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Public Consultation to Support the Evaluation of the European Environment Agency and its European Environment Information and Observation Network

The European Environment Agency (EEA) is an agency of the European Union, which relies on a network of several hundred organisations across EU member States and other member and co-operating countries, the European Environment Information and Observation Network (EIONET). The objective of the EEA and EIONET, as set out in the founding regulation, is to provide the Community and the Member States with objective, reliable and comparable information at European level.

The findings of the evaluation will be used to assess how well the Agency is performing and, in particular, to assess how far the core missions of the EEA and EIONET match current policy demands, some 26 years after the founding of the Agency.

Deadline: 23 October 2017
Website: https://ec.europa.eu/

Public Consultation on Aluminium in Toys

The European Commission and its Scientific Committee on Health, Environmental and Emerging Risks (SCHEER) have launched a public consultation on the preliminary Opinion Tolerable intake of aluminium with regards to adapting the migration limits for aluminium in toys. The Commission has requested SCHEER to review the currently available data on the toxicity of aluminium, taking into account the acceptable levels established by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) in 2008 and by the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) in 2011. The preliminary Opinion presents recommendation for a tolerable intake level for aluminium based on most recent data, including exposure to aluminium from sources other than toys.

Deadline: 10 September 2017
Website
: https://ec.europa.eu/

Public Consultation of the Draft Opinion “Reflection on Interpretation of Some Aspects Related to Genotoxicity Assessments”

In line with the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) policy on openness and transparency and in order for EFSA to receive comments from the scientific community and stakeholders, EFSA has launched public consultations on the draft document  “Reflection on Interpretation of Some Aspects Related to Genotoxicity Assessments”.

Deadline: 6 September 2017
Website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/

Public Consultation on Draft Bisphenol A Hazard Assessment Protocol

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Unit on Food Ingredients and Packaging has launched an open consultation on the draft Bisphenol A (BPA) hazard assessment protocol. This protocol details a priori the strategy and methodology for data collection, study inclusion, evidence appraisal and integration that will be applied in the future EFSA’s re-evaluation of BPA hazard identification and characterisation.

Deadline: 3 September 2017
Website
: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/en/consultations/call/170630

Roadmap: Fitness check of the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives

Air quality has improved across Europe over the past decades, as emissions of many pollutants were curbed successfully. Nevertheless, significant compliance gaps for some key pollutants prevail – most noteworthy exceedances are for particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and to a certain extent the ozone target values. This fitness check will look at the performance of the two complementary EU Ambient Air Quality (AAQ) Directives (Directives 2008/50/EC and 2004/107/EC).

Website: https://ec.europa.eu/

RISE – Bridging R&I Sectors in Europe and Worldwide

80 successful consortia have been selected under the 2017 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) call for proposals, which is part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions. The RISE programme promotes cross-border and cross-sector collaboration through sharing knowledge and ideas from research to market and vice versa within Europe and beyond. With an overall budget of EUR 80 million, 811 participating organisations (including 113 SMEs and 227 organisations from third countries) involved in research and innovation activities will receive funding for 7,480 staff exchanges in all scientific domains. Researchers at doctoral level, post-doctoral fellows as well as technicians, managerial and administrative staff are involved in the exchanges.

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/

Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Academic Staff – 2017

Eurydice has just released its latest publication “Modernisation of Higher Education in Europe: Academic Staff – 2017”. This report explores the current realities for academic staff within the changing higher education landscape in Europe. It focuses on the qualification requirements for academic staff, the recruitment process, employment and working conditions in academia, the impact of external quality assurance, and top-level strategies for internationalisation. It also includes national diagrams showing key characteristics of academic staff categories. The report is based mainly on qualitative data gathered by the Eurydice Network, covering higher education systems in 35 countries.

Source: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/

New Catalogue of Nanomaterials Used in Cosmetics is Now Online

The European Commission has recently published a catalogue collecting information received from operators (e.g. manufacturers, importers, etc.) on nanomaterials present in cosmetic products. This includes nanomaterials used as colourants, preservatives and UV-filters. The catalogue indicates the categories of cosmetic products and foreseeable exposure conditions. In the EU, operators must notify the cosmetic products notification portal (CPNP) of cosmetic products and whether they contain nanomaterials. According to the Commission, the catalogue will be updated regularly.

Source: http://ec.europa.eu/

New Report on Air Pollution

The annual European Union emission inventory report 1990-2015 under the The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution (LRTAP) shows that NH3 emissions fell by 23 % between 1990 and 2015, but increased in the EU-28 between 2014 and 2015 by 1.8 %. The other main pollutants covered by the LRTAP Convention have dropped considerably since 1990, including the three air pollutants primarily responsible for the formation of ground-level ozone (O3). Carbon monoxide (CO), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs) and nitrogen oxides (NOx) were reduced by 68%, 61 % and 56 % respectively. Around 94 % of ammonia emissions in Europe stem from agriculture, mainly from activities such as manure storage, slurry spreading and the use of inorganic nitrogen fertilizers. Ammonia contributes to eutrophication — an oversupply of nitrogen — and acidification of ecosystems. It also forms particulate matter in the atmosphere which has adverse effects on human health.

Source: https://www.eea.europa.eu/

International Research Cooperation on the Atlantic Ocean

The EU, Brazil, and South Africa have recently signed in Lisbon the Belém Statement on Atlantic Research and Innovation Cooperation. Recognising that Oceans play a key role in developing national and regional economies, in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals, and addressing climate change, the parties state in this document their commitment towards further collaborative scientific cooperation regarding the Atlantic Ocean, and towards a sustainable cooperation on marine science, research and innovation.

Source: https://ec.europa.eu/

EU Action to Combat Marine Litter

The European Parliament has recently published the outcomes of the workshop EU Action to Combat Marine Litter. This report summarises four presentations by experts and discussions which took place at this workshop held on 3 May 2017 in the European Parliament. The aim was to provide background information to the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) Committee ’s Members and contribute to their understanding of the need to tackle marine litter and the challenges involved, with the Circular Economy Action Plan and Plastics Strategy being recognised as policy windows in addressing this form of pollution.

Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/