Deadline: 31 January 2017
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/
Call for Applications for the selection of members of the Operational Groups of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials
Deadline: 31 January 2017
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/
Initiative to limit industrial trans fats intakes in the EU
The main policy objectives of a possible regulation are: 1) to ensure a high level of health protection for EU consumers; 2) to contribute to reducing health inequalities, one the objectives of Europe 2020; 3) To contribute to the effective functioning of the Internal Market for foods that could contain industrial trans fats. Possible proposal should be available by the third quarter of 2017.
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/
REFIT Evaluation of the EU Legislation on Plant Protection Products and Pesticides Residues
The general objective of this Regulatory Fitness and Performance (REFIT) evaluation is to perform an evidence-based assessment of the implementation of the legislation on plant protection products and pesticides residues. The results of the evaluation will be the basis on which the Commission will draft the report to the European Parliament and the Council on the implementation of the plant protection products and pesticides residues legislation. The evaluation could be useful to improve the implementation on the EU rules on pesticides and might trigger legislative proposals in this policy area. For the purpose of this evaluation a consultation strategy will take place, with the involvement of Members of the Advisory Group for the Food Chain; with targeted stakeholders; with a survey for SMEs; with targeted consultations of authorities in the Member States and third countries; and with a public consultation to be published online.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/
Roadmap – Commission’s Communication on a One-Health Action Plan to support Member States on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) Research Challenge
The Council conclusions of 17 June 2016 on AMR call for a reinforced EU strategy against AMR and a new and comprehensive EU Action Plan (AP) on AMR based on the One – Health approach. The current Action Plan has been subject to an evaluation, which showed that the EU can bring added value in the fight against AMR, by: 1) supporting Member States, particularly in establishing, implementing and monitoring their National Action Plans; 2) bringing together EU funds and instruments, to promote innovation and research against AMR; and 3) helping to strengthen the EU ‘s role in global fora, notably within the UN institutions and with major trade partners. The new AP should take the form of a Commission communication to the European Parliament and the Council. This action plan goes along the main propositions defended at a EuCheMS STOA workshop on AMR that took place earlier this year.
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/
Public Consultation on the Active Substance Benalaxyl
EFSA will assess all comments from interested parties regarding the active substance Benalaxyl. Input is requested on the following: physical/chemical properties; details of uses and further information; methods of analysis; mammalian toxicology; residues; and environmental fate and behavior.
Deadline: 25 January 2017
Website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/
Public Stakeholder Consultation on Interim Evaluation of Joint Undertakings Operating Under Horizon 2020
This consultation aims to collect the views of the public about the implementation of the Joint Undertakings (JUs) under Horizon 2020 for the period 2014 to 2016. The Joint Undertakings (JUs) are formalised public-private partnerships involving companies at the European level. The JUs bring together industry, the research community, in some cases Member States, regulators and the EU to define and implement common research agendas and invest in large-scale multinational research activities.
Deadline: 10 March 2017
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/
RIO Country Report: China
China 2015 Research and Innovation Observatory Report (RIO) explains recent policy reforms and laws aiming to accelerate innovation-driven growth and address major challenges in China’s innovation system. It examines the recent ‘Made in China 2025’ plan and an ongoing major reform, begun in 2015, towards greater independence, transparency and coordination of China´s many R&D funding programmes. The report also presents a mapping of areas for potential cooperation and a selection of key institutions in China is presented in the report to facilitate collaborations between EU and Chinese research organisations.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/
Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard 2016
Earlier this month, the Joint Research Centre published the 2016 edition of the EU Industrial Research and Development (R&D) Investment Scoreboard analyses the 2500 companies investing the largest sums in R&D in the world in the fiscal year 2015/16. It comprises companies based in the EU (590), the US, Japan, China, Taiwan, South Korea, Switzerland and further 20 countries. This scoreboard shows significant worldwide rise of corporate R&D, driven by high-tech industries while revenues declined mostly due to low-tech sectors. In the EU chemicals sector, just one of the many sectors where chemistry is intensively used, the average private growth of investment in R&D was 7.1%.
