Joint Research Centre (JRC)
Serving society, stimulating innovation,
supporting legislation
Prof. Dr. Krzysztof Maruszewski
Director of Institute for Health and Consumer Protection
Krzysztof.MARUSZEWSKI@ec.europa.eu
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The JRC in the Commission
President José Manuel Barroso
…
27 Commission Members
DG Environment
DG Climate Action
DG Agriculture and Rural Affairs
DG Mobility and Transport
Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn
Research, Innovation and Science
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
JRC Director-General
Dominique Ristori
DG Energy
DG Research and Innovation
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JRC’s Mission and Role
… is to provide EU policies with independent, evidence-based
scientific and technical support throughout the whole policy cycle.
Direct research:
JRC is the European Commission's in-house
science service and the only DG executing direct
research; providing science advice to EU policy.
Serving society, stimulating innovation, supporting legislation
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Quick Facts:
Established 1957
• 7 institutes in 5 countries
• 2,822 scientific and technical
personnel
• Over 1400 scientific publications
in 2012
• Budget: €356 million annually,
plus €62 million earned income
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Key priorities
• Economic and Monetary Union (EMU)
• Internal market: growth, jobs and innovation
• Low-carbon economy and resource efficiency
(environment, climate change, energy, transport)
• Agriculture and global food security
• Public health, safety and security
• Nuclear safety and security
Providing the needed scientific support to the
Europe 2020 policy priorities.
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Cross-cutting activities
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Policy analysis
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Impact assessment
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Foresight and horizon scanning
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Economics
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Both sectoral and integrated modelling
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Knowledge Transfer
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Education and Training
Scientific support to
the whole policy cycle
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Policy anticipation
Policy evaluation
Effectiveness
and impact
assessment
Ad-hoc policy support
Agenda-setting
Identification of emerging
issues
Policy formulation
Expert advice
JRC
Policy implementation
Crisis response
Compliance checks
Independent verification
Anti-fraud measures
Policy adoption
Decision-making process
Selection of programme
options
Examples of JRC activities:
Supporting EU Policies
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Policy anticipation
Sustaining European Soil
The JRC has developed robust databases supporting the European Soil Thematic Strategy
and as a result created three soil atlases, unique collections of maps illustrating the varying
patterns of different soil types occurring across Europe. One of the resulting outputs is the
first ever European Atlas of Soil Biodiversity.
Policy anticipation
New developments in nanotechnology
The JRC is working closely with policy makers providing science and research-based
policy support for improving regulation of nanotechnology. It also hosts the largest
repository of nano reference materials, has developed an internationally-available database
containing test and measurement results used by the OECD, Member States and industry.
In February 2011, the JRC released the world's first certified reference material for
nanoparticles, based on industry-sourced materials.
Policy anticipation
INSPIRE: Harmonising environmental data worldwide
The JRC is the technical and scientific coordinator of INSPIRE, the Infrastructure for Spatial
Information in Europe, which provides the knowledge needed for mitigating natural and manmade hazards to make more efficient use of natural resources, to better protect the environment
and to adapt to climate change.
Examples of JRC activities:
Supporting EU Policies
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Policy implementation
Making the EU's electricity grids smarter
The JRC has identified and analysed the vulnerabilities of Member States’ electricity
transmission systems for the implementation of a Directive on Critical European
Infrastructures.
Policy implementation
Calculating greenhouse gas emissions from biofuel crops
The JRC developed a new methodology to estimate changes in global greenhouse gas
(GHG) emissions due to biofuel crops. This work underpinned the Commission Report
required for the implementation of the Renewable Energy Directive.
Policy implementation
Detecting GMOs in food and feed
The JRC provided the "Compendium of Reference Methods for GMO analysis", a
reference report listing 79 GMO detection methods validated according to international
standards in support of the Regulation on official food and feed controls.
Examples of JRC activities:
Supporting EU Policies
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Ad-hoc policy support
Nuclear forensics support to Member States
The JRC supports safeguard authorities by providing environmental sampling and
measurements techniques that are essential in the detection of non-declared nuclear
activities. The JRC ‘clean lab’ is used for the measurement of uranium enrichment in particles
founded in ‘swipes’ taken by IAEA or Euratom inspectors across the globe.
Ad-hoc policy support
Responding to crises
GDACS (the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System) provides near real-time alerts
about natural disasters around the world. In addition, the JRC provided support to rescue
operations by carrying out a rapid damage assessment based on the analysis of very high
resolution satellite imagery.
