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Are consumers ready to accept gene-edited crops? Evidence from a choice experiment for CRISPR-edited tomatoes in Spain
No full textAim of the study: Understand consumer acceptability and willingness to pay for CRISPR-edited food and explore how production method, production origin and pesticide reduction affected their acceptance.
Area of Study: Aragón (Spain)
Material and Methods: We used a pre-registered online survey with a discrete choice experiment (DCE) implemented on 521 consumers. Consumers choose their preferred option when purchasing tomatoes, which differed in the breeding method (traditional vs. CRISPR), price, pesticide reduction, production method (conventional vs organic), and origin (European Union (EU) vs. non-EU). As context information for the analysis, we elicit consumers’ perceptions, knowledge and trust regarding different breeding technologies (including gene modification and editing) and food technology neophobia.
Main Results: Spanish consumers generally trust EU food safety but display high neophobia towards new food technologies, with limited knowledge of plant breeding methods. They also prefer EU-sourced and organically produced tomatoes, with solid support for those produced while reducing pesticide use. However, CRISPR-edited tomatoes face considerable resistance, with consumers requiring a discount to accept them. This price discount could be eliminated if the CRISPR-edited tomato is grown with at least a 67% reduction in pesticide use.
Research highlights: While the proposal for the regulation of CRISPR provides a valuable entry point to enable its adoption in the EU, findings indicate that Spanish consumers are not ready to accept the CRISPR-edited tomatoes at face value, requiring additional assurances or specific benefits before acceptance.JRC.D.4 - Economics of Food System
Implementation of Commission Recommendation on Energy Storage in the Member States
Get PDFThe European Union is committed to decarbonising its energy sector to meet climate goals and boost energy security. Integrating renewable energy requires enhanced system flexibility for managing supply-demand variability effectively. Energy storage technologies are crucial for providing this flexibility, ensuring grid stability, and supporting electrification across sectors. The European Commission's Recommendation on Energy Storage (C/2023/1729) outlines actions for Member States to boost flexibility and storage deployment, focusing on financial instruments, market integration, and flexibility needs assessments.
This report offers a detailed overview of energy storage development in EU Member States, analysing policy, regulatory, and market frameworks. It explores various aspects of a framework for energy storage deployment, including legal definitions, national strategies, market participation, and storage as an alternative to network expansion. It also discusses financial support mechanisms, network charges, energy taxation, and measures to expedite storage deployment in areas with limited interconnections. Overall, the report provides an in-depth examination of the current energy storage landscape in the EU-27, reflecting the implementation status of selected elements of the EC Recommendation.
The report covers the implementation status of the EC Recommendation as of April 2025, with periodic updates planned to capture advancements in EU-27. It is a deliverable from amendment No.2 to AA N° 36054 between DG ENER and JRC.JRC.C.3 - Energy Security, Distribution and Market
Updating GHG emission values of biofuels and biomass fuels in Annex V & VI of Directive (EU) 2018/2001
Get PDFThis report provides the updates of the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions values for typical values of biofuels and bioenergy bioliquids from Annex V, and biomass fuels from Annex VI of the Directive (EU) 2018/2001 (RED II) (European Parliament and Council of the European Union, 2018). This report also provides detailed information on the main changes in the input values, new assumptions, new pathways, and updated final results for the most relevant pathways according to the current market scenario.
The updates related to the inputs data include the following:
• energy inputs data applying to all pathways,
• agro-inputs for biomass feedstock cultivation and
• more recent Global Warming Potential (GWP) factors.
In addition, updates regarding the pathways themselves are handled, in particular:
• biogas pathways, updating methane emissions and adding sewage sludge as a new feedstock,
• biofuels produced from animal fats and used cooking oil and
• lignocellulosic-based (advanced) biofuels (previously called 2nd generation biofuels).
