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Innovating Together – A Guide to Inclusive Regulatory Sandboxing
Get PDFThis policy brief emphasizes the importance of including an inclusive approach in regulatory sandboxing, to ensure digital innovations deliver equitable and impactful outcomes. The document outlines the risks associated with improper design of sandboxing, such as biases and exclusion, and provides a practical guide to ensure inclusion in regulatory sandboxes. The main recommendations are grouped among six themes: scoping, regulations and safeguards, stakeholder engagement, data and technology, governance, and reach and impact. Ultimately, it underscores that while inclusive sandboxing may require more resources, it delivers greater value by fostering equitable innovation that benefits all stakeholders.JRC.T.4 - Data Governance and Service
Detection of Tillage Practices using Sentinel-1 and 2
Get PDFTillage refers to the agricultural practice involving the preparation of soil through mechanical operations such as digging, stirring and overturning. In the context of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), tillage practices have been gaining significant interest for their impact on environment and climate. Reduced or no tillage, which imply a low level of soil disturbance, may have significant positive effects in terms of soil health, carbon sequestration, provision of ecosystem services and soil erosion. Given these positive effects, Member States (MSs) have included in their CAP Strategic Plans (CSPs), interventions involving reduced or no tillage. With the 2023-2027 CAP, MSs are responsible for the development of effective monitoring approaches able to detect agricultural practices and verify the eligibility conditions (requirements) established in the MS CSPs. The ensemble of such monitoring approaches forms the so-called Area Monitoring System (AMS), which essentially relies on different technologies and products including those from the freely available Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 missions and in-situ data such as geo-tagged pictures. In this context, also tillage detection may be subject to monitoring and the discrimination between tillage and no-tillage using satellite products, such as those from Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2, is thus of significant importance for MS administrations. This report summarizes the work done by the Joint Research Centre (JRC) toward the detection of tillage conditions using Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 products. The analysis is based on reference data received from AGREENA (https://agreena.com/), a company devoted to the development of Monitoring Reporting and Verification (MRV) technologies for regenerative agriculture. The analysis involved the dataset preparation including the retrieval of the parcel geometries from open Geo-Spatial Application (GSA) databases, the extraction of Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 products, the selection of appropriate features for classification and the performance analysis of different classification approaches. The analysis shows that Sentinel-2 derived products play a major role for the discrimination of tillage/no-tillage. More specifically, the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) provides the most informative features for the classification process. The major difficulty encountered in this study was represented by the fact that, in the reference datasets, the tillage and no-tillage classes were significantly unbalanced. Most of the parcels were interested by conventional tillage with a significant level of soil disturbance. Approaches for rebalancing the two classes, including the generation of synthetic features, were considered. The importance of Sentinel-1 products, in the absence of optical information, for instance due to clouds, also emerged. The analysis provides useful insights for the design of tillage/no-tillage detection approaches, identifying the most relevant features and data sources.JRC.D.5 - Food Securit
Ecotracer set up to trace microplastics up the Black Sea marine food web
No full textAround 70 % of all litter in the sea is plastic that, rather than decomposing, breaks down into ever-smaller pieces that can be ingested by marine organisms. However, we lack an understanding of consumption risk by marine species. In this study, particles of microplastic (MP) were traced-up the Black Sea food web, through the calibration process of the Ecotracer module against species-specific MP stomach content observations. These observations, were collected through a literature review: records of MP ingestion for over 60,000 individuals across 780 species within fish and invertebrates were gathered. Statistical analysis, performed on these records, revealed that MP uptake was higher in species inhabiting the Indian Ocean, the Caspian and the China seas. The calibration of the MP model, showed that, at steady state, small benthic and pelagic primary consumers showed the highest concentrations of MP per unit of biomass, led by high direct environmental uptake, and potentially as a consequence of MP bioaccumulation. Secondary consumers, at higher trophic levels, revealed higher MP trophic uptake (biomagnification through diet). Differences in Ecotracer set-up and the calibration procedures were discussed across other recent publications addressing plastic pollution in food-webs. The results were interpreted in relation to species ecological behaviors and physiological characteristics. The approach here, presented with the accessible global database on MP in stomach contents, aims to be a reference for setting up and calibrating MP in food webs.JRC.D.2 - Ocean and Wate
Method for the assessment of EU Open Strategic Autonomy aspects in the context of the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation
Get PDFThis report presents a novel method to assess how the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regula-tion (ESPR) can contribute to strengthening the European Union’s Open Strategic Autonomy (OSA). Developed under the ESPR Methodology, the methodological framework integrates four key aspects: (i) material composition, (ii) energy demand, (iii) market dynamics, and (iv) production and recycling routes into product-specific assessments.
The method combines OSA-related parameters with lifecycle and circularity parameters to define baselines, quantify supply dependencies, and design improvement scenarios. The applicability of the method was tested on two priority product groups: iron & steel and tyres. These case studies showed that ecodesign requirements related to durability, recycled content, or substitution can sub-stantially mitigate import reliance and supply risks linked to critical raw materials and energy use.
