25.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 312/1

(1)

Sustainable development of European urban areas is a major societal issue while experiencing intensifying global trends such as urbanisation. According to forecasts, by 2050 nearly 70 percent of the global population will live in cities, up from around 50 percent today (1). The figure for Europe is higher: some 83 percent of the population (nearly 557 million) are expected to live in cities by 2050.

(2)

Urbanisation involves a wide range of interlinked challenges, including social deprivation and segregation, urban sprawl and congestion, safety and security issues, environmental degradation, pollution and effects of climate change. These developments put pressure on society and pose an unprecedented challenge to resilience, management and governance of urban systems in Europe and in the world.

(3)

At the same time, Europe should exploit the advantages of urbanised space. Urban areas are the drivers of growth in the European economy. Urban agglomerations and networked cities have turned into spearheads of development, not only from a socioeconomic perspective, but also from technological and geopolitical perspectives. Cities are ‘innovation hubs’ themselves, where knowledge, policy and practice come together to create innovative ideas, employ new technology and benefit from fresh insights into challenges and drivers of as well as solutions to urban development. There is also increasing evidence that networks of major urban centres, often referred to as ‘global cities’, exert a growing influence at the international scale, while at the same time the importance of small- and medium-sized cities has to be acknowledged because of their impact, notably in terms of regional development. Europe is characterised by a high urban density and by a large number of small- and medium-sized cities, the assets of which must be taken into account from an economic, social and cultural perspective.

(4)

The Europe 2020 strategy puts forward three mutually reinforcing priorities: the smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (2). Sustainable urban development could significantly contribute to achieving these aims. In its flagship initiative ‘Innovation Union’, set out in the Commission Communication of 6 October 2010‘Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative Innovation Union’ (3), one of the potential innovation partnerships is ‘smart, liveable cities combining energy efficiency, clean transport and fast Internet’. Cities can contribute to inclusive growth, notably in combating social polarisation and poverty, avoiding social segregation and addressing the issues of ageing. The European Platform against Poverty and Social Exclusion (4) sets out to reach the EU target of reducing poverty and social exclusion by at least 20 million by 2020. It will help to identify best practices and promote mutual learning between municipalities.

(5)

There is an urgent need to strengthen the knowledge base on integrated urban development across its research interfaces of economy, society, mobility and ecology, in order to support evidence-based policy making.

(6)

Coordination is needed to address the abovementioned challenges, to capitalise on the opportunities and to facilitate high quality research collaboration aimed at providing research evidence that underpins urban areas as a complex network system with high interdependencies of the related economic, technological, social and ecological subsystems and with a long-term forward-looking perspective.

(7)

At its meeting of 26 May 2010 (5), the Competitiveness Council identified and substantiated a set of potential joint programming initiatives (hereinafter JPIs), including ‘Urban Europe — global urban challenges, joint European solutions’, as areas where joint research programming would provide a major added value to the current, fragmented efforts by Member States and to the existing Union initiatives. It therefore adopted conclusions recognising the need to launch a joint programming initiative on the subject and inviting the Commission to contribute to its preparation.

(8)

Member States have confirmed their participation in such a JPI by the sending of formal commitment letters.

(9)

Joint programming of research on sustainable urban development would provide for coordination of research and innovation in this area, contributing significantly to construction of a fully operational ERA on research and innovation regarding urban development and strengthening Europe’s leadership and competitiveness of research in this field.

(10)

Urban development is an important cross-thematic area within the Union funding programmes for research and innovation. Activities within this JPI need to be closely coordinated with the other related activities in the context of existing and future funding programmes and initiatives on research and innovation.

(11)

Therefore, and in order to achieve the goals set out by this Recommendation, Member States should cooperate with the Commission in order to ensure coordination and development of synergies with the existing research and innovation schemes by exploring related Commission initiatives, such as the ‘Smart cities and communities’ initiative, as well as other related initiatives, to avoid duplication and overlapping.

(12)

In order for the Commission to be able to report to the European Parliament and to the Council, Member States should report regularly to the Commission on the progress made on this JPI,

1.

Member States are encouraged to develop and maintain a common vision on how cooperation and coordination in the field of research at Union level can contribute to achieving sustainable urban development in all its forms (6).

2.

Member States are encouraged to develop a common strategic research agenda establishing medium- to long-term research needs and objectives in the area of urban development in a context of increasing globalisation. The strategic research agenda should contain an implementation plan establishing priorities and timelines and specifying the action, instruments and resources required for its implementation.

3.

Member States are encouraged to include the following actions, as part of the strategic research agenda and of the implementation plan:

4.

Member States are encouraged to maintain and further develop an efficient common management structure in the field of research on the urban development challenge, with a mandate to establish common conditions, rules and procedures for cooperation and coordination and to monitor the implementation of the strategic research agenda.

5.

Member States are encouraged to jointly implement the strategic research agenda via their national research programmes in accordance with the guidelines for Framework Conditions on Joint Programming developed by the Council High Level Group on Joint Programming (7).

6.

