Daily News 01 / 09 / 2020

EU and Germany join efforts to support the African Union's response to coronavirus

The EU continues to work with Member States to tackle the coronavirus pandemic on all fronts. Today, 500.000 additional coronavirus testing kits have been provided to the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The test kits were delivered by an EU Humanitarian Air Bridge flight and are part of a €10 million immediate support package to the African Union (AU) by the German Government in response to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. In total, almost 1.4 million tests for the extraction and the detection of the virus will be made available to African Union countries. “Through the EU Humanitarian Air Bridge, the European Commission continues to work hand in hand with Member States to support vulnerable countries amidst the coronavirus pandemic. It is in our common interest to tackle the pandemic worldwide. We are committed to ensuring effective delivery of essential medical equipment to the countries that need it the most. This specific consignment will be able to reach a large number of countries as it will support the African Union continental response,” said Janez Lenarčič, Commissioner for Crisis Management. The kits delivery is part of the larger Team Europe support to the African continental response to the coronavirus. Mr Gerd Müller, Minister for Development Cooperation of the Federal Republic of Germany, said on the occasion: “We will either beat the coronavirus together worldwide – or not at all. This is why we support the African Union through the German Epidemic Preparedness Team in cooperation with the EU. The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention coordinate the procurement of life-saving testing equipment for AU member states. They also play an important role in educating African health workers. With our support to the partnership to accelerate coronavirus testing, we make sure that testing is made widely available. We stand by our friends in Africa in the fight against the coronavirus.” The full press release is available online. (For more information: Balazs Ujvari - Tel.: +32 229 54578; Daniel Puglisi – Tel.: +32 229 69140)

Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: €80 million to support 4,000 researchers and innovators in universities and beyond

The Commission has today selected 74 new consortia to support international and inter-sectoral collaboration under the 2020 Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE) call for proposals - part of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA). The researchers and innovators involved will work together across sectors and disciplines to tackle global challenges such as climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and digitalisation. For example, one project – ‘eUMaP' is developing a platform for local and public authorities to better plan and manage supply and demand of building utilities (energy, water, waste, telecommunications etc.) in times of crisis, quarantine or lockdown. Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, said: “Research and innovation exchanges like the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions RISE scheme enable researchers to collaborate with their colleagues from around the world. By boosting their creativity and entrepreneurship, we help them turn cutting-edge research into innovative products and services, which are needed now more than ever. I wish the 74 consortia we have selected today every success with their projects.” The RISE action promotes international collaboration through sharing knowledge and ideas from research to market within Europe and beyond. Some 823 organisations (including 117 SMEs) from 137 countries will exchange around 4,000 staff members to engage in research and innovation activities in all scientific domains. Researchers at doctoral level, post-doctoral fellows as well as technicians, managerial and administrative staff are involved in these exchanges. (For more information: Susanne Conze – Tel.: +32 2 298 0236; Sinéad Meehan - van Druten – Tel.: +32 2 298 4094)

Consultation publique: la Commission sollicite l'avis des citoyens sur la nouvelle stratégie relative aux droits de l'enfant

La Commission a lancé aujourd'hui une consultation publique sur une nouvelle stratégie de l'UE sur les droits de l'enfant. Elle fournira un cadre politique réunissant toutes les actions et politiques existantes et futures de l'UE en matière de droits de l'enfant sous un même toit. Elle abordera également les défis persistants ou nouveaux concernant les droits de l'enfant, que l'actuel programme de 2011 ne couvre pas, tels que les risques liés à l'utilisation des nouvelles technologies et de l'intelligence artificielle. Dubravka Šuica, vice-présidente pour la démocratie et la démographie, a déclaré: «Les enfants ont besoin de notre protection et de notre soutien pour développer leur plein potentiel, y compris dans les situations d'urgence, comme l'a montré la pandémie actuelle. Grâce à notre nouvelle stratégie globale de l'UE sur les droits de l'enfant, nous voulons nous assurer que tous les enfants de l'UE ont droit à la même protection et à l'accès aux services, indépendamment de leur origine ou de leur statut social. Nous voulons également renforcer le soutien et la protection des enfants dans le monde grâce à notre action extérieure. La consultation publique qui démarre aujourd'hui sera un élément central de l'élaboration de la stratégie et déterminera son succès. » Didier Reynders, commissaire à la justice, a déclaré: «Tous les enfants ont un droit égal à la santé, à l'éducation, à la vie de famille, aux jeux et aux loisirs; et tous les enfants ont le même droit à un niveau de vie suffisant et à être protégés contre les abus et les préjudices. Mais tous les enfants ne bénéficient pas des mêmes droits dans la pratique. L'objectif de notre nouvelle stratégie est de fournir une approche cohérente et globale pour que les droits des enfants s'appliquent de manière égale partout dans l'UE. Pour veiller à ce que notre stratégie corresponde à son objectif, nous travaillons en étroite collaboration avec les organisations de défense des droits de l'enfant, afin que les voix et les opinions des enfants deviennent une partie intégrante de la préparation de cet important projet. Pour que cela soit un succès, nous devons également entendre l'avis du grand public, c'est pourquoi nous encourageons tous les citoyens à s'exprimer. » La consultation publique sera ouverte jusqu'au 1er décembre 2020. (Pour plus d'informations: Christian Wigand - Tél.: +32 229 62253; Katarzyna Kolanko - Tél.: +32 229 6 34 44; Alice Hobbs - Tél: +32 229 808 29 )