Ad-hoc policy support
European Flood Alert System and European Forest Fire Information System JRC
provides essential information to prepare for floods in Europe by complementing the information
of national hydrological services with novel probabilistic flood forecasting information up to 10
days in advance. EFFIS comprehensively addresses forest fires in Europe providing EU level
assessments from pre-fire to post-fire phases, thus supporting fire prevention, preparedness,
fire fighting and post-fire evaluations.
Examples of JRC activities:
Supporting EU Policies
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Policy anticipation
Science for water
The publication “Science for Water “aims to give a comprehensive overview of the JRC's
work in relation to global water challenges. The report covers water quantity, quality,
governance and innovation, the preservation of ecosystems and water-related hazards &
climate change, providing a glimpse on how science and the JRC can contribute to find
solutions in these fields.
Science for the financial sector
Ad-hoc policy support
The JRC develops scientific models for the financial sector to reduce the probability of
systematic crisis. The EC legislative proposal for minimum capital requirements in the
banking sector (known as Basel III) and the EC legislative proposal on financial
transactions were thoroughly tested using “SYMBOL”, a scientific model developed by the
JRC.
Policy anticipation
TEFIS: Techno-economic Foresight for the Information Society
The JRC supports Information Society Technology policies by generating prospective analyses
and strategies related to the knowledge society. TEFIS is one such example where emerging
trends in Information Society Technologies up to a 15-year time period will be studied, using
integrated techno-economic foresight analyses leading to strategic priority-setting.
Science support to policy:
Horizon 2020
• Strengthening anticipation, foresight
and horizon scanning
• Expanding economic modelling capacity
• Expanding socio-behavioural research
• Providing evidence-based policy options, cost-benefit analysis
and impact assessment
• Strengthening science-based input to EU standardisation and
legislative processes
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A selection of JRC
Scientific Facilities
European Laboratory for
Structural Assessment (ELSA)
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Hot Cells Laboratory
European Crisis Management
Laboratory
Fuel Cell Facility
Nano-Materials
Laboratory
Vehicles Emissions
Laboratory (VELA)
European Reference
Laboratory
for Air Pollution
(ERLAP)
Van Der Graf Generator
Examples of JRC
publications
•JRC Annual Report gives an overview of JRC activities.
•Reference Reports are authoritative documents that represent a JRC-wide view on a
subject for which the JRC is noted as expert.
•Evaluation Reports promote the provision of fact-based judgement on the JRC's
activities with a view to improving the design and management of the JRC
•Newsletter is a bi-monthly publication with an overview of recent highlights
•Brochures and reports
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A Networked Organisation
•1000+ partners: public and private organisations, institutions
and expert groups
•250 major networks worldwide:
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Cooperation and partnerships with key organisations
Support to enlargement
Training and mobility of researchers
Access to scientific infrastructures
Support to European Research Area policies
Support to standardisation
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IHCP – one of the 7 JRC
Institutes
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Institute for Health and Consumer Protection
Policy Support Areas:
● Alternatives to Animal Testing
● Food and Consumer Products
● Genetically Modified Organisms
● Public Health
● Nanotechnology
IHCP – one of the 7 JRC
Institutes
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Examples of activities
Risk and benefit assessment
● Biocides, chemicals (including
mixtures), nanomaterials, endocrine
disrupters, dietary substances
● Integrated risk assessment
methodologies
● Exposure assessment (noise, chemicals)
Development and validation
of sampling protocols
and analytical tools for:
● Detection and quantification in
Food and Consumer Products of:
- Chemicals and other contaminants
- Genetically modified organisms (GMOs)
- Nanomaterials
● Toxicity testing of chemicals and
nanomaterials with a strong focus on
alternative-to-animal testing methods
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IHCP – one of the 7 JRC
Institutes
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Reference Centres and Bureaus hosted by JRC-IHCP
• 3 EURL European Reference Laboratories:
Food Contact Materials, GM Food and Feed, Alternatives to Animal Testing
• BEVABS - European Bureau for Wine, Alcohol and Spirit Drinks
• ECB - European Chemicals Bureau (1993-2008) handed over to ECHA
Impact
• Coordination of National Reference Laboratories
• Analytical controls are harmonised throughout Europe
• Standardised methods delivering robust analytical results
• Better implementation of legal limits
• Reduced number of analyses in EU Member States
• Safe food and consumer products for European consumers
• Reducing number of animal tests by supporting Replacement, Reduction,
Refinement ("3R")
Serving society
Stimulating innovation
Supporting legislation
Joint Research Centre (JRC)
www.jrc.ec.europa.eu
Contact: jrc-info@ec.europa.eu
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