PURPOSE : to sign and conclude the Scientific and Technological Cooperation Agreement between the European Community and the Republic of Korea.
PROPOSED ACT : Council Decision.
CONTENT : by its decision of 7 March 2005 the Council authorised the Commission to negotiate with the Republic of Korea an Agreement for scientific and technological cooperation between the European Community and Korea.
On behalf of the Community, the Commission negotiated an Agreement with the Republic of Korea in accordance with the directives in the Annex to the Council decision authorising the Commission to negotiate a scientific and technological cooperation Agreement.
The negotiations resulted in the attached agreement initialled on 21 December 2005.
It is necessary to sign the Agreement negotiated by the Commission in view of its possible conclusion at a later date.
The Community and have similar research priorities, such as life sciences and technologies, information society technologies and telecommunications, industrial and materials technologies, sustainable development, renewable energy sources, satellites, Earth observation, etc. and both are also members of ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor.
Considering the importance of science and technology for economic and social development in Europe and Korea, both parties expressed the desire to upgrade and intensify their co-operation in areas of common interest.
The Agreement is based on the principles of mutual benefit, reciprocal opportunities for access to each other’s programmes and activities relevant to the purpose of the Agreement, non-discrimination, the effective protection of intellectual property and equitable sharing of intellectual property rights.
It shall be concluded for an initial period of five years and be tacitly renewed, subject to the recommendation of an external independent evaluation carried out during the penultimate year of each successive five-year period.
For further information concerning the financial implications of this measure, please refer to the
financial statement.