The European Commission has proposed on 29 February 2012 decisive action to meet three key challenges facing our society, in areas that are crucial to growth and jobs: the supply of raw materials, sustainable agriculture, and active and healthy ageing. All three require a more concerted innovation effort across the public and private sector, in order to improve quality of life and position Europe as a global leader. The Commission has therefore launched two new European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) - on Raw Materials and on Agricultural Sustainability and Productivity - and has endorsed a four-year action plan for the Active and Healthy Ageing EIP, a pilot launched in February 2011.

EIPs take a new approach to tackling the whole research-development-innovation chain, bringing together public and private stakeholders across borders and sectors in order to accelerate the uptake of innovation. They each have an ambitious target to reach by 2020, and are expected to start delivering results within 1-3 years.

Innovation partnership to overcome Europe's raw materials shortages: With a view to increasing Europe's own production, under the proposal to set up a European Innovation Partnership on raw materials, joint innovation efforts will support exploration, extraction and processing of raw materials.
European Innovation Partnership for agriculture: The European Innovation Partnership (EIP) "Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability" aims to provide a working interface between agriculture, bio-economy, science, and others at EU, national and regional level. It will also serve as a catalyst to enhance the effectiveness of innovation-related actions supported by Rural Development Policy as well as the Union Research and Innovation. Two headline targets have been identified for this EIP - promoting productivity and efficiency of the agricultural sector; and the sustainability of agriculture.
European Innovation Partnership on active and healthy ageing: The European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing Action Plan includes: inviting stakeholder engagement; setting up a marketplace for innovative ideas; addressing regulatory and standardization issues. This will improve elderly citizens' lives, help them to contribute to society as they grow older, and reduce pressure on health and care systems - ultimately contributing to sustainable growth.

More information:
http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/196&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EL&guiLanguage=en