June 2016

Science & Policy:

What’s on the EU's agenda?

2

EUROPEAN COMMISSION JOINT RESEARCH CENTRE

Policy Support Coordination International, Interinstitutional and Stakeholder Relations

SCIENCE & POLICY: WHAT'S ON THE EU'S AGENDA?

1 June 2016

The DG JRC's monthly briefing to the scientific community, N° 48

Table of Contents

1. Activities of the European Institutions 3

1.1 European Commission 3

1.2 Council 3

1.3 European Parliament 4

1.4 Committee of the Regions (CoR) 8

1.5 European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) 9

1.6 International Relations 10

2. Conferences & Meetings 11

2.1 DG JRC Conferences and Meetings 11

2.2 Further European Conferences and Meetings 12

2.3 International Conferences 13

3. DG JRC News 15

March Highlights 16

Correspondence: International, Interinstitutional and Stakeholder Relations – JRC European Commission, B-1049 Brussels, Belgium Telephone: (32-2) 299 11 11 Office: CDMA 05/155 JRC-STAKEHOLDERS@ec.europa.eu Prepared by Elisebha Fabienne Platzer

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1. Activities of the European Institutions

1.1 European Commission

Date Event Subject

1 June College Meeting

Among others: Visit of Mr Robert FICO, Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic; Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Europe investing again— Taking stock of the investment plan for Europe and next steps; Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Council, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: Delivering the single market agenda for jobs, growth and investment; Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions: European standards for the 21st century; Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee: The annual Union work programme for European standardisation for 2017; Rule of law in Poland: latest developments;

All meetings of the College of Commissioners

1.2 Council

Date Event Venue/Location

6-7 June Transport, Telecommunications and Energy Council Luxembourg

9-10 June Justice and Home Affairs Council Luxembourg

16-17 June Employment, Social Policy, Health and Consumer Affairs Council Luxembourg

17 June Economic and Financial Affairs Council Luxembourg

20 June Environment Council Luxembourg

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20 June Foreign Affairs Council Luxembourg

21 June General Affairs Council Luxembourg

22-24 June Industrial Technologies- Creating a Smart Europe Amsterdam

27-28 June Agriculture and Fisheries Council Luxembourg

27-28 June InnoGrid2020+ ‘Digital Energy’ Conference Brussels

28-29 June European Council Brussels

12 July Economic and Financial Affairs Council Brussels

18 July Agriculture and Fisheries Council Brussels

18 July Foreign Affairs Council Brussels

All meetings of the Council

1.3 European Parliament

Plenary Sessions

Date Event Subjects Venue/Location

6-9 June EP plenary session

Among Others: Commission statement- Synergies between structural funds and Horizon 2020; Commission statement- State of safety of nuclear installation in Belarus; 2015 Report on Policy Coherence for Development; The New Alliance for Food Security and Nutrition; Peace Support Operations- EU engagement with the UN and the African Union; unfair trading practices in the food supply chain; enhancing innovation and economic development in future European farm management; markets in financial instruments, market abuse and securities settlement; eliminating illicit trade in tobacco products: protocol to the WHO Framework Convention; uniform technical prescriptions for wheeled vehicles: UNECE agreement; EU-

Strasbourg

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Colombia and Peru Trade Agreement (accession of Croatia); follow-up to the resolution of Parliament of 11 February 2015 on the US Senate report on the use of torture by the CIA; space capabilities for European security and defence; Commission statement -European space industrial policy; Commission statement- Decision adopted on New Skills agenda for Europe; expansion of trade in Information Technology Products; Macro-financial assistance to Tunisia; ratification and accession to the 2010 Protocol to the Hazardous and Noxious Substances Convention with the exception of aspects related to judicial cooperation in civil matters; situation in Venezuela; rules against certain tax avoidance practices; enhanced cooperation in the area of property regimes of international couples; Commission statement- EU economy diplomacy

Committee Meetings

6 June Committee on Foreign Affairs: Extraordinary

Meeting

Among others: Extraordinary meeting on structural dialogue with Commissioner Hahn and with the President of Georgia; exchange of views with Giorgi Margvelashvili, President of Georgia, on the EU-Georgia relations

Strasbourg

6 June

Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development:

Extraordinary meeting

Among others: A new forward-looking and innovative future strategy on trade and investment; CAP tools to reduce price volatility in agricultural markets

