REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION JRC ANNUAL REPORT 2000

CONTENTS

FOREWORD

INTRODUCTION

OBSERVATIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE IN 2000

THE WORK PROGRAMME 2000 IN SUPPORT OF EU POLICIES

Institutional research activities

Clusters - an interdisciplinary approach

Nuclear research activities (outside the 5th Framework Programme)

Co-ordination of space activities

A year of evaluations and future recommendations

JRC AND THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA

THE JRC AS A PARTNER IN NETWORKS

PARTICIPATION OF ACCESSION COUNTRIES

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

The nuclear field

Food security and consumer protection

Environmental protection

General security

COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The European Technology Transfer Initiative (ETTI)

Expertise for the setting-up of innovative firms (EXSIF)

Protection and exploitation of JRC research results

Innovation project competition

COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

Events

JRC site visits

Media relations

Publications

JRC corporate website activities

Providing information to the public

YOUNG SCIENTISTS PRIZE 2000

THE JRC IN FIGURES

SCIENCE AND GOVERNANCE

WOMEN AND SCIENCE

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES OF THE INSTITUTES IN 2000

Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) - Geel

Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU) - Karlsruhe

Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM) - Petten

Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety (ISIS) - Ispra

Environment Institute (EI) - Ispra

Space Applications Institutes (SAI) - Ispra

Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP) - Ispra

Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS) - Seville

GLOSSARY

JRC BOARD OF GOVERNORS

ORGANISATIONAL CHART

FOREWORD

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is one of the Directorates General of the European Commission and is made up of eight individual institutes. These carry out basic and applied research, and provide technical know-how in support of European Union (EU) policies. JRC also participates in networks with Member State institutes, and plays an active part in harmonising data, testing and validating new scientific methods and techniques. Its status as a Commission service, which guarantees independence from private or national interests, is crucial to the pursuit of this role.

The JRC implements its mission through specific research programmes decided by the Council on advice from the European Parliament. Falling within the EU Framework Programmes for research and technological development (RTD), this work is funded by the EU budget, with additional funding from associated countries. It includes customer-driven scientific and technical services for specific Community policies - such as those on the environment, food and health, the information society, agriculture and nuclear safety.

In addition, the JRC is involved in competitive activities, as a means of validating its expertise and increasing its know-how in core competencies. Its remit is to 'add value' where appropriate, rather than to compete directly with establishments in the Member States.

Eight institutes spread over Europe

The eight JRC institutes are distributed over five separate sites around Europe. Each has its own focus of expertise.

The Institutes are:

- The Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM), in Geel (BE);

- The Institute for Transuranium Elements (ITU), in Karlsruhe (DE);

- The Institute for Advanced Materials (IAM), in Petten (NL);

- The Institute for Systems, Informatics and Safety (ISIS), in Ispra (IT);

- The Environment Institute (EI), in Ispra (IT);

- The Space Applications Institute (SAI), in Ispra (IT);

- The Institute for Health and Consumer Protection (IHCP), in Ispra (IT); and

- The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), in Seville (ES).

Management of the organisation

The JRC headquarters are in Brussels and include the Programmes Directorate, which serves as the link between the institutes and policy-makers. The Directorate co-ordinates the research performed by the institutes, and helps to ensure its quality by interacting with the international scientific community and industry. An important function is to promote technology transfer of the JRC's own research results, both to create industrial added value and to support the Community's innovation policies.

The JRC employs around 2,100 staff under various schemes. Its funding of about EUR 300 million per year stems from the research allocation of the EU budget and from income generated by competitive activities. Each of the eight institutes produces its own annual report, where more comprehensive information can be found. The JRC also publishes numerous technical reports, contributes to scientific journals, frequently presents papers to conferences, and organises workshops, seminars and conferences to disseminate its scientific output.

Further information can be obtained from the JRC website: http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int/.

INTRODUCTION

The year 2000 of the JRC was a period of evaluation and many initiatives were launched to assess how to best develop the JRC's mission as a research centre in support of EU policies. An independent external scientific audit of its resources and scientific skills was concluded; a five-year assessment of its activities was carried out; a High Level Panel chaired by Viscount Davignon delivered a report on the implementation of the JRC's mission, and a Commission Peer Group issued, in the framework of the Commission Reform, instructions on activity prioritisation. The wealth of recommendations collected during these exercises will shape the future orientations of the JRC.

The JRC's future is outlined in the Commission's initiative Towards a European Research Area presented in January 2000 and which is intended to contribute to the creation of better overall framework conditions for research in Europe. In this context, the JRC will contribute where appropriate to the development of a common scientific and technical reference system for policymaking. Toward this goal, the JRC will pool expertise from research organisations both inside and outside Europe to provide the best possible set of competencies for such support. During the year, the JRC continued to develop a more strategic approach to its role as a partner in networks. It also pursued specific activities designed to integrate the Central and Eastern European dimension in its work, through a detailed Work Programme.

Much effort was devoted throughout the year to improving the interface with European policy-makers. A workshop with its users, the Commission services, was held to set priorities according to customer needs; improvement teams on Total Quality Management were set up; and a debate was launched on science and governance.

The JRC promotes the technology transfer of its own results, thus supporting Community innovation policies. New activities added during the year included the set-up of an external seed capital fund and an incubation function at Ispra for JRC spin-off projects.

The JRC attaches a great importance to its international relations and refocused its activities in key areas. Co-operation with Japan and USA on the control of nuclear materials was widened to include nuclear technologies and a memorandum of understanding on technologies for mine clearance was signed between the European Commission (represented by the JRC), the USA, Canada and five Member States. Several international agreements were also initiated in the areas of food safety and environmental protection.

The Work Programme 2000

The JRC's Work Programme in 2000 was arranged according to the four competence areas;

Safety of food and chemicals;

Environment;

Dependability of information systems and services; and

Nuclear safety and safeguards.

In addition, two horizontal characteristics of JRC expertise are spelled out:

(1) A forward-looking insight into current technology trends (including life sciences and the information society) and socio-economic issues (such as employment, sustainability, EU-enlargement and the Mediterranean partnership area); and

(2) Networking with other RTD players in Europe to produce science and technology references (methods, data, materials and measurements) guaranteeing transparency of the internal market and international trade. Central to this activity is JRC participation in the development of EU standards in close co-ordination with the European standards committee CEN, with which JRC signed a collaboration agreement during 1999.

This new structure is used to give a clear indication of the JRC core competencies, as a basis for further concentration of efforts and future strategic planning.

Meeting the customer DGs

To strengthen communication with its customers, the JRC organised an inter-service workshop with customer DGs, presenting selected areas of current work. The programme was structured around the four JRC core competencies.

The main objective of the October 2000 workshop was to discuss EU policy priorities guiding the JRC Work Programme 2001, the concentration process of the JRC and future activities implementing the European Research Area (ERA). In addition, a final session was dedicated to the prospective activities of the IPTS, and to the JRC's role in the context of ERA. The workshop brought together 232 people from the Commission services, of which 151 were from other DGs and 81 from the JRC. The input from the Commission services has been used as a basis for changes to be introduced in the JRC Work Programme of next year.

Highlights of the year

All institutes have participated in activities to increase the visibility of the JRC to the research community and the general public. Highlights include:

- Inauguration of on-site laboratory

A new on-site laboratory was inaugurated on 6 June 2000 at the La Hague nuclear reprocessing plant in France. At the request of the Euratom Safeguards Office, this laboratory was designed, installed and commissioned by ITU staff. In the past, radioactive samples from the reprocessing plant would have had to travel long distances to be analysed at an accredited laboratory. This on-site facility cuts out the need for transportation as analysts from ITU in Karlsruhe will travel to the site at La Hague on a weekly basis to carry out the necessary work.

- Demonstration of pyrochemical reprocessing of nuclear fuels by electrorefining

Non-aqueous (molten salt) reprocessing of irradiated spent nuclear fuels is being studied between the ITU and CRIEPI. This process is considered a major part of a partitioning and transmutation strategy for nuclear waste management. Its goal is to demonstrate the feasibility of recovering actinides from irradiated fuel and high level waste, e.g. waste from the PUREX plutonium uranium extraction process. A hot cell facility for up to 1 kg of melt has been constructed and its performance successfully tested. The installation operates under a highly pure argon atmosphere and first demonstrations of the electrorefining process have generated deposits of up to 10 g of metallic uranium.

- A notification system for GMOs

SNIF (summary notification information format) software has been developed for an electronic notification system that will help the Environment DG implement two EC directives, one on the contained use of genetically modified micro-organisms and another on the deliberate release of GMOs into the environment.

- Antibiotics in food

An important current concern of the EU is to detect and control the presence and concentration of antibiotics in foodstuffs of animal origin. IRMM has accepted the task of developing analytical methods to determine the misuse of several important classes of antibiotics.

- Genetically modified organisms

In collaboration with the Health and Consumer Protection DG and in support of the Novel Food Regulation (EC) 258/97, the IRMM has continued to provide scientific support for the enactment of EU labelling requirements by providing reference materials and methods urgently needed for detecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food. In 2000, a second generation of certified reference materials for RR (Roundup-ready)-Soya was produced, as well as BT-samples (Bacillus Thuringensis) for GMOs in processed food. Mixing, characterisation and genetic expression (zygosity) tests for the third generation certified crop MON810 was performed and the study of DNA quality in RR Soya was completed, making it possible to launch this material onto the market.

