Researching the new acquis as a small island

Actively helping to formulate European policy-making is an opening now available to Maltese researchers in the fields of science and technology. The laboratories and institutes of the European Commisssion's Joint Research Centre are targeted to carry out cutting edge research which supports EU policies.

The Commission has met the request of the JRC's enlargement unit for candidate countries to participate in a wide spectrum of research relevant to the new acquis. Calls for expression of interest, involving the JRC's institutes, have been put out on the CORDIS Website over the past year through the FP6 research programme.

Areas of research have covered a vast range of science with implications both legislative and instrumental.The core areas of JRC competence include Food Safety, Biotechnology, Safety of Chemicals, Contribution to Health, Protection of the Environment, Global Environmental Change, Energy and Transport and Nuclear Safety, Technology Foresight, Reference Materials and Measurements and Public Security and Antifraud. This year, under a new Commissioner, the policy approach has been honed down to a keener focus of activity.

The Maltese islands have a huge waste problem for the size of the island, air pollution problems and are lacking in renewable energy from sun, wind or biogas. At last month's JRC information day, organised by the Malta Council for Science and Technology, Dr Giancarlo Caratti, head of the JRC's enlargement unit, advised that Malta should choose to participate with research in areas more relevant to the country's own development rather than opting to participate in a wide scientific programme.

How we match up to the EU in good practices for fishing and farming as well as health and safety regarding chemicals presents a huge area yet to be addressed. The JRC offers a chance for us to run with Europe's best in technological development, adapting applied science to our country's own particular needs.

From Ispra to Malta

Among the JRC's seven institutes is the Institute for Environment and Sustainability. Dr Arwyn Jones, communications officer for IES, spoke on how member states can play a role in formulating environmental policy and not just having to accept the environmental package handed down by Europe.

The IES based in Ispra on the shores of Lake Maggiore has chosen to work on waste management in small islands with particular emphasis on Mediterranean conditions - seasonal pressures, lack of power, lack of space for landfills and the need to protect ecosystems for tourism. The institute works closely with DG Environment to harmonise environmental information throughout Europe.

A workshop is planned later this year in collaboration with the University of Malta looking at how waste management may be shifted from treating to preventing waste by producing lower volumes of waste of a quality which is less hazardous.

Overcoming barriers to renewable energy

A primary field of activity within the same institute is research on renewable energies. The EU policy is to double its share of renewables by 2010 through effective incentive schemes for reliable technologies. The JRC's Institute for Environment and Sustainability also has a group working on energy efficiency.

"We don't need to light the sky," said Dr Jones, adding that energy needs to be better directed. Research on photovoltaic panels has been looking at the optimum inclination to the sun and storage systems for solar energy.

Among the barriers cited in a recent EU case study on Malta (Handbook of Renewable Energies in the European Union II) are subsidies for fossil-fueled conventional power generation using heavy fuel oil with low tariffs which do not reflect the real cost.

This has brought about a sense of complacency on the part of the consumer. Other obstacles are identified as lack of skilled personnel and institutional, regulatory and policy barriers together with inconsistent quality standards for solar thermal systems.

Imperfect capital markets, financing risks and poor market acceptance are added to transaction costs not included in the market price. New business models are needed to demonstrate how these barriers might be overcome, says the handbook.

According to a spokesman for Enemalta electricity presently fed to the grid in Malta from photovoltaic solar panels is being reimbursed at the same tariff that the customer imports electricity from the grid.

"This tariff arrangement is a temporary one for small experimental PV systems and subject to change. Tariffs yet to be devised are probably the means by which photovoltaics would become more attractive but Enemalta is insisting that the utility must not be burdened with extra costs associated with incentives embedded in the tariffs, " explains the Enemalta spokesman.

Forest sinks

Within the area of climate change the JRC provides scientific backing to negotiations on candidate countries within the Kyoto Protocol. While inventories are being drawn up for carbon dioxide which are the main source of greenhouse gases, researchers are now looking at methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Although smaller in quantity these are highly significant in bringing about atmospheric changes.

The FP6 CarboEurope has made an interesting discovery which has cast doubt on the emissions trading approach to climate change. So far countries exceeding the emissions quotas have been able to "buy" carbon sinks in other countries, an approach that Malta has been interested in applying.

