IMPORTANT LEGAL NOTICE - The information on this site is subject to a disclaimer and a copyright notice.

N°16 - August '97

• A success for European research
• Research without Frontiers
• RTD : the necessary path to enlargement
• Creating a new European strategy for cooperation with developing countries
• Information in brief

In Focus: the INCO programme

A success for European research

Among the results of the Amsterdam European Summit, there is one that will be of special interest to all those concerned with European research, and to readers of RTD Info in particular. During the summit, Member States’ representatives decided that, in its co-decision procedure with the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers would in future adopt the RTD Framework Programme by a qualified majority vote instead of a unanimous vote as in the past.

In recent months, I have missed no opportunity to emphasise how essential and urgent such a decision is in ensuring the vitality and coherence of European research. Leaving the technical aspects aside, the move will enable the Union to implement a Framework Programme that goes beyond a mere aggregate of national and sectoral priorities, and to take full advantage of this unique instrument’s strategic potential. Even though the new Treaty must still be ratified by the Member States,

I am convinced that this decision will give a new impetus to the on-going negotiations on the Fifth Framework Programme. What was accomplished in Amsterdam - I am delighted to say - is a decisive step forward for European research.

Edith Cresson
Commissioner for research, innovation, education, training and youth

In Focus: the INCO programme

Research without Frontiers

Scientific research and technology are becoming increasingly internationalised... and for many reasons. The information society and a general move towards globalisation mean that researchers may now exchange information and expertise as never before. New centres for research are emerging in various parts of the globe. Issues critical to man’s future - health, food, the environment - are assuming a world-wide dimension. The great challenges of tomorrow - in terms of space, sustainable energy policies and biotechnological mastery - involve prohibitive research costs that require international action.

Frontiers. The notion becomes blurred as soon as we talk about Europe. When we discuss science and technological progress, it’s a stark incongruity. That is why Community research policy - as embodied in the Treaty itself - is fundamentally open to exchange with the rest of the world.

Such scientific and technological cooperation, with a vast array of partners, is vital. It enables the European Union to take an active part in targeting fields of future research while providing access to information on the research capacities, activities and priorities of other countries. It facilitates, in the spirit of mutual interest, the use of laboratories and facilities outside Europe. It also creates networks of scientific relationships with researchers from every cultural horizon, placing EU scientists at the heart of progress in the widest possible range of disciplines.

The resulting accumulation of knowledge and know-how helps reinforce the EU’s scientific and technological base, and keeps it competitive, boosting Europe’s chances for access to future markets and stimulating employment.

Affirming the international role of European research

In this context, the Fourth Framework Programme has given international cooperation in RTD its full meaning in two ways:

• by the innovative launch in 1994 of a specific programme on Cooperation with third countries and international organisations. This programme, christened "INCO", backs numerous research projects, bringing European and foreign partners together in a variety of fields;

• by making it possible for scientific and technical partners from all European countries, and, in some cases, non-European countries, to participate on a project by project basis (that is, without community funding) in various specific Framework Programme initiatives (transport, information technology, biotechnology, environment and climate, etc.).

INCO’s strategy, aimed at giving extra added value to European research, is based on the principle of mutual interest. The programme was therefore carefully designed to target specific forms of cooperation tailored to suit the four main types of partners with whom RTD exchanges are most important.

Intra-European synergies

In parallel to the research sponsored by the Framework Programme, the European Union is taking part in other European fora for scientific and technological cooperation involving the active participation of not only EU Member States, but also countries outside the EU (1).

• Covering as it does a wide spectrum of scientific and technological sectors, COST (European cooperation in the field of scientific and technological research) is an inter-state structure that has sought, since 1971, to develop dialogue among those conducting research activities at national level in 28 European countries. The European Union actively backs the development of COST, for which the secretariat is provided by the Council of Ministers and the European Commission.

