The Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) and the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) held joint meetings between 29 November and 1 December. The main topics were the regulation on binding annual greenhouse gas emission reductions from 2021 to 2030 contributing to climate actions following the Paris Agreement, an exchange of views with the citizens’ spokesperson for environment and climate matters in the Conference on the Future of Europe, the presentation of the Circular Economy Package, and lastly, the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP15) – which a delegation of ENVI members headed by César Luena will visit between 14-17 December.
The key theme of the 29 November ENVI-ITRE meeting was methane emission reduction. Members of both committees discussed the proposal to reduce methane emissions in the oil, gas and coal sectors.
The co-rapporteurs, Silvia Sardone (ENVI) and Jutta Paulus (ITRE) presented the main elements in their draft report on the legislative proposal that follows the EU Strategy to reduce methane. Their comments included the introduction of high standards of monitoring, reporting and verification of methane emissions, while keeping Europe’s competitiveness in the energy sector in consideration and safeguarding industry interests.
The following meetings on this topic will be held next year, on 1 March 2023 (Brussels).
President of the European Parliament Roberta Mestola, STOA Chair Christian Ehler and Minister of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands Robbert Dijkgraaf were present amongst other high-profile speakers at the event, the key theme of which was academic freedom, as well as its role and importance for the European Union. The initial sessions were panel discussions, attended by a wide range of representatives from academic and academia-related backgrounds. Participating panellists aimed to establish a robust definition for academic freedom from a theoretical, academic and legal standpoint, which could help in positioning it in a European framework.
Following the panels, a European Parliament Forum for Academic Freedom (#EP4AcademicFreedom) was announced. The forum is a STOA initiative, aiming to monitor and report on the state of play of EU Academic Freedom. Members of the forum plan to deliver a yearly monitoring report. The foundations and framework of such monitoring was established at the event.
The European Commission revealed that the recipient of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Horizon Prize for Artificial Photosynthesis is the University of Tokyo in cooperation with the Japanese INPEX Corporation.
EuChemS has worked on topics related to Artificial Photosynthesis: in 2016, it released a white paper on Solar Driven Chemistry, in which it examined the opportunities solar energy can provide to drive chemical reactions. The recognition of Artificial Photosynthesis by EIC is an important milestone of solar driven chemistry, which EuChemS described as a “visionary concept” with great potential.
The goal of the competition was the development of a fuel production system that relies on combining sunlight, water and carbon. The winning project produced renewable methane gas powering an engine during the 72 hour demonstration held in Ispara, Italy, during the summer of this year. Artificial photosynthesis, using which this project functions, is an emerging technology which holds a potential to reduce relying on fossil fuel usage. It is on the radar of the EIC since 2017, the year when it opened the contest up.
The Award Ceremony was held on 5 December. From the 22 nominees, three finalists were selected: the Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA), France, the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom, alongside the winning Tokyo University. The European Union contributes to an international initiative named Mission Innovation Challenge ‘Converting Sunlight to fuels and chemicals’ by offering this prize, which is, amongst other similar prizes, calls for innovative solutions for major contemporary challenges.
The 2023-2024 work programme for Horizon Europe was adopted by the European Commission on 6 December. This means that Horizon Europe will be equipped with approximately 13.5 billion EUR that will be directed towards the support of researchers working on projects related to the European Union’s key science-policy areas, including but not limited to energy resilience (such as the currently significant REPower EU), climate and sustainability, restoration after the pandemic, as well as digital transformations. This 13.5 billion budget is part of the overall Research and Innovation programme of the EU for which a total of 95.5 billion EUR is allocated. Horizon Europe’s five Missions receive 600 million EUR of this funding, but these missions are expected to raise funds from other sources as well.
With the work programme signed off, on 7 December the first calls and proposals were already published. In addition, Horizon information days divided into clusters, during which interested parties can learn more about the programme are being held since 6 December, and they are scheduled until16 February 2023.
On 8 December, the European Commission adopted a safety and sustainability assessment recommendation created by the High Level Roundtable on the Implementation of the Sustainable Chemicals Strategy – of which EuChemS is an active member of.
