On 1 July 2017, Estonia took over the rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, which is the first time Estonia has held the EU Presidency since they joined the union in 2004.  Presidencies work together in groups of three, called a 'Trio Presidency’.  The trio set out some common long-term goals and topics that will be addressed by the Council over an 18-month period, aside from their  own detailed six-month programme.  The Estonian Presidency is the first phase of the current trio and will be succeeded by Bulgaria and Austria.

Jan Dröge, Director of the Broadband Competence Offices Network Support Facility (BCO-SF) will speak at the 2017 Broadband World Forum. The Broadband World Forum brings together senior executives from fixed, mobile and cable operators all around the world looking to tackle the challenges of future proofing networks and monetizing high speed connectivity. In its 17th year, it is the only event in the world that focuses exclusively on communication networks.

While the last cut-off dates of the 2017 SME Instrument call for proposals are approaching, it is already time to look ahead and share some details about what applicants should expect by the new calls to be launched under the 2018-2020 Work Programmes.

Schuman Associates analysed a draft version of the new European Innovation Council pilot WP 2018-2020 that, on top of the SME Instrument, also include three other innovation support schemes: Fast Track to Innovation (FTI), FET Open and Inducement Prizes. All these schemes have been adapted to support market-creating innovation more effectively, also taking into account recommendations collected from the Horizon 2020 interim evaluation.

We are proud to announce that Gerard McNamara, Founder and CEO of Schuman Associates has been selected as judge for the National Procurement Awards 2017 which will take place on October 19th in Dublin. Since launching in 2012, the National Procurement Awards has established itself as the premier event in Ireland for benchmarking excellence in the procurement profession in Ireland. New categories have been introduced this year to better reflect the main areas of excellence in the procurement profession such as Pharmaceutical Procurement Project of the Year; Best People Development Initiative and CSR Initiative of the Year. 

We are proud to announce that our colleague, Ms. Isane Aparicio, will be speaking at the next economic forum on "Digital and Precision Farming in Europe: benefits, market trends & impact on farm practices" to present the BCO-SF’s activities and spread the word on rural connectivity, and what support the European Commission is giving. 

12 months after the announcement of the ambitious EU External Investment Plan, President Junker in his State of the Union Address 2017 called upon all Member States to show solidarity by increasing their aid commitment to Africa. When speaking about the pressures several Member States are experiencing under the growing number of migrants coming from Africa, the President highlighted the role of different financial instruments that the EU has put in place to manage the migration flows.

During a two-hour online meeting held at the beginning of September B-WISER consortium took stock of the activities carried out within Work Package 1 and started discussions for the launch of WP2.

On 7 December, we will be holding a key debate on the upcoming policy challenges in money laundering and terrorist financing. To debate some of the issues such as information sharing and the implications of FinTech, MEP Judith Sargentini and the Financial Action Task Force will be joining us.

Do you run an SME and need additional funding for research?  EUROSTARS is an exciting opportunity for R&D performing SMEs. This joint programme between EUREKA and the European Commission supports the development of innovative products, process and services close to market. In the 2014-2020 period it has a total public budget of €1.14 billion. 

Schuman Associates has been invited by the Vienna University to enhance the skills of their project managers when applying for Erasmus + proposals. On the 1st and 2nd December, Isane Aparicio will be presenting the do's and dont's for a succesful proposal for the Knowledege Alliance call, which is currently open until next 28th February 2017. Check all current opportunites HERE

Schuman Associates joined the launch of the new framework at a European Conference on Fostering IT Professionalism in Europe. The framework is based on four building blocks: Competences, Body of Knowledge, Education & Training and Professional Ethics.

Schuman Associates as the secretariat of Anti-Money Laundering Europe together with the CFCS at RUSI organised a policy debate around the EU policy challenges that are currently being debated particularly around the amendments of the 4th Anti-Money Laundering Directive, renamed as the 5th AMLD.

Schuman Associates organised for the Nickel Institute a breakfast briefing in the European Parliament on the 10th of November 2016 on the “Impact of REACH Authorisation: costs and benefits”. The breakfast briefing was hosted by the Nickel Institute and MEP Inge Gräßle with the cooperation of MEP Gieseke, the European Commission, ECHA, eftec and the Maltese Presidency of the European Council 2017 as well as the European Committee for Surface Treatment (CETS).  

The EU is collectively the biggest donor in the world, providing over 50 BEUR a year together with its Member States to translate policy objectives into effective strategies and actions that meet country or regional needs. The EU has different types of EU External Aid funding instrumentswhich cover nearly all the geographies around the world. It also counts with thematic programmes which address multiple fields of cooperation such as peace and security, climate change, migration, food security, etc.in several countries.

On 13 December 2016, the Council approved the EU's legislative priorities for 2017 agreed beforehand with the European Parliament and the Commission. This agreement on top priorities between the Council, the Parliament and the Commission is a first in EU history. The objective is to provide a coordinated framework where the EU institutions work more closely together to tackle the significant challenges, which lie ahead.

In the mid-term review the Commission suggested an increase of €400 million for HORIZON 2020- EU's funding programme for research and innovation. However, Günther Oettinger, recently appointed to manage the EU's budget, said H2020 will in the end only receive €200 million. The money that is allocated presents a compensation for the €2.2 billion that was taken from the programme to fund Juncker Plan: The European Fund for Strategic Investments.

The European Development Days (EDD) are Europe’s leading forum on development and international cooperation. Organised by the European Commission, the forum brings the development community together to share ideas and experiences in ways that inspire new partnerships and innovative solutions to the world’s most pressing challenges.

European Week of Regions and Cities (so called Open Days) is an annual four-day event in Brussels during which cities and regions showcase their capacity to create growth and jobs, implement the European Union cohesion policy (EU funding), and prove the importance of the local and regional level for good European governance.

On 25-26 January, Schuman Associates travelled to Verona, Italy, to take part to the kick-off meeting of B-WISER - “Be a Winner In Sport & Employment before and after athletic Retirement”, a brand-new EU project funded under ERASMUS+ Sport.