility, training of researchers in
and technologies for developing countries; whereas this          each of the strategic research sectors of the framework
Decision should be taken in the light of the grounds set         programme must be ensured;
out in the preamble to that Decision;
                                                                 Whereas the economic and social (human and environ-
Whereas Article 130k of the Treaty stipulates that the           mental) impact of the programme must be assessed by an
framework programme shall be implemented through                 independent panel, and technology and risk assessment
specific programmes developed within each activity;              be undertaken;
Whereas an estimate should be made of the amount of              Whereas, in order to widen the scientific base and
Community financial resources needed to carry out this           strengthen the research capacity of the Community,
specific programme; whereas the definitive amounts will          encouragement must be given to the involvement in this
be fixed by the budgetary authority in line with the             programme of the scientific and research institutes which
financial perspectives covering the period 1988 to 1992          have not traditionally been involved in this field; whereas
included in the Interinstitutional Agreement of 29 June          the developing countries will benefit insofar as it will be
1988 (3) and with any future financial perspectives              possible for Community measures to be extended to
covering the period 1993 to 1994;                                areas of the world which have not hitherto been able to
                                                                 participate to a sufficient        degree in previous
                                                                 programmes;
0) OJ No C 174, 16. 7. 1990, p. 72.
O OJ No L 117, 8. 5. 1990, p. 28.                               Whereas this programme must be implemented by the
(J) OJ No L 185, 15. 7. 1988, p. 33.                             Commission; whereas to help accomplish this, the
 ---pagebreak---   23. 1. 91                              Official Journal of the European Communities                             N o C 15/13
  Member States are bound, pursuant to Article 5 of the             tarity of research and methods and to improve access to
 Treaty, to facilitate the achievement of its tasks where           the different networks of scientific relationships estab-
  necessary, notably within a committee;                            lished by the Member States with the developing
                                                                    countries in the areas of agriculture and health; whereas
                                                                    this programme should have as its aim to promote devel-
 Whereas this programme must be implemented essen-                  opment of the research capacity of these developing
 tially by the selection of research and development                countries while encouraging the strengthening of that
 projects, jointly drawn up by institutions in the North            existing in the Member States; whereas special rules
 and South, to enable them to benefit from Community                should be drawn up for the dissemination of knowledge
 participation; whereas the Commission should encourage             resulting from the implementation of this programme;
 the submission of such projects by the usual means of
 publishing calls for proposals in the Official Journal of the
 European      Communities;      whereas     an    exceptional
 procedure should also be devised to come into effect               Whereas the interface between agriculture and health is
 between calls for proposals so as to maintain a degree of          of great significance in the specific situation of the
 flexibility enabling the Commission, in the face of                developing countries;
 continuous evolution and gradual acceleration of techno-
 logical progress, also to take into consideration spon-
 taneous proposals consistent with the objectives of the            Whereas the Scientific and Technical             Research
 programme;                                                         Committee (Crest) has been consulted,
Whereas support for the international competitiveness of
 European industry, through Community research and                  HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:
 technological development programmes, is linked with
the Community's external relations policy based on the
principle of 'the global equilibrium of opportunities', and
that it is also in the light of this policy that participation                                Article 1
of European companies owned by citizens of
                                                                   A specific research and technological development
non-Community countries must be considered;
                                                                   programme for the European Economic Community in
                                                                   the field of life sciences and technologies for developing
Whereas the projects to be carried out under the                   countries, as defined in Annex I, open to all developing
programme must be selected with special attention to the           countries, is hereby adopted for the period from the date
principle of economic and social cohesion in the                   of publication of this Decision in the Official Journal of
Community, the transnational nature of the projects and            the European Communities to 31 December 1994.
the support to be given to small and medium-sized enter-
prises;
                                                                                             Article 2
Whereas it is only in the light of experience gathered in
                                                                   1.     The Community funds estimated as necessary for
the course of this programme that the Commission will
                                                                   the execution of the programme under this Decision
be able to propose and the Council to adopt                        amount to ECU 111 million. Of this amount ECU 1,11
supplementary programmes by having recourse to the                 million is drawn for the centralized dissemination and
means provided for in Articles 1301, 130m or 130o of the           exploitation of results. The amount thus reduced to ECU
Treaty if they contribute to the achievement of the                109,89 million includes staff costs which may not exceed
programme's objectives, in accordance with the option              5 %. An indicative breakdown of expenditure is set out
made available by Article 2 (2) of the Decision                    in Annex II.