The recommendation, titled “Establishing a European assessment framework for ‘safe and sustainable by design’ chemicals and materials” primarily focuses on health and environmental protection from hazardous materials. It lays down a framework to be used in Research and Development, which is expected to define a “safe and sustainable by design” criteria, that will guide consumer and food contact producers amongst others to ensure the safety of their products. Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel and Commissioner for the Environment, Oceans and Fisheries Virginijus Sinkevičius both positively commented on the Commission’s adoption.
The document considers the aims of major EU strategies and frameworks such as the Green Deal and the Sustainable Finance Strategy to connect the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability with them, while also linking it with already existing policy frameworks related to chemistry, such as the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) programme.
The High Level Roundtable on the Implementation of the Sustainable Chemicals Strategy was set up by the Directorate General for Environment of the European Commission. EuChemS was invited to participate in the roundtable in 2021. President Floris Rutjes and Secretary General Nineta Hrastelj represented European chemists in the 3 roundtable meetings (and in the preparations for them) in the past years – and will continue to do so in the future.
The Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) held its Constitutive Assembly online on 1 December, followed by an in-person roundtable in Brussels.
Organisations which signed the CoARA agreement before 17 November were invited. As EuChemS is an early signatory of the CoARA Agreement, Secretary General Nineta Hrastelj joined the Assembly as a voting representative, during the course of which the operational foundations for the coalition were laid down.
After the participating organisations accepted the key governing documents, Rianne Letschert, the President of Maastricht University was elected as the Chair.
On the evening of the day, those present in Brussel could participate in a Roundtable on the outcomes of the Assembly meeting and on the foreseen course of actions. It was highlighted that as of now CoARA can boast of more than 400 signatories – however calls were also made to ensure the equality and inclusivity of voices as the initiative goes ahead.
However, with other countries for which Horizon association could be beneficial – namely the United Kingdom and Switzerland – the situation remains unclear, which sends them looking for alternatives. One such is the recently signed bilateral research deal between the two countries, whose progress on association with the Horizon programme remains at a standstill despite calls from the international research community, supported by EuChemS as well. The United Kingdom aims to strengthen cooperation with Switzerland in “deep science” and “deep tech” via joint initiatives, exchange of information and conferences. While cooperation is always welcome, the scientific community from the concerned countries emphasize that this is not a substitute for Horizon, the association with would be by far the best outcome. In addition, the lack of concrete actions in the deal, that takes the form of a “Memorandum of Understanding” is also a point of criticism.
The European Commission addressed the food security issues caused by severe mineral fertiliser shortages.
The Commission’s communication, released on 9 November, lists potential means to overcome short term challenges posed by the supply line disruptions caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, as well as deals with long term issues regarding the sustainability of fertilisers, and the resilience of the food chain. On these matters, the recent set of actions overlap with the Farm to Fork strategy. Amongst the proposed actions, practices for fertiliser use optimisation and usage reduction, as well as financial support actions targeted at vulnerable areas can be found. An important part of the optimisation process is the focus on sustainable farming, sustainable fertiliser production (such as using biomethane or green hydrogen for ammonia production instead of relying on nitrogen) and on substituting mineral fertilisers with organic ones.
The European Chemical Society (EuChemS) continues to investigate sustainable fertilising processes and food production from scientific and policy perspectives, as numerous materials that concern food production are classified as rare ones. In April, EuChemS held a workshop on the element of nitrogen, and on potential means of sustainable ammonia production and use, ranging from precision agriculture using drones to using anammox bacteria to nitrogen removal from wastewater. In 2023, another agriculture related workshop is scheduled to be held, focusing on the element of Phosphorus. In the Commission’s paper, it is highlighted that the European fertiliser industry is dependent on phosphate imports – therefore its crucial for the long-term resilience of the Union.
The proposed revision of the Ambient Air Quality Directives will set air quality standards, aligned with World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, and establish a trajectory to achieve zero pollution for air by 2050. The annual limit value for the main pollutant – fine particulate matter (PM2.5) – is proposed to be cut by more than half.
The revised Urban Wastewater Treatment Directive pushes for cleaner rivers, lakes, groundwaters and seas, and making wastewater treatment more cost-effective. It is also relevant from an energy-neutrality and circular economy point of view: the wastewater sector has significant untapped renewable energy production potential. EU countries will be required to track industrial pollution at source to increase the possibilities of re-using sludge and treated wastewater, avoiding the loss of resources.
