Deadline: 13 October 2016
Website: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/
Eureka: Austria – Spain call for R&D Projects
Deadline: 27 September 2016
Website: http://www.eurekanetwork.org/
Improve Control Over Microorganism Growth in Bio-Catalysis Operations in Order to Reduce/Avoid Contamination Without Antibiotics
Deadline: 8 September 2016
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
Advanced Biomaterials for Smart Food Packaging
Deadline: 8 September 2016
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
Biopolymers with Advanced Functionalities for High Performance Applications
Deadline: 8 September 2016
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
Emerging Technologies for Conversion of the Organic Content of Municipal Solid Waste and Improving Waste-To-Chemicals Value Chains
Deadline: 8 September 2016
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
Exploiting Algae and Other Aquatic Biomass for Production of Molecules for Pharma, Nutraceuticals, Food Additives and Cosmetic Applications
Deadline: 8 September 2016
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
Industrial Biotransformation for the Production of Bio-Based Chemicals
Deadline: 8 September 2016
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
Long-range Research Initiative (LRI) Programme
Deadline: 31 August 2016
Website: http://cefic-lri.org/
Evaluation of the Fuel Quality Directive 98/70/EC of 13 October 1998 Relating to the Quality Of Petrol and Diesel Fuels as Amended
The evaluation should help the Commission to 1) have a better understanding of why and/or how current EU legislation has worked well or not so well, identifying factors which have helped or hampered achievement of the objectives; and 2) Qualify and where possible quantify the impact of the Fuel Quality Directive, in terms of technological impact on vehicle fuel efficiency, engine design, on the refinery sector, the social, economic and environmental impact notably the air quality and health aspects while maintaining a single market for fuels .
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/
REFIT Evaluation in on the Implementation of REACH
The EU Regulation (EC) No 1907/2006 on Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) has been in force since June 2007. The 2017 evaluation of the operation of REACH (REACH report 2017) is part of the reporting on the implementation of REACH, to be carried out every five years by Member States, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) and the Commission to monitor progress in the achievement of the objectives of Regulation. The REFIT evaluation will cover the five compulsory evaluation criteria (effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and EU added value) and put emphasis on potentials for burden reduction and simplification.
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/
Public Consultation on the Joint Programming on Metrology Research
The metrology initiatives, set up under Article 185 TFEU, European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) and its successor European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) target joint programming metrology research across Europe. Under these two initiatives the participating states commit to integrate their national metrology programmes into a single joint research programme. The total budget for EMRP is 400M€ and for EMPIR the budget is increased to 600 M€. The European Commission provides half of the funding to the initiatives, while the participating states commit to provide the other half. This consultation gives the opportunity to provide input on the state of play of the European metrology research system and the challenges it is facing. It is specifically seeking contributions to analyse the experience of joint programming preparation and implementation, identify critical issues that need to be addressed, possibly propose adjustments, and assess how the instrument can best contribute to the policy developments.
Deadline: 7 October 2016
Website: https://ec.europa.eu/
Public Consultation on the Active Substance Mepanipyrim
EFSA will assess and publish all comments from interested parties, which are submitted in line with the consultation criteria in the call regarding the active substance mepanipyrim.
Deadline: 11 September 2016
Source: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/
New Emissions Requirements for the Production of Non-Ferrous Metals
The Commission implementing decision on Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions for the non-ferrous metals industries has now been published. BAT conclusions are the technical basis for competent authorities in EU countries to set permit conditions for the installations concerned, as stipulated by the Industrial Emissions Directive. BAT conclusions aim to achieve a high level of protection of the environment under economically and technically viable conditions. Non-ferrous metals and their alloy play a centre role in our society, particularly in the sectors of energy generation, computing, electronic, telecommunication and transport industries.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/
Aligning Chemicals´ Classification, Labelling and Packaging Regulation
Earlier this year, the European Commission adopted legislation on the classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (the ‘CLP Regulation’). The CLP Regulation sets rules on the hazard classification of chemicals, how these hazards are communicated through labelling and how the chemicals are packaged. CLP labels provide important hazard information to consumers and workers through pictograms (in the shape of a red diamond), hazard and precautionary statements and other labelling elements. The 8th ATP to CLP entered into force on 4 July 2016. Application of the new rules becomes mandatory from 1 February 2018, although they can be applied voluntarily before this date.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/
Bosnia and Herzegovina Joins COSME
SMEs and entrepreneurs from Bosnia and Herzegovina will now be able to participate in COSME, the Competitiveness of Enterprises and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises Programme, under the same conditions as their counterparts from EU Member States and other associated countries. COSME will support projects on a wide range of topics that include clusters, SME internationalisation, building entrepreneurship skills, tourism, reducing the administrative burden for companies and protection of intellectual property rights for companies operating in non-EU countries. It will help SMEs identify funding sources. Bosnia and Herzegovina is the tenth country outside the EU to join and contribute to the programme, after Iceland, Montenegro, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Turkey, Albania, Serbia, Armenia and Ukraine.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/
Raising Awareness About Entrepreneurial Skills
As part of the Skills Agenda for Europe, the Commission has published an ‘Entrepreneurship Competence Framework’ (EntreComp) to raise consensus about what entrepreneurship skills are.