The changes do not lead to significant changes in the overall GHG emission values compared to the former values. However, the report provides insights on the calculations, clarification on the interpretation of the results and guidelines on how to use disaggregated values. Finally, the report integrates findings regarding N2O emissions from agricultural activities and biomethane fugitive emissions within the biogas supply chain.JRC.C.2 - Energy Efficiency and Renewable
Using free remotely sensed data to assess war-induced damage to agricultural cultivation: Evidence from Ukraine
No full textWe use remotely sensed data to measure conflict-induced field damage in Ukraine 2022-24 for about 10,000 village councils (VCs). Compared to media-based indicators (ACLED), these suggest higher conflict incidence in less densely populated VCs, consistent with official data. Use of annual crop maps for 2019-24 to estimate a difference in differences (DID) model at VC level suggests conflict significantly and persistently reduced cropped area in directly affected and neighboring VCs. Predicted conflict effects are three times larger and differently distributed for image as compared to media-based indicators, suggesting remotely sensed conflict measures may usefully complement media-based ones, especially in rural areas.JRC.D.5 - Food Securit
The RHOMOLO assessment of the macroeconomic impact of the Digital Europe Programme (2021-2025 data)
Get PDFThis paper presents an assessment of the macroeconomic impact of the Digital Europe Programme, a cornerstone of the EU's commitment to drive digital transformation. Using the RHOMOLO spatial dynamic computable general equilibrium model, the analysis quantifies the effects of the programme's investments on EU economies. The results show a positive impact on GDP, with significant returns on investment, and improved EU competitiveness. The modelling simulations consider different scenarios, including digital spillovers, which enhance the programme's impact. The findings suggest that the programme can have a substantial effect on EU economies, with cumulative GDP multipliers increasing over time. The analysis provides valuable insights for policymakers, highlighting the potential benefits of investing in digital transformation and the importance of considering digital spillovers in policy evaluations.JRC.B.7 - Innovation Policies and Economic Impac
Research and Innovation in Smart Mobility in Europe
Get PDFThis brief provides an assessment of relevant European Research and Innovation (R&I) projects in the smart mobility domain. It presents a summary of the analysis of 247 projects, primarily funded through Horizon 2020 (126 projects) and Horizon Europe (121 projects). The assessment follows the methodology developed by the European Commission’s Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS).The brief and full report address research and innovation across eight identified thematic areas and outlines future research needs and challenges. It highlights the significance and advancements of AI-based transport systems, including solutions such as digital twins, cooperative, connected and automated mobility (CCAM), vehicle-to-everything (V2X) integration, and multimodal traffic management.JRC.C.4 - Sustainable, Smart and Safe Mobilit
M&As, Innovation and Market Power
Get PDFHIGHLIGHTS
‣ Technological mergers and acquisitions (M&As) increase investors' market power by around 2% beyond standard M&As, with stronger effects concentrated among top R&D investors, US-based investors, and high-tech manufacturing investors.
‣ The increase in market power seems primarily driven by the consolidation of control over existing patents, limiting knowledge diffusion and making it harder for competitors to catch up.
‣ These findings support ongoing policy discussions on updating merger review regulations, as traditional concentration metrics may not fully capture competition risks posed by large technology firms.
‣ Technological assets and innovations are often embedded and masked within larger M&A deals. Separating the technology component of patents would allow regulators to assess competition concerns related to innovation while still allowing the acquisition to proceed.
