EC/Russia agreement on cooperation in science and technology

PURPOSE: the conclusion of an Agreement on co-operation for science and technology between the European Community and the government of the Russian Federation for the duration of the Fifth Framework Programme for RTD. CONTENT: this draft Agreement seeks to formalise and strengthen scientific and technological cooperation links between Russia and the Community based on a series of themes linked to the Vth Framework Programme for RDT, for the duration of the Programme (i.e. up to 31.12.2002). The Agreement is renewable for periods of five years. It seeks to enable the Community and Russia to benefit, on the basis of mutual benefit, from scientific and technological progress made in the framework of their reciprocal research programmes via the participation of the Russian scientific community and industrial sector in Community research projects and via the independent and non-subsidised participation of organisations based in the Community in Russian projects. The areas of cooperative activities are as follows: - environment and climate research, including earth observation; - biomedical and health research; - agriculture, forestry and fisheries research; - industrial and production technologies; - materials research and metrology; - non-nuclear energy; - transportation; - information society technologies; - social sciences research; - science and technology policy; - training and mobility of scientists. Other areas may be added to this list upon review and recommendation by the Joint Community-Russia Committee set up under the Agreement. The Agreement also lays down the forms of cooperative activities. These include: 1) involvement of legal or natural persons (including official scientific organisations or agencies) in the other party's research projects; 2) Free access to and shared use of research facilities, including installations and sites for monitoring, observation and experimentation, as well as data collections, relevant to the cooperative activities; 3) Visits and exchanges of scientists, engineers, or other appropriate personnel for the purposes of participating in seminars, symposia and workshops relevant to cooperation under this Agreement; 4) Exchange of information on practices, laws, regulations and programmes relevant to cooperation under this Agreement; 5) Other activities as may be mutually determined by the Parties in accordance with the applicable policies and programmes of the Parties. As a rule, each Party shall bear the costs of discharging its responsibilities under this Agreement, including costs of participation in meetings of the Committee. There are two annexes which deal with indicative features of a technology plan and intellectual property rights respectively.