THOⓂ️AS STEIERT

How does the Joint Research Centre’s work affect people’s lives? What does a summer school on green skills in the Western Balkans have in common with combating unfair competition in the EU market on honey? THE JRC SUPPORT OF COURSE ! In our Highlights Report, you can hear from 11 people who worked with us or directly benefited from our work in 2023. ·        Fabrizio Curcio from the Italian Civil Protection Department activated our Copernicus Emergency Services when floods hit the Emilia-Romagna region, and our experts provided satellite imagery to help emergency operations, ·        Beekeeper Yvan Hennion benefitted from our EU-wide testing campaign on honey sold in the EU, revealing frauds and protecting EU producers, ·        @Andrea D'Elia from the Italian Ministry of Energy Security requested our support on risk assessment for gas supply, as the group leader of the regional group on the Russian and Libyan gas supply routes, ·        Barrachin Marc from IRSN used our nuclear labs to study radioactive waste, ·        MEPs Nicola Beer and César Luena used the data produced by our researchers in their role as rapporteurs for the Critical Raw Materials Act and the Nature Restoration Law, ·        Karine Perset from OECD.AI worked with us on trustworthy AI,  ·        Laurie Locascio on electric vehicles charging infrastructure, ·        Olena Snigyr on disinformation,   ·        Professor Jim Skea and the IPCC on different approaches to land-based greenhouse gas emissions and sinks, ·        and Frans W.A. Brom, from the WRR - Netherlands Scientific Council for Government Policy , on how science can better inform policy. I would like to thank them all for their collaboration, it is a great joy to see the impact of our joint achievements.    Building policies based on science is a collective effort, we continue to work with our many partners around the world to make sure research can have a positive impact on people’s lives.    #Science4Policy EU Science, Research and Innovation  

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On behalf of the European Commission,ICF in collaboration with HIVA-KU Leuven, on 30/05 successfully organized and facilitated the 11th Social Situation Monitor. This seminar delved into the impact of #demographic changes on the #labourmarket, #poverty, and #intergenerational fairness. Key insights from the seminar highlighted that our current policy framework is inadequate to address the intertwined and fast-changing challenges of low fertility rates, an ageing workforce, and evolving family structures. However, we also learned that well-developed policies can effectively support tackling these challenges. The discussions underscored the critical need for ongoing research into these issues to identify effective policy solutions. The Social Situation Monitor plays a pivotal role in bridging academic research and policymaking, fostering the development of informed and effective labour market and social policies for a resilient and prosperous future. At ICF we are dedicated to providing the European Commission with high-quality insights and innovative solutions. Special thanks to my amazing team, Valeria Ansaloni , Corinne Mele, Tamar Biedron, Koen van Lieshout #ThisIsICF #EUPolicy #SocialSituationMonitor #AgeingPopulation #fertilityrate

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🌍 New Blog Alert! 🚀 "Local Finances in South-East Europe: Navigating Challenges and Embracing Progress" is out now. Check out the key findings from the NALAS Fiscal Decentralization Report by Thomas Prorok and me. 🌍💡 🔗 Read more: https://lnkd.in/edt8acuW

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Good news: 🐳 🐋 🦈 🐠 🐙 🦑 European Parliament consents by an overwhelming majority for the EU to ratify the #HighSeasTreaty. This is an important step forward for EU ratification; ifaw urges the EU Council to conclude the process as quickly as possible and all EU Member States to complete the ratification process domestically. The 27 EU Member States represent nearly half the remaining 56 ratifications needed for the treaty to enter into force. If EU Member States act quickly, they can be a driving force to conserve over half the Earth’s surface. Right now, only 1% of the High Seas are protected. The rest remains a mostly lawless space where millions of marine species have no protection. Yet oceans are the largest habitat on Earth, producing half the Earth’s oxygen, and absorbing about 30% of the carbon dioxide created. With this treaty, we have a formidable opportunity to help protect the planet and combat climate change. Governments around the world have committed to protecting 30% of our ocean by 2030, so we have no time to lose.   This is one of the most significant treaties of our times. While this decision by the European Parliament is an important milestone, EU Member States and other governments around the world need to take the plunge to make this a reality. #RaceForRatification High Seas Alliance 

