The newly appointed members of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials (EIP RM) convened in Brussels on 29 September 2017 for kick-off discussions at the beginning of its renewed mandate on the future objectives of the EU’s raw materials policy and its own role in implementing them.
As announced in July, the chairperson of the FTP Board, Lena Ek, has been nominated as a member of the High-Level Steering Group (HLSG) of the EIP RM, a platform of high-level representatives from industry, public services, academia and NGOs, which aims to foster stakeholders’ joint actions as well as to mobilize research and innovation funding from the EU framework programmes, in line with the strategic policy framework. In her second mandate with the HLSG of the EIP RM, Lena Ek will represent forest-based sector-dedicated research organizations. The mandate of the new members will run until 2020.
Securing a sustainable supply of raw materials within the EU and from global markets is a fundamental objective of the EU’s raw materials policy framework. Set out by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs (DG GROW), the HLSG plays an instrumental role in translating the strategic objectives into actions by providing guidance to the Commission and mobilizing the raw material’s community to implement them. Meanwhile, the EIP RM has been successful in securing funding for raw materials from Horizon 2020. As a result, € 600 million of EU funding has been pooled for research on the challenges related to raw materials.
In addition to participation in the EIP RM stakeholders’ forum, FTP has been active in contributing to the European Commission’s future policy framework for raw materials by taking on a lead role in the EU project VERAM – Vision and Roadmap for European Raw Materials. The project aims to determine future research and innovation actions required, to secure a competitive and sustainable supply of raw materials to European industry up until 2050.
The High-Level Steering Group of the EIP RM consists of 54 members, including 19 Member States, 4 international organizations (EIB, OECD, UNIDO and UNEP), 6 representatives from research organizations, 4 from civil society and 21 from business, of which most organizations will be represented at the most senior level.
FTP Managing Director Johan Elvnert, as the appointed sherpa for Lena Ek, will participate in the meetings of the Sherpa Group – a forum set up to support the work of the High-Level Steering Group as well as the Operational Group meetings, which involve a larger group of stakeholders.