Member States are encouraged to cooperate with the Commission with a view to exploring related Commission initiatives to assist Member States in developing and implementing the strategic research agenda and to coordinate the JPI with other Union initiatives in this field, such as R & D supported by the funding programmes for research and innovation, notably in the fields of socioeconomic sciences and humanities, transport, energy, environment, ICT, security, health, as well as other research and innovation initiatives such as other related JPIs, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities and European Technology Platforms.

7.

Member States are encouraged to liaise closely with the Strategic Forum for International Science and Technology Cooperation (SFIC) (8) in developing and implementing a possible international dimension in the strategic research agenda and ensure coherence with SFIC initiatives with and towards third countries.

8.

Member States are encouraged to report regularly to the Commission on the progress made on this JPI through annual progress reports.

25.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 312/4

25.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 312/5

—

The fact that a particular supervisory agency appears on the list does not automatically guarantee that certificates issued by that agency are acceptable. Additional documentary evidence may be required. It may also become apparent later that certificates issued are inaccurate.

—

Agencies may be taken off the list at any time. Before settling on a particular agency, exporters are accordingly advised to check with the national authorities (cf. Annex XIII to Regulation (EC) No 612/2009) that it is still approved.

—

Exporters can obtain further information on any agency from the national authority which approved it.

25.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 312/9

25.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 312/10

1.

Academic institutions are invited to express their interest in being included in a roster of organisations to be involved in the CARIFORUM-EC Consultative Committee (hereinafter the ‘Committee’). Inclusion in the roster is open to all academic institutions, including independent research institutions, fulfilling the requirements set out in the Council Decision of 16 November 2009 (appended).

2.

In order to be registered for the roster, academic institutions will need to provide information on how they fulfil such requirements, especially with respect to their location and their expertise.

3.

Academic institutions expressing their interest in being included in the roster should also indicate whether one of their representatives would be interested in serving as a standing member of the Committee. In this case, they will have to provide information with respect to the expertise the proposed person has in the areas covered by the Agreement, as well as a detailed curriculum vitae. This information will be made available to all academic institutions having registered for the roster. The academic institutions included in the roster shall subsequently be called upon to endorse the candidature of two standing members of the Committee from those having expressed such interest. Standing members’ travel expenses and daily allowance related to participation in Consultative Committee meetings shall be covered.

4.

Academic institutions included in the roster shall be kept informed of the Committee's activities by the Committee secretariat and will be able to participate as observers in the working of the Committee at their own cost. Modalities for participation will be set out in the Committee's Rules of Procedure.

5.

All applications for registration must be made using the registration form on the website http://spportal/cariforum-eu to be received no later than 7 p.m. (Brussels local time) on 1 December 2011.

6.

An acknowledgement of receipt of registration for the roster shall be sent by e-mail.

25.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 312/11

1.

Non-governmental organisations, including development and environmental organisations, are invited to express their interest in being included on a roster of organisations to be involved in the CARIFORUM-EC Consultative Committee (hereinafter the ‘Committee’). Inclusion on the roster is open to all organisations fulfilling the requirements set out in the Council Decision of 16 November 2009 (appended).

2.

In order to be registered for the roster, organisations will need to provide information with respect to their location, their expertise and the stakeholder involvement they represent.

3.

The organisations expressing their interest in being included on the roster should also indicate whether one of their representatives would be interested in serving as a standing member of the Committee. In this case, they will have to provide information with respect to the expertise the proposed person has in the areas covered by the Agreement, as well as a detailed curriculum vitae. This information will be made available to all organisations having registered for the roster. The organisations included on the roster shall subsequently be called upon to endorse the candidature of up to two standing members of the Committee from those having expressed such interest. Standing members’ travel expenses and daily allowance related to participation in Consultative Committee meetings shall be covered.

4.

Organisations included on the roster shall be kept informed of the Committee's activities by the Committee secretariat and will be able to participate as observers in the working of the Committee at their own cost. Modalities for participation will be set out in the Committee Rules of Procedure.

5.

All applications for registration must be made using the registration form on the website http://spportal/cariforum-eu to be received no later than 7 p.m. (Brussels local time) on 1 December 2011.

6.

An acknowledgement of receipt of registration for the roster shall be sent by e-mail.

25.10.2011   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 312/12

1.

On 17 October 2011, the Commission received a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 (1) by which the undertaking Koninklijke Philips Electronics NV (‘Philips’, the Netherlands) acquires within the meaning of Article 3(1)(b) of the Merger Regulation control of the whole of the undertakings Industrias Derivadas del Aluminio, SA (‘Indal’, Spain) by way of purchase of shares.

2.

The business activities of the undertakings concerned are:

3.

On preliminary examination, the Commission finds that the notified transaction could fall within the scope the EC Merger Regulation. However, the final decision on this point is reserved.

4.

The Commission invites interested third parties to submit their possible observations on the proposed operation to the Commission.

Observations must reach the Commission not later than 10 days following the date of this publication. Observations can be sent to the Commission by fax (+32 22964301), by e-mail to COMP-MERGER-REGISTRY@ec.europa.eu or by post, under reference number COMP/M.6357 — Koninklijke Philips/Indal Group, to the following address: