8. 1. 94 Official Journal of the European Communities No L 6/25 COUNCIL DECISION of 20 December 1993 . ' amending Council Decision 89/286/EEC on the implementation at Community level of the main phase of the strategic programme for innovation and technology transfer (1989 to 1993) (Sprint programme) (94/5/EC) THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, Having regard to the Treaty establishing the European Community, and in particular Article 130 thereof, Having regard to the ‘proposal from the Commission ('), Having regard to the opinion of the European Parli- ament (3), Having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee (%), Whereas a favourable environment for innovation and the transfer of technologies in all regions and sectors of the Community is one of the preconditions for the competiti- veness of its industry and the strengthening of its scien- tific and technological bases ; Whereas on 17 April 1989 the Council adopted Decision 89/286/EEC on the implementation at Community level of the main phase of the strategic programme for innova- tion and technological transfer (1989 to 1993) (Sprint programme) () ; Whereas a panel of independent experts has carried out, pursuant to Article 8 of that Decision, an assessment of the results achieved after 30 months of the programme’s implementation ; whereas the Commission has submitted the assessment report, together with its comments, to the European Parliament, the Council and the Economic and Social Committee ; Whereas the report confirms the appositeness of the objectives and main characteristics of the programme, calls for its extension and makes recommendations concerning the direction of certain measures ; Whereas the actions undertaken in the framework of the Sprint programme, whose effects can be perceived only in the medium to long term, need to be continued and rein- forced in such a way as to contribute to the initiative to () OJ No C 200, 24. 7. 1993, p. 7. () O] No C 329, 6. 12. 1993.  ° (®) Opinion delivered on 24 November 1993 (not yet published in the Official Journal). () OJ No L 112, 25. 4. 1989, p. 12. relaunch growth, to ensure coherence with the other Community instruments to promote innovation and tech- nology diffusion, and to prepare for the integration of Sprint into the Fourth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development ; Whereas these activities rely, for their implementation, on national and regional bodies and make use whenever feasible of decentralized management; whereas they consist mainly in the creation of transnational networks of sectoral or regional actors, the identification and the diffusion of best practices beyond national borders, the pooling of efforts at Community level to reduce the cost and risk of experimenting new schemes; whereas they therefore complement and support action undertaken at national and regional level, thus respecting the principle of subsidiarity ; Whereas it would therefore be expedient to extend the programme to 31 December 1994 and to amend Decision 89/286/EEC accordingly, HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION : Article 1 Council Decision 89/286/EEC is hereby amended as follows : 1. The title of the Decision shall be replaced by the follo- wing : ‘on the implementation at Community level of the main phase of the strategic programme for innova- tion and technology transfer (1989 to 1994) (Sprint programme)’. 2. Article 1 shall be replaced by the following : ‘Article 1 The main phase of the strategic programme for the promotion of innovation and technology transfer, hereinafter referred to as the “Sprint programme”, is hereby adopted for a period of six years from 1 January 1989’