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1.

Regional measures under risk preparedness in the electricity sector [er] : practical tools and information for the preparation of the risk preparedness plan. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

This study addresses the regional dimension of electricity crises management in the European Union and elaborates on the national and regional rules and procedures that are relevant for the definition of target measures and regional cooperation agreements. In this context, we identify the essential elements for the prevention, preparation for and management of a crisis as a practical guide for the preparation of the risk preparedness plan, with the objective to extend and develop the European Commission’s Recommendations (EU) 2020/1775 (European Commission, 2020b). This analysis is based on a number of regulatory documents - like the guideline on electricity transmission system operation and the network code on emergency and restoration - and other studies on the most frequent causes of outages, the associated effective remedial actions, the best practices in crisis management, and the economic impacts of electricity crises.

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2.

Diaspora finance for development [er] : from remittances to investment. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

This report examines different forms of diaspora finance around the world. Diaspora finance involves remittances, understood as inter-personal financial transfers between migrants and their countries of origin, and diaspora investment, defined as asset-producing financial instruments through which diasporas (migrants and their descendants) can invest in organisations in their country of origin. There is an extensive body of research and data on remittances sent by migrants, the annual flows of which are now larger in aggregate than either official development assistance (ODA) or foreign direct investment (FDI). But much less is known about diaspora investment, or about how remittances and diaspora investment can be effectively channelled to support development. We identify over 300 diaspora finance initiatives through a systematic review of over 500 research, policy and grey literature documents. The study highlights the broad diversity of diaspora finance mechanisms around the world, while also drawing attention to the lack of systematic international data on diaspora investment flows and to the severe shortage of quality evidence on the development outcomes of different diaspora finance initiatives.

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3.

Arctic populations dynamics and urbanisation [er] : results from the GHSL products. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

Arctic regions are expected to be increasingly affected by both demographic and migration processes, as a result of the ever-accelerating climate and socio-economic pressures. Long-term monitoring of the Arctic population dynamics using a consistent harmonised approach can help understand these pressure and effects and explore the linkages between human and natural influences. We use the 40-year Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) spatial grids of built-up – generated from satellite observation – and population density, that allows the monitoring of population in settlements and estimating human and environment exposure to various risks. It enables multi-scale integrated policy analysis thanks to the harmonisation of the data and typologies. The GHSL 1x1 km2 data were used for the first time to analyse Arctic population dynamics, settlement and urbanisation patterns from circumpolar, national and administrative to local levels. Results provide a spatially detailed and cross-scale documentation of the peculiarities and diversity of Arctic population patterns in a robust and consistent way. In a further step, they will be used together with other data layers to monitor both environmental and human threats in selected natural, managed and human systems of interest in the Arctic, such as cities, coastal areas, river basins and vulnerable ecosystems.

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4.

Electromagnetic emissions from mobile networks and potential effect on health [er] : preliminary study. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

Radio Frequency (RF) Electromagnetic field (EMF) exposure from mobile phone networks and possible adverse health impact is an issue causing much concern among citizens and several public bodies. Despite extensive research on this subject, many questions have remained unanswered due to methodological inconsistencies and lack of data. This report provides a preliminary analysis, including a literature survey of recent government and research activities into the health impact of RF EMF exposure. This report also attempts to explore a possible relationship between RF EMFs and incidence of brain cancer based on publicly available national datasets. The preliminary results, presented in this paper do not reveal any such relationship, but more work is necessary to overcome the limitations of the existing data. The findings of the empirical study show that the level of uncertainties in the current state of art are still very high, and the report recommends pro-active initiatives, such as the collection of better quality data, standardization of experimentation protocols and collaboration between interdisciplinary research groups, that could improve the state of play. Finally, further research on the EMF exposure in mmWave frequency bands and any effects on human health (and possibly the environment) is recommended to supplement the current knowledge.

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5.

Inter-laboratory comparison of computational fluid dynamics codes for PEM fuel cell modelling [er]. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

An inter-laboratory comparison of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) codes exercise for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cell modelling was performed to assess modelling accuracy. Since PEM fuel cell models require a multi-physics approach involving many different phenomena, a simple comparison with experimental polarisation curves is not sufficient for the identification of the individual sources of errors the simulation software. Therefore, this report presents a methodology based on the comparison of partial simulation results. The report introduces first the list physical models available for the simulation of fuel cell phenomena. It describes then in details reference numerical test cases. Finally, it provides an example of application showing that by this approach, it is possible to verify any simulation software for PEM fuel cells, including commercial systems, without access to the source code.

