When historians from the next century look back on 1992, the year will stand out as having been a distinctive one for the Community. Just before the lowering of frontier barriers which symbolised the advent of the single market, the signature of the Maastricht Treaty set out new perspectives for European construction. Only a few weeks later, the breadth of public debate about the ratification of the Treaty, and the questions relating to it, plunged the Community into an unexpectedly turbulent period. On a path previously seen as straight and clear, unforeseen issues have arisen, and many new challenges. If 1992 was full of events, reflexion and rethinks, it was equally so in the special field of Community Research and Technological Development policy. Here too (and in a way not unrelated to the general trend) the Community is at a turning point. The Community's research and technological policy is as old as the Community itself. It has been built up slowly over time and it can be credited with a large

number of excellent results. Irreversible habits of cooperation have been established and networks have been set up which form now an essential part of the European scientific scene. However, in this vitally important sector for Europe's future we can't say that everything which could have been expected of the Community has in fact been achieved. In 1987 the Single Act gave Community RTD policy the clear political objective to strengthen the scientific and technological basis of European industry, and to reinforce its competitiveness. But honesty forces us to admit that this objective is very far from having been achieved. On the way towards achieving a more significant impact in this context, the preparation and implementation of the 3rd Framework Programme were a first step in the right direction. With a more transparent and more understandable structure than those which went before, and designed in a more orderly fashion, it proved to be an opportunity to launch a number of new initiatives giving imm

ediate support to the creation of the single market. Among these were activities related to the interconnection of European telematics systems and the wide ranging programme to stimulate the mobility of researchers. Beyond this initial step, at the point where the limits of the activities pursued up to now encounter the requirements of a changing environment, 1992 was the moment when a new strategy was defined and then set in place. This strategy was set out in the Commission communication entitled "Research after Maastricht"; it is rooted in the Treaty on European Union and exploits the new possibilities it offers in the field of RTD. In a nutshell, this strategy is a determined effort to maximize the impact of Community efforts. One of its major axes is to focus efforts on a set of key technologies which can be applied to many sectors of industry. Here the requirements of efficiency are meeting the political imperatives in a particularly opportune way. As early as April, anticipating the more recent dev

elopments, the Commission pinpointed some patterns of applications of the principle of subsidiarity - which has indeed become the guiding principle of Community action - in the field of science and technology. The new strategy is expressed for the first time in the Fourth Framework Programme (1990-1994). As required by the Maastricht Treaty, this new Framework Programme is structured in a rational way in four definite actions. It comprises all Community actions in the field of RTD. Conforming to the aim which the Maastricht Treaty identified as the most important one for Community research, one of its two major themes is the reinforcement of the competitiveness of European industry. The Treaty has, for the first time, explicitly put research policy at the service of all other Community policies. In this way, the Fourth Framework Programme contains a number of actions aimed at improving the quality of individual and social life in Europe. Even if the Treaty of Maastricht is a considerable step forward in te

rms of policy, it has unfortunately established a fairly cumbersome decision process as far as research is concerned. So as to prevent a fall in resources allocated to Community research due to a delay in adopting the Fourth Framework Programme, the Commission has, in parallel, proposed supplementary financing for the current Third Framework Programme. At the same time, the Commission has rationalized the administrative structure and management procedures in the field of RTD, as part of its overall concern for increasing the effectiveness of its instruments - an objective which has been behind all its recent initiatives. This plan of action is presented and discussed in the document which follows. Also included is a description of the wide range of recent initiatives taken by the Commission in international scientific cooperation. In a world of increasing interdependency, this field is developing fast, both at continental and global levels. Dedicating a whole issue of the CROCODILE letter to Community RT

D policy and to the new strategy which expresses it, is surely not extravagant. As any other policy, implementing the Community's Research Policy without the close involvement of Members of Parliament and European Parliament, the people's representatives, is unthinkable - this is, no doubt, the crucial message coming out of the debate on the Maastricht Treaty. In this way, the effort undertaken here to inform them is hardly an exception. Indeed, in the future it will constitute the rule.

Filippo Maria Pandolfi

EC Vice-President