First plenary session of the European Science and Technology Assembly
Professor Antonio Ruberti, European Commissioner responsible for research and education, opened the first plenary session of the European Science and Technology Assembly in Brussels on 6 September 1994. The Assembly will assist the Commission with the implementation of the European Union's research and technological development policy. The Assembly brings together 100 leading representatives of the scientific community and of the world of industrial research in Europe and includes six Nobel Prize winners. The Assembly includes officials from the national research organizations and European scientific cooperation bodies and is intended to facilitate and improve coordination between all the research activities undertaken in Europe. The role of the Assembly will correspond to the European Union's research and technological development activities. This will encompass the preparation and implementation of the Union's major cooperation programmes. The Commission expects the Assembly to help it define the scientific content of these programmes and guarantee the relevance of the options taken. The Assembly will also help the Commission in its efforts to promote European-wide thinking and debates on science and technology. The Assembly will elect a 20-member bureau, a chairman and vice-chairmen. It will also adopt the rules of procedure governing its activities and set up its first working parties to prepare opinions on the scientific content of the specific programmes implementing the Fourth Framework programme 1994-1998, which have yet to be adopted. The Assembly will delivers such opinions at the request of the Commission. However, it can also, on its own initiative, set up working parties and give its opinion on subjects of potential interest concerning science and technology in Europe. The Commission has appointed the members of the Assembly on the basis of proposals from the major European organizations in the world of scientific and industrial research. These include the European Science Foundation, the Academia Europea, the Federations of the Academies of Sciences (ALLEA and EURO-CASE), the European Vice-Chancellors' Conference, the European Research Initial Managers' Association (EIRMA), the Commission's Industrial Research and Development Advisory Committee (IRDAC) and others. The 27 members of the CODEST Committee (which will continue its activities on the Human Capital and Mobility programme until the end of 1994) have also been appointed members of the Assembly.