INESC Brussels HUB spring meeting (1-2 June 2021)

The agenda of the INESC Brussels HUB Spring Meeting is now available on the HUB website. It will take place virtually on June 1^st and 2^nd, and will include a public workshop organised by the Work Group Agro-Food and Forestry, titled “Enhancing science-based knowledge on EU forests – its influence in decision making” (1 June, 10-12 CEST), and a public high-level roundtable on deep tech, featuring profiles from INESC and high-level European stakeholders in the area (1 June, 15-17 CEST). The events will take place on Zoom and registration is now open on the event pages.

The Spring Meeting will also include two events whose participation is restricted to the Management Committee and selected observers: a thought leadership workshop on EU research career development (2 June, 10-12 CEST) and the Management Committee meeting (2 June, 14-17 CEST).

European Maritime Day 2021: Towards a sustainable blue economy and ocean literacy

On 20 & 21 May the virtual European Maritime Day conference took place, broadcasted from this year’s host city, Den Helder in the Netherlands. The focus of exchanges, attracting more than 2,400 ocean stakeholders, was the contribution of a sustainable blue economy to post-covid recovery and the European Green Deal.

“A sustainable blue economy is essential to achieve the Green Deal’s objectives: it promotes ocean conservation whilst generating wealth and jobs through solutions based on the sustainable use of marine resources. No green without blue” said Commissioner Sinkevicius presenting the Commission’s recent Communication on a new approach for a sustainable blue economy in the EU adopted on 17 May 2021.

High-level speakers at the EMD opening session underlined the importance of the EU’s energy transition and the importance of offshore wind, maritime spatial planning, the role of regions, marine biodiversity and the need to reduce pressures of the ocean and to recognize the limits to economic growth. Materials from the event are available here.

New handbook to help develop European nature restoration targets

The Commission’s Joint Research Centre has published a summary for policymakers of the first EU–wide ecosystem assessment. The report, developed jointly with the European Environment Agency, provides science-based advice on restoring degraded ecosystems, improving the monitoring of their health, and defining methods to assess their condition.

European Social Economic Summit

This week, the European Social Economic Summit (EUSES) will take place. After being postponed for a year, the event will take place virtually on May 26 and 27, broadcasted from Manheim. The EUSES aims to offer a forum for numerous exchanges on the role of social economy in Europe as a vector for economic development and social inclusion. Topics of discussion include innovation, as a process to develop new solutions to systemic social and environmental issues, and digitalisation and its impact on social and economic prospects worldwide. The programme and the streaming can be accessed here.

Brussels stands firm on plan to limit foreign access to ‘sensitive’ R&D projects

The European Commission is standing firm on its plan to exclude researchers from the UK, Israel and other non-EU countries from “sensitive” parts of the bloc’s upcoming €95.5 billion research programme. In a note issued to member states, dated May 19, the Commission reiterates the need to restrict access to some of its major quantum and space projects. The proposed restrictions, which are broader than those seen in previous seven-year cycles of R&D funding, will cover projects that touch on “sensitive Union assets”, such as the Galileo and Copernicus satellites, “the disruption of which would have a significant impact for the EU as a result of the failure to maintain those functions,” the note says.

The Commission points to a new legal basis in Horizon Europe, Article 22(5), that foresees the possibility to limit the participation of entities established in non-EU countries that that pay to affiliate to Horizon Europe. The proposed curbs would leave countries like Israel with less privileged access to Horizon Europe than it have had in past R&D programmes. For the UK, too, which formally left the bloc at the end of last year, the move would see a big downgrade of its role in key EU projects. Norway and Iceland, two countries inside the European Economic Area, also face exclusion from a number of space research areas, the note says.