[en] The engineering activity of EDF for future NPP's is not only concentrated on domestic plants (completion of N4 series), but it is also involved in a European cooperation for the establishment, as far as possible, of internationally agreed harmonized design practices. For these new plants, rethinking of design concepts is underway and solutions are not fixed yet, in particular for the EPR NPP that could follow the N4 series. Studies are focused on a computerized control room concept, in the continuity of the N4 plant, with fully digital equipments and graded classification of safety functions and associated systems. The main problems in this type of solution derive from the implementation and validation of I and C ; feed-back of experience coming from N4, where design and validation criteria have been refined all over the project, will be integrated with the experience of the other participants in the studies for the new plants. In this context, an overview of significant issues of N4 safety related I and C and possible trends for the future plants, are described in this paper. (author)