Strasbourg

13-14 June Committee on Foreign

Affairs Agenda not yet available Brussels

13-14 June Committee on Budgetary

Control

Among others: The OLAF report 2015– Sixteenth report of the European Anti-Fraud Office; eradication, control and monitoring programmes to contain animal diseases; The European Union Solidarity Fund: an assessment;

Brussels

13-14 June Committee on Industry, Research and Energy

Among others: Looking at Industry 4.0 together with the impact on Industry of Robotics and Big Data; cost-effective emission reductions and low-carbon investments; towards a New Energy Market Design; Packaging and packaging waste; Exchange of views with Ms Elżbieta Bieńkowska, Commissioner for Internal

Brussels

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Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, as part of the Structured Dialogue; measures to safeguard the security of gas supply; EU strategy for liquefied natural gas and gas storage;

13-14 June Committee on Legal

Affairs

Among others: Exchange of views with Vĕra Jourová, European Commissioner for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality, in the context of the structured dialogue between Parliament and the Commission; presentation of the in-depth analysis on ‘Cross-border restitution claims of art looted in armed conflicts and wars and alternatives to court litigation’; Liability, compensation and financial security for offshore oil and gas operations;

Brussels

13-14 June Committee on Women's

Rights and Gender Equality Agenda not yet available Brussels

13-14 June Committee on the Internal

Market and Consumer Protection

Among others: Directive of the European parliament and of the Council on the Union legal framework for customs infringements and sanctions; cross-border portability of online content services in the internal market; high common level of network and information security across the Union; an Aviation Strategy for Europe; control of the acquisition and possession of weapons; exchange of views with Commissioner Vera Jourovà, responsible for Justice, Consumers and Gender Equality;

15-16 June Committee on

International Trade Agenda not yet available Brussels

15-16 June Committee on the

Environment, Public Health and Food Safety

Agenda not yet available Brussels

15-16 June Committee on Transport

and Tourism

Among others: Scrutiny of Commission implementing powers: Single European Sky - national/functional airspace block plans; Recognition of professional qualifications in inland navigation; unleashing the Potential of Ferries in Coastal Areas and Inland Waterways: A Contribution to Multimodal Passenger Transport; presentation by the Commission of the Staff Working Document on REFIT Ex-Post Evaluation of Combined

Brussels

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Transport Directive 92/106/EEC;

15-16 June Committee on Regional

Development Agenda not yet available Brussels

15-16 June Committee on Fisheries

Among others:

Presentation by João Aguiar Machado, Director-General of DG MARE, on EMFF programming by the Member States; presentation by Policy Department B "Fisheries and aquaculture markets: the value-added chain, promotion and labelling - the case of small-scale fishing"; management of the fishing fleets in the Outermost Regions; exchange of views with Commission representatives on snow crab fishing on the Svalbard islands; Sustainable Fisheries Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Government of the Cook Islands; Workshop by Policy Department B on 'The prohibition on discards and its impact on maximum sustainable yield of stocks (North Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Baltic Sea); sustainable management of external fishing fleets

Brussels

16 June Committee of Inquiry into Emission Measurements in

the Automotive Sector

Among others: Hearing of Ms Dorothee Saar, Head of transport and air quality, Deutsche Umwelthilfe (DUH), of Mr Pascoe Sabido and Mr Olivier Hoedeman, Corporate Europe Observatory (CEO), of Prof. Dr-Ing. Kai Borgeest, Centre for car electronics and combustion engines, Aschaffenburg University of Applied Science, of Mr Daniel Lange, CEO, Faster IT;

Brussels

All European Parliament Committee meetings

Other meetings and events

15 June STOA event: Waste management

Among others: Volume versus value: Experience of the Belgian construction sector and of the Dutch bio-waste sector; making waste collection work for the Circular Economy; waste prevention;

Brussels

15 June STOA event: The impact of Metallurgy Europe: research, excellence, attractiveness and socio-

Among others: New EUREKA Cluster Metallurgy Europe; the future of the European Metals and Materials Market; the impact of Metallurgy Europe: research, excellence,

Brussels

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economic impact attractiveness and socio-economic impact;

29 June

STOA event: Improving Outcomes for Critically Ill Children: Innovation and Research Translated to Save Lives