The Commission proposed several improvements to support health and environmental protection including recovery and water treatment obligations. In addition microplastic concentration will be monitored. New standards for micropollutants will also be introduced, as well as an updated list of water pollutants, to which 25 new substances will be added.
The main topic of the Tripartite Social Summit, held on 19 October, was “Tackling the energy crisis and the cost of living crisis: How to protect the economy, businesses and workers”. Leaders of the European Union met with social partners to discuss the unprecedented rise in energy prices following the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has adverse effects on welfare and economy.
The European Commission aims respond to the crisis with the robust REPowerEU Plan, the goal of which is to transform the European energy system by relying on renewables, efficiency improvement, and other innovative technologies, such as large scale digitalisation. In addition, the Commission recently proposed an emergency regulation in order to secure gas supply by joint purchasing, solidarity and allocation mechanisms between member states. In addition, by March 2023, the commission intends to establish a price benchmark, and until that time proposes limits on and correction mechanisms of gas prices.
However, the crisis also concerns scientific infrastructures. Numerous research facilities require a high amount of energy in order to properly function – therefore their operational costs increased by a proportionally much higher margin than of regular user’s. These facilities are often forced to operate with a reduced capacity or even consider temporary shutdowns – one of them being CERN, the world’s largest particle physics laboratory, which had to reduce its operational capacity by 20%. The unpredictability of the often-irregular energy needs for research poses further challenges, which makes providing support difficult.
The International Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI), organised by the European Commission and the Czech Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was held between 19-21 October 2022. The Conference, hosted in Brno, highlighted how research infrastructures and their innovation can respond to contemporary challenges of climate, energy, infectious diseases and equal global access to infrastructures. As the topics were of international concern, participants and speakers were present from across the globe.
On the last day of the conference, the Czech Presidency released a Declaration on fostering a Global Ecosystem of Research Infrastructures (RIs). The document provides an in-depth outlook on general policy perspectives on RIs and serves as a call for action to support RIs by prioritising them during policymaking in a wide range of related areas, consider them as strategic investments and thus ensure a robust and stable framework for them that includes funding and networking opportunities, amongst other calls.
The Member States of the EU as well as the European Commission expressed support for the call, which they intend to support using their own processes. In addition, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures, also present at ICRI, pledged to assist in underpinning the development of a global research infrastructure ecosystem.
The Environment Council of the European Commission secured a negotiating mandate for the conference, as well as for the COP15 Biodiversity Conference to be held in December. The EU pushes to increase actions to mitigate the interconnected climate and biodiversity crises and deliver on the Paris Agreement, aiming to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
The EU stated its readiness to further increase its Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC), in line with the outcome of the ongoing ‘Fit for 55′ negotiations. In addition, the Union adoptied a Mitigation Work Programme, as well as initiatives aimed at ending inefficient fossil fuel subsidies, phasing down coal and reducing methane emissions.
The European Parliament is also being represented at the event – 14 members of the Committees ENVI and ITRE are present in Sharm El Sheikh. MEP Bas Eickhout leads the parliament’s delegation, which is there to collaborate with parliamentarians of non-EU countries as well as representatives of international organisations.
The EU’s focus at the COP15 on biodiversity will be emphasizing the target of protecting 30% of land and 30% of oceans by 2030, focusing on areas that are valuable for biodiversity and ecosystem services. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen’s pledged to double external funding for biodiversity, in particular for the most vulnerable countries around the world – for which an adequate resource mobilization is needed.
On 3 October, the members of the ENVI Committee adopted a resolution, calling G20 countries to adopt more ambitious climate goals ahead the UN COP27 Climate Conference, to be held in Egypt next month. The resolution was adopted in the context of the worrisome results announced on COP26 in Glasgow, which show that current targets will not be enough to achieve the goals set out in the Paris Agreement. In addition, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine influences the resolution as well, as Europe’s energy independence from Russia also calls for urgent emphasis on alternative energy sources.
On 10 October the members of ENVI and ITRE also discussed the joint draft report on the proposed regulation for the reduction of methane emissions in the energy sector. In September 2021 the EU and the U.S. announced the Global Methane Pledge: a political commitment to reduce global methane emissions across all methane-emitting sectors by 30% by 2030. The proposed changes include improvement of detection and monitoring techniques, means to utilize leaks otherwise lost as an energy source, streamlining industrial methodology, and increasing transparency to improve market-stakeholder relations.
