EMIRI 2021 second General Assembly was held on December 2nd. We had the privilege of having with us two distinguished speakers from DG-RTD, Ms. Hélène Chraye, Head of Unit Clean Energy Transition (Directorate C – Clean Planet) and Ms. Sofie Norager, Deputy-Head of Unit Industry Transformation (Directorate Prosperity)
The session started with the welcoming words of our chairman, Eric Peeters, emphasizing on the fact that 2021 was a great year for the Initiative as several important achievements were accomplished. After verifying the quorum and approval of the previous minutes and current agenda of the session, Philippe Jacques, Managing Director of EMIRI, presented the financial status of the Association. A call for a secondment of a Policy Officer will be offered to all the members. In order to attract new members, a discount on the 1st year of membership was also approved and will officially be implemented in January 2022.
Following the financial status, the Managing Director presented an update of the activities and achievements of this year 2021. One of the highlights was the redefining of the strategic objectives that were translated into 8 focus areas: Batteries, Hydrogen, Solar Energy, Wind Energy, Low Carbon Industries, Lightweighting for mobility, Buildings and Digital and Integration Technologies. The managing Director also presented an update on the 4 EU projects where EMIRI was involved: SMARTSPEND, BIG-MAP, BATTERY 2030+ and LiPLANET. An important achievement of this year 2021 was the kickoff of the Focus Groups, specifically the one of Hydrogen, that was run as a pilot Focus Group. As a first activity of this year, the Hydrogen FG organised a TechTalk Event on November 5th, a full day dedicated to Hydrogen that finished with a workshop to capture the R&I needs on Advanced Materials for Hydrogen. Next, Philippe Jacques presented briefly an overview of the main events where EMIRI has been involved this year. To finalise the update of the activities, our Communication Officer reported on the communication activities carried out during this year 2021. The launch of a new website and a new collaborative platform and the inauguration of the newsletter format were some of the highlights presented. Next, we reviewed the outlook of activities for the upcoming year: the approach, key stakeholders, an agenda of key events for 2022 and much more…
We came back after a lunch break, with the words of Hélène Chraye and Sofie Norager from the European Commission. Hélène Chraye, mainly involved in the Cluster 5 – Climate, Energy and Mobility of the Horizon Europe programme, highlighted the important role of R&I and advanced materials to achieve the energy transition. Ms Chraye strongly advocated for synergies between EU programmes, with industry and member states, as key to achieving our climate objectives. Sofie Norager, introduced the Cluster 4 – Digital, Industry and Space, and also emphasised the need for synergies and a coordinated approach to achieve better results. Ms Norager openly invited EMIRI to review the missions’ and the partnerships’ implementation plans and to let them know where Advanced materials could have a role to play. After a brief Q&A with Ms Chraye and Ms Norager, Philippe Jacques and Eric Peeters wrapped up the session thanking everyone for participating and wishing to see everyone face-to-face next time.
Download here Ms Chraye’s presentation.
Download here Ms Norager’s presentation.