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One of the priorities of CEN and CENELEC is to strengthen the relation between research, innovation and #standardization. The Belgian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2024 adopted last week recommendations and conclusions from Member States to enhance #ResearchSecurity in Europe. This is a crucial milestone for our research and innovation work in Europe and at CEN and CENELEC! Why? The Council Conclusions recognize https://lnkd.in/eC2wnBt5:  💡 #Horizon2020 evaluation, where standardization was already identified as a mechanism to deploy research results faster and at scale to the market 🎯 #KnowledgeValorisation as a tool for a resilient and competitive industry with a focus on standardization ⚡ #AdvancedMaterials in research and innovation Our efforts in connecting #HorizonEurope and standardization are threefold: - direct participation in research projects such as EDU4Standards, Stan4SWAP, Indico Global or RISERS Project - contribution of our Members to numerous Horizon Europe research projects to enable #technology transfer and market uptake through standards - connecting research projects with our Technical Committees through Project Liaisons ❓ Interested to include standards in your research project? Get in touch with our Research Helpdesk https://lnkd.in/e-a2cD2s

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EUR 163.5 million in EU funding now available under Horizon Europe's Work Programme to fund green, smart and resilient transport and mobility research projects. 🇪🇺🌎✅ 2 calls for proposals, with a deadline for application of 5 September 2024, covering the following areas of intervension: ➡️Cross-sectoral solutions for the climate transition ➡️ Safe, Resilient Transport and Smart Mobility services for passengers and goods

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Two interesting messages Mario Draghi on the EU-approach after the sovereign debt crisis: “We pursued a deliberate strategy of trying to lower wage costs relative to each other and combine this together with a pro-cyclical fiscal policy. The net effect was only to weaken our own domestic demand and weaken our social model.” Eric Marlier on the employment and poverty targets: “(…) not surpringly, employment contributes effectively to better poverty outcomes. However, the second key message, also other factors are at play. Growth in employment is not enough on itself. I'll come back on data, impact assessments, etc. in a later post.

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Enrico Letta's report on the future of the Single Market will be published today. The other report that will have a big impact on the future of EU policies is Mario Draghi's report on the future of European Competitiveness, which will be published toward the end of June. If you want to know how the design and the philosophy of his report are shaping out, you should read the speech Mario Draghi gave yesterday at the High-level Conference on the European Pillar of Social Rights. His conclusion summarizes the scale of the challenges that confront the European Union: "Restoring our competitiveness is not something we can achieve alone, or only by beating each other. It requires us to act as a European Union in a way we never have before. Our rivals are stealing a march on us because they can act as one country with one strategy and align all the necessary tools and policies behind it. If we are to match them, we will need a renewed partnership among Member States – a re-defining of our Union that is no less ambitious than what the Founding Fathers did 70 years ago with the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community." #competitiveness #singlemarket #cmu #EuropeanUnion #EuropeanCommission

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𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗣'𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝘀? The upcoming #Europeanelections are a critical juncture of climate action. The right-wing surge in European election polls is notable, with significant gains expected for the eurosceptic and far-right groups in the #EuropeanParliament. Polls suggest these groups could pick up nearly a quarter of the 720 seats. Although it is unlikely that the fragmented parties on the extreme right would unite, there is a chance that they will, for the first time, influence Europe’s policy agenda significantly, potentially blocking or overturning major green and climate laws. The landmark 𝗘𝗨 𝗚𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗶𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁, 𝘄𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗲, 𝗮𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗯𝗼𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝘅𝘁 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝘆𝗰𝗹𝗲. The liberals and the greens are expected to face considerable losses., while the Christian-democrats and the social-democrats could likely remain the largest fractions. However, they will likely see their seats reduced considerably after the elections. The 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗮𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝗱𝗿𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗴𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗯𝘂𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲. The ongoing Russian invasion in Ukraine poses an unprecedented security threat at Europe’s borders, while Israel’s war in Gaza adds to the geopolitical instability, impacting Europe-Africa relations. 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗔𝗳𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗨’𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲𝘀 also to counter the influence of powers like China. However, political groups differ in their foreign policy views, including in the realm of development cooperation, which complicates a unified approach. A few days before the elections start, we cannot fully predict the final outcome or eventual formations. But to help you navigate the complex landscape of political positions, I summarised the 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗹𝗶𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝗰𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗽𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗴𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗽𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝘂𝗿𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 for ECDPM 🔎 🌍 . Glad to hear your views! #elections #EUGreenDeal #EU #Africa #climateaction #climatepolicy #foreignpolicy #security #development