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6.

Monitoring SMEs performance in Europe [er]. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), with the scientific support by the European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC), assesses the Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Europe. We study performance in eleven principles: (1) Entrepreneurship, (2) ‘Second chance’, (3) ‘Think small first’, (4) ‘Responsive administration’, (5) State aid & public procurement, (6) Access to finance, (7) Single market, (8) Skills and innovation, (9) Environment, (10) Internationalization and (11) Digitalization. This JRC technical report describes the underlying rationale for the quantitative measurement of these principles. It discusses the methodological approach to calculate how countries perform in the outlined principles. This takes into account the choice of the indicators, the data quality controls (including missing data and outliers), normalization and weightings, and the statistical coherence and robustness checks of the 2020 edition.

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7.

Non-tariff measures (NTMs) and intra-African trade [er]. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

Recently, African countries signed the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA) to provide a single continental market for goods and services with free movement of people and investments and to accelerate intra-Africa trade. African countries recognised the significance of non-tariff measures (NTMs) in achieving the AfCFTA objectives and adopted an Annex to the agreement specifically dedicated to eliminating NTMs, i.e., all those policy measures other than ordinary customs tariffs that can have an effect on trade. Although NTMs will be crucial to the success of AfCFTA, a proper estimation of the expected trade cost reductions associated with NTM eliminations on intra-African trade is lacking. This study examines the impact of NTMs on intra-African trade by exhaustively reviewing databases of previous ad-valorem equivalent (AVE) estimates of NTMs applied by African countries in agri-food products and by providing estimates of NTM trade impacts for sectors and regions of special relevance. The report finds a systematic trade-restricting effect arising from the application of both technical and non-technical measures with a tendency for the latter to be more trade-restrictive. It also finds remarkable deviations in estimated AVEs for Africa from the overall means in the sample of countries. Finally, the estimates highlight that the main hotspots for NTMs in intra-African trade would be in sectors like rice and sugar, while the main policy actions need to address non-technical measures.

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8.

BiodiverCities [er] : a roadmap to enhance the biodiversity and green infrastructure of European cities by 2030 : progress report. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

BiodiverCities, a European Parliament pilot, aims to improve civil society participation in planning decision-making with respect to urban biodiversity, the nature in and around cities. The project has two main strands of work. Firstly, BiodiverCities collects practical examples of how to engage citizens in vision building around urban nature, monitoring, and solutions to improve urban biodiversity. Thirteen cities participate to BiodiverCities with local projects on citizen engagement or with case studies on mapping urban biodiversity and ecosystem services. Local activities include enhancing public participation in greening projects, vision building, or citizen science and participatory mapping of urban nature. A second strand of work is the mapping of urban biodiversity and ecosystem services at European scale. Urban biodiversity has been mapped using iNaturalist, a global species observation platform based on citizen science. More than 25,000 species have been observed inside Europe’s functional urban areas, of which 130 species, mostly insects, plants and birds, are found in almost every city. Modelling urban temperatures showed that green infrastructure cool European cities by 1.6°C on average, and up to 4°C. Mapping the recreation opportunities in urban green spaces revealed that 44% of citizens did not have enough nature-based daily recreation opportunities. BiodiverCities contributed also to indicator development for the Green City Accord, a movement of European mayors committed to making cities greener and healthier

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9.

European research and innovation in aviation emissions reduction : an assessment based on the Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS). European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

Research and innovation is highly important for the development and adoption of new aviation concepts and technologies. This report provides an analysis of research and innovation initiatives in Europe in aviation, with a focus on emissions reduction. The assessment follows a structured methodology developed by the European Commission's Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS). The report addresses aviation research by thematic area and technology, highlighting recent developments and future needs. It also provides insight from the academia and the private sector by means of focused scientific literature and patent analysis.

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10.

European research and innovation in aviation emissions reduction [er] : an assessment based on the Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS). European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

Research and innovation is highly important for the development and adoption of new aviation concepts and technologies. This report provides an analysis of research and innovation initiatives in Europe in aviation, with a focus on emissions reduction. The assessment follows a structured methodology developed by the European Commission's Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS). The report addresses aviation research by thematic area and technology, highlighting recent developments and future needs. It also provides insight from the academia and the private sector by means of focused scientific literature and patent analysis.