- PCB and dioxin reference materials

The preparation of dioxin standard solutions, fly ash and sewage sludge was completed in collaboration with the Environment DG. In addition, the preparation of candidate material for the renewal of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in sewage sludge was completed in collaboration with the Research DG in 2000.

- Three-dimensional reconstructions

As part of the effort to improve the efficiency of surveillance, documentation and inspector training, ISIS has developed software for '3D reconstruction'. Distance measurements and digital cameras are combined to create a photo-realistic computer model of a real object or building - such as a three-dimensional reconstruction of the French National Assembly in Paris. Models are coded into the Virtual Reality Modelling Language (VRML), which makes them Internet compatible.

- Performance testing by ELSA

ISIS is part of an international partnership investigating the use of systems for the control of vibration in structures. Its European laboratory for structural assessment (ELSA) has been used for performance testing of structural systems in large suspension bridges, and studies are underway for an application which can be used for railways.

- Biogenic emissions in ozone and particulate matter

A year-long measurement campaign at the JRC site in Ispra produced a unique data set to study the links between ozone and particulate matter (PM) formation. A seasonal trend was observed in both total aerosol mass and aerosol chemical composition. During winter months, PM levels were found to be three times higher than during summer months. This is despite the fact that in summer months higher biogenic emissions and photochemical activity (causing high ozone level) were observed. The high PM concentrations during winter are probably due to domestic heating. Chemical analysis of fine aerosol revealed that organic compounds and elemental carbon have a higher relative contribution to aerosol mass during winter than during summer, making them probably more hazardous for human health in winter.

- European Observational Network

The European Observational Network became operational in 2000. It has been set up to assess the impact of EU policy and legislation on the quality of soil and water resources of inland and coastal watersheds. Network points have been established in Finland, France, Greece, Italy, Spain, the UK and Eastern Europe, in collaboration with the Environment DG and with regional and national institutions.

- Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES)

SAI has contributed at all levels to the further evolution of GMES, closely involving European space and user organisations. GMES uses cutting edge space technology to provide precise information on a range of global environmental parameters, from meteorology to terrestrial and marine resource assessment. In May 2000, Commissioner Ph. Busquin said that "GMES could be the next theme for a cross-European co-operation". A GMES conference was organised in Lille during October at which SAI delivered a keynote speech. A follow-up conference is in preparation. GMES has now become the representative for Earth Observation in the strategy for space put forward jointly by the European Union and the European Space Agency.

- Validated in-vitro methods

Guidelines for three in-vitro toxicity tests - one for phototoxic potential and two for skin corrosivity - have been accepted by EU Member State authorities. They will be included in technical annex V of the EU Directive on dangerous substances. The JRC-run ECVAM's (European Centre for Validation of Alternative Methods) scientific advisory committee endorsed two non-animal tests - one for skin-sensitisation using local lymph nodes, and the EpiDerm skin corrosivity test - as validated methods. An ECVAM study showed that three in-vitro tests for embryotoxicity had met validation criteria for study.

- Science and Governance

A high-level workshop on the relationship between Science and Governance was organised on 29 and 30 March 2000 in order to develop an understanding of how to develop a common system of scientific and technical reference for policy implementation. This high-level workshop was followed on 16 and 17 October by a conference on "Science and Governance in a knowledge society: the challenge for Europe" jointly held by the JRC and DG Research. The role of the European Research Area for the development of new European citizenship was debated.

OBSERVATIONS OF THE BOARD OF GOVERNORS

The Board acknowledges the JRC management's concern of assessing how best the centre could achieve its mission, facing the challenges of the new century and making better use of its resources. The consolidation of the new mission of the JRC, to provide customer driven scientific and technical support to the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of European Union policies, has driven all activities of the JRC during this year 2000.

The Board supports the JRC management efforts in evaluating the JRC both at the scientific and strategic level and at the administrative level and looks forward to analysing the results.

As regards the external evaluation exercises, the Board notes that The Scientific Audit report by "Visiting Groups", assessing the scientific strengths and weaknesses of JRC Institutes' resources, has contributed to the 5-Year JRC Assessment exercise carried out this year.

The Board appreciates the report of the High Level Panel, chaired by Viscount Etienne Davignon, on implementing the JRC's mission, and the Commission's Peer Group review, that will both serve to better define the orientation which the JRC should adopt in the future. The Board acknowledges the suggestions made, especially those concerning the proposed role of the JRC in the European Research Area to be developed in the frame of the new Framework Programme under preparation. The JRC should indeed concentrate its activities and further contribute to the development of a common European Reference system in support of EU Policymaking. To this end, more managerial flexibility would be required to better adapt the JRC resources to implementing its mission.

The Board appreciates the efforts devoted to integrate the users in the JRC policy formulation process with a view to setting the JRC priorities according to customer needs and EU policy priorities. To this end, the creation of an inter-service Users Group, allowing for a permanent systematic mechanism as interface with European policy-makers, is welcome; so is the collaboration with National Research organisations in specific fields, to increase the JRC's know-how and 'add value' to its competencies to better develop its role as partner in networks. In this respect, the Science and Governance conference improved the JRC's understanding to developing a common system of scientific and technical reference, in order to provide independent and high-quality support for policy implementation.

The Board notes that the internal audit has continued its work with a view to improve the efficiency of the JRC.

The introduction of the Total quality management (TQM) process, launched for the whole of the JRC with a systematic long-term approach, has completed its first cycle this year with the reporting of the various improvement teams.

The Board follows with interest the JRC Work-Programme's implementation and the efforts to integrate the Central and Eastern European partner countries in the JRC's work. It appreciates Institutes' achievements as scientific reference, and their contribution to solving European problems such as the dioxin crisis and the "mad cow" disease. It welcomes the JRC's performance on competitive activities.

The Board notes the promotion of JRC technology transfer in support of Community innovation policies, and the setting-up of an external seed capital fund and an incubation function at JRC Ispra site for JRC spin-off projects. It further encourages managerial efforts with respect to the improvement of its external communication and of the JRC's public image.

The Board supports the development of international collaboration also outside Europe in key areas, mainly the control of nuclear materials food safety and environmental protection.

With respect to nuclear activities outside the FWP, the Board welcomes the "Decommissioning" programme carried out at the JRC, for the management of waste and obsolete facilities, which commenced this year. While welcoming the normal running of operations of the 4-year Supplementary Programme of the High Flux Reactor -HFR- in JRC Petten site, the Board notes the setting up of a users strategy aiming at further involving the HFR in the European Research Area.

The Board appreciates the work carried out at the JRC for co-ordinating the Space activities and for the setting up of joint ESA/Commission strategy for Space which should be developed by a task force.

The Board notes the report on how the JRC complies with the Council Resolution on "Women and Science", of 20 May 1999 and with the European Parliament Resolution of 9 March 1999.

The Board acknowledges the contribution of the former Director General, Mr. Herbert J. Allgeier, who retired on 31 October 2000.

Finally, the Board wishes to express its recognition to Commissioner Philippe Busquin for his efforts to create an environment aiming at optimising the efficiency of European research results in the frame of the European Research Area.

THE JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE IN 2000

THE WORK PROGRAMME 2000 IN SUPPORT OF EU POLICIES

Mission

The mission of the Joint Research Centre is to provide customer-driven scientific and technical support for the conception, development, implementation and monitoring of Community policies. As a service of the European Commission, the JRC functions as a reference centre of science and technology for the Community. Close to the policy-making process, it serves the common interest of the Member States, while being independent of commercial or national interests.

Carrying out specific high-level research in close contact with industry and other bodies, the JRC support the policy maker in addressing the concerns of the individual citizen, improving the interaction between man and the environment and promoting sustainable development.

In line with its mission, the JRC Work Programme 2000 focuses on research topics relevant to important EU policies. The JRC resources were allocated to 97 projects distributed between the following four pillars:

- Safety of food and chemicals and health-related issues focuses on improving the understanding of hazards, exposure and risks posed by food contaminants, chemicals and chemical products (e.g. vaccines and pharmaceuticals) as well as on health and biomedical issues in the context of preventive strategies to protect consumer health. The bulk of the activities concentrate on the development and validation of advanced methods and certified reference materials, the improvement of the quality of measurements and the study of important processes involving food and chemical products. In addition services like information systems, data banks, advice and training will be provided in support to relevant EU policies. Prospective and socio-economic analyses represent an important part of the approach. The JRC maintains a close attention to scientific developments in life sciences and to the evolution of the legislative programme in food, chemical safety and health;

- Environment which focuses on issues of policy relevance in the field of environment and resources management. Its objective is to develop knowledge and provide reference information and a range of environmental processes and conditions. To do so it will foster the development of methods for measuring and monitoring environmental changes, evaluate and validate its impacts and harmonise scientific approaches at the Community level. Activities are designed to contribute to the sustainable development of the European and global environment;

- Dependability of information systems and services with the objective to support EU policies for the protection of the citizen in the emerging Information Society, and to provide the Commission with an in-house centre of expertise in dependable information and communication technology to support EU policies in general;

- Nuclear safety and safeguards which supports the Commission Services in charge of tasks defined by the Euratom Treaty in the field of Safeguards, Radiation Protection, nuclear waste management and focuses on policy issues such as harmonisation in the field of reactor safety and fuel cycle safety. Its objective is to develop and assemble knowledge through co-operative projects leading to a wide consensus on a range of issues relevant with nuclear safety and security at European level and often world-level. The application of Safeguards by the Euratom Safeguards Office and the IAEA requires R&D support and direct assistance. In view of the EU enlargement, special attention will be given to the co-operation with future EU Member States.

