Communication on Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership
The European Commission published the Communication ‘Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership’ on 27 February 2024.
Advanced materials are intentionally designed and engineered materials with innovative properties and functionalities.
Advanced materials are an important factor for the competitiveness of European industries and are crucial building blocks for the EU’s resilience and open strategic autonomy. The demand for advanced materials is expected to significantly increase in the coming years and should be matched by increased innovation and production in the EU.
Europe must ensure it has the necessary capacities and resources to lead innovation and deployment in advanced materials. This will ensure economic security with regards to the critical technologies for today’s society. In line with the Green Deal’s goals and industrial policies, sustainability and circularity of advanced materials and resilience of value chains must be factored into such an approach.
Initial target areas under this initiative for advanced materials application are energy, mobility, construction, and electronics as they are particularly important for achieving the twin transition.
Objective
The overall objective of this Communication is to establish a dynamic, secure and inclusive materials ecosystem in Europe that ensures leadership in research and fast-tracks innovations to market, whilst ensuring sustainability and protection of human health and the environment. To that end, more EU, national, regional, and private investments must be mobilised to meet this challenge in a coordinated approach.
Pillars
The Communication proposes actions along 5 pillars:
- European research and innovation on advanced materials: a launchpad for the twin transition, EU resilience and open strategic autonomy
- Fast track from lab to fab
- Increasing capital investment and access to finance
- Fostering the production and use of advanced materials
- Overall governance framework
Technology Council for Advanced Materials
The Technology Council for Advanced Materials is a high-level group with representatives from the EU Member States, academia, industry, and other key players in research and innovation. It will foster dialogue and collaboration to strengthen Europe's advanced materials sector.
As a forum for exchange, the Technology Council will identify strategic goals and investment priorities for relevant research and innovation. It will align efforts at the European, national, and regional levels and outline initiatives to accelerate the deployment of advanced materials. This coordinated approach supports Europe's ambitions for competitiveness, digital transformation, circular economy, resource efficiency, and sustainability.
The Technology Council will explore synergies across various domains, including a digital infrastructure for advanced materials research and innovation, capital investment and access to finance, standardisation, intellectual property and skills development. It will also enable collaboration with regional innovation valleys and coordinate with the smart specialisation strategies, including the respective Community of Practice thematic partnerships.
The Technology Council was announced in the Communication on Advanced Materials for Industrial Leadership and is set up by the Commission Decission C(2024)4749. The Technology Council is co-Chaired by Directorate-General for Research and Innovation Directorate-General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs and the Member State holding the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
The call for applications to become a member is open until 9 September 2024. This call is addressed to organisations in three categories, namely academia, industry, and associations representing academia, RTOs and/or industry.
More details can be found in the Call for Applications. For further questions please write to EC-TechCouncil-AdvancedMaterials
ec [dot] europa [dot] eu (EC-TechCouncil-AdvancedMaterials[at]ec[dot]europa[dot]eu).