COUNCIL RESOLUTION of 17 June 1992 on industrial cooperation with third countries (92/C 178/01)

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES,

Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community,

Having regard to the Commission communication on industrial policy in an open and competitive environment, approved by the Council on 26 November 1990,

Having regard to the communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament entitled 'Developing industrial cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe and the independent States of the former Soviet Union',

Having regard to the proceedings of the Lisbon Interministerial Conference on 20 March 1992 on industrial cooperation with the Community's partners, in particular those in Eastern Europe, Africa and Latin America,

1. Whereas the various forms of cooperation between Community and third country economic operators provide an efficient means of strengthening the competitiveness of enterprises, particularly through developing complementarities and comparative reciprocal advantages and by expanding markets;

2. Whereas industrial cooperation is particularly desirable in the current international situation and should be placed in the new context outlined by the Maastricht Summit, with the European Community becoming increasingly important on the international scene as a factor for stability and development;

3. Whereas the development of industrial cooperation must be based on application of the concept of subsidiarity and consequently:

- it is the responsibility of public authorities to promote and develop an environment favourable to industrial cooperation,

- it is the responsibility of enterprises to exploit opportunities and establish cooperation links in a system of open, competitive markets;

4. Whereas the completion of the internal market at the end of 1992 with its greater interlinking of the economies of the Member States will also create new opportunities for cooperation with third countries, showing that the 'Community as an industrial partner' is open to the rest of the world;

5. Whereas the experience gained by the Community in the construction of the internal market, for example in the field of legislative harmonization and the implementation of a framework conducive to cooperation between enterprises in an open and competitive environment also represents a key advantage in the development of that cooperation;

6. Whereas the Community has an essential role to play in cooperation with countries undergoing economic transition and developing countries, particularly by encouraging the implementation of an environment conducive to enterprise and by supporting various forms of cooperation between economic operators,

HAS ADOPTED THIS RESOLUTION:

THE COUNCIL:

1. welcomes the Commission communication of 13 March 1992 on developing industrial cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe and the independent States of the former Soviet Union, which responds to the request made by the Council when it discussed the communication of 12 July 1990 entitled 'industrial cooperation with Central and Eastern Europe - Ways to strengthen cooperation';

2. subscribes to the general approach and orientations resulting from that document.

INVITES THE COMMISSION:

1. to pursue industrial cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe and the independent States of the former Soviet Union, in keeping with the guidelines set out in the Commission communications of 12 July 1990 and 13 March 1992, which recommend horizontal measures and their application in a sector-based context; the following are thus included:

(a) strengthened support for the development of an appropriate legal and regulatory framework for the activities of enterprises in fields such as company law, accounting, competition law and fiscal law, these being essential elements in promoting a climate of confidence amongst economic operators;

(b) an approximation of standards and procedures for evaluating conformity with those prevailing in the Community;

(c) initiatives to improve transparency, particularly as regards conditions for advising and counselling investors, economic information and market development prospects;

(d) strengthening of measures to support the restructuring and modernization of industry and the creation of enterprises, particularly through technical assistance, taking into account the situation of European markets also;

(e) development of training measures, including assistance in the management of enterprises;

(f) support for the development of professional bodies, contact structures and the organization of professional gatherings;

(g) increased support for industrial cooperation between economic operators; particular attention should be paid to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by means of the financial mechanism set up to encourage joint ventures (JOPP programme), information and contact networks (BC-Net, Business cooperation centre and European information centres) and other initiatives in favour of business cooperation (such as trade fairs or meetings);

(h) allowance for the environmental dimension in cooperation measures, and technical assistance in this field and in that of energy, including safety in the civil nuclear sector;

(i) an approach to technical assistance for the independent States of the former Soviet Union allowing increased initiatives in the field of industrial restructuring and cooperation;

2. to develop, in a bilateral or regional context, cooperation between the 'Community as an industrial partner' and other third countries whose industrial development the Community should help, particularly those countries with which the Community has traditionally had closer relations for historical and cultural reasons; with this in mind and taking full account of the specific characteristics of the countries concerned, to pursue its support operations, which, in the industrial field, will contribute in particular to:

(a) promoting the development of an enterprise culture and stimulating private initiative;

(b) improving the framework conditions for receiving investments and their transparency for investors;

(c) promoting the dissemination of specialized information to SMEs so that they too can make better use of existing possibilities for cooperation;

(d) facilitating the creation of joint ventures;

(e) fostering the opening of markets in the context of the balanced development of international markets and respect for the rules of international trade;

(f) integrating the environmental dimension and contributing to resolving specific problems in that field;

(g) strengthening integrated technical assistance and training operations, particularly in the fields of management and technology, as well as action in support of initiatives on the part of the networks of intermediaries created by economic operators in order to promote cooperation on a basis of mutual interest;

3. with this in mind, to make full use of the various instruments introduced by the Community and, in agreements concluded with third countries in the process of transition or development, to place particular emphasis on implementation of the industrial cooperation aspects, which represent a contribution to their development and their integration into the world economy.