East-West scientific and technological relations
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- See Doc. 5172, report of the Committee on Science and Technology. Text adopted by the Standing Committee, acting on behalf of the Assembly, on 28 June 1984.
- Thesaurus
The Assembly,
1. Having regard to the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE),signed in Helsinki on 1 August 1975, to the report of the "Scientific Forum" (Hamburg 1980) and tothe Concluding Document of the Second Review Meeting (Madrid 1983) ;
2. Sharing the view expressed in these documents, as also in its Resolutions 654 (1977) and 672(1978) and in Orders Nos. 352 (1975) and 357 (1976), that, subject to respect for the principles and provisions of the Final Act, scientific and technological exchanges can provide for expanded humancontacts and contribute to cultural understanding, economic co-operation and political detente ;
3. ecognising that scientific and technological exchanges are unavoidably affected by the grave deterioration of confidence among CSCE participant countries ;
4. Considering in this context that policies for East-West scientific and academic exchanges and policies for technology transfer should be clearly distinguished ;
5. Recognising that all countries apply controls on the outflow of technology, for reasons of national defence and security and in pursuit of foreign or economic or trade policy objectives ;
6. Having regard to :
a the variety of channels, both legal and illegal, through which advanced technology may be transferred : direct foreign investment, sale of machinery and equipment (sometimes amounting to complete factories), licences to use patents and production techniques, industrial co-operation (coproduction, subcontracting, research and development agreements), perusal of publications, personal contacts (international conferences and academic exchanges), commercial fraud, industrial espionage and theft ;
b the conclusion clearly emerging from the published work of the OECD ad hoc Group on East-West Technology Transfer, to the effect that East-West trade involving advanced technology is constrained : i. by the indebtedness of Eastern countries and, for the West, by the limited acceptability of "compensated trade" ; ii. by the limited capacity of the Eastern centrally planned economies to absorb and diffuse imported advanced technology ; and iii. by the limited prospects for complementary development of Eastern and Western economies in specific branches and sectors where commercial exchanges might otherwise seem most promising ;
c security concerns to the effect that certain advanced technology transfers and specialised scientific exchanges may weaken defence capabilities ;
7. Considering :
a pursuant to its
Resolution 800 (1983) on the principles of democracy, that the freedom and independence of academic institutions and the open character of fundamental and academically oriented research are basic values of pluralist democracy and Western civilisation ;
b that policies injurious to these values should only be applied as a last resort ;
c that academic and scientific exchanges and open communication between scientists of CSCE participant countries can only be sustained and developed on the basis of a reversion to the "spirit of Helsinki", which led to the signing of the Final Act in 1975,
8. Reaffirms its belief in the intrinsic value- political, cultural and scientific- of keeping channels of communication open between the scientific communities of all CSCE participant countries ;
9. Reaffirms its belief in the intrinsic value- political, cultural and scientific- of keeping channels of communication open between the scientific communities of all CSCE participant countries ;
10. Calls on governments of member states :
a to resume their work for effective scientific co-operation between East and West, both bilaterally and within the various multilateral frameworks at their disposal, in the light of evaluations such as those requested in the preceding paragraph from the European Science Foundation and its member institutions ;
b to co-operate more effectively with and within the Co-ordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (Cocom) and to co-ordinate measures to curb illegal acquisitions and transfers of technology ;
c to support the continuation in due time of studies and analyses within OECD on international flows of technology, in particular from West to East ;
d to implement the conclusions of the CSCE Madrid meeting in the field of scientific cooperation.
