Since mid-2001, following the strict implementation of the Council decision on Comitology (1999/468/EC) and the subsequent agreement with the European Parliament, the latter has been fully informed about all activities concerning the management of the programme: all documents presented by the Commission to the programme Committee have been forwarded to the EP and a four week "droit de régard" period has been introduced between an opinion of the Committee and the related Commission decision.

(17) It is important that the Youth programme committee should consult, on the basis of arrangements to be defined, with the committees responsible for the implementation of the Community vocational training and educational programmes (Leonardo da Vinci and Socrates).

In the light of the discussions, the President summarized the conclusions as follows: "The Council recognized 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 inf ...[+++]ormation 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.

In this context, better use must be made of the existing channels, i.e. the committees set up to assist the Commission with implementing the 15 specific programmes under the fourth framework RTD programme and CREST (the Scientific and Technical Research Committee set up to advise the Commission and the Council), in order to coordinate Community and national policies; - when it comes to implementation of research activities, the committees on ...[+++]the specific programmes continue to play an important role, if only to improve inter-programme coordination.

It is foreseen that the EEA Agreement will be quickly extended to the specific programmes of the EC's 4th Framework Programme (1994- 1998) through the "EEA Joint Committee" established in the Agreement. 3. This cooperation implies: a) the same rights and obligations between EEA-EFTA and EU participants in all phases of research projects belonging to the non-nuclear specific programmes of the 3rd Framework Programme, i.e.: - the EEA-EFTA participants will also receive EC funding; - to be eligible, any project proposed by one or more EEA- EFTA participants should include at least one EU participant. - the project leader may come from an ...[+++]EEA-EFTA country; 3 b) the full participation of EEA-EFTA representatives in programme committees, except for voting rights; c) the association of EEA-EFTA representatives with the work of the Joint Research Centre's Board of Governors and of consultative bodies such as CREST, IRDAC and CODEST; d) a financial contribution of the EEA-EFTA countries, (proportional to their GDP) to the specific programmes concerned.

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, Considering Article 3(2) of Council Decision 90/238/Euratom, ECSC, EEC of the Council and the Representatives of the Governments of the Member States, meeting within the Council, of 17 May 1990 adopts a 1990 to 1994 action plan in the context of the "Europe against Cancer" programme, (1) Whereas a report on the evaluation of the effectiveness of action undertaken in the context of the "Europe against Cancer" programme (1987 to 1992) was submitted by the Commission on 23 March 1993, RECOGNIZES the importance of the programme, which remains e ...[+++]ntirely valid today, in particular in its role as a catalyst for, and spur to, action in the Member States to combat cancer; CONSIDERS that backing projects carried out in Member States and undertaking Community action are appropriate means of implementing the programme; UNDERLINES, however, the need to redefine and strengthen, as provided in the programme, forms of co-operation between the Commission and Member States and - as one of the means available for that purpose - to ensure improved co-ordination between the various committees under the programme with a stronger role for the Consultative Committee; INVITES the Commission to submit in due course a draft third action plan, taking into account the Council Resolution of 27 May 1993 on future action in the field of public health as well as the objectives and improvements set out in below.