Our own Policy and Communications officer attended the latest round of discussions of the European Parliament’s Committee on Environment, Public Health and Food Saftey (ENVI) on 26 April. The focus: Europe-wide worry over the drop in vaccination use, and the role of transparency in EFSA’s risk assessments. The discussion was presided by Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, Vytenis Andriukaitis, who presented the European Commission’s position as he replied to a variety of questions from Members of the European Parliament. Questions which at times displayed a serious understanding of the issues involved, and at others a complete suspicion of scientific evidence and a troubling instinct to put political views ahead of scientific evidence – and common sense. Although such extreme views were expressed by a minority of people, it serves as a reminder of the need to ensure that scientific knowledge is successfully shared, and that scientific literacy continues to be encouraged.

Commissioner Andriukaitis announced the issuing of a set of recommendations for how the EU can strengthen cooperation in the fight against diseases that can be prevented by vaccines. The Commission’s proposal will put forward 3 pillars for action, including: ‘tackling vaccine hesitancy and improving vaccination coverage, sustainable vaccination policies in the EU, and EU coordination and contribution to global health’. This will be followed by calls for 20 concrete actions to be carried out by the Commission and Member States. You can read the Commission’s press release here.

The proposal will now be discussed by the Council and should be adopted by the end of 2018.

EuCheMS has signed the Future Partnership Project statement launched by the Royal Society and the Wellcome Trust – a project which aims to send a powerful message to leaders in the UK and the EU that science knows no borders and that a shared vision for an ‘ambitious, close and achievable future agreement on research and innovation’ is essential.

With Brexit looming, EuCheMS, in partnership with 52 signatories, has fully endorsed the call for a future partnership that ‘enables excellent research and innovation to flourish across Europe’. The message is all the more significant in light of the recent proposal on the future framework programme – Horizon Europe – unveiled by the European Commission on 2 May.

European research programmes provide vital support for cross-border cooperation, and it is crucial that the EU and the UK continue to work together to ensure that barriers to collaboration, harmonisation and innovation do not occur in the future relationship. The success of past framework programmes, as well as the ongoing Horizon2020, lies in the scale and breadth of their actions, but also in the unique combination of expertise produced by the different Member States.

‘As representatives of research communities across the wider European Research Area, we are united in our desire for an ambitious and close future partnership on research and innovation. This would be good for European science and, in turn, for science globally.’

You can read the Future Partnership Project statement here, and access our Brexit Position Paper: ‘Research and Education Without Borders After Brexit’ here.

The proposal for the future framework programme – Horizon Europe – was unveiled by the European Commission on 2 May, launching a lengthy process of negotiations between the European Parliament and the Council over the next few months. The proposal sets €100 billion for the successor programme to Horizon2020 and for the nuclear research programme, Euratom.

EuCheMS welcomes the Commission’s proposal and recognises the significance of an increased budget, especially in light of the UK’s departure from the EU. It is all the more encouraging to hear many voices in the European Parliament calling for a €120 billion budget for Horizon Europe. We are moreover pleased to see the establishment of an Open Science pillar and a Global Challenges pillar – the latter which will directly support research relating to societal challenges and setting EU-wide missions with ambitious goals. Our Position Paper on the nature of missions in Horizon Europe lays out what we believe are major areas that need to be focused on: from preventing an antimicrobial resistance disaster, to ensuring sustainable low carbon energy for all, to forming a fit-for-purpose food landscape. The issues we have listed in our Position Paper are set to define some of the major societal and environmental challenges ahead – and consequently, need to be addressed immediately and with determination. As such, EuCheMS will continue to work with the European Parliament and other parties to ensure that there is no watering down of the budget proposal and that the strategic areas we have pointed out are recognised as needing special focus and additional funding.

Research and innovation are vital in providing solutions on a range of issues – from health to the environment, energy, food safety, agriculture, industry, and more. As the voice of chemistry in Europe, and representing over 160,000 chemists through our Members, we urge all parties throughout the negotiations to recognise the fundamental importance that a strong and ambitious funding programme for scientific research and innovation will play in overcoming the many challenges that Europe is facing and will face in the coming years.