There were also two groups of horizontal activities. One covered current technology trends, such as life sciences and the information society, and socio-economic issues - including employment, sustainability, EU enlargement and Mediterranean co-operation. The second related to networking with other RTD actors in Europe, to produce science and technology references and to guarantee transparency of the internal market and international trade.

A considerable part of the Work Programme 2000 was devoted to direct services in support of EU regulations, such as the activities carried out by the European Laboratory for Air Pollution (ERLAP), the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Bureau (IPPCB) and the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB).

The following table presents the institutional research activities carried out by the eight JRC Institutes within the Work Programme 2000.

Institutional research activities

>TABLE POSITION>

Clusters - an interdisciplinary approach

Interdisciplinary attitude

The JRC has established a series of programme clusters to group projects that contribute to a well-identified scientific, technological or social issue. The aim is to foster an interdisciplinary approach by bringing together research teams from the various JRC Institutes, raise the profile of the JRC and strengthen the interface with its customers. Clusters can act as the point of reference on the issues under consideration. So far, clusters have no budgetary implications

The following clusters established at JRC during 1999, continued during 2000 with the addition of a new cluster devoted to issues related to water:

- Electronic commerce: focus on dependability and consumer aspects in electronic commerce (IHCP, ISIS and IPTS).

- Emissions and related impacts on human and environmental health: focus on emission processes, clean technologies in transport and for waste incineration, emission characteristics in relation to health effects (EI, IAM, IHCP and IPTS).

- Global change: modelling carbon sinks and monitoring carbon in the atmosphere and biosphere, clean technologies, and implications for energy policy (SAI, IPTS, EI and IAM).

- Food: focus on food safety, anti-fraud measures, support to biotechnology directives and development of standards for reinforcing industrial competitiveness (IHCP, IRMM and IPTS).

- Agri-environment: geospatial information, integrated assessments and verification of agri-environmental measures (SAI, EI, ISIS and IPTS).

- MAREL: Co-ordinates the JRC projects relevant with the existing reactors safe operation: fuel safety and performance, integrity of the fission circuit, accident analysis, risk assessment (IAM, ITU and ISIS).

- Water: Focus in interdisciplinary analysis of water issues including quality, multiple uses, and socio-economic dimension (EI, SAI, IAM, IRMM and IPTS).

Nuclear research activities (outside the 5th Framework Programme)

The High Flux Reactor (HFR)

Implementing a Euratom agreement

The Commission operates the High Flux Reactor (HFR) at Petten (NL) in accordance with the 1961 Euratom/Netherlands agreement. The Netherlands, Germany and France jointly regulate the HFR, with each partner guaranteeing a percentage of the finance required.

The JRC carries out research at the HFR for Euratom on the basis of four-year supplementary research programmes. The HFR programme remains active in the area of the safety of the existing reactors, as well as for the development of safer reactors and new fuels.

While the current four-year programme remains the basis of the operation of HFR until 2003, a strategy is now being developed by a group of experts to involve HFR in a more European circle of users and R&D projects, in the context of the European Research Area.

Support to medical activities

The HFR is used for the development of products and technologies in support of medical activities:

- The HFR produces isotopes for more than 60% of the ten million medical diagnoses executed each year in Europe. The quality and reliability of its operation make HFR indispensable for the European pharmaceutical companies in this field. Moreover, the reactor's location allows its medical products to be despatched rapidly to European medical centres - which is vital given the short life of most currently used isotopes.

- An association of European centres working on a new treatment for encephalic cancers based on boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) techniques is also using the HFR.

- Other medical-related research includes production of new isotopes, development of other technical BNCT-applications and new alpha-immunotherapy products, and studies on the materials for medical prosthesis.

Assuring easy fuel availability

In order to assure easy fuel availability in the future, the JRC decided to convert the HFR from highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium.

Four transfers of spent fuel from the reactor pool sector to the Dutch national repository were organised in 2000.

Decommissioning of nuclear installations

Dealing with obsolete facilities

Within the Euratom Treaty, site agreements concerning nuclear plants facilities were signed during the period 1960 to 1962 between the Community, Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands. In the two latter cases, national nuclear installations were transferred to the Community and infrastructure for nuclear development was put in place. The installations in Karlsruhe and Petten are still in full use today and some nuclear activities remain in Geel and Ispra. Others have been shut down, in some instances more than 20 years ago, and have mostly become obsolete.

The JRC has established a long-term action plan for decommissioning its obsolete nuclear facilities. The plan is divided into three parts:

(1) Management of waste resulting from JRC activities since 1960. This phase also includes the safe conservation of obsolete installations and the improvement of facilities needed for the manipulation, decontamination, treatment and storage of solid and liquid wastes.

(2) Dismantling of shutdown facilities, such as reactors and laboratories; a procedure that will generate new waste, which also needs to be processed.

(3) Evaluation of resources necessary for future dismantling of nuclear facilities still in operation, such as the cyclotron at Ispra (IT), the hot cells at the ITU in Karlsruhe (DE), and the HFR at Petten. Although some dismantling is required at these facilities, their shutdown is not envisaged in the actual action plan.

A group of independent experts was set-up to advise JRC on the strategies to follow. Work is proceeding as expected at Ispra, Karlsruhe and Geel (BE). An important test of the work was accomplished at the IRMM with the intention of downgrading the Geel licence and hence reducing surveillance costs.

Co-ordination of space activities

A challenge for the EU is to find ways of providing European support to mostly nationally driven space activities. The Commission helps in defining Europe's ambitions, taking into account the growing importance of space for socio-economic policy objectives in the information and communication services, as well as for science, technology, space-access and security.

European strategy developed for space

Through the Commission's Space Co-ordination Group, chaired by the Director-General of the JRC in his personal capacity, the Commission and the European Space Agency (ESA) have devised a joint strategy for space and recommendations for actions, in consultation with Member States and industry. The final communication [1], drafted together with ESA, was adopted by the Commission on 27 September 2000. This proposes setting up a joint ESA/Commission task force to implement and develop the European strategy for space.

[1] Europe and Space: Turning to a new chapter, COM(2000)597.

Global monitoring for environment and security (GMES)

Following discussion with the Space Advisory Group (SAG) in July 1999, the concept of global monitoring for environment and security has continued to be developed by the Commission under JRC stewardship. A study [2] was undertaken to develop the political arguments and reinforce links with Commission services. It concluded that the broader issue of environment and security is growing in political importance, and that global monitoring can provide effective support for information gathering.

[2] The use of global monitoring in support of environment and security, Final Report, August 2000.

At the technical level, the SAI continued to provide support in collaboration with European space agencies. A GMES office and partnership were established, involving these agencies, EUMETSAT (the European organisation for the exploitation of meteorological satellites), and industry. A memorandum of understanding was signed with the German space agency DLR, similar to that concluded in 1999 with the French agency CNES, and support was given to the French EU Presidency in organising a colloquium on GMES at Lille in October 2000. A seminar held at the International Astronautical Federation (IAF) congress in October 2000 on GMES explored co-operation aspects with an international panel from the EU, Brazil, Russia and the USA.

EU-Russia partnership and co-operation agreement

Discussions continued with the Russian Federation on space and on GMES in particular. In September, a visit by Commissioner Busquin to Moscow led to an agreement to establish a EU-Russian working group, allowing experts from the two sides to develop and promote co-operative space observation projects, particularly in the domain of GMES.

A year of evaluations and future recommendations

Four formal external evaluations of the JRC were carried out in a short period. These were the 1999 Scientific Audit, the Five-Year Assessment (1995-1999), the High Level Panel Report, and the Commission Peer Group evaluation - each responding to separate requirements and targeting different objectives. They have generated a wealth of recommendations to help to steer the JRC's future and shape its strategies.

1999 scientific audit

The first exercise was the scientific audit of the JRC institutes in the second half of 1999. The JRC Director-General launched this non-statutory evaluation immediately after the approval by the Commission of the JRC Work Programme 1998-2002. It was designed to provide early feedback to JRC management on the scientific standing of the institutes, and to assess their scientific strengths and weaknesses in terms of staff and other resources. A major objective was to ensure that the European Commission Fifth Framework Programme requirements could be fulfilled with the requisite scientific quality.

The audit was carried out by 'visiting groups' of external experts. All the reports were finalised and published by early 2000, allowing institute management to take advantage of the specific observations, as well as drawing conclusions valid for the JRC as a whole.

Some 40 recommendations in the reports were discussed in detail with each institute director and the panel of experts. The recommendations were incorporated into the institutes' medium- and long-term plans. Staff were briefed on the outcome and, in most cases, any feasible suggestion immediately initiated. Monitoring of the implementation of these recommendations was eventually merged with that of the five-year assessment.

The overall audit conclusions confirm the soundness of JRC's scientific strategies:

- The new JRC mission is supported by management and staff, and well received by the EU research community. An essential element linked to the mission, networking with Member State laboratories, is strongly encouraged.

- The science base underpinning the JRC mission is vital and must be kept strong. Attention is to be given to the balance between services and research.

- JRC's effort in supporting nuclear technology is recognised and encouraged - but its sustainability depends on maintaining the current level of funding.

