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In today's Morning Brief:
Switzerland participation to Horizon Europe frozen
After being excluded by the European Commission from a provisional list of third countries eligible for Horizon Europe funding, Switzerland is mounting a campaign to convince Brussels its participation in Horizon Europe should not be confounded by broader political tensions. The decision followed the unilateral decision of Switzerland to withdraw from talks about its overall relationship with the EU. According to Switzerland’s state secretariat for education research and innovation, the country is committed to continue research and innovation cooperation and is ready to start negotiations on its association to Horizon Europe, Euratom, ITER and the Digital Europe programmes. However, representatives of member states in Brussels say it will take a while until all political wrinkles are ironed out and Switzerland can become associated in Horizon Europe, according to an article published on Science Business.
Austrian Chancellor Sebastian Kurz raised the issue of cooperation with Switzerland at the EU Council meeting on 25 June. Member states agreed to put the issue on the agenda of a future meeting of EU leaders, but the next Council meeting is not due to be held until 21 October.
Horizon Europe launch event – focus on Africa (12 July, in Portuguese)
The Commission has organised a launch event for Horizon Europe, with a specific focus on Lusophone African stakeholders, on 12 July, at 14 CEST. The event intends to inform the scientific community of the programmes and calls under the Africa Initiative: the work programme of Horizon Europe for 2021-2022, for targeted actions within the continent.
The event is organised together with the African Union Commission. The event will take place online, mainly in Portuguese (with interpretation offered from/to English), and its objective is to promote the participation and engagement of researchers, academicians and entrepreneurs in Horizon Europe projects. More details and registrations are available here.
EU training programme for battery industry
A new training programme for boosting skills needed in the European battery industry is set to start up in France, after a signing of a pact as part of EU efforts to develop a battery value chain in Europe. European countries are currently working together to consolidate their place in the global battery industry as part of the European Commission-led European Battery Alliance. But along with boosting innovation and production, it is expected Europe will face a skills shortage. Industry estimates that by 2025 there could be a shortage of some 800,000 jobs across the battery value chain. The French training programme aims to help fill the gap by training around 150,000 people by 2025.
This is the second such training programme in Europe, with the pact for the first one in Spain signed in May. Throughout this year, the Alliance hopes to roll out the initiative across Europe. Also in 2021, alongside the skills project, the Commission launched an industrial partnership for batteries striving to develop a competitive and sustainable European battery market by 2030.
Single European Sky to lower emissions
The European Parliament wants to modernise the EU’s airspace management to make it more efficient and greener. Updating Single European Sky rules should help the aviation sector become more efficient, ensuring shorter flights through more direct routes and thus lowering greenhouse gas emissions, say MEPs. The Single European Sky initiative was launched in 1999, in a period marked by a large increase in flights and growing delays that highlighted the need for better coordination. MEPs say airspace management rules need to be further developed and adapted to evolving markets, the new digital environment and the European Green Deal. They are pushing for new rules that would help achieve up to a 10% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions, by avoiding longer routes and promoting cleaner technologies.
European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund approved
The Regulation establishing the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund (EMFAF) under the EU’s 2021-2027 long-term budget was adopted this week by the European Parliament with an overwhelming majority. With a total budget of €6 108 billion (2021-2027), the EMFAF will provide financial support to protect, manage and sustainably use the ocean and its resources contributing thus to the objectives of the European Green Deal. Under the EU’s common fisheries policy, the fund will enable Member States to pursue priorities such as the implementation of the landing obligation, aiming to overcome wasteful discard practices, and strengthening EU’s fisheries control to foster compliance and ensure a level playing for all operators.
France raises its investments in 5G
France aims to invest nearly €1.7 billion in its 5G market, Industry Minister Agnès Pannier-Runacher and Secretary of State for Digital Cédric O announced on Tuesday, while presenting the country’s 5G and future telecommunications strategy that is eyeing a 5G market worth €15 billion by 2025. To contribute to its 2025 strategy of reaching a 5G market worth €15 billion, the government announced €480 million in public funding to support priority projects between now and 2022. By 2025, the funding should grow to €735 million. The strategy also plans to contribute to the development of technological bricks – links in the chain – that are sovereign to obtain networks that guarantee a high level of security and reliability and to bolster Franco-German cooperation on the subject. Most of the public funding or €360 million will go towards this. Read more on Euractiv.