‣ The analysis draws on a newly constructed firm-level dataset to provide a more systematic picture of technological M&As and market power.JRC.B.1 - Economic and Financial Resilienc
Exploring the application of Earth Observation datasets for SEEA carbon accounting and its comparison with national GHG reporting to the UNFCCC
No full textGlobal biomass and carbon datasets derived from Earth Observation (EO) are rapidly increasing. Here we assess how these datasets can be used to compile carbon accounts aligned with the Systems of Environmental Economic Accounting (SEEA). Five carbon pools are considered: above-ground, below-ground, deadwood, litter and soil organic carbon (SOC) using EO datasets that include CCI Biomass and CCI Land Cover – both subjected to independent map validation. We compiled carbon accounts across multiple accounting periods, from annual to decadal intervals, spanning 2010–2021 for six countries: Brazil, Mozambique, the Netherlands, the Philippines, Sweden and USA. Next, we compared the SEEA-aligned EO-derived carbon accounts with the national greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories submitted to United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) after considering the areas covered by managed forests and emissions from forest degradation for better comparability of the two frameworks. The compiled SEEA carbon accounts indicate that the above-ground component is the dominant carbon pool in Brazil while SOC outweighs other carbon pools in Netherlands, Sweden, Philippines and Mozambique. Results show substantial inter-annual variation in carbon fluxes, exhibiting a strong inverse relationship with accounting period (|r|=0.57–0.85). Such variability is notably higher than the values reported by countries to the UNFCCC. While UNFCCC and SEEA fluxes show moderate overall agreement (r=0.47, 58% agreement whether fluxes are sequestration or emission), there were differences across countries and flux categories. Our compiled accounts showed lower SOC emissions than UNFCCC reports potentially underestimating peatland emission; and minimal carbon emissions from forest degradation. Other sources of disagreement could be influenced by country definitions of managed forests which can be inconsistent with EO-based forest management maps, and the dependency of countries on national forest inventories which are rarely updated annually. The findings and outputs from this study echo the potential and flexibility of EO datasets for carbon accounting and inter-comparison exercises.JRC.D.1 - Land and Climat
Innovation in the EU: technological and creative performances in numbers across urban and rural regions
Get PDFThis brief presents new JRC evidence on innovation performance across EU territories, with a focus on differences between urban, intermediate and rural regions. By building innovation indicators constructed and estimated for the first time at a sufficiently granular territorial level to capture differences between urban and rural regions on R&D investment, patents, trademarks and industrial designs, the analysis confirms urban–rural innovation gaps, while also revealing substantial heterogeneity not only between urban and rural regions, but also among rural regions themselves. While innovation activity remains highly concentrated in urban areas, the evidence also points to a limited number of rural regions that notably stand out in specific innovation dimensions, often linked to specialised industrial structures, public research capacity or proximity to urban innovation hubs. These findings highlight both the concentration of innovation activity in urban regions and the presence of pockets of strong innovation capacity in rural territories, pointing to the existence of innovation potential beyond urban centres and underscoring the importance of place-based policies that recognise territorial diversity and support more balanced innovation-driven competitiveness across EU regionsJRC.B.3 - Territorial Developmen
Report on the organisation of colorectal cancer care services in Europe
Get PDFThis report analyses the organisation of colorectal cancer (CRC) care services in the EU and beyond, within the framework of the European Commission Initiative on Colorectal Cancer (ECICC). The findings are based on two surveys conducted among healthcare professionals and national contact points. Results indicate that most EU Member States (MS) have implemented population-based CRC screening, primarily using the faecal immunochemical test (FIT). However, there is heterogeneity in the management and quality assurance (QA) of CRC services, with variations in the entities responsible for primary prevention and care.
Key findings include:
• 22 MS have established population-based, organised CRC screening programs.
• Screening methodologies are diverse: 18 countries use FIT, 2 use gFOBT, and 1 uses colonoscopy as the primary screening test.
• Screening age ranges differ, with Albania screening the widest age range of 35-70 years while the narrowest age range is 55-65 (Norway). The commonest target age range for CRC screening is 50-74 (10 MS).
This survey informs the development of European guidelines for colorectal cancer screening and care, and the European Quality Assurance scheme for colorectal cancer services. These two pillars
aim to support the implementation of organised, population-based CRC screening across Europe, improving equal access to screening and quality of screening and care. In addition, the report provides critical insights for policymakers and healthcare professionals aiming to advance CRC prevention and care.JRC.F.1 - Disease Preventio