Five-year assessment

The five-year assessment (5YA) exercise is legally necessary before the Commission can make proposals for the Sixth Framework Programme. It covers both the impacts of the Fourth Framework Programme and progress on the Fifth Framework programme. The main focus for the JRC was on the management aspects of its activities, the impact of its support to EU policies and delivered results in relation to adopted programmes. JRC input involved a report of activities over the five-year period, with individual evaluations of the eight institutes, backed by an overall report from a high-level R&D personality.

In June 2000, after four months of meetings, visits to the institutes and deliberations of a panel of 12 independent experts of high scientific repute, Professor S. Barabaschi delivered a report carrying a wide range of constructive recommendations. Its overriding statement is that the new mission of the JRC must be maintained and its implementation assured in all aspects and consequences. To help this process, the JRC should:

- Allocate more resources to managing interfaces with its institutional customers, pay more attention to their needs, and translate results into user-friendly language;

- In planning support to policies, not limit effort to the R&D part alone, but remain involved in the whole project life-cycle, including post-delivery assistance;

- Increase management perception of outside opportunities and collaboration potential, identify internal knowledge gaps and bridge them with external capabilities; and

- Improve the awareness of the need for networking, both internal and external, which must become second nature to the JRC researcher.

The valuable recommendations collected in these two exercises have been combined in an action plan. A large majority of the recommendations has been accepted and agreed by JRC management, and checkpoints for six-monthly verification of progress established.

High level panel

In January 2000, Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin established a high level panel, chaired by Viscount Etienne Davignon, to review and make recommendations on the workings of the JRC. A report presenting the unanimous view of the panel was issued in July 2000, containing a number of recommendations concerning:

- In which areas should the JRC concentrate its activities taking account both of its areas of excellence and the Commission's political priorities-

- What are the operational consequences of its mission in terms of its relationship with the European Parliament, scientific committees and various agencies-

- What are the needs in terms of establishing partnership networks with national centres in the Member States and at international level, and how can this best be achieved-

- How can the JRC be adapted to the changing relationship with national centres and EU institutions, while taking into account the status of the JRC as a Commission DG-

- How should JRC activities be funded-

The panel endorses the mission assigned to the JRC by the Fifth Framework Programme, and finds the JRC has a clear long-term role. It proposes opening the JRC up to the other Community institutions, and offers a number of organisational suggestions. It recommends that the JRC should not dissipate its efforts, but should focus activities and promote intense networking with other European centres of excellence. Finally, the panel attaches particular importance to nuclear activities.

After presenting the conclusions of the report to the Commission, Commissioner Busquin offered to follow it up with a communication on the JRC's role in the context of the European Research Area, and with a decision on improving the governing and advisory structure of the JRC.

Commission peer group evaluation

On 26 July 2000, the Commission published the communication Matching the Commission activities with its human resources - the means to achieve our objectives, undertaken in the framework of the Commission Reform initiative. A peer group comprising five Commission members had been appointed earlier in the year to make a political overview of the institutions' activities and bring them into line with the available human resources.

The peer group concluded that a total of 298 research posts could be phased out. Of these, 200 were to be achieved by reductions in JRC staff, either by closing down the IAM Petten site or by reducing activities overall. A study on the potential closure of Petten concluded that this would not be feasible, so the JRC is identifying possible areas for reduction of activities across its structure. This task is scheduled for completion in early 2001.

JRC AND THE EUROPEAN RESEARCH AREA

On 18 January 2000, the European Commission adopted the Communication Towards a European Research Area [3], envisaged by Commissioner Philippe Busquin as a means of contributing to the creation of better overall framework conditions for research in Europe.

[3] COM(2000)6 - 18 January, 2000. See also the web-site: http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/area.html.

The document was discussed during the informal meeting of research ministers in Lisbon and endorsed by the Lisbon Summit at the end of March 2000. The European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Council of the Regions took part in the debate, together with the scientific community and industry.

An important dimension of the European Research Area initiative is the need to strengthen and develop the relationship between science and policy-making. This includes supporting scientific infrastructure, selecting and evaluating research programmes, as well as developing policies that rely on scientific excellence - from public health to vehicle safety.

A European scientific and technical reference system is required to analyse diverse opinions, fully assess the implications of the different options and provide objective information for democratic debate and decision-making. Such a reference system must be capable of reacting quickly in emergencies.

The JRC can play an important role in the development of the scientific and technical reference system by helping to provide support to policy-makers on the scientific and technical dimensions of their decisions.

Key activities of the JRC in this respect could include:

- Evaluating test methods and standards to help remove barriers to international trade;

- Providing independent verification of methodologies to promote EU-wide consensus on conflicting scientific issues; and

- Anticipating changes in society's demands over the coming decades.

The JRC is already engaged in these activities through various projects: the system for reference materials, which is essential in achieving comparable and traceable measurements; the European reference laboratory for air pollution (ERLAP); the work of the JRC-managed European Chemicals Bureau (ECB); the European integrated pollution prevention and control bureau (EIPPC); and the JRC's function as a world-wide reference for nuclear safeguards.

THE JRC AS A PARTNER IN NETWORKS

Networking with research organisations and industry has long been recognised by the JRC as indispensable to fulfilling its mission of providing the best scientific and technical support to EU policies. It has collaborated with partners in research centres, universities, regulatory bodies, local authorities, industrial associations and companies throughout the EU and beyond. Within the context of the European Research Area initiative, a timely reflection was launched by the JRC throughout 2000 to explore the establishment of a scientific reference system that could provide independent and high-quality support to the Commission and Member States.

A first international workshop on science and governance was organised by the JRC in March 2000, bringing together policy-makers, scientists and academics from Europe, the USA, Canada and Japan. From these, the working group CERCLE (chief executives of research centres and laboratories in Europe) was formed to consider in detail the concept of a European scientific reference system. This body addressed the practical components and functions of such a system - how it would operate, the type of results it should deliver and how it could support its customers, namely the European Commission, the European Parliament and Member States.

Following the workshop, a two-day conference was jointly organised on science and governance by the JRC and the Research DG in October 2000, attracting some 450 delegates. Strong support emerged for the creation of a scientific reference system that would enable experts and organisations to network in delivering sound scientific advice.

The JRC continued its policy of collaborating with strategic partners to this end, and concluded a memorandum of understanding with the Spanish national research centre CSIC. Agreed areas for collaboration include research to identify, control and establish common standards on GMOs; food technology and quality control; biomaterials; and environmental monitoring. On the socio-economic level, CSIC and the JRC will work together on issues relating to Mediterranean candidate countries and on the European Science and Technology Observatory (ESTO). Collaboration will primarily materialise through joint projects, sharing facilities and staff exchanges. It will complement agreements reached with other leading research organisations.

PARTICIPATION OF ACCESSION COUNTRIES

Since mid-1999, 11 accession countries have joined the Fifth Framework Programme as associate members and are benefiting from full participation in all EU research programmes (seven countries have also subscribed to the nuclear section).

The report of the panel of independent experts chaired by Viscount Davignon (July 2000) spurred the JRC to draw up an integrated strategy covering science and technology issues to aid the enlargement process. In particular, the panel emphasised the increasingly important role for the JRC in helping Central and Eastern European countries to improve the performance and safety standards of their nuclear installations.

In 2000, the JRC started a specific action in support of the enlargement process. This will strengthen the collaboration with research organisations in the pre-accession countries, through various measures such as:

Progressive opening up of the JRC work programme

Within the JRC Fifth Framework Programme work programme, 18 projects have been accorded higher priority to address specific needs of the pre-accession process in the areas of environment, nuclear safety and safeguards, harmonisation of measurements, agriculture, food and chemical products, prospective analysis and modelling.

Encouraging submission of joint proposals to the Fifth Framework Programme

Through its core competences, the JRC plays an important role in drawing research organisations from pre-accession countries into European project networks. In 1999, 43 shared-cost projects were selected, in which the JRC joined with 60 research organisations from these partner countries.

Organising joint events

In 2000, information days for senior representatives of the research community were organised in major pre-accession countries (Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland), to raise awareness of the opportunities offered by collaboration with the JRC. In addition, several joint workshops and conferences have taken place, or have been scheduled.

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS

In the context of its new mission, the JRC had announced to the joint Group Research/Atomic Questions in spring 1999 that it intended to undertake a dramatic revision of its international relations to focus on the aims set by its mission.

The past year has seen the effects of this transition and a realignment of the international activities of the JRC - both in its own fields of jurisdiction and in its interaction with the USA and Japan, who are essential EU partners. Certainly, improvement is still required and some sectors of activity reflect too great a diversity in the interventions of the JRC. But, on the whole, significant progress was made.

An individual partner: Japan

Links between the JRC and Japanese research institutes form the principal Community-level co-operative activity between the EU and Japan. This is largely explained by the structure of research in Japan. This co-operation covers the aspects of science and technology at the centre of common interest.

While all four pillars of JRC activity have benefited from this change, it is in nuclear safety and food security that the effects are most pronounced.

The nuclear field

With the USA

Bill Richardson, the US Secretary of Energy, invited the JRC Director-General to be associated with the ideas and initiatives launched by the former. Following a meeting held in Washington at the end of October 1999 between the Director-General and the Under Secretary in the US Department of Energy (DoE), the decision was taken to widen the field of co-operation, currently limited to the control of the nuclear materials. A draft Euratom/US-DOE agreement covering nuclear technologies is now being examined.

In addition, under the existing agreement, these meetings helped reaffirm the wish of the two parties to continue co-operation, particularly in assistance to Russia and the newly independent states (NIS) in the field of controlling nuclear materials (nuclear safeguards).

