Daily News 07 / 01 / 2021

European Commission authorises second safe and effective vaccine against COVID-19

Yesterday, the European Commission granted a conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) for the COVID‑19 vaccine developed by Moderna, the second COVID-19 vaccine authorised in the EU. This authorisation follows a positive scientific recommendation based on a thorough assessment of the safety, effectiveness and quality of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and is endorsed by the Member States. The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said: “We are providing more COVID-19 vaccines for Europeans. With the Moderna vaccine, the second one now authorised in the EU, we will have a further 160 million doses. And more vaccines will come. Europe has secured up to two billion doses of potential COVID-19 vaccines. We'll have more than enough safe and effective vaccines for protecting all Europeans.” Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, said: “We are all in this together and united. This is why we have negotiated the broadest vaccine portfolio in the world for all our Member States. Today we are authorising a second safe and effective vaccine from Moderna, which together with BioNTech-Pfizer, will ensure that 460 million doses will be rolled out with increasing speed in the EU, and more will come. Member States have to ensure that the pace of vaccinations follows suit. Our efforts will not stop until vaccines are available for everyone in the EU.” A press release is available online. (For more information: Stefan De Keersmaecker – Tel.: +32 229 84680; Darragh Cassidy – Tel.: +32 229 83978)

EU grants €8.25 million in top-up funding to spur innovation

To bring their research findings closer to market, 55 researchers have been awarded a total of €8.25 million, or €150,000 each, through the European Research Council's Proof of Concept grant scheme. The funding will help outstanding researchers to explore the commercial and societal potential of their research results and improve our lives. A new low-cost and highly-accurate test for COVID-19, new treatment options for retinal degenerative diseases and blindness, as well as new ways to share cultural expertise in our increasingly diverse European societies, in order to solve conflicts and protect disadvantaged social groups - these are just three examples of how the frontier researchers will use the awarded grants. Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “The Proof of Concept grants awarded by the ERC today, demonstrate how frontier research results can be applied to create innovations that benefit society and industry. The research funded in this call is set to break fresh ground and to open new ways of dealing with pressing challenges in the areas of health, migration and climate change, amongst many other fields.” The new grants are funded via Horizon 2020, the EU's research and innovation programme from 2014 to 2020. More information is available in this ERC press release. The list of the 55 grant recipients is here and examples of funded projects are here. (For more information Johannes Bahrke – Tel.: +32 229 58615; Marietta Grammenou – Tel.: +32 229 83583)

Le Plan d'investissement pour l'Europe soutient des entreprises françaises touchées par la pandémie de COVID-19

Le groupe BEI et BNP Paribas ont signé une opération de titrisation pour soutenir les petites et moyennes entreprises (PME) et les entreprises de taille intermédiaire (ETI) françaises fragilisées par la pandémie de COVID-19. Cet accord permettra à BNP Paribas de déployer 515 millions d'euros de nouveaux crédits à destination de PME et ETI en France au cours des deux prochaines années, en répondant à leurs besoins de trésorerie et de reprise de l'investissement. Cette opération intervient dans le cadre du Fonds européen pour les investissements stratégiques, le pilier central du Plan d'investissement pour l'Europe. Paolo Gentiloni, commissaire chargé de l'économie, a déclaré : « Cet accord entre le groupe BEI et BNP Paribas en France, soutenu par le Plan d'investissement pour l'Europe, est une bonne nouvelle pour les PME et les ETI qui ont été durement touchées par la crise du coronavirus. En permettant de débloquer de nouveaux prêts à des conditions favorables pour ces entreprises, cet accord est un signal clair de notre soutien indéfectible aux entreprises en ces temps difficiles. » Jusqu'à présent, le Plan d'investissement pour l'Europe a mobilisé 535 milliards d'euros d'investissements dans l'ensemble de l'UE, dont 87 milliards en France. Le communiqué de presse est disponible en ligne. (Pour plus d'informations: Marta Wieczorek – Tél.: +32 229 58197; Flora Matthaes – Tél.: +32 229 83951)

ESCALAR kicks off: First project signed with Swedish equity fund eEquity* [added on 07-01-2021 at 12:16 due to technical issue]

The first investment under the ‘European Scale-up Action for Risk capital' (ESCALAR) pilot programme has been signed. It concerns the fourth fund of the Stockholm based eEquity, a digital growth equity investor, which will support scale-ups and high-growth SMEs and small mid-caps in several EU Member States, with a focus on Sweden, Finland, and Denmark. The fund benefits from a €37.5 million (around 23% of total capital raised) participation through the European Commission's ESCALAR programme managed by European Investment Fund (EIF) and backed by the Investment Plan for Europe. The investment strategy of eEquity focuses on e-commerce and internet retailing with global reach. The new fund aims to invest between €3 million and €15 million in up to 12 European SMEs.  Commissioner for Internal Market, Thierry Breton, said: “The EU supports European high-growth companies to increase access to risk capital they need to grow. This is even more pertinent now that the coronavirus crisis further deepened the financing needs for scale-ups. The high number of applications for the ESCALAR pilot programme and this first signature prove that with this instrument we are filling a market gap for the benefit of high-growth businesses.” ESCALAR is a new investment approach, developed by the Commission together with the EIF, that will support venture capital and growth financing for promising companies, enabling them to scale up in Europe and help reinforce Europe's economic and technological sovereignty. It will provide up to €300 million aiming to increase the investment capacity of venture capital and private equity funds, triggering investments of up to €1.2 billion, or four times the original investment, to support promising companies. A joint press release on this first project is available here. More information on ESCALAR is available here and here. (For more information: Sonya Gospodinova – Tel.: +32 229 66953; Federica Miccoli – Tel.: +32 229 58300)

