SECTION 8: TRANS-EUROPEAN NETWORKS

Article 3-246

1. To help achieve the objectives referred to in Articles III-130 and III-220 and to enable citizens of the Union, economic operators and regional and local communities to derive full benefit from the setting-up of an area without internal frontiers, the Union shall contribute to the establishment and development of trans-European networks in the areas of transport, telecommunications and energy infrastructures.
2. Within the framework of a system of open and competitive markets, action by the Union shall aim at promoting the interconnection and interoperability of national networks as well as access to such networks. It shall take account in particular of the need to link island, landlocked and peripheral regions with the central regions of the Union.

Article 3-247

1. In order to achieve the objectives referred to in Article 3-246, the Union: (a) shall establish a series of guidelines covering the objectives, priorities and broad lines of measures envisaged in the sphere of trans‑European networks; these guidelines shall identify projects of common interest; (b) shall implement any measures that may prove necessary to ensure the interoperability of the networks, in particular in the field of technical standardisation; (c) may support projects of common interest supported by Member States, which are identified in the framework of the guidelines referred to in point (a), particularly through feasibility studies, loan guarantees or interest-rate subsidies; the Union may also contribute, through the Cohesion Fund, to the financing of specific projects in Member States in the area of transport infrastructure. The Union’s activities shall take into account the potential economic viability of the projects.
2. European laws or framework laws shall establish the guidelines and other measures referred to in paragraph 1. Such laws shall be adopted after consultation of the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social Committee.

Guidelines and projects of common interest which relate to the territory of a Member State shall require the agreement of that Member State. 3. Member States shall, in liaison with the Commission, coordinate among themselves the policies pursued at national level which may have a significant impact on the achievement of the objectives referred to in Article 3-246. The Commission may, in close cooperation with the Member States, take any useful initiative to promote such coordination. 4. The Union may cooperate with third countries to promote projects of mutual interest and to ensure the interoperability of networks.

SECTION 9: RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND SPACE

Article 3-248

1. The Union shall aim to strengthen its scientific and technological bases by achieving a European research area in which researchers, scientific knowledge and technology circulate freely, and encourage it to become more competitive, including in its industry, while promoting all the research activities deemed necessary by virtue of other Chapters of the Constitution.
2. For the purposes referred to in paragraph 1 the Union shall, throughout the Union, encourage undertakings, including small and medium-sized undertakings, research centres and universities in their research and technological development activities of high quality. It shall support their efforts to cooperate with one another, aiming, notably, at permitting researchers to cooperate freely across borders and at enabling undertakings to exploit the internal market potential, in particular through the opening-up of national public contracts, the definition of common standards and the removal of legal and fiscal obstacles to that cooperation.
3. All the Union’s activities in the area of research and technological development, including demonstration projects, shall be decided on and implemented in accordance with this Section. Article 3-249 In pursuing the objectives referred to in Article 3‑248, the Union shall carry out the following activities, complementing the activities carried out in the Member States: (a) implementation of research, technological development and demonstration programmes, by promoting cooperation with and between undertakings, research centres and universities; (b) promotion of cooperation in the field of the Union’s research, technological development and demonstration with third countries and international organisations (c) dissemination and optimisation of the results of activities in the Union’s research, technological development and demonstration; (d) stimulation of the training and mobility of researchers in the Union.

Article 3-250

1. The Union and the Member States shall coordinate their research and technological development activities so as to ensure that national policies and the Union’s policy are mutually consistent.
2. In close cooperation with the Member States, the Commission may take any useful initiative to promote the coordination referred to in paragraph 1, in particular initiatives aiming at the establishment of guidelines and indicators, the organisation of exchange of best practice, and the preparation of the necessary elements for periodic monitoring and evaluation. The European Parliament shall be kept fully informed.

Article 3-251

1. European laws shall establish a multiannual framework programme, setting out all the activities financed by the Union. Such laws shall be adopted after consultation of the Economic and Social Committee. The framework programme shall: (a) establish the scientific and technological objectives to be achieved by the activities provided for in Article 3-249 and lay down the relevant priorities; (b) indicate the broad lines of such activities; (c) lay down the maximum overall amount and the detailed rules for the Union’s financial participation in the framework programme and the respective shares in each of the activities provided for.
2. The multiannual framework programme shall be adapted or supplemented as the situation changes.
3. A European law of the Council shall establish specific programmes to implement the multiannual framework programme within each activity. Each specific programme shall define the detailed rules for implementing it, fix its duration and provide for the means deemed necessary. The sum of the amounts deemed necessary, fixed in the specific programmes, shall not exceed the overall maximum amount fixed for the framework programme and each activity. Such a law shall be adopted after consulting the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee.
4. As a complement to the activities planned in the multiannual framework programme, European laws shall establish the measures necessary for the implementation of the European research area. Such laws shall be adopted after consulting the Economic and Social Committee.

Article 3-252

1. For the implementation of the multiannual framework programme, European laws or framework laws shall establish: (a) the rules for the participation of undertakings, research centres and universities; (b) the rules governing the dissemination of research results. Such European laws or framework laws shall be adopted after consultation of the Economic and Social Committee.
2. In implementing the multiannual framework programme, European laws may establish supplementary programmes involving the participation of certain Member States only, which shall finance them subject to possible participation by the Union. Such European laws shall determine the rules applicable to supplementary programmes, particularly as regards the dissemination of knowledge as well as access by other Member States. They shall be adopted after consultation of the Economic and Social Committee and with the agreement of the Member States concerned.
3. In implementing the multiannual framework programme, European laws may make provision, in agreement with the Member States concerned, for participation in research and development programmes undertaken by several Member States, including participation in the structures created for the execution of those programmes. Such European laws shall be adopted after consultation of the Economic and Social Committee.
4. In implementing the multiannual framework programme the Union may make provision for cooperation in the Union’s research, technological development and demonstration with third countries or international organisations. The detailed arrangements for such cooperation may be the subject of agreements between the Union and the third parties concerned.

Article 3-253

The Council, on a proposal from the Commission, may adopt European regulations or decisions to set up joint undertakings or any other structure necessary for the efficient execution of the Union’s research, technological development and demonstration programmes. It shall act after consulting the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee.

Article 3-254

1. To promote scientific and technical progress, industrial competitiveness and the implementation of its policies, the Union shall draw up a European space policy. To this end, it may promote joint initiatives, support research and technological development and coordinate the efforts needed for the exploration and exploitation of space.
2. To contribute to attaining the objectives referred to in paragraph 1, European laws or framework laws shall establish the necessary measures, which may take the form of a European space programme.
3. The Union shall establish any appropriate relations with the European Space Agency.

Article 3-255

At the beginning of each year the Commission shall send a report to the European Parliament and the Council. The report shall include information on activities relating to research, technological development and the dissemination of results during the previous year, and the work programme for the current year.