With Japan

A visit by the JRC Director-General to Japan in spring 1999 had resulted in similar conclusions. Co-operation with the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) has been widened to nuclear technologies, in the same way as with the USA. In addition, the R&D agreement concerning the control of nuclear materials should be renewed very soon.

Within the framework of a profound restructuring underway in Japan, which should be completed in 2001 with the disappearance of the Science and Technological Agency (STA), control of nuclear materials will be entrusted to the Nuclear Material Control Centre (NMCC). The NMCC has already stated that it would welcome JRC technical support and experience, both for training its inspectors and developing the most suitable techniques. A draft agreement, comprising possible contractual clauses to allow the payment by the Japanese for the services of the JRC, is being examined.

With Brazil/Argentina

The Brazilian-Argentinean Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Material (ABACC) is the only regional organisation - other than Euratom - responsible for the control of nuclear materials. While its operating rules are different from those of Euratom, its objectives and technological needs are similar. It was therefore natural that a co-operation agreement be concluded between the two bodies. Modelled on the Euratom/US-DOE agreement, this was duly signed on 10 February 1999.

With Russia

Co-operation with Russia under TACIS continues, while that with the EU enlargement candidate countries is being intensified.

Food security and consumer protection

With the USA

Discussions were carried out mainly with the USA on food security and consumer protection. At the 'New Vistas' meeting held in Stuttgart on 15 June 1999, it had been agreed that the questions of food security (including that of GMOs) should be the subject of genuine co-operation. It was agreed in Washington in February 2000 that the optimal approach would be to draft a memorandum of understanding between the JRC and the JIFSAN (joint institute for food safety and applied nutrition) research centre at the University of Maryland.

With Australia

During an international conference on GMOs in Sydney in spring 1999, close contacts were made with the Australians.

With Canada

Formal collaboration was established with the objectives of obtaining scientific data concerning safety and food quality, plus the establishment of co-operation in the more specific fields of chemical contamination and fraud prevention, with particular respect to GMOs.

With the World Health Organisation

At the end of 2000, the World Health Organisation (WHO) approached the JRC to examine the possibility of the JRC leading research projects intended to improve food security and environmental safety aspects of human health protection. Such projects will come within the broader agreement currently under discussion between the Commission (the Health and Consumer Protection DG) and WHO.

Environmental protection

With applicant countries

Numerous actions are in hand in the field of environmental protection, particularly with the applicant countries for enlargement. The EI takes part in monitoring the Danube basin, and in the fight against pollution there. The countries concerned called for support following the accidental discharge of highly toxic products.

With Japan

EI is acting in three priority areas with Japan that interest both partners: urban pollution and the question of emissions, overall climate change and the implementation of the Kyoto protocol, and solar energy. In the latter field, CRIEPI (the joint research organisation of the Japanese electricity producers) and the Japanese Quality Association wish to develop joint projects with EI.

With the USA

EI has been collaborating with the US DoE 's Environmental Chemistry Division at Brookhaven National Laboratory, in determining the role of atmospheric aerosols (e.g. particulate matter derived from fuel combustion) in the radiation budget of the Earth. The two groups are currently collaborating to integrate ten years of international research in this area, as requested by the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme (IGBP).

Jointly with the Environment DG, EI set up collaboration with the US Environmental Protection Agency (US-EPA) in order to develop and implement aligned global standards relating to emissions from non-road machinery.

Finally, in the area of human and environmental health, a common EU-US framework is being established to promote transatlantic co-operation in endocrine disruptor research. Preliminary contacts include US EPA and other US institutions (National Academy of Sciences, universities...) and private companies.

With Canada

Three areas of co-operation are underway with Canada:

(1) Monitoring of radioactivity in the environment, with the Meteorological Centre of Canada and the University of British Columbia;

(2) Use of remote sensing for soil monitoring, with COLUTEQ (Consortium of the Teledetection Laboratories of Quebec); and

(3) Sustainable development, with the Canadian ministries of industry and environment. In this context, the IPTS co-presides the OECD's task force on biotechnology for sustainable industrial development with the Canadian Ministry of Industry and MITI (the Japanese Ministry for International Trade and Industry).

With Russia

SAI and the International Forestry Institute (IFI) in Moscow have established collaboration for the monitoring of forests and fires covering the whole of Siberia.

Under the Kyoto Protocol

The SAI TREES project in support of the Environment and Development DGs covers the countries of the tropical area in Africa, South East Asia and Latin America confronted with a deforestation problem. This work is carried out in collaboration with the space agencies in Japan (NASDA) and the USA (NASA). Agreements drawn up with these two bodies, and with the ESA, comprise a contribution to the definition of new instruments for ground observation, as well as to their use.

The SAI World Fire Web (WFW) project provides for systematic monitoring of forest fires at world level, in co-operation with national institutions of 15 countries, including Canada, USA, Brazil, Australia and Russia.

General security

In fields more generally connected with security in its broad meaning, the following are worthy of mention:

- Signature of an arrangement between the JRC and the US National Science Foundation (NSF) in the field of seismic engineering. This agreement, similar to that existing between the JRC and the Building Research Institute (BRI) of the Japanese Ministry of Construction, concerns co-operation with three American university laboratories financed by the NSF.

- Signature of a memorandum of understanding on 17 July 2000 on the technologies intended for mine clearance for humanitarian purposes. The International Test and Evaluation Programme (ITEP) for humanitarian mine clearance proposes a framework for co-operation between the European Commission (represented by the JRC in accordance with its Work Programme), the USA, Canada and the five Member States undertaking an R&D programme in this field (Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom).

COMPETITIVE ACTIVITIES

While the majority of the JRC budget supports its core research Work Programme, approximately 15% is earned from other sources. Competitive activities is the umbrella term given to all other income earned - from participation in the collaborative projects of the Fifth Framework Programme, additional paid work to support European Commission services and work for third parties, typically regional authorities or industry.

Participating in such activities brings several advantages. In addition to benchmarking against other research centres, the JRC also gains access to new expertise and shares its own competences and facilities. In accordance with JRC's own regulations, projects must complement the JRC's mission and must respect the subsidiarity principle.

Throughout 2000, the JRC enjoyed a success rate of approximately 40% in its applications for shared-cost projects, resulting in a further 90 new projects awarded. The majority of these were from the 'Energy, Environment and Sustainable Development' and the 'Competitive and Sustainable Growth' Programmes' of the Research DG, although the JRC was also represented in other programmes.

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

The European Technology Transfer Initiative (ETTI)

The JRC often produces results with potential industrial applications as a by-product of its core research programme. In addition to on-going activities to protect and exploit research results with commercial applications, the JRC is developing a number of specific projects to promote technology transfer by the creation of spin-offs. These activities are grouped under the European Technology Transfer Initiative (ETTI).

Approved by the Commission in 1998, ETTI aims to provide access to, and maximise, the exploitation of JRC's research results to the benefit of European industry. The initiative is composed of three strands:

1. Entrepreneurship courses

Following the successful pilot course in 1999, a second course in entrepreneurship training for JRC researchers - particularly those on short-term contracts - ran between March and September 2000 at the JRC Ispra site. Candidates selected for the course on the basis of a business proposal attended 18 weekend workshops, consisting of approximately 150 hours of training delivered by professionals from Member States. All phases of business planning - from feasibility studies via financing to practical steps for start-ups - were covered during the course, giving it a strongly pragmatic flavour.

2. Technology Transfer Fund

The concept behind the Technology Transfer Fund was to stimulate the set-up of a seed capital fund that would be both trans-European and trans-technology. In June 2000, following a call for interest published in 1999 and subsequent negotiations, a contract was signed between the JRC and German venture capital company Industrie Management Holding (IMH) GmbH to raise the fund. A EUR 20 million fund is being raised on the market, with no financial or legal involvement on the part of JRC. Half of the fund is dedicated to JRC projects, but it will also invest in other spin-off projects throughout the Member States and Associated States. Throughout the second half of 2000, a selection of results with commercial potential was presented to the fund managers on a 'first right of refusal' basis. Of these, four projects were selected for development of a detailed business plan with a view to possible investment.

3. European Centre for Innovation and Spin-offs (ECIS)

This new centre is intended to provide an incubation function for selected JRC spin-off projects. ECIS will typically assist with assessment of intellectual property rights, market studies, design consulting, business plan development and so on, before a new legal company is formed. Two to three such spin-offs are expected every year. Facilitating technology transfer from JRC to innovative SMEs in less-favoured regions of the Member States is a second objective. It is anticipated that the ECIS incubator management team, assisted by a network of consultants, will help to identify and contact such companies. Two to three projects of this kind are anticipated each year. ECIS will be located at JRC's Ispra site, but access will be open to all JRC researchers. The centre is expected to be operational in 2001.

Expertise for the setting-up of innovative firms (EXSIF)

Complementing the above activities is JRC's involvement in the collaborative EXSIF project, funded by the Enterprise DG. A consortium of European R&D organisations - including CEA (FR), CERN (CH), CNRS (FR), CSIC-CNM (ES), DERA (UK) - representing some 40,000 researchers is pooling resources to promote high-tech spin-offs. The expected results are the establishment of pools of experts, as well as the definition of a set of best practices validated in case studies and pre-packaged for dissemination throughout the EU.

