EFSA and the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) have published an outline of the Guidance they are developing on how to identify substances with endocrine disrupting properties in pesticides and biocides.The Guidance will enable applicants and regulatory authorities to identify endocrine disruptors among chemical substances proposed as pesticides and biocides using hazard-based scientific criteria currently being finalised by EU Member States and the European Commission. A public consultation on the draft Guidance is scheduled for the summer of 2017.
Source: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/
Chemical Safety for Workers Targeted by EU Enforcement Project
Enforcement authorities in the EU will inspect how safety information on hazardous chemicals is compiled, communicated in the supply chain and followed at workplaces. One of the objectives of this enforcement project is to ensure that workers handling hazardous chemicals, especially those dealing with substances of very high concern, receive sufficient and correct safety information. The project will also map how effectively extended safety data sheets are passed on and communicated all the way through the supply chain, i.e. from manufacturers of chemicals to the users.
Source: https://echa.europa.eu/
Scientific Advice to Support Step-by-Step Development of New Biosimilars
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) will launch a pilot project in February 2017 to test the added value and feasibility of tailored scientific advice for the development path of biosimilar medicines. Through this new initiative, EMA aims to provide developers of biosimilars with advice on the studies/tests they should be conducting, on the basis of the quality, analytical and functional data they have already available for the medicine. Biosimilars are biological medicines developed to be highly similar to another biological medicine already authorised in the EU. The pilot is open to all companies seeking scientific advice for the development of a biosimilar medicine.
Source: http://www.ema.europa.eu/
Towards 2017 – Progress made in Science, Research and Innovation in Western Balkans
In its 2016 annual Enlargement Package, the European Commission assessed where the countries of the Western Balkans and Turkey stand in implementing key political and economic reforms, and what needs to be done to address the remaining challenges. Related to Science, Research and Innovation there is a good level of preparation in Macedonia, Montenegro and Serbia, while in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo the preparations are still at an early stage. Some of the main recommendations and which are valid for all countries from the region are to increase investment in research and to work on capacity building measures.
Source: https://wbc-rti.info/
ERC Consolidator Grants: € 605 million to 314 ambitious researchers
The European Research Council (ERC) has recently announced the awarding of its Consolidator Grants to 314 top researchers in Europe. The funding, worth a total of € 605 million, will give them a chance to have far-reaching impact on science and beyond. The grants fall under the ‘ Excellent Science’ pillar of Horizon 2020, the EU’s research and innovation programme. The ERC has evaluated 2,274 research proposals this time, out of which 13.8% have been selected for funding. Twenty – eight percent of grants were awarded to female applicants. The grants will create an estimated 2,000 jobs for postdocs, PhD students and other staff working in the grantees’ research teams.
Source: https://erc.europa.eu/
European Open Science Cloud
The European Parliament´s Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) Committee voted a draft resolution welcoming the European Open Science Cloud model proposed by the Commission, including the plan to extend its use to the industry and to governments. ITRE Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), stated that this open cloud initiative would allow development of a trusted, open environment for storing, sharing and reusing scientific data and results. MEPs also “urged the Commission to lead by example and make all the research data and its results, funded by European Programmes, such as Horizon 2020, EFSI, ESI and others to be open by default, based on the findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable (FAIR) principles”.
Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/
New Rules for Member States to Drastically Cut Air Pollution
In order to achieve the 2030 objectives of the Clean Air Programme, the Directive on the reduction of national emissions of certain atmospheric pollutants has entered into force on 31 December 2016. This Directive sets national reduction commitments for the five pollutants (sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds, ammonia and fine particulate matter) responsible for acidification, eutrophication and ground-level ozone pollution which leads to significant negative impacts on human health and the environment.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/
Car Emissions Committee: First Findings and Draft Recommendations
The ad hoc European Parliament Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurement in the Automotive Sector (EMIS), has presented last month its findings and draft recommendations. The draft text is a result of 10 months’ intensive work to reconstruct the events and collect evidence, in particular on the role of the EU Commission and member states before and after the car emission test cheating scandal. It focuses on discrepancies between the NOx emissions of diesel cars in the laboratory and on the road and on the process of adapting emissions tests to reflect real-world conditions. The draft report will be under debate and should be put to committee vote on 28 February and the final plenary vote in April.
Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/
Commission Registers “Ban Glyphosate” European Citizens’ Initiative
Earlier this month, the European Commission has decided to register a European Citizens Initiative (ECI) inviting the Commission “to propose to Member States a ban on glyphosate, to reform the pesticide approval procedure, and to set EU-wide mandatory reduction targets for pesticide use”. Should the ECI receive one million statements of support within one year, from at least seven different Member States, the Commission will have to react within three months. The Commission can decide either to follow the request or not and in both instances would be required to explain its reasoning. EuCheMS will bring its scientific expertise and join the debate by co-organising a workshop at the European Parliament in May this year.
Source: http://europa.eu/
Council Approves the EU’s Legislative Priorities for 2017
The Council of the European Union has recently approved the EU’s legislative priorities for 2017 as agreed beforehand with the European Parliament and the European Commission. This will help the three EU institutions to pool their efforts and to ensure substantial progress in fields where they are most needed. In this concise document the EU institutions agreed to focus, among other, on the follow-up to the Paris agreement and the clean energy for all Europeans package, and on improving waste management in a circular economy.
Source: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
EuCheMS Answer to the Interim Evaluation of H2020 Consultation
EuCheMS has recently submitted its response to the public consultation on the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020. In its answer, EuCheMS reaffirms the importance of Horizon 2020 as a research funding mechanism, the need for further simplification in the application process, the importance of further European collaboration as to avoid fragmentation and unnecessary duplication of research resources, and the need to increase the level of funding in order to speed-up science answers to our current global challenges.
Source: http://www.euchems.eu/
Priorities for the Maltese Presidency of the Council
Malta will hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union during the first semester of 2017, following six months of Slovak Presidency. Research is one of the Maltese Presidency priorities, with a focus on strengthening the Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in research and innovation, primarily through ensuring legislative deliberations on the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA) initiative. The Maltese Presidency also intends to identify areas where monitoring and reporting burdens in the European Research Area (ERA) could be reduced. Furthermore, they will focus on antimicrobial resistance by making progresses on the Regulations on Veterinary Medicinal Products and Medicated Feed, and on circular economy, envisaging to progress the negotiations for the six Waste Directives while also promoting discussions on marine litter and on the plastics strategy. Under the Maltese Presidency, EuCheMS will organise a workshop in Malta, in April, on the topic of Circular Economy and pharmaceuticals.
Source: http://www.eu2017.mt/