The Committees noted that an estimated 180 million cubic meters of gas could be earned if all methane leaks were eliminated, as there is currently no legislation requiring methane emitting companies to repair leaks therefore hey may not be aware of them. An amendment to the proposed regulation to impose these obligations is expected to improve health, environment, and benefit industry. In addition, stricter monitoring requirements could incentivise innovation.
The rules will be adopted by the European Council formally in the near future, after which they will be published in the EU Official Journal. They will apply in six months following the publication.
The new rules recently backed by the parliament state that products which contain POPs above a certain threshold are deemed to be harmful for human life and environment, therefore they will have to be destroyed instead of being recycled. The limit for PBDE brominated flame retardants is being reduced in accordance to the new rules, to 200 mg/kg, (albeit it may change depending on years after entry into force), while for dioxins and furans, the threshold will be limited to 5 μg/kg.
The new regulation will be in line with international obligations, such as the Stockholm Convention. Its supporters say that it will assist in achieving a truly circular economy, while protecting our health and environment.
On the night of 30 September, the European Researchers Night took place. The Europe-wide science communication and promotion event is primarily aimed at the younger generation – meaning that in all Horizon Europe associated countries, fun, family-oriented and engaging educational activities were held by scientific organisations. The Researcher’s Night, taking place yearly, on the last Friday of each September, is sponsored by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions.
As 2022 is designated as the European Year of Youth, the launch of the “Researchers at School” initiative was also announced, and implemented in many of the programmes of the Researcher’s Night. This new initiative from the Commission aims to further the same goals as the Researcher’s Night has all year round – popularising science amongst young pupils through direct interaction with researchers. The project is set to involve 2400 primary and secondary schools over two years to hold exchanges on the topic of science, technology, arts and mathematics (STEAM).
These events also emphasize tangible scientific goals, such as how science can help in combating societal challenges, as well as achieving SDGs and an overall healthier European and global environment for the next generation. The researchers at school initiative also aims to reach out to researchers who are interested in getting involved.
On 5 October, the recipients of the 2022 Nobel Prize for Chemistry were announced: Carolyn R. Bertozzi and K. Barry Sharpless from the United States as well as Morten Meldal from Denmark received the honour jointly.
The prestigious scientific award was given in recognition of discovering the foundations for a simple method of connecting molecule blocks together relying on the simplicity of connecting azides with alkynes. This is an achievement on a functional field of chemistry, dubbed “click chemistry”.
This is considered as a significant achievement, as it provides a potential for the creation of complex, high fidelity molecular structures without the often cumbersome need for detailed planning and optimised conditions. According to the Swedish Academy of Sciences, “even if click chemistry cannot provide exact copies of natural molecules, it will be possible to find molecules that fulfil the same functions. Combining simple chemical building blocks makes it possible to create an almost endless variety of molecules: (…) click chemistry could generate pharmaceuticals that were as fit for purpose as those found in nature, and which could be produced on an industrial scale.”
You can learn more about the technical process of “click chemistry” here, and find additional details on the Nobel Prize recipients and ceremonies here.
The milestone 20th edition of the European Regions Week, an annual, large scale event focused on the cohesion of, and cooperation between the regions of Europe, was held between 10 and 13 of October.
The event, comprising of more than 260 workshops, sessions, and participatory labs in total, hosted participants and speakers from various backgrounds: regional political and administrative representatives, academics, and experts from industry. The sessions were similarly versatile. The key topics were ranging from digital and green transition to youth empowerment with subtopics concerning a variety of specific fields, including research, innovation and regional cohesion in knowledge valorisation as well. These events were held in numerous European countries, and while a fair share of them were accessible in person, all of them could be viewed online. Online interaction and social media exposure was emphasized to promote participation all across Europe.
The opening ceremony, attended by EuChemS, was held in the European Parliament in Brussels. High profile speakers addressed the participants: amongst others, the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola, emphasized the role of young elected representatives, as well as President of the European Committee of the Regions Vasco Alves Cordeiro and Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms Elisa Ferreira, discussed regional cohesion, focusing on the highlights of the 8th Cohesion report. In addition, many regional representatives also addressed the achievements and challenges of their respective regions.