By providing a bottom-up, quantitative approach, the study demonstrates how product policy can play a pivotal role in reducing vulnerabilities across strategic value chains, supporting the EU’s com-petitiveness, sustainability, and resilience. The proposed framework offers policymakers robust evi-dence to align ecodesign measures with the broader EU agenda on climate neutrality, circular econ-omy, and industrial sovereignty.JRC.D.3 - Land Resources and Supply Chain Assessment
The impact of innovation policy on the regional economies of Europe
No full textWe evaluate the economic impact of the Horizon 2020 innovation policy using a spatial dynamic general equilibrium model incorporating R&D-based semi-endogenous growth and calibrated for 235 NUTS2 regions of the European Union. The results suggest that the policy can have a positive impact on GDP and job creation, with considerable regional heterogeneity. The GDP gains are expected to be significant in the long run, due to the positive productivity effects of innovation policy funding. Our model provides insights into policy spillovers through production factor dynamics, trade linkages and innovation diffusion, and constitutes an example of how to assess the impact of innovation policy beyond individual projects and towards mission-oriented monitoring.JRC.B.7 - Innovation Policies and Economic Impac
Clean Energy Technology Observatory: Hydropower and pumped storage hydropower in the European Union - 2025
Get PDFIn 2022, the European Commission established the Clean Energy Technology Observatory (CETO) to address the complex transition to a climate-neutral society, emphasizing advanced technologies and innovation in sectors like hydropower. The energy crisis, brought on by the war against Ukraine, has highlighted the key role of hydropower in providing grid stability and dispatchable generation, as well as additional water supply and grid services. Pumped-Storage Hydropower holds more than 90% of energy storage, while generation from traditional hydropower provided 10% of total EU’s electricity generation. Increasing investments in the operation of hydropower plants are essential to bear the significant increase of stop&start cycles caused by the volatility of wind and photovoltaic electricity generation, and to provide flexibility to the energy system.
Hydropower is the flagship of renewables in the EU: the EU hydropower fleet is mostly “made in the EU”, with a centenary history. EU hydro companies contribute to global exports with the largest share and own the largest share of high-value inventions among the top 10 world companies. Hydropower reservoirs also provide services in the integrated water management sector, spanning from flood control to water supply in dry periods, storing the largest amount of water among all the types of water reservoirs in the EU. Water storage is a key option to grapple with climate changes and increased misalignment between water demand and availability, as also mentioned in the new EU Water Resilience Strategy. However, dams in freshwater and coastal water systems can cause environmental damages and require large initial investment costs. Therefore, considering the far-reaching effects across the Water-Energy-Society-Ecosystem nexus dimensions, sustainable hydropower needs to achieve a good balance between electricity generation and electricity grid services, impacts on ecosystems and benefits for society, supporting the achievement of the Green Deal targets and the objectives of renewable energy and water/environmental policies. Several sustainable hydropower options exist in the EU, that do not increase river fragmentation and minimize adverse impacts, and that are summarized in this report.
Hydropower remains a key technology to strengthen the competitiveness of the EU in an increasingly challenging world and to support the green energy transition.JRC.D.2 - Ocean and Wate
Stabilization of Ce3+ cations via U–Ce charge transfer in mixed oxides: consequences on the thermochemical water splitting to hydrogen
No full textThe work’s objective is to enhance the generation of H2 via the thermochemical water splitting (TCWS) reaction over nanocrystalline mixed oxide Ce1−xUxO2. While CeO2 is the most active and stable known reducible oxide for the TCWS reaction, it is below par to make it practical. This has motivated many works to enhance its reduction capacity and therefore increase its activity. In this work the presence of both metal cations (Ce4+ and U4+) has allowed for the charge transfer reaction to occur (Ce4+ + U4+ ➔ Ce3+ + U5+) and therefore increased its capacity to generate oxygen vacancies, VO (2 Ce3+ + VO), needed for the TCWS reaction. Test reactions on the polycrystalline mixed oxides indicated that small atomic percentages of U (<10%) were found to be optimal for H2 production (ca. 7 µmol g−1 ) due to a considerable increase of Ce3+ states. Further studies of the Ce–U interaction were performed on thin epitaxial Ce1−xUxO2 (111) films of about 6 nm. In situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed clear evidences of charge transfer at low U content (ca. 50% of surface/near surface Ce4+ cations were reduced in the case of Ce0.95U0.05O2−δ). Moreover, it was found that while increasing the content of U decreased the charge transfer efficiency, it protected reduced Ce3+ from being oxidized. Our computational results using the DFT + U method gave evidence of charge transfer at 3.5 and 6.2 at.% of U. In agreement with experiments, theoretical calculations also showed that the charge transfer is sensitive to the distribution of U4+ around the Ce4+ cations, which in turn affected the creation of VO needed for water splitting. Our results point out to the important yet often neglected effect of statistical entropy (cations distribution in the lattice), in addition to composition, in increasing the density of reduced states and consequently enhancing H2 production from water.JRC.G.I.5 - Nuclear Science and Innovation for Energy and Healt
Recommendations for assessing commutability of a replacement batch of a secondary calibrator certified reference material
No full textCommutable secondary certified reference materials (CRMs) play an essential role in the calibration hierarchy of many in-vitro diagnostic measurement procedures used in the medical laboratory. Therefore, a sustainable availability of these CRMs is crucial to guarantee the long-term equivalence of results obtained for the clinical samples. The IFCC Working Group on Commutability in Metrological Traceability (WG-CMT) has published several recommendations for assessing the commutability of secondary calibrator CRMs. Performing a full commutability study according to these recommendations may present significant demands on the resources of CRM producers.