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Invitation! HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE On track to 2030? Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals in the EU The European Commissioner for Economy Paolo Gentiloni and I are co-organizing a high-level conference on the theme ‘On Track to 2030?Delivering on the Sustainable Development Goals in the EU’. The conference will take place on 18 June 2024 at the Royal Belgian Library in Brussels. Her Majesty Queen Mathilde will give opening remarks. The aim of the event, which will coincide with the publication of the Eurostat SDG monitoring report, is to review the progress made toward the SDGs during the current Commission’s mandate as well as the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The event also aims to identify areas where more progress is needed ahead of the next legislature and the UN Summit of the Future. It seeks to galvanise the support of political actors across all levels of governance to commit to full implementation of the SDGs in this decade of action. While the EU has made progress on most of the SDGs, a sequence of external shocks strained the post-pandemic recovery and slowed progress on sustainable development. Globally, the picture has been even more challenging, with more efforts needed to help our international partners make the SDGs a reality. The conference will bring together high-level representatives of EU and international institutions, national governments, influential academics, civil society, business and opinion leaders in a true whole-of-government approach, to discuss the progress made so far and key policy priorities and challenges ahead. Here you can find the agenda and the subscription form: https://sdg.eventsite.be/

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🇪🇺 I share my interview published in #EUPoliticalReport as President of Assembly of European Regions (AER) 🗣️ “Regional interests still face significant challenges in European decision-making and policy design” https://lnkd.in/dtUmZPZq

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I am working for some time now with #EU laws. Yet one thing that I still do not really understand is why our Regulations / Directives do not feature a clear link between #recitals and #articles by default. In particular for people outside Brussels, it is often impossible to understand, which recital has been added for which article. During the #AIAct trilogue negotiations, some of us had a list prepared by the European Commission (I think it was from Laura Jugel) that was however created on basis of their legislative proposal from 21 April 2021. Over the last week, I have finally found some time to update that document, based on the latest legal text that will be entering into force on 1 August 2024. My table gives you an overview of how all recitals and articles relate to each other, allowing you for instance to easily locate the extensive #copyright explanations in Recital 104-108 with regard to Article 53(1c/d). In the first column, you find also in brackets the previous number, which the respective recital had during the trilogue negotiations. Let's hope that what I did here becomes one day the norm for EU laws since such as step would IMO significantly increase the #accessibility of our legal texts. You can download the document either here on LinkedIn or via my blog: https://lnkd.in/e6Pk8dwX p.s. Risto Uuk and team did a similar effort with their great 'AI Act explorer' (https://lnkd.in/eD76WKbV), in which you find "suitable recitals" for each article of the EU AI Act.