• Launched in 1985 to boost the competitiveness of European enterprise, Eureka brings together 24 countries and the European Commission. It aims to promote the creation of partnerships between applied research teams, in the industrial and/or academic sector, who wish to cooperate in the field of advanced technologies.

• The European Union is also working in close cooperation with certain large international research organisations in specific research areas, such as the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN, in Geneva), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL, in Heidelberg), the European Space Agency (ESA), etc.

Cooperation with non-European industrialised countries

The process of globalisation involves not only the realm of knowledge and know-how, but also that of trade and financial flows. If the scientific and technological spheres - so vital to Europe’s competitiveness - are not fully involved in this vast international revolution, they may not survive for long. Although required for many reasons, the bolstering of international scientific and technological cooperation is essential if we are to react to current threats to the environment - and define new industrial approaches in response. Furthermore, the growing need to share human, technical and financial resources required by innovation linked to ever more sophisticated knowledge and technology, makes it even more vital for us to step up cross-border cooperation.

The European Union cooperates actively with industrialised countries on the basis of reciprocal access to respective research efforts. This strategy has led to the implementation of various specific cooperation agreements with other countries, such as Canada, Australia and Israel. Besides ad-hoc joint actions with the United States (for example, the creation of a joint Task Force in the field of biotechnology), talks are underway concerning a general scientific and technological agreement with the US. A similar accord is taking shape with Russia. Another type of cooperation has been developed with Japan and Korea in the form of grants allowing young Europeans to work in university or industrial laboratories in these countries.

The role of scientific and technological cooperation between Europeans is also of prime importance for multilateral relations, and participation in international initiatives demanding coordination between EU Member States. This is the case notably in certain megascience projects such as ITER (thermonuclear fusion) or in ambitious programmes such as Human Science Frontier (study of cerebral and biological functions), IMS (intelligent manufacturing systems), etc. The EU is also coordinating its participation within various techno-scientific exchanges initiated by major world organisations such as WHO (health), OECD (scientific policy), IAEA (atomic energy), etc.

Two areas with a financial advantage: the East and the South

Arguably the two most politically sensitive areas, INCO-COPERNICUS and INCO -DC involve countries in Central and Eastern Europe and developing countries respectively. These two aspects of the INCO programme each receive a five-year budget of ECU 247 million, together totalling some 86% of the overall funds earmarked for international cooperation under the Fourth Framework Programme.

Technological and scientific cooperation with the countries of Central Europe (CEC) and the New Independent States (NIS) of the former Soviet Union - INCO-COPERNICUS

Since the collapse of the Berlin Wall, European Union relations with the CEC - that "half of Europe" seeking accession - have become of paramount importance. While the accession of ten of these countries is accepted in principle, actual membership depends on their ability to adapt their economic and industrial structures. This objective has now prompted a special effort to redeploy their scientific and technological potential, a key factor in this transformation.

Besides the CEC, this effort also involves the whole of the formerly communist part of Europe. The success of the difficult transition undertaken by the NIS is similarly dependent on their capacity for scientific and technological development. Consequently, the strengthening of cooperation and exchange with these countries is an important aspect of the European Union’s external RTD policy (see pages 8 and 9).

Cooperation with developing countries (DC) - INCO-DC.

Among the industrialised countries, Europe - whether in terms of the European Union as a whole or in terms of individual Member States - is one of the key players in development policies implemented throughout the world. The socio-economic problems shared by many countries - especially the poorest - pose more than ever a world-wide challenge, to which scientific and technological responses can and must be found. Since 1982, the European Union has initiated cooperation with the DC based on research partnerships focused mainly on health problems and the use of renewable natural resources, with particular emphasis on agricultural and agro-foods activities (see pages 10-11).

A place for "emerging economies"

In recent years, change has taken many forms in the bloc of countries traditionally referred to as the "Third World" (2). In Asia and Latin America, the rapid expansion of a certain number of so-called emerging economies - often perceived as fierce rivals trading on their low labour costs - is founded on spectacular advances in certain technological sectors. These countries, some of them, such as China, India, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, with a huge potential for economic development, make up a new group with which Europe wishes to develop specific scientific and technological links.

