European Union News - Environmnet

The 2010 Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) funded 42 eco-innovation projects under the 2010 call for proposals. The CIP Eco-innovation funds are designed to support new products, services and processes that use fewer natural resources and produce less waste, emissions and pollutants.

The European Commission has launched a public consultation which has as main aim to collect views on the strengths and weaknesses of the EU air quality existing legislative framework and progress on its implementation. This web-based consultation is part of a broader process of reflection that will feed into a review due no later than 2013.

The Committee of the Regions plenary agreed in given the green light for a greener and more competitive transport sector by 2050. However, the CoR also added that these plans need more concrete interim targets and adequate funding. Also, the Committee supports the Commission's main goal of cutting greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector by 60%, contrary to some national governments.

An international research partially funded with European funds has shed new light on the history of a cosmic crash - Abell 2744 - that emerged millions of years ago. The study, funded in part by the DARKMATTERDARKENERGY project, can help to reveal how structures form in the universe, and how different types of matter interact with each other when they are smashed together.

The consultation intends seeking opinions from the European citizens on standards that will harmonize the EU-wide approach to data which covers 25 themes including land cover, buildings, soil, land-use, energy, health and safety. The standards will facilitate cross-border integration and analysis of environmental data, modelling, and forecasting activities in many policy areas.

On the future of the Common Agricultural Policy the Parliament is staking out its position for the next long-term budgetary period, running from 2014 to 2020. MEPs want to keep the EU agriculture budget unchanged until 2020 so that farmers have incentives to provide secure food supplies, environmental protection, create new jobs and provide for a competitive EU farming sector.

A EU-funded research in the framework of the International Year of Forests, the LEDDRA project, points out that using the biomass of abandoned areas and farms that respect the conservation of resources helps provide and maintain work and income for people living in these areas. The research focuses in fighting against desertification in dry forests and agricultural lands that dot the Mediterranean region and China.