nanotechnologies a stoa perspective · ir peter ide-kostic administrator - european parliament –...
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FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
Nanotechnologies
a STOA perspective
Ir Peter Ide-Kostic Administrator - European Parliament – STOA Unit
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
Which are the EP organisations
involved with Nanotechnology ?
• EP Committees: ENVI, ITRE, IMCO
• EP Policy research unit
• EP Library
STOA (Science and Technology Options Assessment) unit
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
What is Technology Assessment ?
Technology assessment (TA) is a scientific, interactive, and
communicative process that aims to contribute to the formation of public
and political opinion on societal aspects of science and technology.
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
So what is STOA ? (Scientific Technology Options Assessment)
• It is not a committee…
• It is not a Policy research unit in support of committee work…
• It is not a documentation center…
• It is a hybrid form of all of these: The STOA Panel is composed of 15 MEPs belonging to 6 committees (ENVI, ITRE, IMCO, AGRI, EMPL, TRAN)
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
STOA Panel
Vittorio
PRODI (IT)
ENVI
Salvatore
TATARELLA (IT)
ENVI
Evžen
TOŠENOVSKÝ (CZ)
ITRE
Kent
JOHANSSON (SE)
ITRE
Oldřich VLASÁK (CZ)
ITRE
Paul RÜBIG (AT)
IMCO
Malcolm
HARBOUR (UK)
IMCO
Antonio
F.CORREIA
DE CAMPOS
(PT)
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
STOA Rules - Mission
Article 1(2): “… STOA shall:
• provide Parliament’s … parliamentary bodies … with independent, high-quality and scientifically impartial studies … for the assessment of the impact of possibly introducing or promoting new technologies and shall identify … the options for the best courses of action to take …”
• Article 1(3): “ STOA shall carry out its work in such a way that the results are relevant to the European Parliament in its role as
legislator.”
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
STOA Rules - Studies of Technology Assessment (Article 6)
- Studies of technology assessment should provide an answer to
medium- to long-term, complex and interdisciplinary problems relating to the impact of scientific and technological developments on society.
- The proposals submitted for that purpose are approved by the STOA Panel on the basis of the following criteria: relevance of the subject to Parliament's work, scientific and technological nature of the proposal, and availability of scientific evidence covering the subject.
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
MEP(s)
?
Study
External
Expertise STOA
MEP(s)
STOA
Workshops
Interviews
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
Nanotechnologies studies published by STOA
1. The Role of Nanotechnology (NT) in Chemical Substitution : April 2007
2. Nanotechnology in the food sector : September 2009
3. Nanosafety – Risk Governance of Manufactured of Nanoparticles: March 2012
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
The Role of Nanotechnology (NT) in Chemical Substitution
• ABSTRACT: The aim of the project is to give an overview of already used and conceivable applications of Nanotechnology (NT) in order to replace hazardous chemicals.
• The overall idea behind this project is to identify new applications of NT which could help to reduce the risks related to hazardous substances and chemical processes. One prominent example is the substitution of anti-fouling coatings used in the ship industry by nanotechnological based coatings, which are already under investigation (AMBIO-project, http://www.ambio.bham.ac.uk/)
• Which substances are considered as ‘hazardous chemicals’? • What is meant by the term Nanotechnology and how can it be
distinguished from biology and chemistry respectively? • What is the meaning of ‘chemical substitution’ in relation to NT?
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
Nanotechnology in the food sector
• ABSTRACT: This study provides an overview of nanomaterials used in the food sector. Today, nanotechnology is virtually insignificant in terms of environmentally sound and health-promoting nutrition, and even in the future it is only likely to play a relatively subordinate role in making nutrition more sustainable. But nanotechnology is already used in food packaging, an area that is regarded as having considerable potential for innovation. The study assesses these products in respect of environmental issues and sustainability, showing the direction that future developments might take and where there is a need for caution.
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
Nanosafety – Risk Governance of Manufactured Nanoparticles
• ABSTRACT: This report deals with the potential environmental, health and safety (EHS) risks of engineered nanomaterials (ENM). Because of the great uncertainties regarding their actual health and environmental effects and numerous methodological challenges to established risk assessment procedures (toxicology, exposure and hazard assessments, life cycle assessment, analytics, and others), risk management of ENM is confronted with serious challenges. On the other hand, precautionary regulatory action with regard to ENM is demanded by a number of stakeholders and parts of the general public.
• Regulation under uncertainty raises fundamental political questions of how lawmakers should regulate risk in the face of such uncertainty. To explore this issue in greater detail, the project focused on two important perspectives of regulation: Risk management strategies for ENM as discussed or proposed for the EU or its Member States, and risk communication problems and needs for EHS risks of ENM.
• Findings of the project were discussed with MEPs in several workshops. In addition, the project used also a participatory method in order to investigate the risk communication expectations of the general public.
FIVE YEARS NANOTECHNOLOGY DIALOGUE - Time to review Achievements and Omissions
European Parliament, DG Internal Policies of the Union, Directorate G: Impact Assessment
and European Added Value
Thank you for your attention ! STOA website: http://www.stoa.europarl.europa.eu