European Union News - Research & Innovation

The European Commission has decided to set up a major multi-national research databank on population ageing, which will be the first ever research infrastructure project to enjoy the new legal status as a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). This legal status will make such projects easier to set up and simpler to run. Commission's Decision setting up SHARE-ERIC Consortium has been published in the Official Journal of the EU on 18 March.

An international team of scientists has identified a mutation associated with a major indicator of chronic kidney disease, namely high levels of albumin protein in the urine. The discovery could lead to new ways of treating kidney disease and slowing its progression. The study, which was partly funded by the EU, is published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

The European Enterprise Awards (EEA) aim to recognise and reward the best entrepreneurial initiatives by public authorities at national, regional and local level to make Europe more entrepreneurial and business-friendly. 12 regions have been nominated to compete for the final award, whose winners will be announced on 24 May 2011 at the 5th EEA award ceremony co-hosted by the Hungarian Presidency in the prestigious National Gallery in Budapest.

The Competitiveness Council meeting in Brussels on 10 March 10 has given finally its approval for 25 member states to continue with the process of enhanced cooperation to implement the unitary patent protection. Despite protests from Spanish and Italian delegations and, although it seemed that the debate could be relaunched by the recent ruling from EU Court of Justice on the European and Community Court for patent, ministers agreed to continue the process.

EU ministers meeting in Brussels within the Competitiveness Council on 9 March held a debate about the "Annual Growth Survey - European semester", concentrating on the structural reforms required to boost investment in research and innovation and the challenges Europe is facing to reach the EU 2020 headline targets in this area. Ministers also adopted conclusions on the interim evaluation of Seventh Framework Programme and the preparation for the launch of a pilot European Innovation Partnership on "Active and healthy ageing".

According to an Opinion issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union on 8 March 2011, the draft agreement for the creation of a European and Community Patent Court would not be compatible with European Union law. This Opinion follows the request made by the Council to the Court of Justice to obtain its opinion on the compatibility of the envisaged agreement with European Union law.

The European Commission launched on 2 March the EGNOS “Safety-of-Life” service for aviation which will enable precision approaches and make air navigation safer while reducing delays, diversions and cancellations of flights. This free-to-use technology will also allow airports to increase their overall capacity and cut operating costs.

The European Commission has launched on 25 February two online consultations in the field of environment. The first consultation seeks opinions on policy options that might encourage a switch to a more efficient use of natural resources in the European economy, and the second one relates to the position to be taken by the EU at the United Nations conference on Sustainable Development to be held in Rio de Janeiro in 2012. A third related consultation has also been launched to gather opinions on the European bio-based economy, which also includes aspects of resource efficiency. These consultations will remain open until mid-April 2011.

New research from the UK suggests that our birth size and placenta weight may hold clues to the way the left and right sides of our brain will work in relation to each other in later life. These intriguing findings, presented in the journal PLoS ONE, may help to improve our understanding of a range of health issues linked to cerebral laterality.

Vincent van Gogh's art is duller than what it used to be but no one has ever been able to figure out why - until now. An international research team has discovered that sunlight is potentially responsible for triggering a chemical reaction in the yellow chrome paint used by the Dutch post-Impressionist Master painter, turning it into a dull brown colour. The findings are presented in the journal Analytical Chemistry.

Between 2008 and 2010, the European Commission and EU Member States have implemented actions set out in Europe's Small Business Act (SBA) to alleviate administrative burden, facilitate SMEs’ access to finance and support their access to new markets. Although most initiatives foreseen by the SBA have been initiated, a review of implementation so far reveals that more must be done to help SMEs.

Species are disappearing at an alarming rate, threatening nature's ability to provide human beings with essential goods and services like clean air and water, food, fuel, materials, climate regulation and flood prevention, to name just a few. In order to tackle such issues, EU-funded project BIODIVERSA is working to create a single biodiversity research community in Europe.