The tasks of providing scientific and technical assistance shall consist of scientific or technical work involving the application of well-established scientific or technical principles which does not require scientific evaluation by the Scientific Committee or a Scientific Panel.

Steps should also be taken to help avoid diverging scientific opinions and, in the event of diverging scientific opinions between scientific bodies, procedures should be in place to resolve the divergence or provide the risk managers with a transparent basis of scientific information.

IV. INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION The Council agrees that: 1. cooperation in scientific and technological research between the European Community and third countries should in principle be undertaken on the basis of mutual advantage, and taking into account, on the basis of the subsidiarity principle, international cooperation activities of the Member States; 2. increased participation in the Framework Programme by EFTA countries, inter alia through the EEA Agreement, could bring significant added value to the European research effort; 3. particular attention should be paid to cooperation in science and technology with countries of Centra ...[+++]l and Eastern Europe and the NIS of the former Soviet Union, with a view to preserving their considerable scientific potential; 4. particular attention should also be paid to scientific and technological cooperation with developing countries so as to reflect their respective priorities, develop their capacities for research and maximise the resulting benefits for their social and economic development; 5. scientific and technological cooperation with non-European industrialised third countries should respect the principle of no exchange of funds, ensure a balance of benefits and contribute to achieving more cost-effectively the objectives of the Framework Programme; 6. EUREKA should remain the principal vehicle for supporting research activities which are nearer to the market and the Commission should bring forward proposals to improve the synergy between the Community's research activities and EUREKA; 7. synergy with activities of other international organisations should also be improved; 8. COST should continue to play an important, specific and complementary role by promoting scientific and technological cooperation in Europe through multilateral research projects.

Industrial technologies - design, engineering and systems technologies and technologies for the human-centred organization of production - materials and materials processing and recycling technologies - advanced propulsion systems - standardization-related research, measurement and testing Environment - natural environment, environmental quality and global change - innovative environmental protection technologies Life sciences and technologies - biotechnology - biomedicine and health - application of life sciences and technologies in agriculture and fisheries (including the agro-industry, food technologies, forestry and rural development) Energy - technologies for cleaner and more efficient production and use of energy - nuclear safety - co ...[+++]ntrolled thermonuclear fusion Research for a European transport policy - evaluation and integration of technological innovations Targeted socio-economic research - evaluation of science and technology policy options - research on education and training - research into problems of social integration Second Activity: - scientific and technological cooperation in Europe - scientific and technological cooperation with non-European industrialized countries - scientific and technological cooperation with developing countries Third Activity: - dissemination and utilization of results - transfer of technology to companies - financial environment of the transfer - scientific services for Community policies Fourth Activity: - stimulation of training and mobility of researchers in the Community * * *

Annex 1: Breakdown of funding Annex 2: Structure and research areas proposed ANNEX 1 BREAKDOWN OF FUNDING FOR THE FOURTH EC RTD FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME (1994-98) MECU (Current prices) First Area of Activity (Research, Technological 10925 Development and Demonstration Programmes) Second Area of Activity (Cooperation with Third 790 Countries and International Organizations) Third Area of Activity (Dissemination and 600 Utilization of Results) Fourth Area of Activity (Stimulation of the 785 Training and Mobility of Researchers) MAXIMUM OVERALL AMOUNT 13100 MECU (Current prices) Indicative breakdown between topics in the first area of activity - ...[+++] Information and Communications Technologies 36% - Industrial Technologies 16,5% - Environment 9% - Life Sciences and Technologies 12% - Energy 23% - Research for a European Transport Policy 2,5% - Targeted Socio-economic Research 1% ANNEX 2 STRUCTURE AND RESEARCH AREAS IN THE FOURTH EC RTD FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME (1994-98) First area of activity Information and communications technologies; developing the information and communications infrastructure - data-communications technologies in support of applications of general interest - technologies for integrated information and communications systems - technologies for advanced communications services - information technologies Industrial technologies - design, engineering and systems technologies and technologies for the human-centred organization of production - materials and materials processing and recycling technologies - advanced propulsion systems - standardization-related research, measurement and testing Environment - natural environment, environmental quality and global change - innovative environmental protection technologies Life sciences and technologies - general biotechnology - biomedicine, health and drugs - application of life sciences and technology in agriculture, forestry, rural development, agro-industry and fisheries Energy - technologies for cleaner and more efficie ...

The aims of the "European Week for Scientific Culture" are to awake the attention of political decision-makers and European citizens to the importance of scientific culture and education in Europe; to stimulate the development of activities of this kind in Europe; to increase the value of the experiences from several countries; to promote European cooperation in this field by stimulating professionals from different countries to exchange their ideas and experiences; to stimulate at a European level the meeting of the promoters of scientific culture with those responsible for science education in school systems.