Leak: limited progress in Energy Charter Treaty reform talks
Little progress has been made to modernise a controversial agreement on energy investments that activists warn could derail decarbonisation efforts in Europe and across the globe, according to leaked documents. The fifth round of negotiations on reforming the Energy Charter Treaty – an international agreement that allows energy companies to sue governments for decisions impacting their investments – took place in early June. But attempts by the European Commission to bring the treaty in line with international climate goals have so far fallen flat, according to two leaked diplomatic cables. A sixth round of negotiations to reform the Energy Charter Treaty opened on Tuesday; however, support for the EU’s reform plan was close to non-existent in the last negotiation round. Moreover, even if negotiations were to be successful, the EU proposal has been criticised by environmental groups for lacking ambition. Read more on Euractiv.
More Articles
26/05/2023: New Horizon Europe calls, a global drive for open science, European Commission DG RTD recent reorganisation, EU-China & much more
In today’s Morning Brief:
Horizon Europe
– Twinning call for proposals is open – Read all about it
– Horizon Europe ERA Fellowships call is now open
– EUR 20 million available for Pathways to synergies – Call for proposals
– New Horizon Europe funding opportunity: Dissemination & Exploitation Support Facility call
– Commission Open Call: Expert Group on the Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe
– Industry 5.0 Award contest opens: apply by 1 September 2023
– Horizon Europe: The EU and the Republic of Korea launch formal negotiations on association to the programme
– European Space Agency chief seeks ‘forward-looking decisions’
Research & Innovation:
– EU research ministers make fresh call for a full transition to free open access publishing
– Open Science: stakeholders welcome European efforts towards publicly owned and not-for-profit scholarly communication
– Global drive for more open, rigorous research is growing
– European Commission sets up new European Innovation Council unit in the research directorate
– Spain wants EU presidency to be ‘bridge’ with Latin American R&D
– Green industry law haunted by old conflicts over nuclear, financing
– The five EU research projects involving China’s military-linked universities
– Critical Raw Materials: EU ministers want to move fast but dilemmas abound
– G7 ministers call for rules to improve research security
– Territorial Economic Data viewer supports policy monitoring
News from INESC institutes:
– INESC Brussels HUB is signing an Open Letter regarding changes to Who is Who in EC Directorate
– ECI Cruelty-free cosmetics – Consultation to adhere to joint final statement
– Structuring the ecosystem: RTOs collaboration with higher education institutions
– INESC TEC develops pioneering research in the application of variational quantum circuits to reinforcement learning
– INOV: MULTICAM prototypes, an online presentation on Blockchain and 5000 followers
– Job Opportunities
Events & Training workshops
19/05/2023: HUB Summer Meeting, Digital Europe Programme, Regional Innovation Valleys, European R&I funding and policy, and much more
In today’s Morning Brief:
Horizon Europe
– Commission Expert Group on the Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe
– Commission launches first €122M call to create regional innovation ecosystems
– New calls for proposals of the Digital Europe Programme
Research & Innovation:
– EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel resigns
– France to boost funding for health research infrastructures and UK to invest £100M in improving RIs
– Commission takes European Innovation Council management under its wing
– Industry 5.0 Award: The contest is open for applications
– AI Act moves ahead in EU Parliament with key committee vote
– Defence industry renews call for R&D spending boost
News from INESC institutes:
– Technology and Law: building a virtuous relationship, by Graça Barbosa
– The 2022 INESC-ID AnnualReport is out
– Exciting news from H2020-RESCUER
– Launch of the New Horizon Europe Project SYCLOPS
– INESC TEC supports the implementation of robotic technologies to reduce the ecological footprint
– INESC TEC develops virtual reality app to support youngster looking for jobs
– Job Opportunities
Events & Training workshops
05/05/2023: HE calls update, cohesion policy, open access, open science, cohesion policy and coordination of national and EU R&D policy.
In today’s Morning Brief:
Horizon Europe
– Horizon Europe – easy call and topic search
– From KOWI: MSCA: Model Working Contract for Doctoral Networks published
Research & Innovation:
– Report on the outcome of 2021-2027 cohesion policy programming
– Spain adopts national open access strategy
– Commission attempts to strengthen coordination between national R&D policies and EU research programs
– Commission Plans to launch a European Standardisation Panel survey
– Research funders draw attention to uneven implementation of open science
– EIT Climate to become financially sustainable by end of 2024
– Preparing for Belgium’s Thirteenth Presidency of the Council of the European Union
– African Union-European Union High Level Policy Dialogue – Science, Technology and Innovation. Senior official meet to endorse the AU-EU Innovation Agenda
News from INESC institutes:
– INESC MN has a new publication in Advanced Materials Journal
– INOV projects on Youtube
– Diogo Vaz published an article in Público
– Job Opportunities
Events & Training workshops