MINUTES OF THE ADDITIONAL EPTA-DIRECTORS MEETING IN PARIS, FRANCE

27 September 2004

­ Prospects of exchanging personnel between EPTA member institutions

Recalling the conclusion and the analyses contained in the note previously sent to all EPTA members by Mr David COPE (POST, United Kingdom), Mrs Jofey CRAIG (POST, United Kingdom) more specifically emphasised the obstacles formed by the small-sized staff at each member institution, the language, cultural and organisational particularities, and the highly variable nature of ties with parliaments. These various points were addressed by each of the members who also stated their personal experiences.

Mr Sergio BELLUCCI (TA-Swiss) said he would like progress to be made in this field beyond the visits which everyone recognised as being of interest.

Mr J.F. PEYROT (OPECST – France) suggested that each member draft a list of the actions already performed (visits, training sessions, and exchanges) and emphasised the interest of itemising the topics that lend themselves to such actions.

Mr Lars KLÜVER (Teknologirådet – Denmark) felt that it was necessary to:

— Better state the purpose of and develop visits (short-length) to the other institutions;

— Envisage exchanges, but while being aware of the many difficulties this raises, and while respecting the customary relations between partner institutions;

— Define joint projects on which these exchanges should focus. In this respect, information has been given on the latest developments of the joint study project on privacy: Denmark, Norway and Austria have been joined by the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Flanders.

EPTA’s website

Presenting his note previously sent to all the members, Mr Lars KLÜVER recalled the shortcomings of the site in its present form and particularly the limits of the use of a search engine which was however promising initially. As it therefore appeared out of the question to improve the current presentation, he clarified his proposals to considerably improve the service rendered by this site to the members of the network, bearing in mind that these proposals can be implemented by his institution (the Danish Teknologirådet), but in cooperation with each institution, especially as regards updatings.

He therefore proposed the setting up of a specific data base accessible from the homepage; of voluntarily limited scope, it would involve two updatings per year.

After a broad exchange of views during which everyone thanked Mr Lars KLÜVER for his involvement in this field, this option was adopted.

Then addressing the issue of the EPTA site intranet, Mr Lars KLÜVER said that while this was a good idea, the feasibility appeared doubtful; the various players also stated their perplexity, particularly as regards the real need for an intranet.

Lastly, concerning the presentation of the website itself, it should be envisaged to call in a specific designer. Mr Lars KLÜVER estimated the cost of this operation which should be shared between all the members (between 5,000 euros and 10,000 euros). Clarifications shall be given on this point at the directors’ meeting in March 2005.

Format of the directors’ meeting

Regarding this pointed included on the agenda on request by Mr Lars KLÜVER, the latter felt that the format of the directors’ meeting (in spring) could evolve by reducing or eliminating the review of the work by each institution, all the more so since the renovated website will make this presentation unnecessary. Emphasis could be placed on the methodology rather than on the subject matter of studies. The directors’ meeting should be clearly distinguished from the conference (autumn) where parliamentarians are the target group. Messrs. Armin GRUNWALD, J.F. PEYROT, and P.DALLY, spoke on these points by also recalling that the conference itself is above all aimed at parliamentarians.

Messrs. S. BELLUCCI, R.M. DUBOIS, J.ARY and R. BERLOZNIK then spoke on the need to target the topics. Mr BERLOZNIK also mentioned the need for a collective approach allowing emphasis to be placed on what can be learnt mutually.

Documentary exchanges between bodies

The need for English summaries of each document sent or mentioned on the website was recalled, as well as some translation possibilities which M. R.MEYER mentioned for STOA.

Prospects of setting up or resetting up technology assessment bodies in some parliaments

The information previously sent by David COPE was recalled, particularly as regards the successive attempts at resetting up the US Congress OTA.

In Sweden, an agreement has been signed between the Parliament (Riksdag) and RIFO (Association of Swedish Members of Parliament and Researchers); the chairperson of RIFO will give further details in this respect at the October EPTA meeting where she will be invited.

In Spain, there is a prospect of setting up a technology assessment body within the Cortes and, in the Czech Republic, the Academy of Sciences has entered into contacts with Parliament with a similar view in mind.