Commissioner’s monthly update

Good morning

On 17 February, I attended a virtual event for the signing of a grant agreement between the European Commission and representatives of the VACCELERATE consortium.

VACCELERATE will receive a €12 million grant to support the rapid establishment of a clinical research network already spanning 21 countries, with other countries being encouraged to join. It will work in close collaboration with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to enable clinical trials for COVID-19 vaccines and prepare Europe for other infectious diseases that may emerge in the future. In particular, it will help determine the safety and efficacy of vaccines in priority groups (such as the elderly, pregnant women, and children) and it will assess efficacy of vaccines for new SARS-CoV-2 variants, or for different combinations of different existing vaccines (“mix and match”). VACCELERATE will act as a single entry point for vaccine developers, including SMEs, who are looking for European infrastructure to carry out vaccine trials, and also tap into CLIN-Net and LAB-Net - a Europe-wide network of more than 1000 clinical study sites and laboratories in 41 countries.

I am also pleased to announce that the third edition of the European Research and Innovation Days will be held virtually on 23 and 24 June 2021.

This year’s edition will mark the official launch of Horizon Europe, the new EU research and innovation programme for 2021-2027. It will focus on new initiatives to strengthen the European Research Area and it will highlight the importance of collective research and innovation in the coronavirus recovery and for a greener and more digital future.

On 11 February, to mark the International day of Women & Girls in Science, I shared a video message encouraging girls and women in Europe to unlock their full potential to help lead Europe towards a green, digital, healthy and resilient future.

I am determined to step up our efforts on gender equality and support more talented women in research and innovation. I am also committed to ensuring that the gender dimension is fully integrated into research and innovation supported by Horizon Europe, and that it is fully acknowledged in the European Research Area.

We have also published a new factsheet entitled “Gender equality, a strengthened commitment in Horizon Europe”, setting out the challenges and how we will tackle them.

I am also proud to present the new Horizon Europe video, premiered on 2 February during a Portuguese Presidency event celebrating the new EU research and innovation programme. Horizon Europe is our most ambitious research and innovation programme. With a budget of around €95.5 billion, it will support top researchers, innovators and citizens to develop the knowledge and solutions needed for a green, digital and healthy future for everyone. Access and share the video here.

4 February was World Cancer Day. Cancer affects everyone regardless of age, gender or social status and represents a tremendous burden for patients, families, and societies at large. There are more than 200 types of common and rare cancers. If no further action is taken, the number of people newly diagnosed with cancer every year in Europe will increase from the current 3.4 million to more than 4.0 million by 2035.

Fighting cancer and improving the lives of Europeans suffering from this disease is one of the priorities of the European Health Union. Horizon Europe and the Mission on Cancer will play a crucial role by boosting funding for research and innovation, enabling better prevention, optimised care and improved quality of life for cancer survivors. See the factsheet on Research and Innovation in the fight against cancer.

On 4 February, I took part in the 142^nd plenary debate of the Committee of the Regions on the recovery of the cultural sector. Cooperation with the regions ensures that local and regional authorities can make the best use of the funding available to the cultural sectors through EU programmes such as Creative Europe, Horizon Europe and Erasmus+. On top of these, horizontal measures like the Coronavirus Response Investment (CRII) and the SURE initiative can enable targeted support, if Member States so decide. With our joint support, we will make sure that culture can and will play a key role in building a greener, more vibrant and more resilient Europe.

On 10 February, I took part in the plenary debate of the European Parliament on the impact of COVID-19 on youth and sport. I am glad that the Parliament has adopted a resolution to guarantee recovery measures for the sports sector and to concretely help young people cope with the pandemic. Only through an EU-wide approach can we be equipped with the right means to overcome this crisis.

On 19 February, I represented the Commission at the informal videoconference of Education Ministers, together with Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas and Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights Nicolas Schmit. We discussed access, inclusion and success for all in education and training, which are among the priorities of the European Education Area. We welcomed the Council resolution on European cooperation in education and training, which will establish a strategic framework for cooperation between the Commission and will guide our work towards the achievement of the European Education Area. I stressed once again that targeted investment in education is key – as shown in a study soon to be published by the Commission. I also announced the creation of an expert group on quality investment in education and training – you can find the call for applications here.

Our own scientists at the Joint Research Centre continue to provide invaluable insights and robust scientific evidence to help the Commission take the right actions to seize the opportunities and address the challenges of major trends impacting Europe. Last month, this included a report on the Demographic Landscapes of EU territories, which moves beyond country-level analysis to explore Europe's demographic change in fine detail, right down to individual neighbourhoods. Together with the European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA), JRC experts also released a report shedding light on the cybersecurity risks linked to the uptake of AI in autonomous vehicles, and how to address these risks.

