In 2017, the European Commission (EC) carried out a review of its 2012 EU Bioeconomy Strategy (SWD(2017)374). The review concluded that the Strategy, whose initial aim was to ”pave the way to a more innovative, resource-efficient and competitive society that reconciles food security with the sustainable use of renewable resources for industrial purposes, while ensuring environmental protection”, is delivering on its key aims and that the role of the bioeconomy is increasingly being recognised in Europe.
Click here for more information and to submit your feedback before 20 March 2018.
The EU emissions trading system (ETS) after 2020 foresees the establishment of the Innovation Fund to accelerate the commercialisation of low-carbon technologies. 400 million allowances will be reserved from 2021 onwards for this purpose. In addition, a further 50 million of unallocated allowances from 2013-2020 will be added, together with, as early as 2019, any possible un-used or remaining funds from the NER 300 Programme.
The Fund will support innovation in low-carbon technologies, processes and products in industrial sectors and should stimulate the construction and operation of projects that aim at the environmentally safe capture, use of CO2 (CCU) and its geological storage (CCS), as well as innovative renewable energy and energy storage technologies in the territory of the European Union. Technologies receiving support should not be commercially available yet, but shall be sufficiently mature to be ready for demonstration at pre-commercial scale.
This public consultation will gather the views of the wider public on additional, more detailed, design elements of the Innovation Fund, as an input to the Impact Assessment accompanying the Commission’s proposal for a delegated act.
The European Commission is consulting on the EU rules for products used in the construction of buildings and infrastructure works.
The Construction Products Regulation (CPR) aims to make the single market work for products used in the construction of buildings and infrastructure. However, a number of sources have identified issues affecting the functioning of the CPR (such as the need for clarification regarding simplification provisions, limited evidence of uptake of simplification provisions/lighter regimes by micro enterprises, the link with Regulation 1025/2012 on standardisation and mandatory use of standards in the CPR, and more).
This public consultation aims to give all interested citizens and stakeholders the opportunity to contribute to the exercise and give their views on key issues relevant for the evaluation and impact assessment. In providing this opportunity, this consultation supplements previous, more targeted consultations of stakeholders. The consultation will inform the Commission’s evaluation and impact assessment report and the legislative proposal accompanying the report, if the outcome of the evaluation points towards the need to change the EU rules on construction products.
The names of twelve successful women entrepreneurs shortlisted for the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2018 were unveiled by Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation on the occasion of International Women’s Day. The European Commission’s initiative is part of a wider move to encourage more women to become innovators and entrepreneurs as they continue to be underrepresented in many areas. The criteria for the award looked at the originality and marketability of the developed products or services, their economic and societal impact, as well as the impact and leadership role of the contestants. You can meet the finalists in this short video.
On 22 and 23 February, the European Commission (EC) hosted the second edition of the EU Industry Day forum. EC Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, delivered a speech in which he described the innovative changes in industry and society as resembling the propeller of a plane ‘’with three strong blades: the first is Science; the second is Start-Ups; and the third is Industry’’.
He also announced the launch of the EIC Horizon Prize on Innovative Batteries for e-Vehicles, with an award of €10 million for whoever manages to crack the challenge of developing a safe and sustainable battery for electric vehicles. Up to the task? Click here for more information.
Check out this sobering European Parliament infographic on Greenhouse Gas Emissions in the EU and the world. Why does this matter for all of us? Read EuCheMS’ past president, Professor Cole-Hamilton’s opinion piece on what global warming and its consequences mean.
Eurydice, the Education Information Network in Europe has published a new report that aims to guide policy-makers in providing efficient support mechanisms for teachers. The report covers a total of 43 European education systems (covering the EU as well as the Balkans, Switzerland, Iceland, Norway and Turkey) and delivers analyses of the different country-specific situations, career development opportunities for teachers and competence frameworks.
A recently published study in Nature Climate Change has indicated that soils can be a net sink of greenhouse gases through increased storage of organic carbon. Whilst land management practices can either accelerate the release of carbon or increase the soil’s capacity to store it, the use of fertilisers needs to be adjusted to balance additional nitrogen inputs as climate change mitigation advances can be cancelled out through higher nitrous oxide emissions from soil. The study concludes that a significant level of CO2 mitigation is achievable so long as nitrogen inputs are in turn controlled. You can take a look at the full study here. The findings are a welcome development and can contribute to the EU target to cut 20% greenhouse gas emissions by 2020 and by 40% by 2030 (both compared with emission levels of 1990).