Protection and exploitation of JRC research results

Results produced at the JRC are the property of the European Communities. JRC researchers are encouraged to protect research results by the most appropriate means (e.g. patent or copyright) prior to publishing or other disclosure. The JRC's technology transfer unit works closely with the Enterprise DG and a network of technology brokers to ensure that JRC results are protected and exploited. Fourteen patent applications and four requests for software registration were filed throughout 2000. Licensing a technology to the appropriate industrial partner is the most common means of exploitation. The JRC has more than 800 partners in both industry and academia through its collaborative work, and welcomes new contacts.

Innovation project competition

An internal competition was organised to encourage innovation within the JRC institutes. More than 30 proposals were submitted, reflecting the broad range of results arising from JRC core research. Four projects were selected for full funding; a further three received partial support. In addition, market studies were commissioned in order to assess the commercial potential of two projects. The development of a new type of fuel cell and the commercialisation of a biotech cell screening kit are among the projects supported.

COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGY

The JRC communications strategy, defined in 2000, provided for a number of objectives intended to increase the visibility of JRC activities to the outside world. A major objective was to promote JRC's image towards its stakeholders, including the European policy-makers (the European Parliament, European Commission DGs and services, and Member States), the scientific community, the media - and, ultimately, the general public.

Media relations and the popularisation of scientific information were accorded high priority. The media is considered a valuable partner for the JRC; the press and radio/television are not only vehicles for the relay of information, but also a target audience.

To attain these goals, a large number of significant events were organised in 2000, targeting the European decision-makers both in the European Parliament and Member States, as well as the media - resulting in increased media coverage and visibility for JRC activities.

Another objective was to streamline communications activities in order to foster JRC-wide cohesion. This was achieved by setting common guidelines and a house style for publications, and by tailoring key media messages to the relevant target audiences.

Considerable effort was dedicated to the expansion and reinforcement of JRC networks, notably by organising a launch event for the JRC Alumni Network.

In 2000, integration of communications activities into mainstream JRC policy and scientific work also had to adapt to the refocusing of JRC activities, taking into account new priorities.

Events

During the year, major JRC-organised events included conferences, exhibitions, seminars and workshops - many of which also involved media relations. These included:

- JRC@EP was a large exhibition held from 31 January to 4 February 2000 at the European Parliament in Brussels, with the aim of increasing the visibility of key JRC activities to members of the European Parliament, as European policy-makers and JRC stakeholders. Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin inaugurated the exhibition and gave a press briefing to some 20 journalists. Very positive results ensued. The event generated strong interest, and contributed to enhanced recognition for the JRC, its role and its possible support to the European Parliament. It also provided an opportunity to establish new contacts between MEPs and the JRC.

- A JRC Information Day was organised in Lisbon on 4 May 2000 to recognise the Portuguese Presidency of the EU and target the Portuguese scientific community. Featuring project presentations, visits to research centres and a press dinner, this was successful in helping to establish good links with Portuguese research organisations and paving the way for further collaboration. It also obtained extensive media coverage.

- A major conference on 'Science and Governance in a Knowledge Society: the Challenge for Europe' was organised on 16 and 17 October 2000 in Brussels. This served as a follow-up to a workshop held in March 2000 on the same subject, at which the interaction between science and society was debated. The October event was attended by more than 500 participants from industry, research organisations, European and national decision makers, universities from all over Europe and other continents - as well as many journalists. Some 40 speakers took part in the various sessions, and the closing presentation by Commissioner Busquin was broadcast live on the Internet.

- A high level international workshop on vehicle emissions and the inauguration of the ERLIVE laboratory took place on 11and 12 July 2000 in Ispra. This event brought together the Commissioner for Research, Philippe Busquin, Italian Minister of Research Ortensio Zecchino, industry partners, plus representatives from the European Parliament and other DGs of the European Commission. A group of journalists also participated in a press conference on globalisation of emissions standards, and the JRC contribution to this drive.

The signature of several memoranda of understanding afforded further opportunities to raise awareness of JRC activities:

- A memorandum of understanding with the European Council for Automotive Research and Development (EUCAR) and CONCAWE (the oil companies' European organisation for environment, health and safety) on polluting emissions was signed on 12 May 2000;

- A memorandum of understanding on humanitarian demining with the International Test and Evaluation Programme (ITEP) was signed on 17 July 2000.

Commissioner Busquin participated in the latter event, both of which generated good press coverage.

The Commissioner also participated in a number of JRC external events, such as the GMES Space Symposium in Lille (FR) on 16 and 17 October 2000, and the new technology exhibition SITEF 2000 in Toulouse (FR) from 18 to 21 October 2000.

JRC site visits

As in 1999, JRC sites received a large number of visitors, including such prominent members of the European Commission as President Romano Prodi, Vice-President Neil Kinnock, Environment Commissioner Margot Wallström, and Health and Consumer Protection Commissioner David Byrne.

The Commissioner responsible for the JRC, Philippe Busquin, visited JRC sites on several occasions during the year, inaugurated a number of projects and held meetings with staff as well as their representatives.

Many MEPs were welcomed to Ispra, including European Parliament Vice-President Alejo Vidal-Quadras on 25 February 2000, a STOA (the European Parliament scientific and technological options assessment unit) visit and meeting on 5 May 2000, and an ITRE working group (the European Parliament committee on industry, external trade, research and energy) visit and meeting on 25 May 2000.

National policy makers visiting the Ispra site included Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi on 12 September 2000, the Italian Minister for Research Ortensio Zecchino on 11 July 2000, Swedish Secretary of State for Research Agneta Bladh on 30 and 31 May 2000, and Portuguese Secretary of State Luis Parreirao on 5 June 2000. Representatives of the scientific community, journalists and members of the general public further swelled the list.

By mid-December, a total of 10,986 persons - including 1623 for visits to institute facilities and laboratories - had passed through the Ispra site for 209 events such as meetings, conferences, workshops and seminars. In addition, Ispra held its first open day for the general public on 13 May 2000 to celebrate Robert Schuman Day.

Media relations

A large number of specific press events were organised in 2000, for which the JRC distributed 23 press releases, as well as information packs and other material. These led to very positive results in terms of media coverage, notably by the Member State press and press agencies: some 450 press articles and interviews specifically dedicated to JRC activities were collected, together with more than 30 TV clips.

Publications

The strategy for JRC newsletters - both internal (JRC in (month)), common to all JRC institutes, and external (Letter from the JRC) - was consolidated in 2000. The two newsletters are now published on a monthly basis and cover a wider range of subjects.

Distribution of the Letter from the JRC has been increased to 10,000, notably to European policy-makers. Its contents are more thematic and project-oriented, with the various institutes contributing to their compilation.

Documents such as the Annual Report and the thematic brochure Serving the Citizen were published and disseminated, while work began on a new set of four general brochures to be published in 2001.

In addition to specialised scientific publications, a total of 45 project leaflets and more than 250 posters illustrating JRC projects of close interest to the citizen were produced for use at exhibitions, conferences and workshops. And, an historical book entitled JRC - 40 years of service for Europe was distributed for the first time on the occasion of the 'JRC Alumni Event' in June 2000.

In 2000, a corporate video on the JRC was duplicated and 3,000 copies were disseminated, and the production of a 'view-card' (a type of mini CD-ROM) was launched.

JRC corporate website activities

A new JRC corporate website, launched on the occasion of the JRC@EP event in January 2000 attracted very positive feedback. The contents of the site are updated frequently - and the implementation of various enhancements, including a search engine, began in December 2000.

A large number of queries are received through the website, which won favourable reviews in the specialised press. A survey carried out by Politik-Digital (http://www.politik-digital.de/), a major German portal website for politics, has ranked it as the fourth best - together with that of OPOCE (Office for Official Publications of the European Communities) - among the Commission DGs' websites.

During the last quarter of 2000 there were an average of about 800,000 hits, 50,000 visits and 150,000 successful information requests a month - in general, one visit corresponds to many hits and may result in the download of several files.

Providing information to the public

The JRC received many requests for information and publications from various publics - journalists, scientists, students, institutional bodies, etc. In 2000, the Information and Public Relations unit handled some 1713 requests - including 936 for the Annual Report.

YOUNG SCIENTISTS PRIZE 2000

For the first time in 2000, the JRC Young Scientists Prize prizes were awarded to recognise the impact of work undertaken in support of EU policies. The prize was announced during spring 2000, calling for proposals or applications for awards to scientists less than 36, serving or having served at the JRC. Up to three awards were available. There was a total of 54 applications/proposals concerning work at all JRC institutes and covering a very wide spectrum of scientific activities.

The prizes were an initiative of Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin, and intended to recognise 'a significant contribution to the scientific life of the JRC with emphasis on a scientific accomplishment having contributed to the implementation of the JRC mission'. An additional qualification was that the scientific accomplishment should have added to the links between the JRC and other partners on the European research scene.

On the occasion of the Alumni Event 'JRC in the 21st Century - Science and Governance' held in Varese and Ispra (IT) on 29 and 30 June 2000, the JRC Director General bestowed the JRC Young Scientists Prize on:

- Dr. Julia H. Fentem of Unilever, formerly with the JRC ECVAM (European Centre for Alternative Methods) at the EI (now at the IHCP) at Ispra (IT) for her work on alternative (non animal) tests for skin corrosion.

- Dr. Ioannis Papadakis of the IRMM in Geel (BE) for his work on co-ordination of and research on reference values of trace elements.

- Dr. Gabriele Tamborini of the ITU in Karlsruhe (DE), formerly with the EI, for his work on secondary ion mass spectrometry method for analysis of radioactive micro-particles.