Source: http://iri.jrc.ec.europa.eu/
Council Conclusions on Early Stage Researchers
In its recent Council Conclusions, the Council of the European Union, calls countries for, among others, further promotion of science and research careers. It also calls for the promotion mentorship activities of senior researchers from all sectors to work with early stage researchers. The Council also calls for more international cooperation and for the promotion best practices and policies to support the career advancement of early stage women researchers.
Source: http://www.consilium.europa.eu/
ERC to Re-launch Synergy Grants in 2018
The ERC Scientific Council decided to take the preliminary steps to reinstate the Synergy Grant funding scheme in 2018. This comes after a thorough assessment of the ongoing projects funded through the pilot calls in 2012 and 2013. Synergy Grants can bring together top researchers with complementary skills and knowledge and enable them to jointly address a commonly chosen challenging research problem in unconventional ways, potentially leading to major breakthroughs that scientists would not be able to achieve working alone. The future Synergy Grant call for proposals, including its budget, dates and eligibility criteria, should be published in the 2018 ERC Work Programme to be adopted by the European Commission in 2017.
Source: https://erc.europa.eu/
Glyphosate Raw Data Shared by EFSA
The European Food Safety Agency has shared the raw data that was used in the EU safety evaluation of the pesticide glyphosate. The information has been sent to a group of MEPs who submitted an official request to see the information. The information released includes the raw data from all the genotoxicity and carcinogenicity studies used in the glyphosate assessment. Combined with the EFSA Conclusion and background documents (more than 6,000 pages), the raw data provide enough information to allow full independent scrutiny of the EU scientific assessment.
Source: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/
Raw Materials for Green Technologies
A new Joint Research Centre (JRC) study presented at the 9th Conference of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan), concludes that the EU is vulnerable to supply bottlenecks of some materials needed in wind, photovoltaic and electric vehicles technologies. Such materials are for instance rare earths – neodymium (Nd), praseodymium (Pr) and dysprosium (Dy) – used in permanent magnets for wind and electric vehicles technologies, as well as for graphite (C) required in electric vehicles rechargeable batteries. Moderate supply issues are seen for indium (In), silver (Ag) and silicon (Si) required in the photovoltaic technology as well as cobalt (Co) and lithium (Li) requisite in electric vehicles. In order to tackle resilience to supply shortages, the report suggests to increase EU production of raw materials, to recycle, or to use substitute materials, an option supported by EuCheMS.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/
Report on Water Quality in Europe
Report on Water Quality in Europe
The quality of drinking water and bathing water, and the effectiveness of waste water treatment across the European Union continues to improve, according to a new European Environment Agency (EEA) report recently published. Nonetheless, pollution from sources like waste water treatment plants, agricultural runoff and storm water overflows, and emerging risks like micro pollutants from personal care products pose challenges to maintaining clean and healthy water for people’s use. Water quality is a topic currently high on the European policy agenda, with the European Commission currently running a public consultation on Policy Options to set Minimum Quality Requirements for Reused Water.
Source: http://www.eea.europa.eu/
PISA 2015: EU Performance and Initial Conclusions
The PISA Survey (Programme for International Student Assessment), published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is a key international educational assessment tool providing valuable input for possible educational reforms. The 2015 edition of the PISA survey, which is based on tests given to 15/16 years old students, offers key insights into the performance of school systems in 28 EU Member States and 72 countries and economies worldwide. Some initial conclusions point to a decrease of gender differences in terms of achievement, even though, globally, in terms of preferences, there are more boys than girls interested in chemistry or physics. Also, the Socio-economic status continues to be a strongly influential factor for 15-year-old students’ achievement in science, with much higher shares of low achievers among the lower social groups than among students of higher socio-economic status.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/
Environmental Indicator Report 2016
The European Environmental Agency (EEA) Environmental indicator report 2016 gives a snapshot of progress made so far by the 28 EU Member States in meeting a selected number of EU policy objectives. These are relevant to achieving the three key priority objectives of the EU’s 7th Environment Action Programme: natural capital; resource-efficient, low-carbon economy, and people’s health and well-being, fields in which chemistry is already providing many solutions. The report complements the previously published European environment state and outlook 2015 (SOER) report. Among other evidence, the report shows that EU environmental policies have been more successful on reducing pressures on the environment, improving efficiency and meeting 2020 climate and energy targets than on reducing overall impacts on people’s health and well-being or on ensuring the resilience of natural systems.
