Research & Technology in the EU

Latest news about research and innovation policy in the European Union.

MEPs call for worldwide ban on animal testing of cosmetics — 21 February 2018, 22:56 CET

The EU should launch a diplomatic drive for a worldwide ban on the animal testing of cosmetics before 2023, the European Parliament's Environment Committee said on Tuesday.

Commission boost for European blockchain effort — 05 February 2018, 22:58 CET

The Commission gave its backing Thursday to efforts to develop blockchain technology, with the launch of an EU Blockchain Observatory for a technology seen as an economy 'gamechanger'.

Blockchain Technologies — 01 February 2018, 16:04 CET

The European Commission aims to develop a common approach on Blockchain technology for the EU in the international arena. Blockchain may bring great improvements for the European industry - from start-ups to large corporates, administrations and citizens. It can enable the provision of more efficient services and the emergence of new ones by: improving business processes in governments, companies and organisations; enabling new distributed business and interaction models based on direct peer-to-peer exchanges without the need for centralised platforms or intermediaries.

EU plans first 'Counterfeit and Piracy' watch list — 31 January 2018, 19:33 CET

As part of EU plans for an intellectual property enforcement system, the European Commission launched Wednesday a public consultation to establish a first worldwide 'Counterfeit and Piracy' watch list.

Brussels looks to boost health technology cooperation — 31 January 2018, 23:00 CET

A proposal to boost cooperation amongst EU Member States for assessing health technology will boost innovation and improve the competitiveness of Europe's medical industry, says the Commission.

Qualcomm hit with EUR 997 m EU fine for Apple deals — 25 January 2018, 23:00 CET

Brussels fined Qualcomm EUR 997m Wednesday for abusing its market dominance in LTE baseband chipsets, paying billions of US dollars to a key customer, Apple, so that it would not buy from rivals.

EU looks to spend EUR 1bn on supercomputer plan — 12 January 2018, 17:55 CET

The European Commission unveiled Thursday its plans to invest jointly with the EU's Member States up to EUR 1 billion in building a world-class European supercomputers infrastructure.

High-Performance Computing and EuroHPC initiative — 11 January 2018, 23:42 CET

The European Commission unveiled today its plans to invest jointly with the Member States in building a world-class European supercomputers infrastructure.

Intellectual Property Rights Enforcement — 29 November 2017, 20:22 CET

The European Commission presented on 29 November 2017 measures to ensure that intellectual property rights are well protected, thereby encouraging European companies, in particular SMEs and start-ups, to invest in innovation and creativity.

MedTech Europe: Brexit deal must ensure continued access to needed medtech — 09 November 2017, 19:37 CET

MedTech Europe, the trade association representing the medical technology industry, wants negotiators to be highly sensitive to the impact of Brexit to patients and the SME-based medical technology industry. The association calls for effective arrangements that will mitigate potential risks to patients’ access or to the competitiveness of the sector on both sides of the channel.

Paris is Europe's most innovative city 2017 — 07 November 2017, 23:16 CET

The city of Paris was awarded the 2017 European Capital of Innovation Tuesday, with a prize of EUR 1,000,000 granted under the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.

Horizon 2020 Work Programme from 2018 to 2020 — 29 October 2017, 23:47 CET

The European Commission announced on 27 October how it will spend €30 billion of the EU research and innovation funding programme Horizon 2020 during 2018-2020, including €2.7 billion to kick-start a European Innovation Council.

EUR 30bn earmarked for EU research projects 2018-2020 — 29 October 2017, 23:52 CET

The EU announced its work programme for research and innovation funding over the period 2018-2020 Friday, with EUR 30 billion earmarked for supporting scientific excellence under Horizon 2020.

Opposition to Monsanto bio-piracy patent on soybeans rejected — 12 October 2017, 14:11 CET

The European Patent Office (EPO) rejected on 11 October the opposition filed by 'No Patents on Seeds!' against the Monsanto patent EP 2134870.

Standard Essential Patents and the Quest for Faster Diffusion of Technology — 05 October 2017, 14:03 CET

Standard-essential patents (SEPs) have been critical to the ICT revolution. SEPs have allowed for the fast rates of innovation diffusion that the world has witnessed in the past 25 years. Yet the SEP system is under pressure. It suffers from a smoldering crisis of confidence as costly legal disputes across several international jurisdictions have caused unpredictable frictions in the markets for standardized technologies. Regulators in several parts of the world are now considering actions that seek to overcome obscurities in the SEP system. Asymmetric information is at the very heart of current problems in the market for SEPs, and all too often resembles a market dominated by a “confusopoly” with little transparency about products, quality and prices. In this paper, we will discuss ideas and concepts for what could be done to maintain a balanced and trusted system that supports technological innovation and at the same time conforms to economic efficiency.

EC fintech consultation response: New technology, but same rules must apply — 21 September 2017, 23:50 CET

Insurance Europe responded to the European Commission’s consultation on "Fintech: a more competitive and innovative European financial sector".

Innovation focus for EU's new industrial strategy — 19 September 2017, 20:41 CET

A 'smart, innovative and sustainable industry' is the goal of the EU's new industrial strategy, launched by the European Commission Monday in the wake of last week's 'state of the Union' address.

EU looks to develop supercomputers in Europe — 09 August 2017, 23:43 CET

The EU Commission has launched a consultation calling for opinions on the future development of supercomputing, aiming to create a European initiative on high performance computing.

Still no solution regarding patents on plants and animals — 29 June 2017, 23:30 CET

The 38 Contracting States of the European Patent Office (EPO) at their meeting in The Hague decided to strengthen prohibitions in European patent law in regard to the breeding of plants and animals.

Europe still playing catch-up on innovation: report — 21 June 2017, 00:26 CET

The European Union is catching up with Canada and the US in terms of innovation performance, but the picture among Member States is more mixed, with innovation improving in 15 out of 28 states last year.

Stop patents on bread and beer now! — 10 April 2017, 17:50 CET

Patents claiming wheat, flour and bread, or tomatoes, lettuce and cucumber as inventions of industry - these are just a few examples of patent applications that were filed in 2016.

UK BioIndustry Association statement in response to Prime Minister triggering Article 50 — 30 March 2017, 13:35 CET

In response to the Prime Minister's triggering of Article 50 today, BIA CEO, Steve Bates OBE, said:

Invasive Alien Species Europe app — 27 February 2017, 17:28 CET

Invasive Alien Species in Europe app aims to enable the general public (amateurs and professionals) to receive and share information about Invasive Alien Species (IAS) in Europe. It provides details about 37 difference IAS that are considered to be of interest to the complete European Union. Users can record pictures of possible Invasive Alien Species together with complementary information about their observation.

Concerns raised over European Parliament robotics report — 16 February 2017, 23:29 CET

Following the European Parliament’s plenary vote today to approve its legal affairs committee report on civil law rules on robotics, Nicolas Jeanmart, head of personal insurance, general insurance and macroeconomics at Insurance Europe, said:

MEPs call for code of ethics for robots — 12 January 2017, 20:09 CET

MEPs called Thursday for EU-wide rules for the fast-evolving field of robotics, to settle issues such as compliance with ethical standards and liability for accidents involving driverless cars.