3. SOCIETAL CHALLENGES

The JRC will contribute to the harmonisation of methods, standards, and practices in support of Union legislation targeting health and consumer protection through: assessment of risks and opportunities of new technologies and chemicals, including nanomaterials, in food, feed and consumer products; development and validation of harmonised measurement, identification and quantification methods, integrated testing strategies and state-of-the-art tools for toxicological hazard assessment, including alternative methods to animal testing; assessment of health effects of environmental pollution; development and quality assurance of health testing and screening practices, including genetic testing and cancer screening. The JRC will support the development, implementation and monitoring of European agriculture and fisheries policies, including food security and development of the bioeconomy through: establishment of a global system and tools for crop forecasting and monitoring of crop productivity; support to improve short- to mid-term outlooks of agricultural commodities, including the predicted effects of climate change; contribution to biotechnological innovation and improved resource efficiency to produce 'more with less' through techno-economic analyses and modelling; scenario modelling for decision making in agricultural policies and analyses of policy impact at macro/regional/micro levels; analysis of the impact of the "CAP towards 2020" COM(2010) 672 final. on developing/emerging economies; further development of methods for fisheries control and enforcement and traceability of fish and fish products; development of robust ecosystem health indicators and bioeconomic modelling to better understand the direct effects (e.g. fishing) and indirect effects (climate change) of human activities on the fish stock dynamics, the marine environment, and their socio-economic impact. The JRC will focus on the 20-20-20 climate and energy targets and the Union's transition to a competitive low-carbon economy by 2050 with research on technological and socio-economic aspects of: security of energy supply, in particular as regards links and interdependencies with the extra-European energy supply and transmission systems; mapping indigenous primary and external energy sources and infrastructures on which Europe depends; energy/electricity transmission networks, in particular modelling and simulation of trans-European energy networks, analysis of smart/super grid technologies, and real-time simulation of power systems; energy efficiency, in particular methodologies for monitoring and assessing the achievements of energy efficiency policy instruments, techno-economic analysis of the use of energy-efficient technologies and instruments and of smart grids; low-carbon technologies (including safety of nuclear energy in the Euratom programme), in particular performance assessment and pre-normative research of prospective low-carbon technologies; analysis and modelling of drivers and barriers of their development and deployment; assessment of renewable resources and bottlenecks, such as critical raw materials, in the supply chain of low-carbon technologies; continuous development of the Information System for the SET-Plan (SETIS) and related activities. The JRC will support the 2050 goals of a competitive, smart, resource-efficient and integrated transport system for safe and secure transport of people and goods through laboratory studies, modelling and monitoring approaches on: strategic low-carbon transport technologies for all transport modes, including road transport electrification and alternative fuelled aircrafts/vessels/vehicles, and further development of a Commission internal clearing house for collecting and disseminating information on relevant technologies; availability and costs of non-fossil based fuels and energy sources, including impacts of electrified road transport on electricity grids and electricity generation; clean and efficient vehicles, in particular definition of harmonised test procedures and assessment of innovative technologies in terms of emissions, conventional and alternative fuel efficiency and safety; developing improved methodologies for emission measurements and environmental pressures calculations; coordinating and harmonising emissions inventorying and monitoring activities at European level; smart mobility systems to achieve secure, intelligent and integrated mobility, including techno-economic assessment of new transport systems and components, applications for improved traffic management and contribution to the design of an integrated approach to transport demand and management: integrated transport safety, in particular provision of tools and services for collecting, sharing and analysing incidents and accidents information in the aviation, maritime and land transport sectors; enhancing accidents prevention through analysis and crossmodal safety lessons while contributing to cost savings and efficiency gains. The JRC will contribute to the greening of Europe, security of resource supply and a global sustainable management of natural resources through: enabling access to interoperable environmental data and information through the further development of standards and interoperability arrangements, geo-spatial tools and innovative information communication technology infrastructures such as the Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Union (INSPIRE), and other Union and global initiatives; measuring and monitoring key environmental variables and assessing the state and change of natural resources by further developing indicators and information systems contributing to environmental infrastructures; assessing ecosystem services, including their valuation and climate change effects; developing an integrated modelling framework for sustainability assessment based on thematic models such as soil, land use, water, air quality, biodiversity, greenhouse gas emissions, forestry, agriculture, energy and transport, also addressing effects of and responses to climate change; supporting Union development policy goals by promoting technology transfer, monitoring of essential resources (such as forests, soils, and food supplies), and research to limit the impact of climate change and the environmental impacts of resource use, and to resolve trade-offs in the competition for land as between the production of food or energy and biodiversity; integrated assessment related to sustainable production and consumption policies, including security of supply of strategic raw materials, resource efficiency, low-carbon and clean production processes and technologies, products and services development, consumption patterns and trade. Further development and integration in policy analyses of Life Cycle Assessment; integrated impact analysis of options for climate change mitigation and/or adaptation based on the development of a quantitative tool set of models at regional and global scale, ranging from the sectoral to the macro-economic level. The JRC will contribute to the goals of the flagship initiative "Innovation Union" and the heading "Global Europe" of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020 through the following activities: comprehensive analyses of drivers and barriers of research and innovation, and development of a modelling platform for the assessment of their micro- and macro-economic impacts; contributions to the monitoring of the implementation of the flagship initiative "Innovation Union" via scoreboards, development of indicators etc., and operation of a public information and intelligence system to host relevant data and information; operation of a public information and intelligence platform for assisting national and regional authorities with smart specialisation; quantitative economic analysis of the spatial pattern of economic activity, in particular addressing economic, social and territorial disparities and changes in the pattern in response to technological developments; econometrics and macro-economic analysis of the reform of the financial system to contribute to maintain an efficient Union framework for financial crisis management; continuing to provide methodological support for monitoring of Member State budget positions in relation to the Stability and Growth Pact; monitoring the functioning of the ERA and analysing drivers of and barriers to some of its key elements (such as mobility of researchers and opening up of national research programmes) and proposing relevant policy options; continuing to play an important role in the ERA through networking, training, opening its facilities and databases to users in Member States and in candidate and associated countries; developing quantitative economic analysis of the Digital Economy; carrying out research on the impact of information and communication technologies on the goals of the Digital Society; studying the impact of sensitive security issues on the lives of individuals (Digital Living). The JRC will contribute to the goals of the heading "Security and Citizenship" of the Multiannual Financial Framework for 2014-2020 through the following activities: focusing on identification and assessment of the vulnerability of critical infrastructures (including global navigation systems and financial markets); improvement of tools for fighting fraud against the general budget of the Union and for maritime surveillance; operational performance assessment of technologies for or affecting personal identity (digital identity); enhancing the Union's capacity for disaster risk reduction and management of natural and man-made disasters notably through the development of global multi-hazard early warning and risk management information systems, making use of Earth observation technologies; continueing to provide tools for the assessment and management of global security challenges such as terrorism and non-proliferation (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (in the Euratom programme)) and threats arising from socio-political instability and communicable diseases; new areas to be addressed include vulnerability and resilience to emerging or hybrid threats, e.g. accessibility to raw materials, piracy, resource scarcity/competition and effects of climate change on occurrence of natural disasters.

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Source: EUR-Lex (Cellar) · retrieved 2026-11-04 · Text as adopted (Official Journal); later amendments are not incorporated in this text.