Source: http://www.eea.europa.eu/
Observatory for Nanomaterials
The signing of an agreement between the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the European Commission earlier this month, marks the formal kick-off on the creation of the European Union Observatory for Nanomaterials (EU-ON). The information sources for the observatory will include data generated by various pieces of EU legislation regulating the safe use of nanomaterials (e.g. REACH, biocides, cosmetics), from national inventories, research projects, and market studies. By that, it will bring added value not only to European citizens but also to policy makers, industry, NGOs and workers. In its first phase, which will be concluded by the Summer 2017, the observatory will only collect information that is already available and not generate any new data.
Source: https://echa.europa.eu/
MEPs Object to Commission Plans to Renew Bentazone Herbicide
Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) approved a non-binding resolution stating that the EU authorisation for Bentazone herbicide, which expires on 30 June 2017, should not be renewed as its safety has yet to be confirmed. MEPs point out that Bentazone’s consumer risk assessment has not been finalised and that data are missing, particularly on its potential for groundwater exposure. Moreover, a European Food Safety Authority peer review proposes classifying Bentazone, a selective post-emergent herbicide against broadleaved weeds in a wide range of crops, and is commonly used in agriculture, as having suspected reproductive toxicity potential for humans (category 2). The EU Commission has nonetheless proposed to renew Bentazone’s EU authorisation until 31 January 2032, the maximum period possible, while simultaneously requesting data confirming its safety.
Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/
First Scientific Opinion of the SAM High Level Group Delivered
Last month, Henrik C. Wegener, the Chair of the European Commission High Level Group of Scientific Advisors, the Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM), submitted the SAM´s first Scientific Opinion to Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation. In its Opinion, SAM analyses how to close the growing gap between the measurement of CO2 emissions from cars and vans in the laboratory (“type approval”) and what they really emit on the road. The Scientific Opinion is intended to provide evidence-based guidance to a Commission policy proposal for post-2020 emission performance standards for light-duty vehicles (cars and vans), expected in 2017.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/
Names for New Elements 113, 115, 117 and 118 Now Approved
On the 28 November, after a five-month period of public review, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) approved the name and symbols for four elements: nihonium (Nh), moscovium (Mc), tennessine (Ts), and oganesson (Og), respectively for element 113, 115, 117, and 118. In concordance with and following the earlier reports that the claims for discovery of these elements have been fulfilled, the discoverers have been invited to propose names. Keeping with tradition, the newly discovered elements have been named after a place or geographical region, or a scientist. The ending of the names also reflects and maintains historical and chemical consistency: “-ium” for elements 113 and 115 and as for all new elements of groups 1 to 16, “-ine” for element 117 and belonging to group 17 and “-on” for element 118, belonging to group 18.
Source: https://iupac.org/
Study on International Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks and Systems
The European Commission has recently published a study on the International Sectoral Qualifications Frameworks and Systems. This study, for which EuCheMS provided input namely regarding its European Professional card for chemists, reflects on the potential role of the European Qualifications Framework (EQF) in supporting recognition of International Sectoral Qualifications and related initiatives. The EQF is a common European reference framework. It acts as a translation device to make qualifications acquired within the different education and training systems in Europe more readable and understandable. The study can be downloaded in the link below.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/
Circular Economy – EuCheMS at European Commission Mission to China
Following an invitation from the European Commission (EC) delegation, EuCheMS took part in the EC delegation to China on the topic of circular economy, led by Mr Daniel Calleja, the European Commission’s Director-General for Environment. This visit occurred during the 2016 Circular Economy Exhibition organised by the China Association of Circular Economy (CACE).
Dr. Nicola Armaroli, Chair of EuCheMS Working Party on Chemistry and Energy, was EuCheMS´ representative at this mission that included over 60 representatives from European companies, agencies, research centers and associations. EuCheMS previous activities on Circular Economy include among other, a workshop on raw materials, and participating at the European Commission Mission to Chile.