My warm congratulations go to Professor Giorgio Parisi who has been awarded the prestigious Wolf Prize in physics for “being one of the most creative and influential theoretical physicists in recent decades”. I’m proud that the EU has supported his breakthrough research with substantial long-term founding – the European Research Council (ERC) backed him with two Advanced Grants. The Wolf Prize in physics has gained a reputation for identifying future winners of the Nobel Prize.

Finally, let me pay tribute to Nobel laureate Professor Paul Crutzen, who has passed away aged 87. As one the founding members of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC), Professor Crutzen played an instrumental role in the launch of the ERC. His truly pioneering work earned him a joint Nobel Prize in 1995. He was the first to show how human activities damage the ozone layer. His basic research lay the foundations for the worldwide ban on ozone-depleting substances within just a few years. He is also credited with coining the term “Anthropocene” to denote a new geological era characterised by the increasing impact of humanity. My thoughts go out to his family.

With best wishes for the month ahead,

Mariya Gabriel

The proposed Institutionalised European Partnerships aim to improve EU preparedness and response to infectious diseases, develop efficient low-carbon aircraft for clean aviation, support the use of renewable biological raw materials in energy production, ensure European leadership in digital technologies and infrastructures, and make rail transport more competitive.

With these grants, the successful proposals will be able to analyse potential markets and ways to commercialise products, assess technology level and consolidate intellectual property rights, often with the goal of creating a start-up or spin-off.

This Innovation Launchpad call received a record number of proposals with 118 submitted. The 35 winning projects include: higher education institutes (23%), SMEs (38%), research organisations (23%) and private organisations (17%). Some of the higher education institutes will focus on bridging the gap from research prototypes to pre-commercialisation with the creation of spin–off companies.

It ranks EU Member States and 45 other countries across the globe on how they have performed from 2010 to 2019, both overall and in the four sustainability dimensions - economic, social, and environmental and governance, helping the EU achieve the Sustainable Development Goals and delivers on its priorities. The index shows that European Union is a strong global performer in the transition towards sustainability, with Denmark and the Netherlands topping the EU ranking and outperforming the US and China. EU countries have all progressed well over the last decade in their transitions performance, with an average improvement rate of 6.5%, compared to the global average rate of 5.4%. Moreover, the different starting points have not proven to be key to progress: some strong performing countries have continued to advance impressively and lesser performers have succeeded in catching-up. The JRC performed an independent statistical audit to validate the index’s methodology and ensure it returned robust results.

At the EU Industry Days (23-26 February), Jean-Eric Paquet discussed how our new concept of Industry 5.0 supports industrial leadership to make the transitions a reality, while keeping the human and societal aspects at the core. It reaches beyond industrial policy, which is why we envisage to engage in the broadest possible discussions with all stakeholders, this is just the beginning. He reiterated how the New ERA helps to speed up the transfer of research results into the real economy through the development of Common Industrial Technology Roadmaps with Member States, industry and other stakeholders, to include R&I investment agendas from basic research to deployment. The aim is to link these roadmaps closely to the Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas, agreed with Member States and industry under the Horizon Europe R&I Partnerships. We will stimulate business acceleration and growth by bridging the gap between SMEs and large companies through the European Innovation Council. In addition, the Open Innovation Textbeds for building materials, funder under Horizon 2020, contributes to the New Bauhaus initiative by providing SME’s the access to physical testing environment, digital twin services and energy efficiency modelling.

On 8 February the Commission also announced the results of the 2020 MSCA call for Individual Fellowship: the EU Horizon 2020 programme for research and innovation will fund – with a total of €328 million – 1,630 excellent, experienced post-doctoral researchers to work on projects in all research fields while receiving training and supervision to enhance their skills and boost their careers.

Commissioner Gabriel had the opportunity to stress that leadership is a great privilege: it is a matter of bringing people together, listening to the needs of the team, and making sure everyone feels motivated to do their best. Building something together with a team is empowering and nobody with the talent and skills to lead should be locked out – especially on the basis of gender. This is why gender equality is a big part of many EU programmes in the field of education: primarily Erasmus+, which is rooted exactly in the same spirit as projects like WiLEAD.

To start things off, we ran several info sessions aimed at regions,cities, businesses and other potential stakeholders. You can view the recordings of those sessions here.

Check the website to find out how you can get involved.