19. 12. 83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 341/25
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision adopting the second stage (January 1984
to March 1986) of the multiannual research and training programme for the European
Economic Community in the field of biomolecular engineering
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the Euro-
pean Communities No C 180 of 7 July 1983, page 10.
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION
On 29 June 1983 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Economic
and Social Committee in accordance with Article 198 of the Tratey establishing the
European Economic Community.
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its
210th plenary session held in Brussels on 28 and 29 September 1983.
The full text of the opinion is as follows :
THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE,
Having regard to the Treaty establishing the Euro-
pean Economic Community, and in particular
Article 198 thereof,
Having regard to the request by the Council of the
European Communities on 29 June 1983 for an opi-
nion on the proposal for a Council Decision adopt-
ing the second stage (January 1984 to March 1986)
of the multiannual research and training programme
for the European Economic Community in the field
of biomolecular engineering ('),
Having regard to its decision of 28 September 1983
to appoint Mr Low as rapporteur-general,
Having regard to the oral report made by Mr Low,
Having regard to the discussions on 28 September
1983 during the 210th plenary session held on 28
and 29 September 1983,
HAS ADOPTED THE FOLLOWING OPINION
by a unanimous vote:
1. The Economic and Social Committee welcomes
this proposal for a multiannual research programme
(') OJ No C 180, 7. 7. 1983, p. 10.
in the field of biomolecular engineering (January
1984 to March 1986) which forms the second stage
of a programme adopted by the Council of Minis-
ters in December 1981 and running since April 1982.
The programme encompasses both research and
training. The Committee endorses the aim of the
research programme, which is to involve European
science and industry in a joint effort to eliminate
specific bottlenecks to biotechnological develop-
ments as one means of bridging the advanced tech-
nology gap with countries such as the US and
Japan. The Committee sees the training aspect as
essential to allow scientists to acquire the necessary
skills for multi-disciplinary research and to facilitate
the transfer of information between public and pri-
vate enterprises.
The Committee can therefore give its approval to
the proposal subject to a number of general and
specific comments.
2. General comments
2.1. The programme is limited to the agriculture
and agrofood sectors, except for the training activi-
ties which can be directed to the whole field of
biomolecular engineering. The budget amounts to
only 7 million ECU. The first stage of the pro-
gramme has convincingly proved the need for such
No C 341/26 Official Journal of the European Communities 19. 12.83
programme. However, the relatively short period of
time that has elapsed since the first stage of the pro-
gramme was launched, and the size of the research
effort ('critical mass'), have not, according to the
Commission, been sufficient within any single sec-
tor to achieve the desired results. Given the limited
means available, the Committee therefore endorses
the approach adopted by the Commission which is
to intensify work on projects which have already
been launced rather than to expand into new sectors
of biomolecular engineering.
2.2. Biomolecular engineering is one of the areas
to which the Community should be giving high
priority in its research strategy. The Committee con-
siders that overall research spending should be
increased and regrets the failure to allot larger sums
to this area. In view of the Community's budgetary
difficulties, however, the question should be asked
whether more resources should not be devoted to
biomolecular engineering by transferring resources
away from other research programmes. The Council
Decision of December 1981 foresaw six areas of
research some of which are being neglected, largely
through a lack of funds. If further funds were to be
made available for biomolecular engineering, other
areas, e.g. the human medecine sector, should be
include in the programme as soon as possible.
2.3. The Commission's proposal is based on priori-
ties established following the December 1981 Coun-
cil Decision. The Committee nevertheless recom-
mends that a list of priorities should be drawn up
for future programmes.
At present no evaluation of the results of the pro-
gramme by independant experts has been envis-
aged. The Committee considers that such an evalua-
tion is necessary.
2.4. The first stage of the programme did not con-
tain any provision for flexibility (a contingency
fund) and neither does the current proposal. All
research proposals carried out in industry contain a
margin of flexibility — such flexibility being neces-
sary in order to exploit new discoveries which are
made and which had not been foreseen. The Com-
mittee considers that at least 5 % of the overall
budget should be set aside to allow for this even-
tuality.
