EuCheMS Brussels News Updates, June 2016

160617 BrusselsNewsUpdate

European Highlights

EuCheMS Nominated to Open Science Policy Platform
EuCheMS was selected for the European Commission  High-Level Advisory Group “Open Science Policy Platform”. The group, in which EuCheMS will be represented by Prof. Wolfram Koch, was recently announced by European Commissioner Carlos Moedas at the Competitiveness Council in Brussels. The mandate of this group, composed by 25 stakeholders, is, among other, to advise the…
read more 

Finding Solutions for Antibiotic Resistance: STOA Workshop Outcomes
The outcomes of the STOA working breakfast Solving Antibiotic Resistance are now available online at EuCheMS website as well as on STOA´s webpage. During this event co-organised by the European Parliament´s STOA, EuCheMS, and EFMC and chaired by MEP Paul Rübig on the 28 April 2016, researchers and several Members of the European Parliament analysed…
read more 

Meet the New Elements
Nihonium (Nh), Moscovium (Mc), Tennessine (Ts), and Oganesson (Og) are the names proposed for the four new additions to the periodic table. The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Inorganic Chemistry Division has reviewed these proposals and recommends them for approval. A five-month public review is now set, expiring 8 November 2016, prior…
read more 

MEPs Condemn Commission Delays in Hormone-Disruptors Regulation
European Commission delays in publishing the scientific criteria needed to identify and reduce exposure to hormone-disrupting chemicals, which the UNEP/WHO sees as a global threat to public health, were condemned by Parliament in a resolution voted on 8 June. The text, on “endocrine disruptors”, points out that the Commission’s persistent failure to publish the criteria,…
read more 

EU Tackling Climate Change
The European Commission presented a proposal for the European Union to ratify the Paris Agreement, a legally binding deal to tackle climate change. This proposal follows the successful conclusion of the COP21 in Paris, as well as the Commission´s full assessment of the Paris Agreement presented in March 2016. The Paris Agreement is an opportunity…
read more 

Modernising EU's Standardisation Policy
Earlier this month the Dutch Presidency officially launched the framework for the Joint Initiative on Standardisation (JIS). The JIS will bring together European and national standardisation organisations and bodies, industry, SMEs, consumer associations, trade unions, environmental organisations, Member States and the Commission. These partners will commit to modernising, prioritising, and speeding up the timely delivery…
read more 

Armenia Joins Horizon 2020 to Work with EU in Research and Innovation
Researchers and innovators from Armenia will now have full access to Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation funding programme, under the same conditions as their counterparts from EU Member States and other associated countries. Thanks to this agreement, its research institutes, universities and individual researchers will now have access to all opportunities offered by…
read more 

European Inventor Award 2016
The European Patent Office (EPO) showcased some the best and brightest in innovation at the European Inventor Award 2016 ceremony in Lisbon. Now in its 11th year, the award is presented annually by the EPO to recognise outstanding inventors from Europe and around the world, who have made an exceptional contribution to social development, technological…
read more 

Measuring Air Quality, Weighting Policy Solutions
The Joint Research Centre (JRC) coordinated and contributed to two of the ten chapters of the 2016 Scientific Assessment Report of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), which was officially launched in Brussels at the end of May. The main findings of the report show that air quality in Europe have improved significantly…
read more 

ERC Visit to India
From 23 to 27 May, the President of European Research Council (ERC), Prof. Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, visited India to raise awareness amongst Indian top scientists about funding opportunities in Europe. He also took part in the Global Research Council meeting to be held in New Delhi. Since 2007, the ERC has awarded nearly €11 billion to…
read more 

EFSA Scientific Cooperation Annual Report 2015
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) Strategy 2020 highlights cooperation as one of the five fundamental key values that guide EFSA in its activities. While this has been so since the creation of EFSA, the nature of cooperation is progressively evolving, with Member States increasingly playing a leading role in priority setting and the steering…
read more 

Nano-what? Nanomaterials Terminology and Safety
Consistent use of terminology is important in any field of science and technology to ensure common understanding of concepts and tools among different stakeholders, such as science experts, regulatory authorities, industry and consumers. The Joint Research Centre (JRC) report “NANoREG harmonised terminology for environmental health and safety assessment of nanomaterials” seeks to support a common…
read more 

Responsible Research
Parallel to the large positive impact on human welfare and wellbeing, science and technology sometimes create new risks and ethical dilemmas. Over the last decades many efforts have tried to reduce the distance between science and society, leading to a European-wide approach in Horizon 2020 called Responsible Research and Innovation. The Responsible Research and Innovation…
read more 

 