Each award winner received a diploma, a medal and an invitation to participate on behalf of the JRC in a scientific seminar or congress of his/her choice. The three winners also presented their work at the Alumni Event.

THE JRC IN FIGURES

Staff

The Staff of the JRC (M-male, F-female) is composed of the following categories:

>TABLE POSITION>

Of the above-mentioned total, about 1500 staff members can be considered as scientific staff out of which about 250 are employed on short term contracts (1-3 years).

During the course of the year, the total number of staff (excluding auxiliary agents) fell by around 50, the number of departures exceeding the number of new recruits. The implementation of the Commission policy for staff financed on the research budget (NPPR) was continued. The objective of this policy is to reach 40% of the total statutory staff as officials, with a flexible portion of temporary agents (35% of the statutory staff on 5-year contracts, 25% on 3-year contracts). In 2000 the percentage of officials reached 36% of total staff.

Taking into account short-term statutory staff (3-year temporary and auxiliary agents), and the short-term non-statutory staff (national detached experts, visiting scientists, grant-holders and trainees), approximately 30% of JRC staff are recruited on three-years, or less, non-renewable contracts.

Equal Opportunities

In 2000, the JRC continued implementing the Commission's equal opportunities policy with the aim of encouraging the recruitment and promotion of a greater number of women. The year was marked by the establishment, in February, of the JRC Network for Women in Science in the framework of the Commission communication on Women and Science, where each institute and directorate of the JRC is represented.

>TABLE POSITION>

Officials and temporary agents.

Visiting scientists, seconded experts, trainees, grant-holders

>TABLE POSITION>

Budget (Budget and expenses - institutional activities)

The available credits to the JRC are sub-divided in staff expenses, means of execution (maintenance of buildings and equipment, electricity, insurance, consumables, etc.) and operational credits (scientific acquisitions). The credits come from the institutional budget, made available directly form the European budget to the JRC, from associated countries and from competitive activities. On the institutional budget the following sums were committed:

>TABLE POSITION>

5.7 MEUR were engaged for decommissioning.

Competitive activities

The 13.3 MEUR figure for shared-cost actions reflects the conclusion in the year 2000 of 116 new contracts.

Competitive activities outside the FWP were defined through the conclusion of 16 new contracts for a total amount of 9.5 MEUR. Third Party Work up to a value of 8.9 MEUR was committed for a range of 68 major clients.

// Inscribed in 2000 accounts

Shared-Cost Actions // 13.3

Competitive Activities outside the FWP // 9.5

Third Party Work // 8.9

TOTALS // 31.7

Publications

>TABLE POSITION>

Conferences include oral and poster presentations and proceedings.

Articles include also conference papers published in periodicals.

SCIENCE AND GOVERNANCE

Given the accelerating pace of technological change, the increasing importance of scientific matter to policy decisions and the speed with which Europe's institutions are evolving, the JRC organised a high-level workshop on the relationship between science and governance on 29 and 30 March 2000. The workshop was well attended by directors of research establishments, civil servants responsible for research policy, members of the European Parliament, industrialists, NGOs and academics who had studied the relationship between science and policy.

The workshop was a first step in understanding how to develop a common system of scientific and technical reference for policy implementation. This forms an important part of the Commission's European Research Area initiative. European policy-makers and citizens should, in fact, be able to rely on information that is precise, as complete as possible, scientifically up-to-date and continuously validated.

These questions were considered further during a conference entitled 'Science and Governance in a knowledge society: the challenge for Europe' which was jointly held by the JRC and the Research DG on 16 and 17 October 2000 in Brussels. The potential role that the JRC would play in this area was also touched upon during the discussions. Three sessions - respectively on science, citizens and the decision-making process; risk control and precautionary research; and towards a scientific and technical European reference system - were held on the first day. During the closing session, the role of the European Research Area for the development of new European citizenship was debated.

Overall conclusions of the October conference were that:

- In terms of structure, the EU science and technology reference system should be launched, based on networks of centres of excellence providing a common knowledge base for science and technology reference, and facilitating the dialogue between stakeholders, scientists and policy-makers. Benchmarking will help to identify differing practices across countries. The Commission's European Research Area initiative will make possible the first step in this process, the building of the networks.

- The science and governance interaction can contribute a new dimension to the Commission President's initiative on overall governance and the corresponding White Paper on the topic, expected in 2001.

WOMEN AND SCIENCE

Gender perspectives in research are being addressed by the European Commission, as reflected in its Communication on Women and Science [4] and more recently by the Communication on the European Research Area. The JRC, as the Commission's in-house research centre, has responded with the formation of a 'Women & Science' working group, composed of representatives from its research institutes and directorates.

[4] Women and Science - Mobilising women to enrich European Research, COM(1999)76 final.

A first report [5] was compiled and produced in spring 2000 on the gender distribution in the JRC as a snapshot of the organisation. The report illustrates the composition of staff by gender and grade for the overall JRC and by institute. For the total staff, there is a ratio of 65% male to 35% female. Men make up 87% of the scientific staff, and account for 96% of all project leaders. At managerial level (i.e. heads of unit, advisers, directors), men occupy 90% of the total positions. Figures for scientific committees reflect the JRC's scientific staff numbers, with an average female representation of 14%.

[5] Gender Perspective in the Joint Research Centre.

Data on staff distribution per institute is available in the report. Considerable disparities are evident amongst institutes. In the IAM, women make up 6% of the scientific staff, whereas in the IHCP, 27% of the scientific staff are female. The situation reflects both the JRC's historical legacy and the fields of discipline.

The JRC also hosts grant-holders (post-graduate and post-doctoral researchers), established senior scientists (visiting scientists) and seconded national experts. Currently all visiting scientists at the JRC are men, whereas women make up 36% of the younger grant-holders. This parallels the situation in most European universities and research establishments.

TOTAL QUALITY MANAGEMENT

A quality management self-assessment exercise was completed in 2000, within the Total Quality Initiative started in 1999. Activities and results were reviewed at all levels of the JRC to identify strengths and areas for improvement. The action made use of the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) model, which is based on best practice, supports sustainable growth and applies several criteria, such as leadership, people, policy and strategy, partnership and resources and processes - as well as the consequences in terms of people, customers, society and key performance.

The outcome of the self-assessment exercise was presented to the personnel of the JRC institutes and headquarters. As a result, improvement teams were established to propose improvement actions. Areas for improvement were identified for each institute and for the headquarters, improvement teams meet regularly and initial agreed actions have already been implemented.

SCIENTIFIC ACTIVITIES OF THE INSTITUTES IN 2000

Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) - Geel

Institute Director // Manfred GRASSERBAUER

1. Management support // Michael-Francis FAHY

2. Reference materials // Jean PAUWELS

3. Analytical chemistry // Adela RODRIGUEZ FERNANDEZ

4. Isotope measurements // Philip TAYLOR

5. Neutron physics // Hermann WEIGMANN [6]

[6] Until 30th September 2000.

Franco CORVI [7]

[7] Acting.

6. Radionuclide metrology // Dietmar F.G. REHER

7. Informatics and electronics // Richard ROSS [8]

[8] Until 31st October 2000.

8. Commercialisation of materials and reference methods and scientific liaison // Doris FLORIAN

Mission

The IRMM mission is to promote a common European measurement system in support of EU policies, especially internal market, environment, health and consumer-protection standards. IRMM's prime objectives are to develop and perform specific reference measurements, to produce certified reference materials, to organise international measurement evaluation programmes, to establish trans-national databases, and to carry out pre-normative research.

Forming an integral part of the JRC mandate to establish a common system of scientific and technical reference for the European Union, the Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) has today become the trans-national measurement institute of the European Commission. This is analogous to the national measurement institutes in the Member States.

Given its institutional proximity to the development of European Union policies and its independence of national and private interests, the research profile of the IRMM is spearheaded by the EU's political agenda. The Institute supports the Member States by providing state-of-the-art reference materials and measurements.

The IRMM's scientific activities are categorised according to the three scientific pillars of the JRC:

Safety of food and chemicals

Environment

Nuclear safety and safeguards

Selected scientific highlights are documented in the following pages, which also provide a brief insight into IRMM's horizontal activities.

SAFETY OF FOOD AND CHEMICALS

Reference materials

The IRMM has continued to renew, maintain, produce, distribute and manage over 450 different Bureau Communautaire de Référence (BCR) and IRMM certified reference materials. 70% of these materials support the safety of food and chemicals.

Genetically modified organisms

In collaboration with the Health and Consumer Protection DG, and in support to the Novel Food Regulation (EC) 258/97, the IRMM has continued to provide scientific support for the enactment of EU labelling requirements to provide reference materials and methods urgently needed for detecting genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food. Since 1997, the IRMM has produced no less than 15 new reference materials for soya beans and maize -- as well as preparing and providing a range of proficiency testing samples for method validation studies carried out at the JRC Institute for Health and Consumer Protection.

In 2000, a second generation of certified reference materials for Roundup-ready (RR) soya (i.e. six new GMO certified reference materials) were produced, together with PT-samples for GMOs in processed food. The mixing, characterisation and zygosity tests for the third generation certified reference materials for PMON810 were performed. A study of DNA quality in RR soya was also completed, so this material was launched onto the market as IRMM-410R.

