Brexit is not without consequences on European research. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Education, Research, Innovation and Youth, declared that the UK entry into Horizon Europe programme will be the same as non-EU countries. Currently, UK is the second-biggest beneficiary of funding from Horizon 2020.

On January 9, the UK parliament rejected a proposal that would have launched negotiations for UK membership within the EU’s Erasmus+ programme.

The UK will exit the EU on January 31 and enter a transition period of 11 months, until December 31, 2020. After this date, the UK will officially leave the EU.

On 1 January 2020, Croatia has officially taken over the presidency of the Council of the European Union from Finland. “A Europe that develops, a Europe that connects, a Europe that protects, an influential Europe’’, this is how Croatia wants to shape Europe for the first semester of 2020. Albeit positioning Europe as a global leader will be a priority for Croatia during its 6-months presidency, the country will give top priority to science and sustainable development.

On its strategic agenda, Croatia announced supporting the European Green Deal. The country also addresses the issue of European research fragmentation, especially brain drain. Although talented researchers are equally distributed on the continent, the opportunities are not, as brains tend to leave central and Eastern Europe for Western Europe. Among the main topics at stake, Croatia will launch discussions on reforms and investments in education. The mobility of the Erasmus+ programme, for which proposals to increase its funding are currently discussed, will also be examined during these 6 months.

For more information, you can visit the Croatian presidency of the Council of the European Union website.

While the New Year represents the beginning of a new decade for everyone, 2020 is a very special year for EuchemS: Chemistry in Europe is celebrating its 50 years anniversary.

Active since 1970, EuChemS evolved over time. The organisation was established on 3 July 1970 in Prague by 17 Member Societies from both East and West Europe, under the initial name of FECS (Federation of European Chemical Societies). In 2004, FECS decided to adopt EuCheMS, the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences designation, with its headquarters in Brussels. In 2018, a new name, acronym and logo was adopted: EuChemS, the European Chemical Society.

Since 1970, many events from FECS/EuChemS shaped Chemistry in Europe. Today, EuChemS represents more than 160,000 chemists from 50 Member Societies and Supporting Members.

For this anniversary, EuChemS plan a year-loncelebration. Among events and initiatives planned, the most prominent one will be the main anniversary celebration that will take place in Prague on 3 July 2020. The choice of the city and date was not trivial, as it echoes the founding of the association in 1970.

More activities and events are yet to be announced during this year-long celebration. Stay up to date and folow us on EuChemS social media not to miss out on any news.

We take this opportunity to thank our community and members for the last half century of excellent scientific cooperation and enhancement of Chemistry initiatives all over the European continent and beyond.