This past hot summer it was discovered in Spain, that when temperatures rise above a certain level trees begin to give off carbon instead of absorbing it. If Europe warms up her forests could become carbon sources putting us in the red in terms of our global carbon account. On the worldwide front there has been monitoring of the loss of the Amazon forest through road development. Working with the European Space Agency the institute also looks at how global problems effect Europe and how Europe can play a part in solving global problems.

Another IES activity involves issues connected to inland and marine waters such as drinking water and fishing policies. Within two years we will be looking at an enormous piece of legislation to protect water quality through the Water Framework Directive with water classified at five different grades. Research is being carried out to define the ecological status of water and the impact of chemicals in water on biodiversity and human health.

The Land Management Unit within the IES collaborated with Portugal last summer with the aim of building up a bush fire forecast for Europe to help civil protection authorities respond quickly. As part of the European Flood Alert programme Spain and Bulgaria were able to take action several days in advance before flooding began.

Animal testing and GMOs

The testing of chemicals on animals, animal welfare in farming and the right of the consumer to information on products and processes are also areas of ethical concern. Dr Caratti stressed that monitoring was especially important in these cases.

Dr Michael Hoffman outlined the work of the Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP), also based in Ispra. The institute is home to the European Chemicals Bureau and the European Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods which is seeking out and testing ways to avoid the use of animals in product testing. The IHCP also supports the JRC in implementing EU regulations on biotechnology.

There are a large number of issues with a strong ethical content. The experience so far with issues such as BSE (mad cow disease) and GMOs (genetically modified organisms) has turned these food concerns into matters of strong national interest. Some countries are pushing for GMOs while others are not for ethical reasons.

"Unless we can give EU consumers confidence in this new technology then GM is dead in Europe" Health Commissioner David Byrne has recently said. In 2003 the European Network of GMO Laboratories (ENGL) was inaugurated. This consists of over 40 enforcement labs from member states and will embrace as of May 1 members from the acceding states. Currently, MEPA participates as an observer in the meetings of the network, which is chaired by the JRC.

The network is set to become Europe's reference centre for regulating GM food and animal feed. Unique in the world's GMO regulatory system, it will have a crucial role in approval or disapproval of detection and compliance methods and play a prominent role in disputes such as the ongoing clash with the World Trade Organisation.

In preparation for this, the JRC has organised training courses for newly acceding states and candidate countries to train scientists in the methods used for the detection of GMOs in food and feed. Malta participated in such a course through the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics at the University headed by Professor Alex Felice.

The JRC's Institute for Prospective Technological Studies based in Seville attempts to provide foresight on the impact of GMOs in 20-30 years' time.

The European Chemicals Bureau supports the classification and labelling of substances and notification of new substances. The bureau is also involved in information exchange on the import and export of dangerous substances and is participating in the development of the new REACH system for assessment of the impact of chemicals on the environment and human health.

Physical and chemical exposure to contact materials in toys, food packaging, textiles are looked at and the cumulative effects of exposure to chemical "cocktails" are investigated. The Indoortron laboratory measures volatile organic compounds associated with the every day use of objects such as computers, mattresses, coffee machines.

In 2004 Europe will have the first legislation on soil protection. Predicted environmental concentrations of persistent pesticides in top soil and ground water are mapped for the European Soil Bureau.

In keeping with the EU policy on sewage sludge, the bio-waste directive and dioxin strategy, the impacts of spreading sewage sludge on the agricultural soils is estimated with relation to harmful PCDDs and PCBs.

The Institute for Protection and Security of the Citizen is Europe's eye in the sky, dealing with cybersecurity and combating fraud while making sure international nuclear non-proliferation treaties are adhered to by Euratom.

Spin-off activities of the nuclear safequards include monitoring agriculture by remote sensing to make sure that what is claimed by countries is actually being implemented. Electronic identification of livestock will contribute to food safety while monitoring of crops such as vines and olives will ensure the numbers correlate to reality.

Ensuring the authenticity of the 80,000 different types of wine in the European Union is another challenge which has been taken up by the JRC's Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements.

The European Commission is looking for large integrated projects with as many as 40 partners. Dr Caratti invited proposers of joint projects to make contact. Posts for visiting scientists with the JRC's institutes will be opportunity on offer in the coming year. Applicants must have very high scientific qualifications.

The JRC national contact point in Malta is the Malta Council for Science and Technology based in Villa Bighi, Kalkara. Maltese partners may e-mail lisa.pace@mcst.org.mt for assistance with finding foreign partners and submitting proposals.