2.5. The Committee welcomes the provisions for
training in the proposed programme and could even
recommend that the resources devoted to training be
increased. It particularly stresses the function that
training can fulfil as a means of improving the
exchange of information between European
research centres.
2.6. The Committee notes that the programme
contains only a limited number of concerted actions
although there appears to be no fundamental reason
for not exploiting such an approach. The Committee
believes that in areas such as data banks or risk ana-
lysis, a federator role for Community research by
means of concerted actions could free budgetary
resources to allow more work to be funded under
shared-cost programmes. An increased use of con-
certed actions should not lead to a decrease in what
is already a very limited budget.
2.7. The Committee notes the programme's lean-
ing to medium and long-term research. It would
stress, however, the need for some short-term work
— in order to improve the competitivity of Euro-
pean industry. In this context the work on vaccines
and hormones is therefore of considerable import-
ance in order that some tangible results can be
obtained from the programme.
2.8. As referred to above, the declared medium
and long-term aim of the programme is to contri-
bute to the general body of research on biomolecu-
lar engineering, and to help bridge the technological
gap between the Community and other countries
such as US and Japan. The Committee notes the
present proposals lack clear indications as to how
the results of this programme's research — financed
by the Community — will be exploited. It would
urge that a clear policy on patents and on licensing
be adopted. The Committee can therefore only wel-
come the communication from the Commission on
promoting the utilization of the results of Com-
munity-sponsored research and development on
which the Committee will give a separate opinion.
At this stage it would only say that a policy on
patents and licensing should at least respond to the
following questions:
— Will any of the income from such patents and
licenses become available in order to finance
further research into this area?
— Is it not worth considering how the Community
can recoup the money it spends, by acquiring a
stake in the commercial exploitation of research
and study findings?
— How will it be possible to ensure that EC indus-
try rather than industry from outside the EC
benefits from the results of the programme?
19. 12. 83 Official Journal of the European Communities No C 341/27
— Will it be possible to include in the contracts
signed with universities and research institu-
tions a clause to ensure a proper dissemination
of research findings?
3. Specific comments on the Annex
Research actions
Point 1.1
The Committee welcomes the proposal to extend to
pharmaceutical and fine chemicals industries
second generation bioreactor technology. This is the
only instance of the scientific scope of the first stage
of the programme being extended. It has been
included because a number of breakthroughs have
already been made and industry has shown consi-
derable interest. The area therefore represents a logi-
cal development.
Point 1.3
The Committee believes that this point should be
expressed in more general terms. The main aim of
the research programme which the Community is to
finance is to convert simple agricultural products
into sugar and starch, even though the latter are in
surplus in the Community. At the same time other
higher-grade products such as oils and fats are in
short supply and have to be imported. A programme
should be set up for using biomolecular engineering
to convert other crops into higher-grade products.
Point 1.4
The Committee notes the stress on agriculture
throughout the programme. It emphasizes the
importance of biomolecular engineering to industry
as well as agriculture and would therefore add the
words 'and industry' at the end of the first sentence.
Done at Brussels, 28 September 1983.
The Chairman
of the Economic and Social Committee
Francis CEYRAC
Opinion on the proposal for a Council Decision adopting a research and development
programme in the field of non-nuclear energy (1983 to 1987)
The text referred to the Committee has been published in Official Journal of the Euro-
pean Communities No C 218 of 13 August 1983,
A. LEGAL BASIS FOR THE OPINION
On 6 July 1983 the Council referred the abovementioned proposal to the Economic
and Social Committee in accordance with Article 198 of the Treaty establishing the
European Economic Community.
B. OPINION OF THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE
The Economic and Social Committee prepared its opinion on the above matter at its
210th plenary session held in Brussels on 28 and 29 September 1983.
The full text of the opinion is as follows:
Full & Egal Universal Law Academy