Alleviating the Dioxin/PCB crisis

With the advent of the dioxin crisis in 1999, the Belgian authorities urgently required calibration solutions for polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and dioxins, to permit the installation of proper control measurements and thereby avoid further entry of these highly toxic chemicals into the food chain. The IRMM immediately responded to this request; within weeks, 1,765 ampoules containing 1-ml PCB calibration solutions were prepared and delivered. Additionally, pork was targeted as a meat category that required control. The IRMM therefore prepared blanks and samples for PCBs in pork fat, and organised two proficiency testing campaigns involving a total of 60 analyses for Belgian laboratories. The results of these inter-comparisons meant that 7% of the laboratories involved were declared unfit to continue performing such analyses.

Nutrients and minerals in pig and dairy feed

In collaboration with the Health and Consumer Protection DG, and in fulfilment of EC Directive 93/28/EEC, reference materials are needed to check that pig and dairy feed materials contain the minimum required amounts of nutrients and minerals (including copper). To meet this requirement, the IRMM produced and bottled 3,422 units of BCR-708 (pig feed) and 3,725 units of BCR-709 (dairy feed) in March 2000. These materials are presently undergoing the certification process.

Establishing reference systems for in vitro diagnostic measurements

The stated purposes of the European in-vitro diagnostic (IVD) Directive (98/79/EC) are to eliminate trade barriers within Europe and to ensure improved measurements for healthcare decision-making by creating a single channel of approval for all IVD products within the European Union. This requires manufacturers of in-vitro diagnostics who wish to sell their products in the EU to demonstrate that they are 'traceable to reference systems (i.e. reference materials and/or reference methods) of a higher order'.

This ruling has brought to light an enormous need for internationally recognised certified reference materials. At present, however, neither certified reference materials nor reference methods are available for quite a number of the analytes measured in clinical laboratories. Accordingly, the IRMM has collaborated with the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry (IFCC) in certifying four IRMM/IFCC certified reference materials for enzyme activity at 37oC - as well as an IRMM/IFCC reference panel of 34 sera for cortisol.

CRM // Description

IRMM/IFCC-451 // Cortisol reference panel of fresh frozen human sera IRMM/IFCC-452: gamma-glutamyltransforase partially purified, from pig kidney

IRMM/IFCC-452 // Gamma-glutamyltransferase partially purified from pig kidney

IRMM/IFCC-453 // Human lactate dehydrogenase isoenzyme 1

IRMM/IFCC-454 // Alanine aminotransferase partially purified, from pig heart

IRMM/IFCC-455 // Creatine kinase CK-MB from human heart

Reference Methods and Measurements

The IRMM has developed and performed reference measurements to support the safety of food and chemicals.

Antibiotics in Food

One prime EU concern at present is to detect and control the presence and concentration of antibiotics in foodstuffs of animal origin. The IRMM has accepted the task of developing hyphenated analytical methods to determine the misuse of several important classes of antibiotics. In accordance with Directive 70/524/EC and Regulation 2821/98, the Institution is presently developing a new reference method for the determination of several antibiotics in food, for which the maximum residue limits have been established. During the course of the year a multi-residue extraction procedure was developed and applied to 400 kidney samples from pigs and cows.

IMEP applied to food and chemicals

The International Measurement Evaluation Programme (IMEP), running under the auspices of the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), European Analytical Chemistry (EURACHEM), European Organisation of Metrology (EUROMET) and Co-operation on International Traceability in Analytical Chemistry (CITAC), shows the true state of chemical measurements on a global scale. IMEP rounds were carried out during this year to support the safety of food and chemicals:

- IMEP-8 (C/O ratios in CO2 - for food authentication, emission monitoring and global change) involving 27 laboratories from 14 different countries, was completed.

- IMEP-9 (metals in water - for monitoring water quality) involving 201 participants from 35 different countries was also completed. The samples in this round were selected for a Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) key comparison and for a EUROMET pilot project.

- Two new IMEP rounds have commenced for cadmium in rice and lead in wine (130 laboratories from 30 countries), with a high percentage of participating laboratories located in pre-accession countries.

- On behalf of the Agriculture DG, IRMM co-ordinated an inter-comparison of various methods among expert laboratories to determine the water content of sugar and dairy products. The results of these inter-comparisons enable the Agriculture DG and the International Dairy Federation (IDF) to evaluate and select the most suitable reference method for the determination of water content in these foodstuffs.

Providing scientific support to combat BSE

In 1999, the IRMM successfully co-ordinated a post-mortem bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) evaluation project - sample preparation and distribution, laboratory supervision and result evaluation - involving 14,000 BSE-infected and non-infected samples. The results of this test have enabled the scientific community to distinguish with 100% certainty animals clinically infected with BSE from healthy animals - which will lead to a Europe-wide screening of 65 000 cattle.

Today the IRMM, again in collaboration with the Health and Consumer Protection DG, is engaged in four new BSE projects:

- Evaluation of newly developed post-mortem BSE tests;

- BSE test performance in pre-clinical cases;

- Production of an international standard for BSE infectivity testing (using primates); and

- Assessment of relationship between infectivity titre and prion concentration.

While the above projects are being executed, future research avenues under discussion include:

- Provision of tissue samples from non-infected and scrapie/BSE infected sheep;

- A proficiency testing campaign covering European control laboratories that apply post-mortem BSE tests;

- The effect of other neurological diseases on post-mortem tests currently applied; and

- Distribution of PrPres in bovine brain stems.

Oxidative compounds in hair dyes

Changing the colour of human hair has introduced a wide range and variety of cosmetic formulations onto the market. Reference methods therefore need to be in place to check that these formulations conform to EU cosmetic directives.

Supporting EC Directive 76/768/EEC and in collaboration with the Enterprise DG, the IRMM has developed a new reference method for analysing oxidative compounds in hair dyes. In 2000, first results were obtained for real commercial samples. These results have been presented to the working group on methods of chemical analysis for cosmetic products. An international inter-comparison campaign will follow, to validate this analytical method.

Additional activities

- The IRMM is developing a new reference method for selenium speciation in feed/food (EC Directives 70/524/CEE, 89/398/CEE and in collaboration with the Agriculture DG). This year, a new procedure employing enzymatic extraction has successfully been applied to yeast material, giving an 80% yield.

- An advanced measurement method for sugar in industrial syrups has been developed with the Agriculture DG for use in routine laboratories (customs labs). Test results for this method were submitted to the Agriculture DG.

- An exploratory project on metal-binding protein characterisation and analysis is beginning. A method for milk authentication, as stipulated in Directives 83/417/CEE and 91/32/CEE, is being developed in collaboration with the Agriculture DG. The separation of the major milk proteins has successfully been carried out and the method was applied to 10 different types of commercial milk.

- Finally, a reference method using Reverse Phase-Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry/Mass Spectrometry was developed for the detection of 11 polar pesticides in oranges.

The future

Future priority areas will focus on BSE research, detection and quantification of GMOs, and the control of xenobiotics (dioxins and PCBs) and natural contaminants such as mycotoxins in food. The IRMM will complete the production of reference materials for quantifying enzyme activities and produce new reference materials for cardiac markers and thyroid disorders. It will also develop analytical methods for the diagnosis of proteins.

The IMEP programme will focus more on health, food and chemical safety issues - such as lead in wine or cadmium in rice - and will eventually be expanded to include organic compounds in important matrices - e.g. PCBs in food. Ultra-low level radioactivity measurements in the HADES underground laboratory in Geel (BE) will be applied to radionuclides in food matrices such as milk, as well as to lead-210 measurements for assessing the effects of radon gas on bone tissue. Reference methods for selenium speciation and oxidative hair dyes will further be developed and validated.

ENVIRONMENT

The IRMM continued to renew, maintain, produce and distribute certified reference materials, as well as performing, developing and validating reference measurements needed for environmental monitoring and protection. Results in 2000 included:

PCB and dioxin reference materials

The preparation of dioxin standard solutions (BCR-614), fly ash (BCR- 615) and sewage sludge (BCR-667) was completed in accordance with EC Reg. 26/94 (CEN-TC 264W61) and in collaboration with the Environment DG. Additionally, the preparation of candidate material for the renewal of BCR-392S (PCBs in sewage sludge) was completed with the Research DG in 2000.

EUROSOIL certified reference materials

On 20 March 2000, a project on EUROSOIL certified reference materials commenced in fulfilment of Directive 79/831/EEC. This new project (taken over from the JRC Environment Institute in Ispra) will lead to the production and certification of six different soil types for adsorption coefficient, pH, carbon, nitrogen and particle size.

Neutron data measurements for environmental protection, reactor safety and waste transmutation

Neutron data measurements requested by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the Joint European Fusion File (JEFF) and the nuclear industry progressed significantly. Cross-section measurements were conducted for 99Tc (n,p) and (n,(), as well as activation cross-section measurements for long-lived products. Additionally, in support of reactor safety, cross-section measurements were conducted for Al(n,n'), 52Cr(n,n') and 58Ni(n,n').

International measurement evaluation rounds

The IRMM's IMEP programme provided strong support to environmental policy through the completion of IMEP-9 (metals in water), involving 201 laboratories from 35 different countries, and IMEP-11 (metals in car exhaust catalyst), involving 36 participants from 16 different countries. On-going IMEP rounds for heavy metals in water (IMEP-12) and in sediment (IMEP-14) progressed significantly; together they involve some 300 laboratories.

Environmental measurements underground

Using the HADES underground laboratory (223m below ground level), the IRMM performed radioactivity measurements on environmental samples taken in the vicinity of nuclear facilities by the EURATOM (European Atomic Energy Community) Inspectorate in Luxembourg.

In collaboration with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the IRMM is participating in the radioactivity characterisation of an ocean shellf