The session “Zero Pollution: a driver for sustainability” of the EU Regions Week have was connected to the “Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform”. EuChemS is an invited stakeholder of this platform, which held its 3rd meeting on the same day.
The 4th edition of the European Research and Innovation days (RIDays) was held on 28-29 September, organised by the European Commission, which considers it as its flagship Research and Innovation event. The overarching topic of the RiDays was the EU Innovation agenda, and the role of youth in R&I – a theme connected to 2022 being the European Year of Youth.
This year’s edition was held as a digital only event, consisting of a wide range of workshops and panel discussions streamed online. While this limited participant interaction to a degree, the organisers argued that digital events can achieve a wider reach, and attempted to ensure that the opportunities for interaction are provided by the online platform.
The numerous discussions were revolving aroundthe central role of education and higher education, gender balance in STEM and the importance science communication and science policy – many of which are also EuChemS priorities. During the event, the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (COARA) was announced. The coalition aims to reform research assessment on qualitative and impact-based grounds. R&I stakeholder organisations were invited to sign the COARA agreement.
During the closing ceremony, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel emphasized key drivers in achieving the European Commission’s priorities. According to the Commissioner, RI have an enormous potential to address Global challenges that can only be realized by coordination, cooperation and impact-driven research policy.
Thailand and the European Union launched a new initiative on 9 September, aiming to promote cooperation between researchers of the EU and the country. The agreement is pioneering collaboration between the EU and the ASEAN region, as this is the first arrangement that will enable cooperation between Thai researchers and European Research Council (ERC) grantees.
Researchers supported by the Thai Programme Management Unit for Human Resources & Institutional Development, Research and Innovation (PMU-B) of the National Higher Education, Science, Research & Innovation Policy Council will be able to participate in the work of ERC research groups, given mutual interest and/or similarity of research topics. The PMU-B, according to its administrative arrangement, will facilitate coordination as well as their long or short-term research trips.
The initiative was signed in Bangkok by European Union Ambassador to Thailand, David Daly, and the Director of PMU-B Sompong Klaynongsruang. ERC President Maria Leptin attended the ceremony remotely, stating that“We welcome this new agreement that is fully in line with the ERC’s openness to the world.” Prof Leptin’s statement illustrates the ambitions ERC fosters to establish Europe as a global research hub, relying on worldwide outreach. Implementing Arrangements between the council and numerous research organisations in South and North America, Asia and Africa are already in place. The agreement with Thailand is to be an important part of the global outreach strategy.
Regarding the former, rapporteur Christian Ehler presented a draft, in which he identifies key issues with regards to the European Innovation Council. Firstly, the draft report states that the management of the programme leaves room for improvement, secondly, it highlights that the funding is lacking. In his report, Ehler calls for reimagining the management mode for the EIC alongside reassessing the implementation of the EIC Fund.
Following the demonstration of the draft report of Ehler, Dan Nica presented a draft opinion on the Commission’s proposal to amend the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) Regulation to coordinate it with the REPowerEU initiative. The amendments would modify the RFF regulation in a targeted way to integrate REPower EU chapters in the existing Recovery and Resilience Plans of member states.
The following meeting of the ITRE Committee is expected to be held on 26 September.
On 7 September, Science/Business, a media organisation and interdisciplinary network of research, policy and industrial organisations, held a public conference in Brussels that aimed at exploring avenues of Research & Industry (R&I) cooperation.
The key focus of the conference was Horizon Europe’s widening agenda and its plans for a European Research Area, both of which aims to even out R&I performance between the eastern and western member states. The event considered the context of the crisis caused by the ongoing Ukraine-Russia war, and its implications on scientific collaboration. A number of high-profile speakers participated from versatile backgrounds covering legislative fields, academia and research as well as industry. Regions within and beyond the borders of Europe were represented: apart from EU countries, speakers from Ukraine and Asia were also present.
Over the course of the event, Science/Business launched its “Widening” initiative. As part of the launch, a Q&A was held with Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel. The “widening” initiative aims to be a tracking tool that surveys the development and growth of the Eastern European region’s public and private R&D enterprises. In the process, it also intends to identify and highlight potential challenges, with the ultimate goal of assisting to bridge Eastern and Western Europe in terms of innovation.
