The European Commission, European Union (EU) Member States, and European industry will invest more than €22 billion over the next seven years in innovation. Most of the investment will go to five public–private partnerships in innovative medicines, aeronautics, bio-based industries, fuel cells and hydrogen, and electronics. These research partnerships are designed to find solutions to major challenges for society that are not being solved quickly enough by the market alone, such as reducing carbon emissions.
Overall, a proposed €8 billion investment from the next EU research and innovation program, Horizon 2020, will secure around €10 billion from industry, and close to €4 billion from EU Member States.
European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said, “Working together will enable us to tackle issues that no one company or country can deal with alone.”
The five Public–Private Partnerships, called “Joint Technology Initiatives” (JTIs), are:
■ Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2, to expand the use of clean and efficient technologies in transport, industry, and energy;
■ Clean Sky 2, to develop cleaner, quieter aircraft with significantly less CO2 emissions;
■ Electronic Components and Systems, to boost Europe’s electronics manufacturing capabilities;
■ Bio-based Industries, to use renewable natural resources and innovative technologies for greener everyday products; and
■ Innovative Medicines 2, to develop next-generation vaccines, medicines, and treatments, such as new antibiotics.
The Innovative Medicines Initiative, Clean Sky, and Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTIs all currently exist, while the Electronics JTI will combine two current partnerships. The Bio-based Industries JTI is a new initiative. All five will issue open calls for proposals.
The second phase of the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JTI is expected to start in 2014 and run for 10 years. The goals of this initiative are to reduce the cost of fuel-cell systems for transportation by a factor of 10; increase the electrical efficiency of fuel cells for power production by 10%; and demonstrate the viability of large-scale hydrogen production from electricity generated from renewable energy sources.
The purpose of the Clean Sky JTI is to increase aircraft fuel efficiency, thus reducing CO2 emissions by 20–30%; and to reduce aircraft NOx and noise emissions by 20–30% compared to “state-of-the-art” aircraft entering into service as of 2014. This JTI is planned for 2014–2024.
Combining the ARTEMIS embedded computing systems initiative and the nanoelectronics JTI set up 2008, the Electronic Components and Systems JTI will advance Europe’s capability and capacity to design and manufacture state-of-the-art electronic components and systems. This JTI involves partnerships, in particular, with industry in the areas of micro-/nanoelectronics, smart integrated systems, and embedded/cyber-physical systems. The JTI will begin in 2014 and will be fully operational up to 2020, followed by a running down phase to 2024.
The Bio-based Industries JTI will focus on feedstock, biorefineries, and the bio-related product market. This JTI is expected to start in 2014 and end in 2020.