In a communication addressed to the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament in July 1996, the Commission emphasised that the technological take-off of these countries would go hand in hand with a strong demand for equipment and goods, with much to be gained. Far from being excluded from these developing markets, Europe occupies solid ground. It has every chance of consolidating its position, provided it remains alert to specific opportunities for cooperation emerging there.

To meet this objective, the Commission has defined a plan of action based, in particular, on a policy of selective agreements with these countries.

The Euro-Mediterranean partnership

The full flowering of scientific and technological exchange is an important part of the close historical and political ties that link Europe with its neighbours on the perimeters of the Mediterranean. The desire to reinforce this S&T cooperation was explicitly confirmed at the Barcelona Conference in November 1995, where the fifteen Member States and eleven Mediterranean countries met with a view to a global "Euro-Mediterranean" partnership.

At present, cooperation with Cyprus, Malta, Turkey and Israel (a country with which the EU has recently signed a specific RTD association agreement) affords these countries direct participation in specific Fourth Framework programmes. All partner countries on the southern Mediterranean coast can, for their part, benefit from support for joint research projects through the INCO-DC programme.

To strengthen the Euro-Mediterranean scientific and technological area, a joint approach is being developed on important common regional problems linked to the study and prevention of marine pollution, the management of coastal areas, the fight against desertification, rural and urban development, etc.

Towards the Fifth Framework Programme

The benefits gained by European science and technology from targeted cooperation with a wide range of partners around the world have been amply confirmed by various external audits conducted recently. The INCO programme plays an essential role in bringing extra added value to European research, while boosting its influence and reputation in the eyes of the world’s scientific community.

Thus the Commission’s proposal for the Fifth Framework Programme includes a special action for the promotion of "international cooperation". It will be one of the three horizontal programmes. In some respects, future international cooperation will be more decentralised within each specific RTD programme than it is today, with various arrangements available according to the group of countries involved, ranging from full association to simple project participation.

At the same time, the INCO programme will provide new specific functions, such as the management of key cooperation activities with certain countries (for example, the promotion of "centres of excellence" in the CEC) or researcher training (particularly, grants for researchers from developing countries). Above all, INCO will carry out important coordination activities: with other Framework Programme initiatives, other European fora, Member States, and so on.

Poised on the threshold of the new millennium, the EU - just like the changing world around it, with which it is constantly in touch - must develop its international RTD cooperation activities if these are to become still more effective and efficient.

(1) Special "associated" cooperation status enables the three countries included in the European Economic Area agreement - Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein - to take part in all programmes under the Fourth Framework Programme. A special association agreement is also being drawn up with Switzerland.

(2) It is worth noting in this respect that the EU and South Africa signed a scientific cooperation agreement last December.

In Focus : the INCO programme

RTD : the necessary path to enlargement

On 15 May 1997, the Research Council agenda was devoted to the preparation of the Fifth Framework Programme. In line with the principle of the "structured dialogue", a special session was held the day before with all the associated Central European Countries (CEC) which are candidates for accession to the EU. RDT info interviewed Minister Aleksander Luczak, Chairman of the State Committee for Scientific Research, Republic of Poland.

Eight years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, how would you characterise the scientific and technological potential of the Central European Countries?

Prof. Aleksander Luczak : Science and technology systems under the communist regimes were bureaucratic, centralised and inefficient. Their level of scientific output was certainly far below that of Western countries. Nevertheless, speaking for my own country, Poland succeeded in maintaining a valuable potential for two main reasons.

First, Poland’s science was less isolated from the West than many other communist countries, particularly in the 1970s and 1980s. Scientists managed to preserve a certain freedom in their activities and research attracted many creative young people. It was relatively easy to travel abroad. Many of them undertook training in leading scientific centres throughout the world and, after coming back to their own country, were able to maintain a high international level despite obsolete equipment and inadequate funding. In 1981-1985, Poland stood in fifteenth place in the world for the number of its scientific publications.