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11.

Deforestation and forest degradation in the Amazon [er] : status and trends up to year 2020. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

The Amazon forest is the largest tropical rainforest in the world, which houses about 10% of the Earth’s biodiversity and 16% of the world’s total river discharge into the oceans. However, the Amazon forest has already lost up to 20% of its original area since the 1970s and is under constant threat of ongoing deforestation and forest degradation. Disturbances in the forest cover lead to carbon emissions, endanger the livelihoods of indigenous people, and threaten biodiversity in the Amazon. Deforestation and forest degradation causes and effects are interrelated; selectively logged forest or forest affected by edge effects propagate the susceptibility of forest fires, while heavily burned forests are vulnerable to storms and highly susceptible for deforestation. New roads built into the forest are also a driver for these processes. An increase in forest fragmentation makes the contact between animals and humans more probable and thus leads to a higher risk of animal-to-human spillover of infectious diseases. After very high annual deforestation rates in the Brazilian Legal Amazon (BLA) at the beginning of the 2000s (reaching 27,772 km2 in 2004), Brazil had successfully curbed deforestation from the mid-2000s onwards. The lowest deforestation rate since the start of the Amazon deforestation monitoring programme (PRODES) in 1988, reported by the Brazilian National Institute for Space Research (INPE), was reached in 2012 (4,571 km2). This reduction was related to new forest protection laws and an increased effort by the Brazilian Government to enforce the law by effectively combating illegal deforestation. However, since 2012, INPE-PRODES reports for the BLA a progressive and systematic increase in annual deforestation areas; for the period 2019 to 2020 the increase is at 9.5%, from 10,129 km2 in 2019 to 11,088 km2 in 2020. The JRC dataset on Tropical Moist Forest (TMF) shows that the annual area of forest disturbances (deforestation and forest degradation together) has increased by 18% in the Pan-Amazon region from 2019 to 2020 (from 26,605 km2 to 31,418 km2); in the BLA the increase amounts to 24% (from 17,303 km2 to 21,379 km2). Some Pan-Amazon countries show an increase in forest disturbances from 2019 to 2020, ranging from 11% (Ecuador) to 52% (Bolivia). Other countries or regions like Venezuela or the Guiana Shield (Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana) show a decrease in forest disturbances of 5% and 54%, respectively, from 2019 to 2020. Colombia showed almost the same area of forest disturbances of ca. 3,660 km2 for both years.

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12.