90/221/Euratom, EEC;
Whereas, in accordance with Article 130g of the Treaty,            2.     Should the Council take a decision in implemen-
the Community's activities aimed at strengthening the              tation of Article 1 (4) of Decision 90/221/Euratom,
scientific and technological basis of European industry            EEC, this Decision shall be adapted to take account of
and encouraging it to become more competitive include              the abovementioned decision.
promoting cooperation on research and technological
development with third countries and international
organizations; whereas such cooperation may prove
                                                                   3.    The budgetary authority shall decide on the appro-
particularly beneficial to the development of this
                                                                  priations available for each financial year.
programme;
Whereas it is necessary, as Annex II to Decision
                                                                                             Article 3
90/221 /Euratom,        EEC,      provides,     to    increase
cooperation between European scientists and those from            Rules for the implementation of the programme are set
developing countries in order to facilitate complemen-            out in Annex III.
 ---pagebreak--- No C 15/14                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                  23. 1. 91
                          Article 4                             3. The Commission shall take the fullest account of
                                                                the opinion delivered by the committee. It shall inform
The rate of the Community financial contribution shall          the committee of the way in which it has taken account
be laid down in accordance with Annex IV to Decision            of the opinion.
90/221/Euratom, EEC.
                          Article 5                                                        Article 8
1. During the third year of implementation, the                 The procedure laid down in Article 7 shall apply to:
Commission shall review the programme and address a
report on the results of the review to the Council and the
                                                                — the preparation and updating of                the   work
European Parliament, together with proposals for any
                                                                     programmes referred to in Article 6 (3),
necessary changes.
2. At the end of the programme the Commission shall             — the contents of calls for proposals, referred to in
assess the results obtained. It shall address a report               Article 6 (3),
thereon to the Council and the European Parliament.
                                                                — derogations to the general rules for Community
3. The reports shall be drawn up having regard to the                participation, set out in Annex IV to Council
objectives set out in Annex I to this Decision and in                Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEC, with particular
accordance with Article 2 (4) of Decision                            reference to participants in the developing countries
90/221/Euratom, EEC.                                                 for whom a higher rate of Community funding in
                                                                     shared-cost projects may prove appropriate,
                          Article 6
                                                                — the participation in any project by non-Community
1. The Commission shall be responsible for the                       organizations and enterprises referred to in Annex III
execution of the programme. It shall be assisted by an               point 3,
advisory committee, hereinafter referred to as 'the
committee', composed of the representatives of the
                                                                — any adaptation of the indicative breakdown of funds
Member States, and chaired by a representative of the
                                                                     set out in Annex II,
Commission.
2. The contracts concluded by the Commission shall              — the measures to be undertaken to evaluate the
govern the rights and obligations of each party,                     programme and those projects submitted through the
including the procedures for disseminating, protecting               exceptional procedure,
and exploiting the research results, in accordance with
the arrangements adopted pursuant to the second                 — accompanying measures and arrangements for the
paragraph of Article 130k of the Treaty and where                    dissemination, protection and exploitation of the
appropriate procedures for training and evaluation.                  results of the research, for encouraging fundamental
                                                                     research, training of researchers and technological
3. A work programme shall be drawn up at the start                   assessment carried out under the programme,
of the programme and shall be regularly revised. It shall
set out the detailed objectives and the types of projects       — concerted actions referred to in point 2 of Annex III.
to be undertaken, and the financial arrangements to be
made for them. The Commission shall make calls for
proposals for projects on the basis of the work
programmes.                                                                                Article 9
                                                                In implementing this programme, supplementary
                                                                programmes within the meaning of Article 1301, partici-
                          Article 7                             pation within the meaning of Article 130m and joint
 1. In the cases referred to in Article 8 (1), the              undertakings or any other structures within the meaning
representative of the Commission shall submit to the            of Article 130o of the Treaty may also be decided on as
committee a draft of the measures to be taken. The              the need arises.
committee shall deliver its opinion on this within a time
limit which the chairman may set in accordance with the
urgency of the matter, if necessary by holding a vote.                                    Article 10
                                                                Where cooperation with developed third countries and
2. The opinion shall be entered in the minutes; in               international organizations aiming at achieving the
addition, each Member State shall have the right to ask         objectives of the programme requires legal undertakings
for its position to appear in the minutes.                      between the Community and the third parties concerned,
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 1. 91                                    Official Journal of the European Communities                                   No C 15/15
the Commission shall be authorized to negotiate, in                        already signatories of an agreement with the Community
accordance with Article 130n of the Treaty, international                  which explicitly cites research and technological devel-
agreements establishing the arrangements for such                          opment or scientific progress as one of the objectives of
cooperation.                                                               cooperation.
Priority will also be given to cooperation with EFTA
countries and European countries not members of the                       The Decision on the conclusion of such agreements shall
European Communities (').                                                 be adopted in accordance with the procedure referred to
                                                                          in Article 130q (2) of the Treaty.
