Returning from the summer recess, the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) met again on 1 September.

During its first post-recess meeting, the Committee focused on two key topics: the Implementation report on the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the REPowerEU initiative in context of recovery and resilience plans.

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.