CELEX: 31988D0420
Language: en
Date: 1988-06-29 00:00:00
Title: 88/420/EEC: Council Decision of 29 June 1988 revising the multiannual research programme for the European Economic Community in the field of biotechnology

No L 206 / 38                                 Official journal of the European Communities                                       30 . 7 . 88
                                                          COUNCIL DECISION
                                                              of 29 June 1988
                       revising the multiannual research programme for the European Economic Community in the
                                                           field of biotechnology
                                                               ( 88 / 420 / EEC )
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES ,                                    biotechnology has proved to be insufficient as yet for
                                                                             setting up , on a scale commensurate with the multiple
                                                                             implications of biotechnology in agriculture, industry and
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European                        the environment , of transnational cooperation networks
Economic Community , and in particular Article 130Q ( 2 )                    addressing the various levels of risk and their evaluation;
thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission (*),                       Whereas any application involving the large-scale planned
                                                                             release of organisms created by genetic engineering must be
In cooperation with the European Parliament ( 2 ),                           preceded by experimental research and conducted in
                                                                             accordance with existing safety rules ;
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social
Committee ( 3 ),
                                                                             Whereas      the   area    of  bioinformatics   involves     the
Whereas the framework programme for Community                                requirement both to ascertain the constitution of integrated
activities in the field of research and technological                        networks for the storage , circulation and treatment of
development ( 1987 to 1991 ) was adopted by Decision                         biological data , and to stimulate further computer-aided
87 / 516 / Euratom / EEC ( 4 );                                              approaches in biotechnological research ;
Whereas Article 130K of the Treaty provides that the
framework programme is to be implemented through
specific programmes developed within each activity;                          Whereas it is necessary to step up training activities and to
whereas the Council , when adopting the framework                            evolve training schemes , including in particular the
programme of Community activities in technological R&D                       organization of short intensive workshops , allowing
( 1987 to 1991 ), recognized the interest of exploitation and                research scientists in all the Member States to benefit from
valorization of biological resources , and particularly                      all the research facilities and scientific expertise in the
biotechnology;                                                               Community , thus helping to reduce the disparities in
                                                                             development in the field of biotechnology between the
                                                                             various Member States , while being consistent with the
Whereas           Decision     85 / 195 / EEC ( 5 ) introduced      a
                                                                             pursuit of scientific and technical quality ;
multiannual research action programme for the European
Economic Community in the field of biotechnology ;
whereas Article 3 of that Decision makes provision for the
programme to be reviewed as from its second year of                          Whereas it is essential to increase the involvement of
implementation ;                                                              Community industry in the activities and results originating
                                                                              from the research work under contract ;
Whereas the review which has been undertaken and the
 results of which were transmitted to the Council on
 21 May 1986 has led the Commission to present a proposal
 for the revision of the programme motivated by the need to                   Whereas it is necessary to step up the concertation activities
ensure its adequacy for the objective assigned to it;                         carried out , alongside the Community research and
                                                                              training effort , to improve national and Community
                                                                              activity in the field of biotechnology , strengthen dialogue
Whereas the implementation of the research and training                       with appropriate groups and make as much information
 programme for the Community in the field of                                  available to the public as possible;
 0 ) OJ No C 15 , 20 . 1 . 1988 , p. 13 .                                     Whereas the recent emergence of certain critical areas of
 ( 2 ) OJ No C 94 , 11 . 4. 1988 , p. 85 and OJ No C 187 ,
       18 . 7 . 1988 .
                                                                              biological sciences ( e.g. genome mapping and sequencing,
 ( 3 ) OJ No C 80 , 28 . 3 . 1988 , p. 7 .                                    and the exploitation thereof) means that the Community
 (<) OJ No L 302 , 24 . 10 . 1987 , p. 1 .                                    effort in biotechnology is relatively weak unless
 ( 5 ) OJ No L 83 , 25 . 3 . 1985 , p. 1 .                                    exploratory activity can be rapidly initiated in this field
 ---pagebreak---   30 . 7 . 88                             Official Journal of the European Communities                            No L 206 / 39
  before a new programme in biotechnology R&D 1990 to                                         Article 2
  1994 is prepared ;
                                                                     The funds estimated as necessary for the execution of the
 Whereas it is necessary to enable participation by Spain and        programme will be increased from 55 million ECU to
 Portugal in as many as possible of the activities envisaged         75 million ECU . This increase of 20 million ECU will be
 by the programme ;
                                                                     used to intensify and expand the activities in
 Whereas the Scientific and Technical Research Committee             biotechnological research as indicated in the Annex and
 ( Crest) has expressed its opinion ,                                includes expenditure on an additional staff of five .
HAS DECIDED AS FOLLOWS :
                           Article 1                                Done at Luxembourg, 29 June 1988 .
The research action programme for the European                                                          For the Council
Economic Community in the field of biotechnology ( 1985
to 1989) is hereby revised on the basis of the specifications                                            The President
in the Annex .
                                                                                                       H. RIESENHUBER
 ---pagebreak--- No L 206 / 40                            Official Journal of the European Communities                                       30 . 7 . 88
                                                                  ANNEX
            Revision of the multiannual research action programme for the European Economic Community in the field of
                                                       biotechnology ( 1985 to 1989)
            — Extension to Spain and Portugal of the activities envisaged by the programme.
            — Intensification of the current research effort in the sector of the programme that concerns the assessment of
               risks associated with modern biotechnology, and particularly with the deliberate release of genetically
               engineered organisms.
            — Intensification of the current research effort in the area of information technology with emphasis upon
               processing data related to culture collections, genome sequences and protein modelling.
             — Increase in the volume of current activities (visits , publications, electronic networks, meetings, summer
               workshops, etc.) aiming at a timely dissemination of information on the programme and of research results
               to all appropriate groups; involvement of Community industry in the research activities and in the
               utilization of the data, materials and methods stemming from the research work under contract.
             — Studies and feasibility pilot projects for the preparation of future Community R&D activities in
               biotechnology during the period 1990 to 1994 .
             — Increase in training activities in all parts of the current programme.
             — Matching of resources (manpower) for the concertation activity to the requirements defined in the
               programme .