On 8 September, the Commission published the third Environmental Implementation Review (EIR), a regular reporting tool designed to improve the implementation of EU environmental laws and policies. This tool contains defined common trends at EU level and shows information on the state of play in the implementation of EU environmental law, based on 27 individual countries.
The state of play in main environmental policy, according to the Review, shows that the biodiversity continues to decline due to the poor habitat conditions. In addition water management progresses slowly, mostly due to River Basin Management Plans, flood risk management, the implementation of rules for drinking water and urban wastewater management. Finally, the state of Circular economy and air quality also leaves room for improvement.
While overall climate legislation shows a good level of implementation, more intensive efforts, and agreements are needed to implement the package of measures required for meeting the -55% target established in the Climate Law for 2030.
The need for investments across the environmental objectives and priorities are vast and many Member States have to ensure better financing and implementation of enablers. For this, adapting and reinforcing Member States’ administrative capacities to implement the environmental governance is critical.
Since 2017, the EIR works alongside the Commission to support Member States to better apply the EIR agreed rules. Furthermore, the Commission can take legal action if the agreed rules aren’t properly implemented.
The Commission’s proposition in June allocated 12.3 Billion EUR to the programme, which was an increase of 100 million EUR compared to the previous year. However, the Heads of States in the European Council amended the proposed budget by reducing it with more than 600 million Euros, which would make the total sum less than the 2022 funding overall. Numerous members of the European Parliament, however, expressed their disapproval towards the proposed cuts.
ITRE Chair Christian Ehler is amongst those who strongly oppose the cuts that would reduce the funding of multiple research and innovation related initiatives, such as the European Research Council and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions as well as research infrastructures in general. According to Science/Business, he referred to the budget debate as a “ritual absurdity”, emphasizing the “draconian” nature of the cuts. Alongside Ehler, rapporteur for the 2023 budget, Nicolae Ștefănuță also against the proposed cuts, calling them inappropriate and highlighting that a number of deserving projects already lack funding.
The Parliament foreseeably will settle on a final position on the budget after 10 October, after which it will enter into negotiations with member states. Before this, ITRE will hold a vote on its position on the budget, on 3 October.
On 14 September, President of The European Commission Ursula von der Leyen addressed the members of the European Parliament at the annual, high-profile State of the European Union (SOTEU) debate.
While SOTEU is held every September, following the summer recess, to provide a platform for MEPs to engage with the Commission, evaluate its performance in the past year and its future directions, the 2022 occasion is considered extraordinary by many, as the EU faced significant challenges last year, and it is set to face an equally challenging future.
Indeed, these challenges were the key topics of von der Leyen’s yearly address which, as in very year, contained important announcements that will likely define the following years. The address focused heavily on the Russian-Ukrainian war, the expressions of solidarity towards Ukraine, and the commitment towards democracy in the EU. Related to the conflict, the importance of reducing the energy dependency of the Union was highlighted. Connected to this, von der Leyen emphasized the significance of the energy transition, within the frame of programmes such as REPower EU and the European Green Deal. An important announcement was made related to energy transition: the foundation of the European Hydrogen Bank, a 3 billion Euro investment that aims to ensure the creation of a European hydrogen market. In addition to energy issues, she pointed out the threat of democratic backsliding within the EU but also expressed ambitions towards expanding the union.
Ursula von der Leyen’s entire speech can be read here.
On August 10, new research valorisation guidelines were published, concerning Research and Innovation, by the European Commission. Such valorisation measures aim to increase the social and economic impact of research, and assist member states to coordinate, using non-binding policy instruments.
The guidelines recommend policymakers and stakeholders in member states to ensure the availability of national-level support structures, consider wide-scope societal use and valorisation of government funded R&I projects, and promote diversity and equality measures in research. They also propose the development of far reaching systems of incentives to involve SMEs, civil society, citizens, end-users and public authorities in innovation processes, alongside multiple proposals to improve peer learning. Lastly, they emphasize the importance of sufficient tools to measure the effectiveness of knowledge valorisation. The establishment of collaborative, transferable metrics is also proposed.
Albeit sponsored by the Commission, these guiding principles are non-binding. They have emerged in the context of the establishment of a European Research Area (ERA), the research equivalent of the Union’s “single market”, introduced in 2020. Since 2021, knowledge valorisation is one of the key principles of the ERA policy agenda, alongside “smart” intellectual property use and open science.
