CELEX: 31975D0200
Language: en
Date: 1975-03-18 00:00:00
Title: Council Decision of 18 March 1975 adopting an initial three-year Community plan of action in the field of scientific and technical information and documentation

No L 100/18                          Official Journal of the European Communities                                   21 . 4. 75
                                                   COUNCIL DECISION
                                                     of 18 March 1975
               adopting an initial three-year Community plan of action in the field of scientific and
                                         technical information and documentation
                                                        (75/200/EEC)
 THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,                         Whereas the Treaty has not provided for the
                                                                  necessary powers ;
 Having regard to the Treaty establishing the
 European Economic Community, and in particular                   Whereas, on 14 January 1974, the Council adopted a
 Article 235 thereof;                                             resolution (*)     concerning an initial            outline
                                                                 programme of the European Communities in the
 Having     regard    to   the     proposal     from    the       field of science and technology,
 Commission ;
                                                                  HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :
 Having regard to the Opinion of the European
 Parliament (1);                                                                            Article 1
 Having regard to the Opinion of the Economic and                An initial Community plan of action in the field of
 Social Committee (2);                                           scientific      and     technical       information      and
                                                                  documentation as contained in the Annex is hereby
 Noting the report by the Scientific and Technical                adopted to take effect for three years ,as from 1
 Information      and     Documentation         Committee
                                                                 January 1975 .
 (STIDC) and the Opinion of the Scientific and
                                                                                          Article 2
 Technical Research Committee ( CREST);
 Whereas on 24 June 1971 the resolution of the                   The Commission shall implement the plan of action,
 Council and of the representatives of the Member                assisted by the Scientific and Technical Information
 States (3) meeting in the Council was adopted with a             and Documentation Committee (STIDC), and shall
view to coordinating the action of the Member                    keep the Committee - and the Scientific and Technical
States regarding scientific and technical information            Research Committee (CREST) regularly informed of
 and documentation (STID );                                      progress. The Commission shall also submit each
                                                                 year to the Council and the European Parliament a
Whereas the Heads of State or of Government,                     full report on the subject which will be taken up in
meeting in Paris on 19 and 20 October 1972,                      the general report.
expressed their determination to define the objectives                                     Article 3
and to ensure the development of a common policy
in the field of science and technology ;                         The expenditure necessary for the implementation of
                                                                 the plan of action in 1975 shall be indicated in the
Whereas, under Article 2 of the Treaty, the                      Annex.
Community shall have as one of its tasks to promote                                        Article 4
 throughout the          Community        a harmonious
development of economic activities and continuous                The Commission shall decide on the particulars of
and balanced expansion ;                                         the activities to be carried out under the plan of
                                                                 action in 1976 and 1977 after consultation with
Whereas the proliferation of information systems                 STIDC and CREST.
and their rapid but disparate progress through
competition between multiple public and private                  On this basis, the Commission shall determine the
ventures make the establishment of the European                  estimates of expenditure for 1976 and 1977 under
information and documentation network envisaged                  budgetary procedure.
in the resolution of 24 June 1971 a matter of
urgency ;                                                        Done at Brussels, 18 March 1975 .
Whereas the establishment of this network is likely
to make an effective contribution to the achievement                                           For the Council
of the abovementioned objectives of the Treaty;                                                  The President
                                                                                                     R. RYAN
(*) OJ No C 32, 11 . 2. 1975, p. 7.
(2) OJ No C 47, 27. 2. 1975, p. 38 .
(3) OJ No C 122, 10. 12. 1971 , p. 7.                            (4) OJ No C 7, 29 . 1 . 1974, p. 6.
 ---pagebreak--- 21 . 4. 75                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 100/ 19
                                                           ANNEX
                      INITIAL THREE-YEAR COMMUNITY PLAN OF ACTION IN THE FIELD OF
                           SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION
The expenditure necessary for the implementation of the          hardware and telecommunication lines gradually installed
plan of action is estimated at 1 840 000 units of account        and the phased adaption of specialized Member State
for 1975. To ensure the progress of the plan of action,          information systems to the network be undertaken.
the amounts for 1976 and 1977 are estimated at 2-3
million and 2-5 million units of account respectively on         The sum allocated for this purpose in 1975 is 660 000
the basis of 1974 prices. The exact amounts for 1976 and         units of account
1977 will be laid down in the budget of the European
Communities .
                                                                        3 . Information technology and methodology
The objectives          of   the  plan  of  action  comprise
particularly :
                                                                 This covers :
                1 . Sectoral information systems
                                                                 — support activities aimed at establishing effective
The rapid development of sectoral information systems                multilingual systems and standard formats for
and their integration into the planned European                      information exchanges ;
information and documentation network involves :
                                                                 — the training of specialists in information technology
— establishing Community systems which are to be                     and the education of users ;
     made compatible with the network, for example in
     the agricultural and environmental sectors;                 — and the improvement of systems methodology, data
                                                                     banks and information and analysis centres.
— examining the need for the creation of new systems in
     selected sectors ;                                          The sum allocated for this purpose in 1975 is 630 000
                                                                 units of accounts.
— and fostering rationalization and development of
    various worthwhile private ventures, particularly in         Measures to achieve the above objectives will in the main
     the industrial sphere.                                      assume the form of contracts with specialist bodies in the
                                                                 Member States and may in appropriate circumstances be
The sum allocated for this purpose in 1975 is 550 000            extended     to    bodies   in non-member     countries  in
units of account.                                                accordance with the Council resolutions of 24 June 1971
                                                                 and 14 January 1974.
        2 . Establishment of the information network             Moreover, the financing in 1976 and 1977 of the
                                                                 conversion      of    national   scientific and   technical
Feasibility and pilot studies will constitute the essential      information and documentation systems to the European
starting point. Specifications for hardware and software         network standards and, in particular, the allocation of the
will then be drawn up and standards defined for the              burden of expenditure between the Member States and
management of the network and its interaction with               the Community should be examined in detail and agreed
users. Only then will the first software be developed ,          upon at the appropriate time.