Innovation, EU lagging behind USA and JapanIn terms of innovation, the EU is lagging gravely behind the USA and Japan; is only slightly ahead of China and Brazil; but is – for the time being – ahead of India, Russia and other emerging economies. The Commission published in recent days a document evaluating its framework programme on innovation in the EU in 2010, a survey aimed at measuring the gap between performance in terms of innovation in the EU and that of its main international competitors. The document is based on 25 indicators and considers the 27 EU member states plus Croatia, Serbia, Turkey, Iceland, Macedonia, Norway and Switzerland. The indicators include the following: human resources, public funding and aid, investments, systems of promoting excellence, business partnerships and activities, and intellectual property. “Within the Union – explains the Executive -Sweden has obtained the best results, followed by Denmark, Finland and Germany. Immediately after come, in order, the UK, Belgium, Austria, Ireland, Luxembourg, France, Cyprus, Slovenia and Estonia”. Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, explained: “The new Evaluation of the EU’s Framework Programme for Research spotlights the emergency to which Europe must respond in terms of innovation”. Innovation is “essential for a successful modern economy, just as water is essential for life”. Innovation is “at the centre of economic policies and the main means for the creation of jobs. Therefore the current Evaluation is a cornerstone of the Europe 2020 strategy”. Geoghegan-Quinn is convinced that “member states ought to invest more in innovation to enhance their own strong points and to tackle their own weaknesses”.EU Parliament recognises genocide of Roma”The EU officially recognizes the genocide of Roma people during the second world war”: Jerzy Buzek, President of the European Parliament, opened the plenary session of 2-3 February with a solemn declaration in which he recalled that “the Roma are the largest ethnic minority in the EU and have also been the most oppressed for the longest time”. Buzek pointed out that education and information are the best antidote to prevent the errors of the past and that action needs to be taken to promote the integration of Roma”. The Hungarian Minister for EU affairs, Eniko Gyori, expressed the hope, on behalf of the current Hungarian Presidency of the EU Council, that “a European action plan would soon be defined for the integration of Roma”. “Our task is to learn from history”, commented Livia Jaroka, an MEP of Roma origin. “The sufferings of the victims of the genocide of Roma during the second world war lead us to support historical research that may throw light on the truth. I propose that this extermination be mentioned in curricula in schools throughout Europe”, alongside that of the Jewish population and other minorities. “We Roma are European citizens”, continued Jaroka. “We have behind us a history stretching over seven centuries and we continue to suffer from difficulties and marginalization. But there are also fine experiences of integration, cultural riches that need to be fostered… Work needs to be provided for the Roma population, first step towards integration”.Electronic waste: disposal and recyclingElectric and electronic equipment, ever more widespread in Europe, also represents a category of waste that has most increased in recent years; the European Commission calculates that the EU has passed from 8.3 to 9.1 million tons of abandoned products that need to be eliminated. They are also products that pose particular ecological problems: they may represent a hazard for health and for the environment in the event of inadequate treatment; without recycling, moreover, raw materials of great value are irretrievably lost. That’s why the European Parliament, in its plenary of 2-3 February, approved a draft directive aimed at “reinforcing the rules for the recovery and treatment of electronic waste”. The German MEP Karl-Heinz Florenz said: “We waste a large quantity of raw materials because electronic wastes are illegally shipped outside Europe” or dispersed in landfill sites. “For example, a million cell phones containing 250 kg of silver, 24 kg of gold, 9 of palladium and 9 tons of copper”. According to official reports, “today only 33% of these waste materials are recovered and recycled”. In the worst of cases, it was pointed out during the debate, computer and mobile phones (but also fridges or TV sets) are “dismantled by hand by children in the developing countries, exposing them to potentially lethal chemical substances”. The directive lays down percentage and absolute per capita quotas per year, which would have to be achieved through actions at the national and EU level. According to Florenz, what’s also needed is “the introduction of a European standard for collection, treatment and recycling”, given that “today the situation shows a discrepancy in the quality of these operations in the various member states” of the EU.
