In today’s Morning Brief:

Service Contract to Design, Develop, Pilot and Deliver an ‘EU Mobile App for Cancer Prevention’

The EU has opened a new call. The scope of this call for tenders is the design, development, piloting and delivery of a software called ‘EU Mobile App for Cancer Prevention’. The working product will offer to individuals an interactive IT tool to make use of concrete information on how to reduce their cancer risks, in line with most updated approaches and evidence-based information. The tender is part of the flagships and actions which will implement the Europe’s beating cancer plan.

For more information, click here!

Research Fund for Coal and Steel Summit 2022

The Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) will celebrate its 20th anniversary in 2022 and also enters a new phase with increased funding made available for research on low-emission steelmaking and phasing out coal.

To mark the occasion, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG R&I) and the European Research Executive Agency (REA) will jointly co-host, together with the coal and steel communities, a high-level, hybrid, two-day event in Brussels on 21 and 22 March 2022, with the first day dedicated to steel, and the second to coal.

Make sure to register and find out more about the event here!

Cryptocurrencies in the EU: New rules to boost benefits and curb threats

Yesterday, the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee adopted, with 31 votes to 4 and 23 abstentions, its negotiating position on new rules on crypto-assets. They aim to boost users’ confidence and support the development of digital services and alternative payment instruments.

Key provisions agreed by MEPs for those issuing and trading crypto-assets (including  asset-referenced tokens and e-money tokens) cover transparency, disclosure, authorisation and supervision of transactions. Consumers would be better informed about risks, costs and charges. In addition, the legal framework supports market integrity and financial stability by regulating public offers of crypto-assets. Finally, the agreed text includes measures against market manipulation and to prevent money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal activities.

Read the European Parliament’s press release here.

The Commission is launching the Investors Dialogue on Energy

The Investors Dialogue on Energy is a new initiative launched by the Commission’s Directorate-General for Energy. Its objective is to facilitate investments in energy projects that can contribute to achieving the ambitious climate and energy goals of the European Green Deal.

The Investors Dialogue on Energy aims to establish a forum of energy and financial experts who are dedicated to discuss and find solutions to investment barriers for energy projects, making practical recommendations on how to address them. The dialogue will be structured around 5 different segments of the energy value chain. A Working Group will be dedicated for each one of these topics, as listed below:

• Energy production;
• Transmission and distribution;
• Energy storage;
• Heating and cooling;
• Services and prosumers.

Stakeholders who are interested in joining one or more of these Working Groups are welcome to apply by completing the online application form by 10 April 2022, 23:59pm CET.

Click here to apply.

Ukrainian researchers pressure journals to boycott Russian authors

According to Nature news, “This week, Russian authorities seem to have responded to threats of a boycott by saying that it plans to drop a requirement that government-funded scientists publish in recognized foreign journals. That move that could further harm the country’s science, say some Russian researchers. Ukrainian scientists have issued the strongest calls for banning Russian researchers from journals. “Russian scientists have no moral right to retransmit any messages to the world scientific community,” says Olesia Vashchuk, the head of Ukraine’s Young Scientists Council at the Ministry of Education and Science, in two letters dated 1 March. The letters, to publisher Elsevier and citation database Clarivate, call for Russian journals to be removed from databases and for Russian scientists to be taken off journal editorial boards. Those opposed to a ban — in Russia and elsewhere — say that it would penalize scientists who oppose their government’s actions, and that science can act as a diplomatic channel. “You have to ask what this will achieve. Is it about sending a signal? If so, there are better ways,” says Richard Sever, co-founder of the preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv.”.

IbPRIA 2022: 10^th Iberian Conference on Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis

The tenth edition of the Iberian Conference on Pattern Recognition and Image Analysis, IbPRIA 2022, will be held in Aveiro (Portugal), May 4-6, 2022.

IbPRIA is an international conference co-organised by the Portuguese APRP and Spanish AERFAI chapters of the IAPR International Association for Pattern Recognition. IbPRIA-2022 is technically endorsed by the IAPR.

IbPRIA is a single track conference consisting of high quality, previously unpublished papers, presented either orally or as a poster, intended to act as a forum for research groups, engineers and practitioners, to present recent results, algorithmic improvements and promising future directions in pattern recognition and image analysis.

All accepted papers will appear in the conference proceedings and will be published in Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science Series. In addition, a short list of presented papers will be invited to submit extended versions for possible publication in the Springer journal Pattern Analysis and Applications. The awarded papers will be also invited to prepare extended versions to be considered for publication in Pattern Recognition Letters.

Click here for more information.

Towards a green, digital and resilient economy: our European Growth Model

Yesterday, the European Commission has put forward a Communication on the European Growth Model. It recalls the common objectives the EU and its Member States have committed to with respect to the green and digital transition and to strengthening social and economic resilience. It acknowledges that the European economy is undergoing unprecedented transformations in the context of major uncertainties linked to the global and security outlook. The Communication confirms that those developments underscore the need to work closely with our international partners and to reinforce our long-term sustainable growth agenda.

The Communication aims to provide input to the discussions on the European economic growth model, which will take place at next week’s informal European Council meeting of heads of state or government. The Communication sets out the key investments and reforms that are required to achieve our common objectives and underlines the importance of coordinated action by all relevant actors, including the EU, Member States and the private sector.

Click here for the press release.

COP15 global biodiversity negotiations: EU leading the ambition for a new deal to protect people and the planet

From 14 to 29 March, the EU will participate in resumed global biodiversity meetings to advance on the development of the post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework – a new global accord to halt and reverse the loss of the planet’s plants, animals and ecosystems. The talks in Geneva are the last official session for governments to negotiate on the once-in-a-decade global agreement before it arrives in Kunming, China, to be adopted at the UN Biodiversity Conference COP15 later in the year. The Framework will guide global action for nature and people, which is vital for tackling climate change and building a fairer, safer, healthier world for everyone, everywhere.

Click here for more.

Extraordinary Industrial Forum discussed impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on EU industries

The Forum consists of industry experts from various fields in the private, non-profit and public sectors and was set up to help the Commission with the implementation of the EU’s Updated Industrial Strategy. The recent unfolding events in Ukraine have led to the need for a special meeting of the Forum to discuss the new situation in Ukraine and gather information from members on how the war was affecting different European industries. The discussion that took place represents a first step in coordinating information and measures relevant to tackling the impact of the war and will feed into the Commission’s further work to address situation.

Participants of the meeting expressed strong support for the measures already taken and readiness to work with the Commission, in particular to analyse the effects of the situation on different supply chains and help the Commission with recommendations. This will also allow to feed the ongoing work on the greening and digitalisation of industrial ecosystems developed through the work on transition pathways.

The Commission also provided an overview of the actions and measures already being undertaken to address the situation, and invited members to submit further feedback to a new EU survey on supply chain disruptions prepared by the EU Cluster Collaboration Platform on behalf of the Commission. The results will be presented at a special EU Clusters Talk session on Wednesday 16 March.

New Transitions Performance Index 2021

The EU is a strong global performer in the transition towards fair and prosperous sustainability, with Denmark and Ireland leading the way, according to the second edition of the Transitions Performance Index (TPI) published by the Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation yesterday.

The Transitions Performance Index ranks EU Member States and 45 other countries, representing 76% of the world population, on their performance between 2011 and 2020. The report shows overall performance as well in four specific transitions – economic, social, environmental and governance – mirroring the EU policy agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

The index confirms that almost all EU countries have progressed well over the last decade in their transitions performance, with an average rate of 4.9%, compared to the global average rate of 4.3%.

Find out more here.