94/78/EC, Euratom: Council Decision of 24 January 1994 establishing a multiannual programme for the development of Community statistics on research, development and innovation

COUNCIL DECISION of 24 January 1994 establishing a multiannual programme for the development of Community statistics on research, development and innovation (94/78/CE, Euratom)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION
,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 213 thereof,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community, and in particular Article 187 thereof,
Having regard to the proposal from the Commission(1) ,
Having regard to the opinion of the European Parliament(2) ,
Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee(3) ,
Whereas statistics on research, development and innovation need to be reinforced in order to compare and analyse national policies;
Whereas the Council resolution of 19 June 1989 on the implementation of a plan of priority actions in the field of statistical information: statistical programme of the European Communities (1989 to 1992)(4)  highlighted the need for a comprehensive and  coherent framework that will satisfy Community statistical information requirements by ensuring the approximation of methods and a common basis for concepts, definitions and standards;
Whereas Decision 93/464/EEC(5)  establishes a framework programme for priority actions in the field of statistical information 1993 to 1997;
Whereas the conception of policies aimed at encouraging progress requires accurate and factual knowledge of trends in science and technology endeavours;
Whereas statistical indicators are devised in order to support the management of science and technology policies in the Member States and the Community as a whole;
Whereas these statistical indicators are complementary and essential to other priority areas and programmes of the Community, e.g. the Sprint programme(6)  concerning innovation and technology transfer and the regional Stride programme(7) ;
Whereas the specific programmes needed for the implementation of the framework programmes for Community research and technological development, and the framework programmes themselves, need the report of a statistical information system on research and  technological development;
Whereas the amount of existing statistical information varies in each Member State and the data that exist are not always comparable;
Whereas the implementation of a statistical information system for research, development and innovation necessitates a sequence of interrelated actions starting from the assessment of the needs up to the dissemination of information, and whereas this  action should be organized in a coherent framework;
Whereas, in order to ensure their usefulness and comparability, the details of data to be provided by the Member States to the Commission should be established by the Commission taking into account work carried out by OECD, Unesco and other  international organizations;
Whereas the data collection procedure for industry and administrations should be simplified as much as possible, while still maintaining at the same the quality of the data, which is made possible by the development of appropriate basic statistical  tools;
Whereas it is essential that developments in official research, development and innovation statistics are coordinated to meet essential international, Community, national and regional needs at minimum public and private cost; whereas this coordination  can most conveniently and effectively be done within the established procedures;
Whereas the Scientific and Technological Research Committee (Crest) has given its opinion,