Coordination of national policies (ECSC, Euratom, EEC) and the definition of projects of interest to the Community in the field of science and technology, 1974-

The Heads of State or of Government meeting in Paris on 19 and 20 October 1972 expressed their determination to promote the development of a common policy in the field of science and technology and noted that such a policy would require the coordination of national policies within the Community institutions, and the joint implementation of projects of interest to the Community. The Heads of State or of Government meeting in Copenhagen on 14 and 15 December 1973 invited the Community to develop more actively a common policy on industrial, scientific and technological cooperation in all fields. To this end the Council Resolution of 14 January 1974 (Official Journal No C 7 of 29.1.1974) set up the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST) capable of contributing , through its work and opinions, to the coordination of national policies and the definition of Community projects in this field and outlining the operations to be progressively carried out within the Community.
To define objectives and ensure the development of a common policy in the field of science and technology involving the coordination of national policies and the joint implementation of projects of interest to the Community.
Six operations:

- Examination and comparison of Member Sates' national policies in this field, particularly their potential plans, programmes, projects, budgets, measures and methods;

- Identification, analysis and comparison of the objectives of the Member States in order to determine the common goals to be adopted and the appropriate ways and means of achieving them;

- Coordination of national policies:
. To eliminate unnecessary or unwarranted duplication of effort in national programmes;
. To avoid any divergent tendencies which would be contrary to the interests of the Member States;
. To improve the efficiency or reduce the cost of national and Community projects by sharing of tasks or, possibly, by the concentration of resources or research teams;
. To gradually harmonize procedures for the formulation and implementation of scientific policies within the Community;

- Definition of projects of interest to the Community, taking into account possibilities for participation in some of these projects by non-member countries, particularly European ones;

- Selection of appropriate ways and means for implementing these projects;

- Consultation for the purpose of:
. Prior information on the development of, and prospects for, cooperation between Member States or with non-member countries with a view to the possible harmonization or coordination of the attitudes of Member States;
. Seeking as a general rule a common attitude on the part of Member States towards cooperation with or within international organizations.
The Commission and the Council are responsible for the implementation of the programme and are assisted in performing this task by the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST) consisting of representatives of the Member States and the Commission. The chairman is a Commission representative and secretarial services are provided by the General Secretariat of the Council with the aid of Commission experts for scientific and technical problems. The Committee fulfils its functions either at the request of the Commission or the Council or on its own initiative. Its reports and opinions may, where appropriate, make mention of minority views. They are forwarded simultaneously to the Council and the Commission, together with all the documents submitted to the Committee.

For the purpose of accomplishing the tasks defined for this programme, Member States transmit the necessary information available to the Commission, at the appropriate time and before adopting final decisions at national level, with the exception of information militarily or industrially classified as secret. The Commission ensures that this information is transmitted to the Member States and the Committee and the Committee defines the procedures for communicating the information.

The Working Party on Scientific and Technical Research Policy of the Medium-Term Economic Policy Committee is dissolved and the working parties and committees which are answerable to it have been taken over by the Committee, which may set up other sub-committees. The tasks assigned to the Working Party are carried out by the Committee.