Interlaboratory comparison on the determination of the Volume Specific Surface Area (VSSA) of manufactured nanomaterials [er]. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) is leading the development of an OECD Test Guideline (TG) for the determination of the Volume Specific Surface Area (VSSA) of manufactured nanomaterials. For this purpose JRC is collaborating with a group of experts for the preparation, execution and evaluation of preparatory work, including a collaborative study. The final draft TG will be presented for discussion and eventual approval to the OECD Working Group of the National Coordinators of the Test Guidelines Programme. As agreed in the first meeting of the group of experts, the JRC organized and evaluated an interlaboratory comparison (ILC) on the determination of VSSA of nanomaterials by gas adsorption according to the Brunauer, Emmet and Teller (BET) method and gas pycnometry, with participation of seven laboratories. The objective of this ILC was to obtain information on the general applicability domain of these two techniques, and the transferability of the testing protocol. The final aim of the protocol is to calculate the VSSA, which is dependent on the Specific Surface Area (SSA) and skeletal density. This VSSA ILC is the first of its kind and started by developing a standard operating procedure (SOP) and associated reporting file; the SOP is based on the SOPs shared by some laboratories with the JRC and takes into account the existing international standards in this field (ISO 9277:2010 and ISO 12154:2014). The ILC was launched in May 2020 and concluded in November 2020 by presenting the evaluation of the results in a dedicated meeting of the group of experts. It was designed as semi-blind exercise with codes randomly attributed to samples and each of the seven participating laboratories. The seven selected test materials included inorganic (metal oxides – zinc oxide, and two types of titanium oxide) and carbon based materials (graphene and a multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)) as well as one organic pigment. The selected materials also cover various shapes with one, two and three dimensions in the nanoscale (e.g. fibre, platelets and particles) and a range of size distributions and aggregation. The availability of information on the material’s homogeneity was also a selection criteria. Thus, the selected set of test materials included four materials (metal oxides) that are (certified) reference materials for Specific Surface Area, two materials (MWCNT and the organic pigment) that were used in past ILCs within the Horizon 2020 NanoDefine project (http://www.nanodefine.eu/), and one material (graphene) from the JRC Nanomaterials Repository, which was analysed and showed adequate homogeneity according to ISO 13528:2015. The selected test materials were subsampled in the JRC Nanomaterials Repository facility, with the exception of the materials from NanoDefine that were already available in vials of 0.25 grams. Seven laboratories, from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Korea and the JRC-Ispra took part in this study by analysing a number of test materials according to a defined ILC matrix designed to decrease the resources needed per single laboratory. Hence, one of the materials was analysed by all laboratories and the rest of materials analysed by a minimum of three laboratories each. The laboratories had a varying degree of experience with the techniques. Three independent replicates per type of material were analysed according to the distributed SOP. The temperature ramp programme for degassing conditions was derived from the JRC’s thermogravimetric analysis of the test materials, which also illustrates their stability in the relevant range of temperature.. The seven laboratories reported results for the three measurands considered, i.e. (mass) Specific Surface Area, density and VSSA. The instrumentation in the laboratories included both equipment built in-house and commercial equipment. Some of the laboratories did not report triplicate analysis for skeletal density measurements. Therefore, the (preliminary) analysis done by JRC is based on the calculation of VSSA by multiplying the three values of the SSA replicate by the mean density of the relevant test sample. These data have been statistically evaluated by robust statistics according to the principles laid down in ISO 5725-5. The parameters calculated were the robust average or consensus value, the uncertainty of the consensus value, the repeatability and reproducibility and their respective relative standard deviations. The method performance characteristics assessed were the within-laboratory precision, expressed as the relative standard deviation for repeatability (RSDr), and the between-laboratory precision, expressed as the relative standard deviation for reproducibility (RSDR). Overall results show good repeatability with RSDr values less than 2% for all materials except for the organic pigment with RSDr <5%. The variability between laboratories was higher, with overall RSDR values less than 20% for all materials and measurands, in particular RSDR values less than 10% were obtained for the analysis of four materials (graphene, MWCNT, zinc oxide and one type of titanium dioxide) while higher variability, with RSDR values in the 10% - 20% range, was obtained in the analysis of the organic pigment, the fumed silica and one type of titanium dioxide.

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13.