Investment Plan for Europe backs fund to support healthcare innovation

The European Investment Fund (EIF) has committed €30 million to the BGV Fund IV by BioGeneration Ventures (BGV), a venture capital company supporting early-stage European biotech companies in healthcare. The EIF's commitment is made possible through a guarantee provided by the European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI), the main pillar of the Investment Plan for Europe. The BGV Fund IV, which has closed at €140 million, has already made four investments with a focus on entrepreneurial therapeutic innovation, with more to come. Commissioner for the Economy, Paolo Gentiloni, said: “I warmly welcome the Investment Plan for Europe's support for this EIF investment in BGV. It will support this specialised fund to finance early-stage European biotech companies operating at the forefront of healthcare innovation.” The Investment Plan for Europe has so far mobilised €535 billion of investment across the EU, a quarter of which for research, development and innovation projects. The press release is available here. (For more information: Marta Wieczorek – Tel.: +32 229 58197; Flora Matthaes – Tel.: +32 229 83951)

Coronavirus response and recovery: EU support for regions to work together in innovative pilot projects

The Commission has announced the winners of a new EU-funded initiative for interregional partnerships in four areas: coronavirus-related innovative solutions, circular economy in health, sustainable and digital tourism, and hydrogen technologies in carbon–intensive regions. The aim of this new pilot action, which builds on the successful experience of a similar action on ‘interregional innovation projects' launched at the end of 2017, is to mobilise regional and national innovation actors to address the impact of coronavirus. This initiative also helps the recovery using the new Commission programmes through scaling up projects in new priority areas, such as health, tourism or hydrogen. Commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms, Elisa Ferreira, said: “Interregional partnerships are proof that when we cooperate beyond borders, we are stronger as we come up with smart and useful solutions for all. This new pilot initiative supporting interregional innovative partnerships is especially important in the current coronavirus context, showing how much cohesion policy is committed to contribute to Europe's prompt response and recovery.” Following a Commission's call for expression of interest launched in July 2020, four interregional partnerships were selected, with one or several coordinating regions in the lead. The leading regions come from France, Germany, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, and The Netherlands. More information and the full list of winners is available in the press release. (For more information: Vivian Loonela - Tel.: +32 229 66712; Daniela Stoycheva – Tel.: +32 229 53664)

European Citizens' Initiative: Commission decides to register an initiative for a ban on biometric mass surveillance practices

Today, the European Commission decided to register a European Citizens' Initiative (ECI) entitled ‘Civil society initiative for a ban on biometric mass surveillance practices'. The organisers of the ECI urge the Commission to propose a legal act to permanently end indiscriminate and arbitrarily-targeted uses of biometric data in ways which can lead to mass surveillance or any undue interference with fundamental rights. The Commission considers that the ECI is legally admissible, as it meets the necessary conditions, and therefore decided to register it. The Commission has not analysed the substance of the ECI at this stage. The full press release is available online and more information on the ECI can be found on the website. (For more information: Adalbert Jahnz - Tel.: + 32 229 53156; Katarzyna Kolanko - Tel.: +32 229 63444; Jördis Ferroli – Tel.: +32 229 92729)

Concentrations: La Commission autorise l'acquisition de Addo et ComplEat par PAI

La Commission européenne a approuvé, en vertu du règlement européen sur les concentrations, l'acquisition de Addo Food Group (Holdings) Ltd., (« Addo ») et de ComplEat Food Group Limited (« ComplEat »), toutes deux basées au Royaume Uni, par PAI Partners SAS, (« PAI »), basée en France. Addo a pour activité la fabrication et fourniture de produits alimentaires, en mettant l'accent sur les produits de pâtisserie salée réfrigérée. ComplEat, contrôlée par Helsinki Topco Limited basée au Royaume Uni, a pour activité la fabrication et fourniture de produits alimentaires, en mettant l'accent sur la viande transformée, les olives et les antipasti. PAI exerce des activités de gestion et/ou de conseil pour un certain nombre de fonds détenant des entreprises actives dans divers secteurs d'activité, tels que les services aux entreprises, l'alimentation et les biens de consommation, les industries générales, les soins de santé, ainsi que le commerce de détail et la distribution. La Commission a conclu que l'acquisition envisagée ne soulèverait aucun problème de concurrence, car les chevauchements entre les activités des entreprises sont très limités. La transaction a été examinée dans le cadre de la procédure simplifiée de contrôle des concentrations. De plus amples informations sont disponibles sur le site internet concurrence de la Commission, dans le registre public des affaires sous le numéro d'affaire M.10041. (Pour plus d'informations: Arianna Podesta – Tél. +32 229 87024; Maria Tsoni – Tél.: +3 229 90526)

Eurostat: communiqués de presse

*Updated on 07-01-2021 at 12:16