This framework proposes a shared definition of entrepreneurship as a competence and aims to establish a bridge between education and work. The framework develops 15 competences along an 8-level progression model and proposes a comprehensive list of 442 learning outcomes. EntreComp can be used as a basis for the development of curricula and learning activities fostering entrepreneurship as a competence. Also, it can be used for the definition of parameters to assess learners’ and citizens’ entrepreneurial competences.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/
ERC Awards 44 Proof of Concept Grants
Earlier this month, the European Research Council (ERC) announced the names of 44 of its grant holders who will receive top-up funding to explore commercial or innovation potential of the results of their ERC-funded research. These Proof of Concept grants, worth €150,000 each, can be used, for example, to establish intellectual property rights, investigate business opportunities or conduct technical validation. Among other selected projects, one aims to design a new vaccine strategy for RNA viruses, like Ebola, dengue and Zika. The budget of the overall 2016 Proof of Concept competition is €20 million. In the first round of the competition 141 ERC grant holders applied.
Source: https://erc.europa.eu/
Knowing More About Citizen Science
The survey on data management in Citizen Science projects was set up as an open call via Citizen Science associations, European Commission departments and other organisations and projects. The rich set of results gives insights into how citizen science projects currently operate, namely the fact that most of the responding projects, 84%, were mostly in the area of environmental research. According to the JRC, the survey has started a global conversation about citizen science data management. Its analysis of the results calls for best practices to be promoted, along with greater collaboration between projects and fields, and suggests topics for further investigation.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/
Commission Presents Scientific Criteria to Identify Endocrine Disruptors
Following consecutive delays and repeated pressure from the European Parliament, the European Commission has presented last month the criteria to identify endocrine disruptors in the field of plant protection products and biocides. The Commission proposes to the Council and the European Parliament to adopt a strong science-based approach to the identification of endocrine disruptors and to endorse the widely accepted WHO definition. The WHO defines an endocrine disruptor as “an exogenous substance or mixture that alters function(s) of the endocrine system and consequently causes adverse health effects in an intact organism, or its progeny, or (sub)populations”. The criteria also specify that the identification should make use of all relevant scientific evidence, use a weight of an evidence-based approach, and apply a robust systematic review.
Source: http://europa.eu/
Survey on Antimicrobial Resistance
As part of its wider strategy to combat antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the European Commission has published a Special Eurobarometer survey, showing a decrease of 6% in the consumption of antibiotics but at the same time a persistent lack of awareness on their effects. The survey clearly demonstrates that there exists a direct link between better information and lower consumption. The Commissions’ Action Plan on AMR (2011-2016) is currently being evaluated and will, together with the Eurobarometer results, feed into the ongoing work to identify value added EU Action in the fight against AMR as from next year and beyond, among other by giving a stronger push to innovation and research for the development of new antibiotics. European Health Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis stated that he would like the EU to be “the best practice region in the field of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), giving a stronger push to research for the development of new antibiotics, as well as alternatives to antimicrobials.” This shows that the Commission shares EuCheMS concerns presented earlier this year at a STOA-EuCheMS workshop on AMR.
Source: http://europa.eu/
Air Quality Legislation: MEPs Strike Deal with Council
Plans for more ambitious national caps on emissions of key pollutants by 2030 were informally agreed by MEPs and the Dutch Presidency of the Council last month. The proposal sets out the national emission reduction commitments for the main pollutants: sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen oxides (NOx), non-methane volatile organic compounds (NMVOC), ammonia (NH3), and fine particulates (less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter). The agreement on air pollution, which causes about 400,000 premature deaths in the EU per year, now needs to be endorsed by the Environment Committee and Parliament as a whole.
Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/
OECD Report on the Economic Consequences of Outdoor Air Pollution
The report, published in June, is part of the “Costs of Inaction and Resource scarcity: consequences for Long-term Economic growth” (CIRCLE) project, which seeks to take into account the feedbacks from environmental pressures and resource scarcity to the economy.
One of the conclusions of this report, which counted with the collaboration of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), was that the projected increase in concentrations of PM2.5 and ozone will lead to substantial effects on the economy. For instance, healthcare costs related to global air pollution are projected to increase from USD 21 billion in 2015 to USD 176 billion in 2060.Also, by 2060, the annual number of lost working days, which affect labour productivity, are projected to reach 3.7 billion (currently around 1.2 billion) at the global level.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/
EuCheMS Response to Public Consultation on Horizon 2020 ‘Science with and for Society’
EuCheMS has recently submitted a response to the Public consultation on Horizon 2020 ‘Science with and for Society’ Work Programme 2018-2020 (SWAFS). These contributions to the present consultation will feed into preparation of the next SWAFS Work Programme 2018-2020, which will be developed by the European Commission during the end of 2016 and beginning of 2017.The ‘Science with and for Society’ Programme addresses the European societal challenges tackled by Horizon 2020, and aims to create new ways of connecting science to society.
Source: http://www.euchems.eu/
Consequences of British Referendum to H2020
The Statement of 29 June of the Heads of State or Government of 27 Member States, as well as the Presidents of the European Council and the European Commission, confirms that “until the UK leaves the EU, EU law continues to apply to and within the UK, both when it comes to rights and obligations”. This includes the eligibility of UK legal entities to participate and receive funding in Horizon 2020 actions.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/