Interlaboratory comparison on the determination of the Volume Specific Surface Area (VSSA) of manufactured manomaterials. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) is leading the development of an OECD Test Guideline (TG) for the determination of the Volume Specific Surface Area (VSSA) of manufactured nanomaterials. For this purpose JRC is collaborating with a group of experts for the preparation, execution and evaluation of preparatory work, including a collaborative study. The final draft TG will be presented for discussion and eventual approval to the OECD Working Group of the National Coordinators of the Test Guidelines Programme. As agreed in the first meeting of the group of experts, the JRC organized and evaluated an interlaboratory comparison (ILC) on the determination of VSSA of nanomaterials by gas adsorption according to the Brunauer, Emmet and Teller (BET) method and gas pycnometry, with participation of seven laboratories. The objective of this ILC was to obtain information on the general applicability domain of these two techniques, and the transferability of the testing protocol. The final aim of the protocol is to calculate the VSSA, which is dependent on the Specific Surface Area (SSA) and skeletal density. This VSSA ILC is the first of its kind and started by developing a standard operating procedure (SOP) and associated reporting file; the SOP is based on the SOPs shared by some laboratories with the JRC and takes into account the existing international standards in this field (ISO 9277:2010 and ISO 12154:2014). The ILC was launched in May 2020 and concluded in November 2020 by presenting the evaluation of the results in a dedicated meeting of the group of experts. It was designed as semi-blind exercise with codes randomly attributed to samples and each of the seven participating laboratories. The seven selected test materials included inorganic (metal oxides – zinc oxide, and two types of titanium oxide) and carbon based materials (graphene and a multiwall carbon nanotube (MWCNT)) as well as one organic pigment. The selected materials also cover various shapes with one, two and three dimensions in the nanoscale (e.g. fibre, platelets and particles) and a range of size distributions and aggregation. The availability of information on the material’s homogeneity was also a selection criteria. Thus, the selected set of test materials included four materials (metal oxides) that are (certified) reference materials for Specific Surface Area, two materials (MWCNT and the organic pigment) that were used in past ILCs within the Horizon 2020 NanoDefine project (http://www.nanodefine.eu/), and one material (graphene) from the JRC Nanomaterials Repository, which was analysed and showed adequate homogeneity according to ISO 13528:2015. The selected test materials were subsampled in the JRC Nanomaterials Repository facility, with the exception of the materials from NanoDefine that were already available in vials of 0.25 grams. Seven laboratories, from France, Germany, Italy, Spain, UK, Korea and the JRC-Ispra took part in this study by analysing a number of test materials according to a defined ILC matrix designed to decrease the resources needed per single laboratory. Hence, one of the materials was analysed by all laboratories and the rest of materials analysed by a minimum of three laboratories each. The laboratories had a varying degree of experience with the techniques. Three independent replicates per type of material were analysed according to the distributed SOP. The temperature ramp programme for degassing conditions was derived from the JRC’s thermogravimetric analysis of the test materials, which also illustrates their stability in the relevant range of temperature.. The seven laboratories reported results for the three measurands considered, i.e. (mass) Specific Surface Area, density and VSSA. The instrumentation in the laboratories included both equipment built in-house and commercial equipment. Some of the laboratories did not report triplicate analysis for skeletal density measurements. Therefore, the (preliminary) analysis done by JRC is based on the calculation of VSSA by multiplying the three values of the SSA replicate by the mean density of the relevant test sample. These data have been statistically evaluated by robust statistics according to the principles laid down in ISO 5725-5. The parameters calculated were the robust average or consensus value, the uncertainty of the consensus value, the repeatability and reproducibility and their respective relative standard deviations. The method performance characteristics assessed were the within-laboratory precision, expressed as the relative standard deviation for repeatability (RSDr), and the between-laboratory precision, expressed as the relative standard deviation for reproducibility (RSDR). Overall results show good repeatability with RSDr values less than 2% for all materials except for the organic pigment with RSDr <5%. The variability between laboratories was higher, with overall RSDR values less than 20% for all materials and measurands, in particular RSDR values less than 10% were obtained for the analysis of four materials (graphene, MWCNT, zinc oxide and one type of titanium dioxide) while higher variability, with RSDR values in the 10% - 20% range, was obtained in the analysis of the organic pigment, the fumed silica and one type of titanium dioxide.

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14.

Weak signals in science and technologies [er] : weak signals in 2020. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication	Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.
Summary	This report presents a list of 75 individual weak signals in science and technology development in 2020. In addition, 4 clusters of weak signals have also been detected and are reported. These early signs of emerging technologies or products were detected using text mining, clustering techniques and scientometrics indicators applied on a corpus of peer-reviewed scientific publications.

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15.

Weak signals in science and technologies : weak signals in 2020. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication	Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.
Summary	This report presents a list of 75 individual weak signals in science and technology development in 2020. In addition, 4 clusters of weak signals have also been detected and are reported. These early signs of emerging technologies or products were detected using text mining, clustering techniques and scientometrics indicators applied on a corpus of peer-reviewed scientific publications.

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16.

Marine Strategy Framework Directive [er] : review and analysis of EU Member States’ 2018 reports : Descriptor 6, Sea-floor integrity and Descriptor 1, Benthic habitats : Assessment (Art.8), Good Environmental Status (Art. 9) and Targets (Art. 10). European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

This publication is a Technical report by the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. It aims to provide evidence-based scientific support to the European policymaking process. The scientific output expressed does not imply a policy position of the European Commission. Neither the European Commission nor any person acting on behalf of the Commission is responsible for the use that might be made of this publication. For information on the methodology and quality underlying the data used in this publication for which the source is neither Eurostat nor other Commission services, users should contact the referenced source. The designations employed and the presentation of material on the maps do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the European Union concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.

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17.

Revision of EU ecolabel criteria for cosmetic products and animal care products (previously Rinse-off Cosmetic Products) [er] : final technical report : final criteria. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

This Technical Report aims at providing a technical basis to the revision process of the EU Ecolabel criteria for Rinse-off cosmetic products. The set of criteria currently in force was adopted in 2014 (Commission Decision 2014/893/EU). The revised EU Ecolabel criteria are set to cover a much wider scope: all cosmetic products as defined in the Cosmetic Product Regulation (Regulation (EC) No 1223/2009). Moreover, a separate set of criteria was developed for animal care products. The product group has been renamed as 'cosmetic products' and 'animal care products'. To support the revision process, a first version of this technical report was produced as a working document, which was updated and complemented as the revision developed. This document provided the rationale to the revised criteria proposal and summarized the research and the outcome of three stakeholder consultations, which were crucial to develop revised criteria that are able to select the best environmental products available on the market while taking into account the state of the art of the market. After a revision process that lasted 30 months, this is the final version of the Technical Report which supports the final criteria for cosmetic products and animal care products.