The negotiations for such international agreements may
only be initiated with developed third countries who are
(') Conforming, where necessary, with the agreed orientations
    between the Council and the European Parliament during                                            Article 11
    the consultation procedure which preceded the adoption of
    the third framework programme.                                        This Decision is addressed to the Member States.
                                                                 ANNEX I
                                   SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL OBJECTIVES AND CONTENT
               The orientations of the third framework programme, its scientific and technical objectives, and the moti-
               vations 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 of this specific programme.
               The programme's specific objectives may be defined as follows:
               — further strengthening of research capacity in both the developing countries and in the Community
                   Member States in areas defined as having priority for Third World development (agriculture, health
                   and the environment in tropical and subtropical areas), by means of joint research projects,
               — improved coordination at European level of the development of North-South cooperation and consoli-
                   dation, strengthening and extension of the links between partners in the North and South, created in
                   the first two stages of the programme,
               — significant progress on themes associated with development needs, including environmental protection
                   and the rational management of natural resources to help improve living standards and health in the
                   developing countries, particularly in the poorest developing countries,
               — making use of certain European teams used in other programmes in the Community S&T framework
                   programme, by offering them the opportunity of extending their field of investigation to the tropics and
                   diversifying their methodological approach,
               — acquisition of added value by the various existing national initiatives in this field, owing to the
                   programme's Community dimension.
               The following description of the content of this programme is presented under particular strategic themes
               in order to:
               — provide a better assessment of its impact on development,
               — facilitate an interdisciplinary approach, which is frequently essential for solving problems.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 15/16                              Official Journal of the European Communities                                     23. 1.91
            The association of the two areas of research — agriculture and health — in a single programme provides
            an excellent opportunity to finance interface activities. Thus the programme will allow consideration of the
            appropriate interdisciplinary projects concerning, for instance,
            — nutrition,
            — zoonosis, and
            — irrigation.
            This multidisciplinary approach will also be encouraged within each of the areas, with reference, for
            example, to optimum use of natural resources or optimum environmental protection.
            Area 1: Improvement of living conditions
            Reduction offood shortages
            The aim is to increase agricultural plant and animal production by sustainable methods so as to improve
            food provision in regions where, for climatic, physical or human reasons, this problem is the first priority.
            The work will cover:
            — production systems; predominantly food production
               analysis of the operation and dynamics of these systems, with a view to determining the constraints to
               achieving sustainable and ecological agriculture,
            — plant production
               food plant breeding (improvement of their hardiness and yield), protection (diseases, parasites and
               weeds), with continuing care for the environment so that sustainable solutions are found,
            — animal production
               role of livestock farming in production systems, forage resources with attention to environmental
               protection, alternative types of livestock farming in fragile environments and protection of animal
                health,
            — fisheries and aquaculture
                rational management of resources for coastal fishing; improvement of primary production in a natural
                environment; nutrition from local products, pathology and breeding in aquaculture,
            — restoration of the environment
                the study of reforestation, the relation between agriculture, forestry and livestock fanning (agro-
                forestry), the regeneration of pastureland, improved water management, soil protection, etc.,
            — protection of natural environments
                research into the operation of buffer zones around areas of unspoilt nature, and research into the
                viability of non-disruptive commercial use of animal and plant products from such areas.
             The development of agricultural production of high economic value
            The aim is to provide a scientific and technical basis to assess agricultural activities that are of high
            economic value (including the utilization of the forest and the aquatic environment) at the local level and
            for exportation in regions where there is no substantial food shortage.
 ---pagebreak--- 23. 1. 91                               Official Journal of the European Communities                                    N o C 15/17
          The following forms of production come under this strategic theme:
          — main traditional export corps (groundnuts, cotton, coffee, rubber, palm oil, etc.),
          — secondary crops giving a product of a high added value. Priority will in particular be given to studies
               into ways of replacing crops used for the production of narcotics with products of high economic value,
          — food products (products of animal origin and vegetables) commanding a high price on urban markets
              or for regional export,
          — forests and forestry,
          — the production of bioenergy.
          The work will cover:
          — production systems and the marketing of cash corps
              analysis of how they operate, to improve their management and the products' economic impact, and
              socio-economic studies of the improvements introduced,
          — quantitative improvements
              improvement of plants or animal breeds, the reduction in losses before and after harvest, and improved
              farming, forestry and fish-breeding techniques,
          — qualitative improvements
              the development of techniques to bring these products up to international trade standards and to
              improve their commercial value (harvesting, transport, packaging, etc.),
          — feasibility studies of local processing
          — environmental protection
              impact of intensification of agriculture on the environment, ways of preventing or solving problems and
              possibilities for improving the natural environment while preserving or increasing its productivity.
