Euro research centre to assist Malta in priority areas

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre will be helping Malta in several priority areas including waste management following a round table conference held yesterday.

The JRC called yesterday's conference to discuss and identify areas of opportunities for collaboration with Malta where it could help in policy development.

Centre director general Ronald Schenkel told The Times it seemed that Malta's priorities were in waste management areas and the JRC had vast experience in this sphere and could help Malta.

The centre also looked into reducing emissions and pollution, analysing best practices and adopting them as technological annexes to European legalisation.

Another priority area for Malta was energy, and with the help of the JRC, Malta would be seeing how it could build up its own energy capacity preparing for any eventuality or emergency situation that could see the supply of gas or oil to the country being halted.

The JRC, Dr Schenkel said, had so far received very good feedback. It worked by focusing on few priorities and on niches for the different countries.

The impression he had of the Maltese, he said, was that policy makers were very focused and convincing.

Giancarlo Caratti, head of unit of the JRC's enlargement and associated initiatives, said that as a small country Malta did not have big research centres. But as a result of EU membership Malta had become a shareholder in the JRC and the centre was here to see what the country's future needs were.

The JRC's main partner in Malta is the Malta Council for Science and Technology. The council had identified its own partners which yesterday presented their priorities to the centre.

One interesting proposal, Mr Caratti said, was EuroMedITI, an idea of Malta providing support to European SMEs operating in the policy areas of renewable energy, water, marine and information technology. The JRC had expertise in such areas and could help Malta become a gateway for the countries that had a partnership with the EU.

Other proposals were related to waste management and ICT.