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18.

Economic complexity analytics [er] : country factsheets. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

Economic Complexity is a framework building on earlier evolutionary and institutional literature (Hirschman 1958, Cimoli and Dosi 1995, Teece, et al. 1994) to tackle the complexity of economic systems. It describes the economy as an evolutionary process of globally interconnected ecosystems. The framework shifts the focus of economic analysis from aggregate quantities - i.e. ‘how much’ a country makes (What is the GDP of the country? How many patents are published?) - to their underlying components - i.e. ‘what’ a country makes (In which industrial sectors does the country specialize? Which patents are published?) - with the aim to provide complementary information to more conventional macroeconomic analysis. Indeed, looking at what a country is able to do provides a clearer understanding of the underlying dynamical capabilities of the national innovation and industrial system: while a country can have high GDP without an advanced and complex economic structure, to export or successfully patent in advanced industries is an unambiguous signal of an advanced economy. The main recent advance vis-à-vis the earlier literature is the use of newly developed approaches from network and complex dynamical systems science (Hausmann and Klinger 2006, Hidalgo and Hausmann 2009, Tacchella, Cristelli, et al. 2012) to extract information from country specialization patterns as a machine learning problem. This approach offers the potential of discussing quantitatively several policy relevant issues that otherwise would only be treated qualitatively or by case studies.

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19.

Revision of the EU green public procurement (GPP) criteria for computers and monitors (and extension to smartphones) [er] : technical report v3.0 : final criteria. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

This report is the final science for policy report supporting the revision of the EU Green Public Procurement (GPP) Criteria for Computers and Monitors, and the extension of these criteria to Smartphones. These EU GPP Criteria aim at helping public authorities to ensure that ICT equipment and services are procured in such a way that they deliver environmental improvements that contribute to European policy objectives for energy, climate change and resource efficiency, as well as reducing life cycle costs. The revision process has taken into account market and technical developments as well as the experience gained by stakeholders in the application of the previous version of criteria. These criteria for computers, monitors, tablets and smartphones focus on the most significant environmental impacts during their life cycle, which have been divided into four distinct areas: product lifetime extension; energy consumption; hazardous substances; end-of-life management. This set of criteria also includes a further category of criteria that apply to separate procurements for refurbished/remanufactured devices and related services. For each area of focus, one or more criteria are provided, accompanied by the background technical rationale and a summary of the stakeholder contributions that support the final version of each criterion. Procurers can apply the criteria and engage tenderers to reduce the life cycle environmental impacts of their activities, focusing on those areas presenting the most improvement opportunities from cost and market perspectives and for which performance can be verified. The identified procurement processes and final green criteria are also described in a separate document, published as a Staff Working Document of the Commission: SWD(2021) 57 final. Together these two documents aim to provide public authorities with orientation on how to effectively integrate these EU GPP criteria into their procurement processes.

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20.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) of possible concern in the aquatic environment. European Commission. Joint Research Centre.

Publication

Luxembourg : Publications Office, 2021.

Summary

For decades per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) have been employed in a variety of products intended for everyday use, such as cosmetics, food packaging, textiles and household products, as well as for specialised applications including mechanical components, electronics, medical devises, fire-fighting foams and biocides, which require unique chemical properties conferred by the extremely stable carbon-fluorine bond. They became a ubiquitous contaminant in different environmental matrices due mainly to intensive industrial production and inappropriate disposal. Chemical stability and mobility of PFAS have lead to their accumulation in soil, sediment, groundwater, surface water and atmosphere worldwide heavily impacting living organisms. The aim of this report is to increase the awareness of the public, scientific communities and policy makers on PFAS by providing scientific information on these “forever chemicals” and by presenting current state-of-the-art related to their presence in the aquatic environment. The report also describes initiatives under the umbrella of the European Green Deal that have been taken to mitigate the risk from PFAS as well as other actions at policy level to protect water, and indirectly human health, falling among the goals of the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

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