          Area 2: Improvements in health
          Prevention and treatment of the predominant diseases in the developing countries
          The aim is to reduce the impact of the 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 and adapting existing methods to tropical
          conditions, 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.
          Research into pandemic diseases such as haemoglobinoses, diarrhoea and the sexually transmitted diseases,
          especially AIDS, will be directed towards the study of possible intervention strategies, which will allow
          optimum prevention in the context of the developing countries' particular social and economic conditions.
          When dealing with aims under this heading, particular attention will regularly be given to concertation
          with other Community projects, such as the biomedical and health programme.
 ---pagebreak--- N o C 15/18                             Official Journal of the European Communities                                      23. 1.91
            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
            socio-economic context of the developing countries (financial, human and material resources), and the new
            opportunities offered by the results of biomedical research.
            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 II
                                     INDICATIVE DISTRIBUTION OF EXPENDITURES
            for the period 1990 to 1994
                                                                  in %
            Area 1: Improvement of living conditions              65
            Area 2: Improvements in health                        35
            This financial breakdown takes account of experience acquired in the implementation of the two earlier
            stages of the programme and the sums allocated allow for similar effectiveness in each of the two
            sub-programmes. The agriculture programme covers a wider field than the medical programme,
            particularly in view of the growing role played by the environment.
            The breakdown between different areas does not exclude the possibility that certain interface projects
            could cover both areas: agriculture and medicine. These projects will be allocated 5 % of the total amount
            of the programme.
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                                                               ANNEX       III
          RULES FOR IMPLEMENTING T H E PROGRAMME A N D ACTIVITIES FOR DISSEMINATION
                                          A N D EXPLOITATION O F T H E RESULTS
          1. The Commission shall implement the programme on the basis of Article 1 and the scientific and
              technical content described in Annex I.
              The Commission shall ensure good coordination between this programme and all the other Community
              programmes and operations on behalf of the developing countries.
         2. The rules for implementing the programme, referred to in Article 3, comprise research and techno-
              logical development projects, accompanying measures, concerted actions.
              The projects, which will be jointly worked out by the institutions in the North and the South, must deal
              with problems that are clearly of interest to the developing countries concerned, particularly regional
              problems.
             The projects shall be the subject of shared-cost research and technological development contracts.
             The accompanying measures shall consist of applying the means to ensure proper technical execution,
              management 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,
             as defined in the work programme.
             The concerted actions are those defined in Article 92 of 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 will not benefit from Community funding under the
             framework programme. They shall contribute to the general administrative costs.
         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 of calls for proposals.
            The exceptional procedure shall come into effect after the first call for proposals and must be completed
            before the ordinary procedure in such a way that the amount available 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.
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               When it submits the preliminary draft budget the Commission shall inform the budgetary authority
               whether the appropriations approved in the budget of the previous year have also financed projects
               retained by the exceptional procedure and the amounts allocated. Should these projects cover several
               programmes, it shall state the type of committee which assisted it.
               The amount of the financial participation of the Community for all the projects retained by the excep-
               tional 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 10 % of the annual budgetary
               allocation; 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 to 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. Experts in the developing countries, chosen on the basis of a fair geographical division and, with a view
               to international coordination, representatives of relevant international agencies (WHO, FAO, etc.) may
               be invited to attend Committee meetings when important aspects of the programme are on the agenda.
               Representatives of committees dealing with any of the Community programmes linked directly or indi-
               rectly to this programme and representatives of the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural
               Cooperation shall be invited to take part in the Committee's work as necessary.
            8. The knowledge acquired while developing the projects shall be disseminated on the one hand within the
               specific programme and on the other hand by means of a centralized activity, pursuant to the Decision
               referred to in the third subparagraph of Article 4 in Decision 90/221/Euratom, EEC.
               This dissemination and exploitation of the knowledge acquired shall be assured under the following
               conditions: knowledge and inventions, patentable or otherwise, resulting from research or work under
               contract, the rules governing ownership and the Community's and, where applicable, the contractor's
               obligations shall be defined in the contracts on a case-by-case basis.
               The Commission shall communicate the knowledge and inventions over which it has rights to the
                Member States and to individuals and undertakings who are engaged, on the territory of a Member
                State or a developing country, in research or production that would justify access to this knowledge.
               With the contractor's agreement, it may also communicate the knowledge to the developing countries,
                not only those with whom the Community has concluded association and cooperation agreements and
                non-associated developing countries that benefit from Community financial and technical aid, but also
                all developing countries that urgently need the knowledge and are in a position to use it. It shall lay
                down the conditons for the dissemination of the knowledge to research bodies outside the Community
                or the developing countries, in close cooperation with the beneficiaries of the results of the research,
                including the developing countries.