Second, the separation between scientific research and education / teaching was not so great as in other countries. Although the Polish Academy of Sciences was the state body responsible for research, it never attained monopoly status. More than 70 per cent of people with scientific degrees were employed in higher education, where the participation in both basic and applied research was significant.

How has the situation evolved today ?

After 1989, throughout the CEC, science posed a double dilemma. On the one hand, it was necessary to limit the extent of state intervention. On the other, the authorities had to play a necessary role in rebuilding it. We had also to reduce over-employment in the science sector and to rationalise the use of diminishing financial resources. In 1991, Poland created a new State Committee for Scientific Research (KBN). The main feature of this structure is that it is no longer only a government body. Twelve of its nineteen members are elected in general elections within scientific communities. KBN’s institutional form combines governmental interests with those of science. The new R&D policy is built on several principles such as competition in the new financing system, the need for evaluation of institutional and individual scientific performance, and the openness and transparency of the decision-making process and its results.

What are the current priorities?

First of all, in the CEC, we need to overcome the technology gap in the economy, in order to become competitive and to initiate, promote and support innovation-oriented policy. The current priority areas are high technology industry, health and environmental protection, agriculture and food processing. We need also to develop infrastructure, above all computer networks, and to accelerate the development of human resources for education, economy and science itself.

Poland was involved from the very beginning in the R&D cooperation projects initiated by the EU. How do you assess the results of that participation?

Just to give you some recent figures, some 121 Polish scientific institutions or enterprises were selected for funding in 1996, of which 30% were involved in projects related to information and communication technologies and a further 20% in industrial and material technologies. During 1995-1996, there were also 56 Polish participants on a "project-by project" basis in the other EU-RTD specific programmes, mainly in the biomedical and environment areas. We are quite happy about this Polish involvement, except that the success rate of proposals is relatively low - the figures given above result from more than 800 submissions. The processing times and procedures for project selection are also long and complicated.

What are the main expectations of the CEC for the future of their R&D cooperation with the EU?

I believe that complete participation in the EU’s Fifth Framework Programme is essential to the success of the CEC’s integration into the EU. It could, however, be very difficult for Poland to pay the full price of this participation, which is based on the country’s GDP. According to rough calculations, for Poland it will represent ECU 200 million, i.e. 8 to 10% of the national RTD budget in 1999-2002. Keeping in mind that many entities conduct research at an international level in fields which are not encompassed by the Framework Programme, this would adversely affect the functioning of our RTD. We would therefore like to negotiate an association agreement which would allow us a more progressive financial participation for the first few years.

In my opinion, in order to meet some particular needs of individual countries, the Fifth Framework Programme should also continue to have a specific programme like Copernicus. I also expect the countries associated with the Fifth Framework Programme to be represented in different decision-making bodies, in particular in the management committees of the specific programmes.

In Focus : the INCO programme

Creating a new European strategy for cooperation with developing countries

Scientific and technological cooperation with developing countries was long seen as a "transfer of science". Today, a new approach, focusing on "aid to science" and based on research partnerships for sustainable development, is taking its place. The direction taken by the Commission in its new European strategy for RTD cooperation with developing countries (DC) is based on this model.

In a world where "knowledge and information societies" are increasingly taking the lead, the continued backwardness of research in most DC - especially the poorest - must be viewed as a worrying handicap. Particularly when we know that RTD will be an ever more decisive factor in their economic, social and cultural development.

That is why a global policy is needed to draw in players in the countries concerned. Moreover, investment in research - through development aid programmes as well as local political and economic authorities - has thus far proved grossly inadequate for want of a long-term view. These are the findings providing the basis for the Commission’s communication to the Council of Ministers and the European Parliament last April, proposing a new science and technology cooperation strategy with the DC.