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📣Yesterday the #COMPET Council (#Space, #research and #innovation) took place where the ministers had important policy debates and adopted new documents: Space: 🔺 Ministers held a policy debate on the EU #spacelaw, which the Commission is expected to propose soon 🔺 Ministers prepared the joint #EU-European Space Agency - ESA Council meeting, which was held after the space part of the Competitiveness Council meeting 🔺 Council adopted conclusions on ‘strengthening Europe’s #competitiveness through space’. The text reflects on how a more competitive European space sector can contribute to the economic and social challenges facing the EU and reinforce its role at global level Research & innovation: 🔺 Reached a political agreement on amendment of the regulation establishing the European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU), also known as #AI factories act. This amendment will introduce an additional objective for the joint undertaking: supporting an AI ecosystem in the EU by developing and operating AI factories 🔺 Ministers adopted a recommendation on enhancing #researchsecurity to support the Commission, member states and research organisations with addressing research #security risks stemming from openness and international cooperation. The recommendation warns of the urgent need to raise awareness and build resilience among researchers and academics across Europe 🔺 Ministers approved Council conclusions on #knowledgevalorisation. The main aim of the conclusions is to address ways to support #knowledge valorisation 🔺 Ministers approved Council conclusions on the ex-post evaluation of #Horizon2020, the research and innovation framework programme (FP) that ran from 2014 until 2020. The conclusions analyse the core principles of Horizon 2020, its scientific, social and economic impact, and the synergies between Horizon 2020 and other European programmes and funds 🔺 Ministers held a policy debate about research and innovation on #advancedmaterials for #industrial leadership ℹ️More information 👉 https://lnkd.in/ebTUy75f

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I'm very proud to have contributed to the development of the EBSI Pan-European Blockchain, a groundbreaking initiative aimed at making information easy to verify and almost impossible to fake. This initiative represents a significant step towards enhancing trust in a privacy-preserving way as no data is stored on #Blockchain aside the public keys of issuers of information (authentic documents and data). Have a look to know more! #Innovation #EBSI #DigitalTransformation #Cybersecurity

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How should the European #GreenDeal 🌱🇪🇺 be reformed to secure support for this project of century? In this blogpost for IDDRI, I discuss the EU's initiatives to boost its #competitiveness and to build up its #resilience and argue for focusing on #emissionstrading as the core instrument for #climate protection. https://lnkd.in/d6-NDhBZ

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With the June 20th EPSCO meeting the curtain fell over the BE Presidency in the employment and social affairs filière. It has been an exciting ride to contribute to this work to better identify and incorporate the economic returns of social investments into overall policy development. The March joint meeting of the Employment and Social Affairs Ministers and the Ministers of Economic and financial Affairs to discuss these issues has been an important milestone. Let me add some quick personal thoughts. Enhancing access to #adminsitrativedata for policy monitoring and impact analysis has appeared to be a key issue. While the main data collections like EU-SILC and LFS are perfect for the general monitoring purposes, monitoring and assessing the returns of social investments require (much) more granular data. While the situation differs quite strongly between Member States, there is a widespread need to make progress on more accessible data (of course respecting privacy rules). The same goes for the #timeliness of the data. Both EPSCO and ECOFIN Council formations have now called for more timely data. While different pathways could be explored, for social indicators making (swift) further progress on #Flashestimates is a key priority. The work of the Informal Working Group on Social Investment on bringing together the work by #MemberStates, the #EuropeanCommission, the #EuropeanInvestmentBank, the #WorldBank and the #OECD provides an excellent basis to built upon. Looking forward to further work on this by the #Europeancommission and in the #SocialProtectionCommittee and #EmploymentCommittee and their Indicator Groups. Many thanks for all the support to the colleagues in the EPSCO Committees, the participants in the Informal Working Group on Social Investment and all who contributed!

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Gabriel Felbermayr and Atanas Pekanov propose an expanded EU budget to serve the dual role of more automatic stabilisation and the provision of EU public goods, where the European Parliament should have an enhanced role in setting investment priorities. We discuss three such areas of investment priority – infrastructure, defense and security, as well as research and development The full paper also on the EP homepage: https://lnkd.in/eUjCqFek

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The results of the European Defence Fund (EDF) 2023 call for proposals have been announced. Finnish companies and research institutions are participating in 19 projects that have been granted funding. There are two research projects in which the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland is the coordinator. These research projects are related to sensor systems and disruptive technologies. #digitalresilience #digitaldefence #EUDefenceindustry #EuropeanDefenceFund Kirsi Kokko Pekka Rantala

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