Commission calls for ideas on new EU missions to address climate change, fight cancer, build green cities and make oceans and soils healthier

The Commission opened a call for ideas seeking feedback and suggestions from citizens on how to adapt to climate change, fight cancer, build climate-neutral and smart cities and ensure healthy oceans, soils and food. The collected ideas will feed into the design of the new Missions under Horizon Europe, a novelty in the next EU research and innovation framework programme. Partly inspired by the Apollo 11 mission to put a man on the moon, European research and innovation missions aim to deliver solutions to some of the greatest challenges facing our world. They thereby contribute to the goals of the European Green Deal and Europe's Beating Cancer Plan, as well as the Sustainable Development Goals. There are five defined mission areas. Each mission represents a portfolio of actions across disciplines and sectors within a certain timeframe and budget. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “As part of the future Horizon Europe programme, missions will help define clear targets and find solutions to some of the most pressing challenges facing our world, in turn increasing the effectiveness of research and innovation funding. For this we need citizens to express their views, make proposals and engage in their design and implementation. Together, we will make Europe healthier, greener and more resilient.” The Commission is engaging Europeans in designing and creating missions that will meet their expectations and needs: in June, the Mission Boards, a broad mix of independent experts, presented their first proposals for EU missions and throughout the summer, online events took place around Europe to listen to people's priorities. The results of the latest call for ideas will be presented at the online European Research & Innovation Days (22-24 September 2020). The selected missions will be announced at the end of 2020 and launched in 2021.  More information is available here. (For more information: Johannes Bahrke – Tel.: +32 229 58615; Marietta Grammenou – Tel.: +32 229 83583)

Mergers: Commission clears the acquisition of NPROXX by Cummins and ETC

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of joint control over NPROXX B.V. of the Netherlands by Cummins Inc.  of the US and Enrichment Technology Company Ltd. (“ETC”) of the UK. NPROXX is active in the design, development and sale of composite pressure vessels for the storage and transportation of hydrogen or for compressed natural gases, used for different applications in particular in the automotive and transport sectors. Cummins is a globally active manufacturer of diesel and gas engines and power supply systems. ETC is active in the design, development and manufacture of gas centrifuges for the enrichment of uranium for nuclear energy. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns, given the negligible presence of NPROXX in the European Economic Area. The transaction was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information is available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.9918. (For more information: Arianna Podesta – Tel. +32 229 87024; Maria Tsoni – Tel.: +32 229 90526)

Mergers: Commission clears the joint acquisition of PlantPlus Foods by Archer-Daniels-Midland and Marfrig Global Foods

The European Commission has approved, under the EU Merger Regulation, the acquisition of PlantPlus Food LLC by Archer-Daniels-Midland Company (“ADM”) both of the US and Marfrig Global Foods S.A (“Marfrig”) of Brazil. PlantPlus Food develops, produces and sells finished beef-like, pork-like and chicken-like vegetable protein based food products. ADM manufactures vegetable oils and fats, vegetable protein, meal, corn, sweeteners, flour, biodiesel, ethanol, and other value added food and feed ingredients. Marfrig produces meat-based ready-to-eat products such as canned beef, beef jerky, sauces and sachets. The Commission concluded that the proposed acquisition would raise no competition concerns given that PlantPlus Food has no actual or foreseen activities within the European Economic Area. The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure. More information will be available on the Commission's competition website, in the public case register under the case number M.9898. (For more information: Arianna Podesta – Tel. +32 229 87024; Maria Tsoni – Tel.: +32 229 90526)

Eurostat: communiqués de presse