Boosting scientific and technological capacity

These guidelines hinge on the need to emphasise a strengthening of scientific and technological capacity in every aspect of EU - DC cooperation. "We must re-affirm our goal of achieving a significant increase in Community aid to this sector between now and the year 2000," the Commission document stresses. This means more consistency between the various strands of development policy, and, in parallel, the opening of a constructive dialogue with the DC to translate increased funding into actions. In addition to the necessary collaboration of the public authorities in these countries, we must ensure the involvement of the civilian and private sectors in project implementation.

DC research cooperation priorities in the Fifth Framework Programme must be sufficiently diversified and flexible to take account of the specific needs of each country or region. Along with those sectors already targeted - natural resource management, agriculture and agro-industries, health, and information and communications technologies - new research partnerships could be launched on such themes as socio-economic research, energy, and other technological areas of mutual interest. Support for university research structures and training must also play an important part in this scientific cooperation policy.

Promoting a North-South partnership for sustainable development

In addition to the Commission communication cited above, the Dutch government - holding the presidency of the European Union for the first six months of this year - and the European Commission sought to develop widespread thinking on the meaning of the EU-DC research partnership for sustainable development, by staging a major conference on the subject in March 1997, in Leiden (the Netherlands). Those taking part in this debate stressed the dual connotation of the sustainable development concept. Firstly, development must be part of an overall approach to the major challenges facing the world - the fight against poverty, adequate food supply, the promotion of health, and the protection of the environment. Secondly, if the responses to these problems are to be genuinely sustainable, the DC involved must be the prime players and assert their ability to take their destiny and future in hand.

In this respect, the notion of a research partnership for development must break with the often unbalanced traditional approach; offers of scientific and technological expertise from the North undoubtedly still rely too little on a structured description by the South of its requirements and on adequate training for its researchers.

The Leiden Forum therefore recommended more effective use of social science research partnerships, necessary for identifying the basic mechanisms of change in the DC. Priority must also be given to reinforcing the structures for higher education and research structures.

The importance of the INCO-DC programme - to be strengthened in the Fifth Framework Programme - was greatly stressed by those present. It was found, moreover, that the effectiveness of EU partnerships with the DC could only grow if closer synergies were established between the INCO-DC policy and other important Community instruments responsible for financing development cooperation policy - such as the EDF (European Development Fund), which finances EU-ACP initiatives under the Lomé Convention.

Meeting the agronomic challenge

1995 saw the launch of the European initiative on agricultural research for development (EIARD). The 15 Member States - along with Norway and Switzerland - and the European Commission combined efforts to combat starvation, which affects almost one billion of the world’s population. The challenge of boosting available food stocks - given the estimated 8 billion mouths that will have to be fed in 2025, compared with the current 5.8 billion - calls for a mobilisation of agronomic research resources. EIARD concentrates today on coordinating the efforts of Europe’s leading-edge agronomic research units in order to maximise the impact of investment in this field.

Europe has thus been a presence in the growing public awareness of this emergency, denounced last November in Rome at the World Food Summit organised by the FAO, when more than 200 countries signed a Declaration on World Food Security, designed to coordinate a global effort to eradicate the problem of hunger.

In Focus : the INCO programme

Information in brief

I. EU cooperation with the countries of Central Europe (CEC) and the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union (NIS)

Partner countries

• 10 associated CEC (who have requested and obtained the possibility of accession to the European Union): Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, the Slovak Republic, Slovenia and;

• 3 non-associated CEC: Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, former Yugoslav republic of Macedonia

• 7 European NIS: Armenia, Azerbaidjan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldavia, Russia, Ukraine;

• 5 extra-European NIS: Kazakhstan, Kirghizia, Uzbekistan, Tadzhikistan, Turkmenistan.