Innovation & Entrepreneurship

New Waste Emission Standards for The European Chemical Industry
The Official Journal of the European Union published the Best Available Techniques (BAT) conclusions for Common Waste Water and Waste Gas Treatment/Management Systems in the Chemical Sector. These BAT conclusions address a number of issues relevant for all chemical installations covered by the Industrial Emissions Directive: environmental management systems; waste water management, collection, and treatment;…
read more 

Smart Specialisation Platform for Industrial Modernisation
On 2 June during the Smart Regions conference in Brussels, the European Commission launched the Smart Specialisation Platform for Industrial Modernisation. This new initiative offers hands-on support to regions to foster interregional cooperation based on matching smart specialisation priorities related to industrial modernisation - such as Key Enabling Technologies, service innovation or resource efficiency. It…
read more 

Eurostars Projects
If you are a small company in need of public funding for your innovative idea, participation in a Eurostars project can bring you a passport to growth, further innovation, an opening to new global markets and even greater business success. Eurostars is the only European funding programme to be specifically dedicated to support R&D-performing SMEs…
read more 

New Version of REACH-IT
The update of the dossier submission and communication tool, REACH-IT, will be launched on 21 June. To manage the update, ECHA has closed the system one week before the launch, on 14 June at noon. The new REACH-IT will be simpler to use and more intuitive, which will particularly help small and medium-sized companies (SMEs)…
read more 

 

Consultations and Roadmaps

Consultation on Glyphosate
Parties concerned are invited to comment on several hazard classes open for public consultation on the substance Glyphosate. The indicated hazard classes were assessed and concluded by the dossier submitter in their proposal for harmonised classification and labelling (CLH) of the substance glyphosate, and are indicated in the substance details table in the link below.…
read more 

Consultation on a Concept Paper on the Revision of the ‘Guidance On Submissions for Safety Evaluation of Sources Of Nutrients or of other Ingredients Proposed for use in the Manufacture of Foods’
European Food Safety Authority´s (EFSA) Food Ingredient and Packaging Unit (FIP) has launched an open consultation on a Concept paper on the revision of the ‘Guidance on submissions for safety evaluation of sources of nutrients or of other ingredients proposed for use in the manufacture of foods’. This document proposes to highlight those areas of…
read more 

Consultation on the Regulation of Professions: Member States' National Action Plans and Proportionality in Regulation
Over the past two years EU countries have been undergoing a mutual evaluation to screen their regulatory arrangements for professions and ensure that they are 'proportionate' to legitimate public interest objectives, without creating unnecessary burdens. EU countries then had to produce National Action Plans outlining any changes they proposed to make so as to ensure…
read more 

Consultation on Horizon 2020 ‘Food Security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine and Maritime and Inland Water Research and the Bioeconomy’ Work Programme 2018-2020
Contributions to the present consultation will feed into preparation of the next Societal Challenge 2 Work Programme 2018-2020. The Commission expects to develop the content of Work Programme 2018-2020 during the fourth quarter of 2016 and first semester 2017, with adoption and publication of calls for proposals in the autumn of 2017. Deadline: 28 August…
read more 

Evaluation of Regulation No 386/2012 – European Observatory on Infringements of Intellectual Property
The purpose is to assess whether the initial objectives of Regulation 386/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 19 April 2012 on entrusting the Office for Harmonization in the Internal Market (Trade Marks and Designs) with tasks related to the enforcement of intellectual property rights, including the assembling of public and private…
read more 

REFIT - Fitness Check on Chemicals Legislation (Excluding REACH)
The aim of this fitness check is to assess the overall effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence, and EU added value of this legislative framework, including the procedures to implement the framework; and identify possible excessive regulatory burdens, overlaps, inconsistencies, obsolete measures and gaps in the legislative framework. The results of this Fitness Check, together with the…
read more 

Evaluation Roadmap: Evaluation of Directive 2004/48/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 29 April 2004 on the Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights
The initiative will assess the functioning of enforcement of intellectual property rights (IPRED) and in particular the functioning of a number of its key provisions in the online environment, with a view to identify the possible need for updating such provisions and to propose corrective measures. The evaluation is part of the Commission's Regulatory Fitness…
read more

 

Call for Funding and Awards

 

EuCheMS Events

 

Other Events

 

EuCheMS aisbl - Rue du Trône 62, 1050, Brussels, Belgium; www.euchems.eu. Produced for EuCheMS by Nineta Hrastelj Majcen. This newsletter has been carefully prepared and only contains correct information to the best of EuCheMS´ knowledge, however this does not exclude the possibility of existence of incorrect information. EuCheMS cannot be liable for the use or misuse of any information, whether correct or incorrect, present at this newsletter. Intellectual property belongs to its rightful owners, always explicitly traceable on each article. Compilation Copyright © 2016 EuCheMS

 

 

David Spichiger, SCS
17.06.2016