Summer 2007

From the Chair

Stempra AGM 2007

Dummies at Westminster (and some mannequins)

Science advice for government? It's in the POST

Science communication with MPs

Saving British Science; Interview with Peter Cotgreave

The BA Science Communication Conference, any good, or not?

Eurochat

Stempra newsletter

Euro Chat
By our man in Brussels - Tim Reynolds

Welcome to the difficult third column. There is a relative lack of policy-making going on in Brussels at the present so they say. However there are plenty of big ideas around.

Space for Europe

The new European Space Policy is one big idea that was heralded at the Space Council in May. The new policy brings together EU activities with those of the European Space Agency (ESA) and national programmes. Europe has been involved in space for 40 years now and the public seem enthusiastic about space exploration. Space technology is also a critical part of the fabric of modern society for telecommunications and agricultural applications amongst others.

This aspect is largely invisible to the general public and one of the main aims of the new space policy is to "bring space down to Earth", demonstrate the benefits and show the great value for money (your tax euros) this unified policy can bring.

So it was a little unfortunate that the announcement of the space policy breakthrough was preceded by the news that the Galileo project (the European rival to the US GPS system) was now to be funded completely out of the public purse rather than from the private sector. This multi billion programme involves a fleet of 30 satellites offering accurate and reliable positioning services for civil applications.

EIT phone home

According to the German Presidency the European Institute of Technology (EIT) is likely to get the go-ahead during June. This is one of EC President Barroso's big ideas but not many other people seem to know exactly what EIT is actually for. However he is the boss - so... The only potential stumbling block is that the agreement of the Member States is dependant on more information on how EIT will be financed as it is not in the budget. Only two of the proposed 'Knowledge and Innovation Communities' (KICs) will be launched at first - in the fields of energy and climate change - with more following an evaluation of the EIT's activities.

EMF - more research?

I was intrigued to see the dust raised by recent coverage on the possible dangers of Wi-Fi with calls for more research on the effects of EMF (electro magnetic fields) in general.

I have recently had the pleasure (?) of summarising the results of over 90 projects on Health and Environment from FP5. A significant portion looked at possible health effects of EMF on humans from a variety of sources. I can confidently report that, despite their best efforts, none managed to come up with any tangible evidence of harm. Perhaps they weren't trying hard enough.

Well it is June which must mean its Green Week in Brussels with DG Environment putting on a big show highlighting what has been "greened" in 50 years of the EC. The conference and exhibition is usually a NGO bean feast but industry seems to be taking a bigger profile this year, which should make the debate a little more lively. In particular I'm looking forward to the human biomonitoring session which I'm down to cover for the conference daily. It should be good.

A bientôt - Tim
Tim Reynolds
Inta Communication Ltd

<< Back to
current newsletter