This report provides recommendations for performing commutability equivalence assessments between existing CRMs of proven commutability and replacement batches of those CRMs. The approach evaluates the relationship of measurement results obtained with the relevant measurement procedures for the replacement batch versus the existing CRM batch. If this relationship is the same, the commutability properties of the replacement batch are considered equivalent to those of the existing CRM batch. Since the existing batch has a suitable commutability, the commutability of the replacement batch is also declared fit for purpose. Because this commutability equivalence assessment involves certain risks, a small number of representative clinical samples are included as safeguards.
There are several prerequisites for performing the commutability equivalence assessment and producers of secondary CRMs will probably need to implement improvements before using this approach. However, once the improvements are implemented, the commutability equivalence assessment approach will significantly reduce the resources needed to maintain the supply of CRMs.JRC.F.6 - Reference Material
Appendix II - Joint Research Centre (JRC) statistical audit of the 2025 Global Innovation Index
No full textRobust and reliable monitoring frameworks are the highways to better policymaking. As much as in other socio-economic fields, understanding and modeling innovation at both national and global levels is crucial for identifying emerging trends and informing future strategies, but it also presents conceptual and practical challenges. The 18th edition of Global Innovation Index (GII) 2025 addresses these issues by organizing data from 139 economies across 78 indicators into a structured framework of 21 sub-pillars, seven pillars, two sub-indices, and an overall index. This appendix delves into the practical challenges of constructing the GII, examining the statistical robustness of the conceptual framework and the robustness of the calculations and assumptions used to determine the final rankings. The JRC-COIN analysis affirms that the multilevel structure of the GII 2025, encompassing 78 indicators, 21 sub-pillars, seven pillars, and two sub-indices, is statistically robust and well-balanced. Each sub-pillar contributes similarly to the variation within its respective pillar, ensuring a coherent and reliable framework. All published GII 2025 rankings lie within the simulated 90 percent confidence intervals that take into consideration the unavoidable uncertainties inherent in an estimation of missing data, the weights (fixed vs. simulated) and the aggregation formula allowing various levels of compensability between the arithmetic and the geometric average at the pillar level.JRC.S.3 - Science for Modelling, Monitoring and Evaluatio
Empirical estimation of saturated soil-paste electrical conductivity in the EU using pedotransfer functions and Quantile Regression Forests: A mapping approach based on LUCAS topsoil data
No full textSoil Electrical conductivity (EC) is a measure of the ability of soil to conduct an electric current, which is primarily influenced by the concentration of soluble salts in the soil solution that takes place principally through water-filled pores. Ions (Ca2+, Mg 2+, K +, Na +, and NH 4+, SO42-, Cl-, NO3–, and HCO3–) from soluble salts dissolved in soil water carry electrical charges and conduct the electrical current. EC is considered a proxy of soil salinity and other soil characteristics, whose monitoring is much needed in the context of climate change, increasing irrigation in agricultural areas and sea level rise. The pan-European LUCAS soil monitoring scheme, established in 2009, provided EC1:5 in the topsoil (0–20 cm) in the surveys of the years 2015 and 2018 for almost 20,000 samples. In this work, using the LUCAS 2018 dataset, we provide an empirically-derivedpedotransfer function to convert diluted EC1:5 to saturated ECe using the LUCAS soil texture and soil organic carbon, and a framework for ECe mapping with a machine-learning algorithm named Quantile Regression Forest. The final model resulted in an R2 of 0.302 with an RMSE of 0.265 dS m−1 for soil samples not used for model calibration. The results are presented as predicted ECe in the topsoil, and they reveal that in Atlantic and Northern Europe, salts may accumulate in soils through several natural processes, i.e., primary salinization, but in Mediterranean and Southern Europe, they accumulate because of human interventions on the soil water and solute regimes. Among these interventions, seawater intrusion into coastal aquifers, irrigation with waters containing soluble salts, poor drainage of irrigated lands and of naturally saline soils, stand out. Hotspot analysis per country or Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS 0) revealed high topsoil ECe levels occurred in Spain 0.11 %. Increasing ECe can led to constrained crop productivity in irrigated farming. With this assessment, we try to determine the hotspots for future monitoring and understanding the main drivers for sustainable soil management. Future challenges for ECe mapping that need to be address are sample numerosity and depth and availability of a consistent set of ECe data measured to provide a regression based PTF for the use of diluted EC1:5.JRC.D.3 - Land Resources and Supply Chain Assessment