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<pre>Advisory report on the relationship between national
and international science and technology policy
Summary of advisory report 7
Major changes are under way internationally in politics, in society and in the economic field.
These developments are having a major impact on the Netherlands. At the request of the
Minister of Education and Science and the Minister for Economic Affairs, the AWT (Advisory
Council for Science and Technology Policy) has examined the changing relationship between
national and international science and technology policy. The key question that the AWT asks
in this advisory report is how can the Netherlands survive economically in a drastically changing
Europe and what is the role of the science and technology system?
The Council creates the setting for answering this question by analysing ten international
developments which have an impact or will have an impact on the science and technology
system. From the synthesis of these developments it emerges that to survive economically the
Netherlands is highly dependent on what the science and technology system produces i.e.
highly qualified people and knowledge. As a result of disappearing frontiers and the shrinking
world, international competition in this system will become even fiercer. It would be a good thing
to ensure that the science and technology system in the Netherlands responds well to
developments thus creating a sound base for a sustainable economic order.
In the opinion of the Council the science and technology system as a whole is still not
sufficiently geared to coping effectively with the international competitive battle. Government
funds are still not sufficiently being allocated on the basis of superior international quality and
relevance, and the upshot is too much fragmentation and a failure to opt for the Netherlands'
strengths.
National government tasks versus EC
The blurring of (European) frontiers and the growing activities of the EC demand a rethinking of
the goals and tasks of national science and technology policy. The Council clearly sees
different tasks for the EC and national governments. The EC's main tasks are:
        To encourage those new (general) technologies for which (international) cooperation is
         necessary to ensure a (permanent) place among the international front runners;
        To promote research in fields requiring a community approach such as the
         environment, food security, harmonisation of standards etc.;
        To develop ambitious innovative cross-border projects (transport, telecommunications
         etc.)
National governments have their own independent tasks which are complementary to those of
the EC, namely:
        To maintain a scientific and technological infrastructure (universities, TNO (Netherlands
         Organisation for Applied Scientific Research), gti's (major technological institutes), DLO
         (Agricultural Research Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature Management
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<pre>          and Fisheries), etc.
         To promote the dissemination and the application of knowledge;
         To maintain a healthy, national economic structure;
         To stimulate the science and technology system and encourage companies to
          participate in international cooperative ventures.
These tasks belong primarily to the work of the Ministers of Education and Science and for
Economic Affairs. Where the policy areas of other ministries are involved both ministers have a
task in their post as coordinating ministers for science policy and for technology policy
respectively.
The Council has further elaborated these tasks distinguishing between science and technology.
The guiding principle in both cases is to participate internationally. But the way this principle is
worked out for science and technology differs. Scientific results are public; superior quality is a
prerequi- site to participate internationally. Technological knowledge is often protected and not
automatically accessible to everyone. Government policy in this case must primarily be geared
to ensuring access to knowledge relevant to the Netherlands.
Role of the Ministry of Education and Science; sharper profile The Council is of the opinion that
in the science and research field scarce resources are still being allocated too much on the
basis of history and distributive justice, while what is desperately needed is distinctions based
on superior quality and social relevance. The government's prime role here is not to make the
distinctions, that is up to the science and research world itself, but to provide for suitable
structures, clear responsibilities and effective procedures.
The most important place for basic research in the Netherlands is the university. In the
Council's view the current university system is not sufficiently capable of coping with the new
international challenges; the governing structure is inadequate and there is no guarantee that
the sum of the parts offers the best scientific profile for the Netherlands. Specifically, the
Council advises the Minister of Education and Science to take the following steps:
         To take directional initiatives to strengthen the university governing structure, so that
          universities are better placed among the interna- tional competition as regards funds
          and good students.
         To make it compulsory for universities to publish regularly a strategic plan listing their
          proposals for new disciplines and chairs, research schools and major investments; an
          to check these plans in conjunction for their effectiveness at macro level (nation-wide
          coordination and concentration) and their national/social relevance.
The Minister of Education and Science, alongside the aforementioned tasks, is also responsible
for (funding) international scientific research institutes and programmes. Participating in
programmes of this kind only has any point if there is a qualitatively advanced home-base for
this in the Netherlands. A long-term commitment from the science world is therefore necessary.
The Council sees a responsibility here for the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research
(NWO). It is of the opinion that the minister, before deciding to participate, must ask the NWO
for a public recommendation on the desirability of participating, the amount of the Dutch
contribution and the funding of the home-base. The NWO would also be required to publish a
report at regular intervals on all current participations in international scientific research
institutes and programmes.
The role of the Ministry for Economic Affairs: facilitating The open frontiers and the growing size
and ambition of EC activities are having a major impact on economic activity in the Netherlands.
The Council thinks the Minister for Economic Affairs primarily has a facilitating task: to do
everything he can to enable Dutch business and industry to hold its own and to become
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<pre>stronger in the growing international competitive battle.
The growing importance of EC policy in the Netherlands' economic development underlines the
need to exert an influence on this policy wherever possible to the country's benefit. This
requires an active stance and a coordinated effort towards Brussels. The presence of major
multinationals in our country is of vital importance. They ensure that the Netherlands is not
readily side-stepped internationally and they are in an excellent position to influence EC policy
(to the benefit of the Netherlands).
The Ministry for Economic Affairs should, in the opinion of the Council, object as a matter of
principle to specific measures to support businesses in Europe. Notwithstanding this, if unfair
competition occurs in practice, the government should do its best to compensate for this. In this
connection the Council emphasises that technology policy and industry policy are mutually
reliant on each other and mutually reinforcing.
The Minister for Economic Affairs must see to an infrastructure which meets business and
industry's demand for technological knowledge. The infrastructure has to be arranged in such a
way as to allow access to relevant knowledge and to allow help to be given in applying that
knowledge and know-how. If the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research
(TNO) and the major technological institutes (gti's) are to keep up and to be one step ahead in a
number of fields, sufficient basic and specific purpose subsidies have to be provided to acquire
a sound point of departure for exchanging knowledge and know-how with institutes elsewhere
in the world.
Access to technological knowledge for businesses can also be acquired through participating in
international cooperative ventures. It is the Ministry for Economic Affairs' job to promote the
participation of businesses in these. The current set of instruments (among other things the EC
liaison bureau and the EUREKA programme) is adequate for this purpose. But the ministry
needs to enlarge the involvement of the scien- tific field in policy on European technology
programmes.
A great deal of (technological) knowledge is available in government institutes, such as the
institutes of the Ministry of Public Works and the RIVM (National Institute of Public Health and
Environmental Protection), that can be put to econ- omic use, thus strengthening the
international competitive position of the Netherlands. It is not the task of these institutes, but the
task of industry to use this knowledge. The Council recommends that the Minister for Economic
Affairs should promote the interaction between industry and the aforementioned institutes.
The Council concludes in its report that a more powerful national science and technology policy
is desirable to keep up with the international (economic) competition. An automatic cut in the
national science and technology budget equivalent to the funds provided by Brussels is
consequently not appropriate, certainly not now that there is a plan to drastically increase EC
science and technology funds. First of all we are mainly talking here about complementary
tasks and secondly, the EC funds can only be put to good use if national efforts continue
unabated. The AWT strongly advises the Finance Minister not to go ahead with his plan to
introduce an automatic cut of this kind.
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