Commission updates plans for industry alliances 06 May 2021 | News
MEPs and research organisations say more needs to be done to align the strategy with research and innovation funding programmes over the next seven years
Commission executive vice president Margrethe Vestager. Photo: European Commission
The EU is to launch new industrial alliances to develop microprocessors and semiconductor technologies, industrial data and cloud technology, space launchers, and zero emission aviation, the European Commission announced on Wednesday.
The announcement is part of an update to the EU’s industrial strategy that kicked off in March last year, aimed at increasing the bloc’s independence from technology products and services developed and manufactured in other parts of the world.
The European Commission today published a study on novel genome editing techniques, ruling that the EU genetically modified organism (GMO) regulation is outdated to deal with them. The Commission now plans to review EU policy on plants derived using certain new genomic techniques.
The current GMO legislation was adopted in 2001. Since then, many new gene editing techniques have emerged, some of which are already on the market outside the EU. The research community has been calling for a debate and review of the legislation on genome editing, to ensure better monitoring of regulatory and scientific developments in the field.
The Commission’s latest report ruled there are legal uncertainties when it comes to novel genomic techniques and suggested that regulation should be adapted in line with scientific and technological progress, in particular, when it comes to plant mutagenesis, a technique that does not require insertion of genetic material, and cisgenesis, the rea
16 Mar 2021 | News
Horizon Europe should fund technology infrastructures
The EU has made significant investments in research infrastructures. It now needs more and better technology infrastructures, to help innovations reach the market and scale up, say experts
The EU should invest more in technology infrastructures to help scale-up European innovations, providing resources such as testbeds for nanocomposite materials and 3D printing equipment that will help industry to commercialise new products and services, according to speakers at the annual conference of the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO).
“I think it’s time now that we say Horizon Europe needs to fund technology infrastructure at the same level [that] we are funding research infrastructures,” said Pia Sandvik, CEO of RISE, Sweden’s research institute.