The presence on nano-sized particles of air pollution (with a diameter of just 100 nanometers) has for the first time been detected in children’s urine. The finding is particularly concerning as the particulate matter, also known as black carbon, has been linked to heart diseases and other respiratory conditions. Despite the EU’s commitment to improving air quality, notably through the National Emissions Ceilings Directive (2016/2284/EU) and the reduction commitments for 2020 and 2030, the findings only reinforce the sense of urgency in finding and implementing concrete and effective solutions to prevent a major European (and global) public health risk.
The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) published a new report on 27 February which purports to show that bacteria from humans and animals continues to show resistance to antimicrobials. The report confirms antimicrobial resistance as one of the major threats to public health, notably because of its effect in reducing the effectiveness of treatment options.
For the first time, ESBL-producing Salmonella Kentucky with high resistance to ciprofloxacin in humans was found in four countries. Detection of resistance to carbapenems in poultry was also included in the new findings. The European Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, stressed the need to join efforts at the European level and implement rigorous policies on the use of antibiotics. You can read the full report here and access some figures and data here.
EuCheMS has previously issued warnings over the developing resistance to antimicrobials. In April 2016, EuCheMS co-organised a workshop in the European Parliament with the European Parliament’s Science and Technology Assessment (STOA) Panel and the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry (EFMC) to analyse the global challenge and explore possible solutions. EuCheMS has moreover called for averting an antimicrobial resistance tragedy to be one of the eight Missions of the Future Framework Programme 9 (FP9).
On the occasion of International Women’s Day on March 8, we have looked back at Eurostat figures released last February on the distribution of female scientists and engineers across the EU.
The figures display that there are at least as many women as men in university-level education, whilst the number of female doctorate students has increased more rapidly than the number of equivalent male students in most Member States. From the 17 million scientists and engineers in the EU, 40% are women and 60% men. But while women currently hold the majority of jobs in science and technology in service activities, they only account for 28.4% in manufacturing.
The figures allow us to reflect on the current imbalance (in manufacturing especially) and serve as yet another wake-up call in addressing the existing issues that cut across various policy areas. EuCheMS has been vocal over the years in its call for an equal distribution of male and female scientists and engineers in the EU. In 2011, EuCheMS published ‘European Woman in Chemistry’, an unmissable voyage through centuries of chemical research, focusing on the lives of amazing women who dared to study and innovate, and continuously defied societal expectations.
On 5 March, the European Commission (EC) published the second review of the European Regulation on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) along with a comprehensive evaluation report.
The EC has ultimately concluded that REACH is effective in addressing citizen concerns about chemical safety – although opportunities for improvement, simplification and burden reduction are there for the taking. The EC moreover suggests implementing changes in line with the 7th Environment Action Programme, the Circular Economy Action Plan, and the renewed EU Industrial Policy Strategy. The outcomes and possible follow-up actions will be reviewed with the European parliament, the Council and stakeholders at a public conference in June 2018.
In light of the upcoming European Commission (EC) proposals for the next generation of financial programmes for the post-2020 Multiannual Financial Framework, EuCheMS has responded to the public consultation on EU funds in the area of investment, research & innovations (R&I), SMEs and single market and has published a position paper laying out in more detail our vision for the way forward in the future Framework Programme 9 (FP9).
In addition to proposals for mechanisms for FP9, EuCheMS has defined a total of eight Missions that should be established in key areas. From Missions on ‘Sustainable Low Carbon Energy For All’, ‘Forming a fit-for purpose Food landscape’, ‘Enabling Our Ageing Population’ and ‘Averting an Antimicrobial Resistance Apocalypse’, these Missions highlight what we, as the voice of Chemical Sciences in Europe, perceive as some of the global challenges facing Europe. A Multiannual Financial Framework and an FP9 that recognises the potential of scientific research and innovation, as well as the role this provides in job creation, will be essential in tackling societal, environmental and economic challenges in Europe.
You can read our position paper here, and our answer to the consultation here.
On 2 March, EuCheMS participated in the fifth high-level roundtable event of the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP). On the menu: discussions on integrated advice on open science, including the involvement of citizens in science. One of the core aims of the open science policy is to make science and scientific data much more accessible to the public, a move which EuCheMS welcomes, as it marks an important step in making the scientific arena more accessible and engaging.
The next meeting of the OSPP is scheduled for autumn 2018. Reports, minutes and other materials from the meetings can be found here.
Supporting the chemical sciences is a task that countless people carry-on every day, from the researcher trying to solve the energy problem, to the policy-maker who includes scientific advice in his or her policy decisions, from the secondary school chemistry teacher who awakens the passion for the periodic table to the common citizen who likes to stay aware about chemistry and subscribes to EuCheMS newsletters.
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. EC Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, delivered a speech in which he described the innovative changes in industry and society as resembling the propeller of a plane ‘’with three strong blades: the first is Science; the second is Start-Ups; and the third is Industry’’.
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