Forms of cooperation

1. INCO-COPERNICUS

Taking over from the PECO-COPERNICUS initiative (1992- 1994), INCO-COPERNICUS is the strand set up for the benefit of the CEC/NIS within the Fourth Framework Programme’s specific International Cooperation programme. With a budget of ECU 130 million, this strand covers EU/CEC-NIS partnership funding for joint research projects or concerted actions in the following areas: environmental protection, health, non-nuclear energy (including demonstration projects), information and communications technologies, industrial and materials technologies, food technology, and social sciences.

A call for proposals was launched on 15 April, 1997, with the closing date of 26 September, 1997.

2. Participation in specific RTD programmes

The Fourth Framework Programme provides for the inclusion of participants from the CEC and European NIS in partnership projects submitted in answer to calls for proposals launched by all specific research programmes. For the non-European NIS, this is subject to certain restrictions. However, "project by project" participation can, if necessary, be backed financially by the INCO programme budget.

3. COST (European cooperation in the field of scientific and technical research).

Seven CEC (Estonia, Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia), together with Croatia, are COST members. As such, they can participate in all RTD coordinated and concerted actions launched in a great number of areas.

4. Eureka

Five CEC (Hungary, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Slovenia) and Russia are members of Eureka. As such, they can take part in projects under this label and so receive the appropriate support.

5. INTAS (International association for the promotion of cooperation with scientists from the NIS)

Launched in 1983 in answer to the financial difficulties faced by many NIS scientists and in order to allow them to pursue their work, this initiative is jointly financed by the EU and its Member States, Norway, Switzerland, and Israel. By mid-1996, some 1,000 research projects conducted in synergy by EU and NIS researchers - covering natural and exact sciences as well as social sciences - had received INTAS support amounting to ECU 46 million.

6. ISTC (International science and technology centre)

This body, the result of an agreement signed in 1994 between the EU, the US, Japan, and the Russian Federation, is endeavouring to help military researchers from the former Soviet Union switch to civil activities. The Tacis programme supplies Community financing and DG XII provides assessment and follow-up of joint projects in such fields as energy, environment, aeronautics, space research, biotechnology, etc. More than 400 projects, involving nearly 20,000 NIS scientists and engineers, have received support over the last three years.

7. Chernobyl programme

An agreement, with a budget of ECU 35 million, was concluded in 1992 between the EU and 3 European NIS (Ukraine, Belarus and Russia). Research backed by the Chernobyl programme is directed at the study of contaminated sites and decontamination strategies, an understanding of the mechanisms that transfer radioactive contamination to man and the environment, the effects on health and possible treatments, as well as decision-making aids for on-site use in the event of an emergency.

II. INCO-DC programme

Priority objectives

• Enable DC to participate in the development of innovative expertise and technologies suited to their development problems

• Help boost the high-quality RTD capacity and human resources necessary for sustainable development in DC

• Maintain in Europe a high level of expertise in scientific fields that contribute to development.

Areas

Open to partners from developing countries, EU-DC research projects financed by INCO-DC are focused in three priority areas with specific RTD aspects being handled through dialogue between the DC concerned and the European Commission:

• improvement of public health;

• improvement of agricultural and agro-industrial production;

• sustainable management of renewable natural resources (forests, oceans, water, energy, etc.).

As a result of this dialogue, some projects may touch on still other fields (especially information and communications technologies, and industrial or materials technologies).

Project selection also considers research themes from a regional perspective.

Itemised report

Between 1982 and 1994, ECU 252 million were allocated to Community RTD programmes in DC. Some 1,050 research projects involving EU-DC partnerships were launched during this period.

A similar sum (ECU 247 million) was allocated under the Fourth Framework Programme. The first two calls for proposals, launched in 1995, were allocated about ECU 65 million of the budget and selected 144 projects, 34 dealing with natural resources, 35 with agriculture, 57 with health, and 18 with information and communications technologies. These ventures involved more than 850 EU and DC participants. A third call, launched on 15 April, will close on 11 September, 1997.