The Commission communication deals with the practical
implementation of Article 130h of the Treaty on European Union, which
provides that the Community and the Member States
shall coordinate their research and technological development (RTD)
activities so as to ensure that national policies and Community policy are
mutually consistent. The discussion focused on the following issues: - the priority
objectives of coordination, - how to implement it when determining RTD
policies and carrying out research activities. There was also discussion of
the desirability of opening up national RTD programmes to research bodies in
other Member States, and of the possibilities afforded by the instruments
provided for in Articles 130k and 130l of the Treaty (supplementary
programmes and Community participation in programmes undertaken by several
Member States). In the light of the discussions, the President summarised the
conclusions as follows: ‘The Council recognised that greater coordination
between national and Community RTD policies could be achieved in pursuit of
the objectives laid down by the Treaty, in particular the desirability of
Community added value, taking account of the desirability of promoting
stimulating competition between the Member States: - with regard to
determining RTD policies, such coordination could be based on better use of
the existing structures, namely the specific programme committees (whose
duties could be extended to include exchanging information on national RTD
policies) and the reformed CREST, one of whose main tasks would be to
contribute to the coordination of the RTD activities of the Community and the
Member States; - with regard to the carrying out of research activities, the
role of the programme committees continued to be important in improving cross-programme
coordination. As far as the possibilities afforded by the instruments
provided for in Articles 130k and 130l of the Treaty and by opening up
national research programmes to research bodies in other Member States were
concerned, these were complex issues that required more detailed examination;
- with regard to international cooperation, more systematic alignment of
Member States’ positions concerning RTD in international organisations should
be sought. The Council asked the Permanent Representatives Committee to
continue examining all aspects of the Commission communication in the light
of the discussion by the Council in order to enable it to reach more specific
conclusions on the subject at its next meeting’.