Among others: Improving outcomes for critically ill children; helping children survive sepsis; transport and referrals of critically ill children; competence Centres for children in Europe; improving treatment of children with cancer through registry-driven; working together from bench to paediatric bedside; improving standards of care for critically-ill children;

Brussels

1.4 Committee of the Regions (CoR)

Date Event Venue/Location

1 June Enlargement Day Brussels

2-3 June KEP Bioeconomy Summit Espoo, Finland

7 June Sustainable Societies: Health and Social Investment in the EU Brussels

8 June Atlantic strategy in action Brussels

14 June Forum of the CoR Covenant Ambassadors Brussels

15 June 118th CoR plenary session Brussels

17 June Innovation in the Safeguarding of Professional Career Paths Brussels

17 June Connecting with citizens: Challenges for Cohesion policy communication Brussels

20 June Fostering entrepreneurship based on innovation in Europe Tarnów, Poland

20 June Cost effective housing policies in the European Union Brussels

22 June Towards Zero Waste cities: How local authorities can apply waste

Brussels

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prevention policies

8-9 July 7th European Summit of Regions and Cities Bratislava, Slovakia

Further events of the Committee of the Regions

1.5 European Economic and Social Committee (EESC)

Date Event Venue/Location

1 June The 2030 Agenda – A European Union committed to sustainable development globally - Public hearing

Brusssels

2 June 20th Breakfast @ Sustainability's Brussels

2 June 7th Round-table on Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials

Warsaw, Poland

2 June Hearing with Civil Society from Bosnia and Herzegovina Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina

8 June The functional economy Brussels

9 June Follow-up meeting to the 2nd meeting European Migration Forum Brussels

16 June EU-Georgia Civil Society Platform Tbilisi, Georgia

16-17 June Driving Innovation and Industry in Europe Cambridge, United Kingdom

20-21 June A Hope for Europe! Culture, cities and new narratives Brussels

21 June Do we need an energy chapter in TTIP? Brussels

22 June Promoting a fairer agro-food supply chain Brussels

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28 June Rising Stars of the Energy Union? Energy Prosumers in Europe Brussels

29 June A performance-based EU budget and its focus on real results: The key to sound financial management

Brussels

1 July European day of Social Economy Enterprises Brussels

4-5 July 15th Regional seminar of EU-ACP Economic and social interest groups Nairobi, Kenya

6-7 July EU-Africa Network of economic and social stakeholders Nairobi, Kenya

Further events of the European Economic and Social Committee

1.6 International Relations

Date Event Venue/Location

5-7 June US-EU bridging NanoEHS research efforts Arlington, Virginia, USA

9 June Empowering EU-Japan science, technology and innovation cooperation Brussels, Belgium

12-13 July EU-China Business Summit Beijing, China

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2. Conferences & Meetings

2.1 DG JRC Conferences and Meetings

Date Event Organiser Venue/Location

1-2 June Smart Regions conference: Driving smart specialization investments in priority areas for European growth

JRC, DG REGIO Brussels, Belgium

6-9 June 24th European biomass conference and exhibition JRC, Groningen

University Amsterdam, The

Netherlands

8-9 June European Code of Conduct Awards ceremony JRC, Datacloud

Europe Monte-Carlo,

Monaco

13 June Workshop on IP Exchange and Finance, a Contribution to Innovation

JRC Brussels, Belgium

15-16 June

EUROCAT Registry Leaders’ Meeting and Symposium 2016 JRC Ispra, Italy

16 June Smart Specialisation in Energy: How Europe's Regions are implementing their priorities

JRC Brussels, Belgium

20 June Launch of the Knowledge Centre for Migration and Demography

JRC Brussels, Belgium

20-24 June

32nd European Photovoltaic Solar Energy Conference JRC Munich, Germany

4-5 July How to build Smart Energy Regions JRC, Technology Region Karlsruhe

Karlsruhe, Germany

28-30 September

Changing Patterns of Territorial Policy: Smart Specialisation and Innovation in Europe

JRC Seville, Spain

Further upcoming JRC events Further upcoming events in the EU Newsroom Calendar

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2.2 Further European Conferences and Meetings

Date Event Organiser Venue/Location

1-2 June Security Research Event 2016 (SRE2016) EC The Hague, The

Netherlands

8-10 June Wire 2016- Week of Innovative Regions in Europe EC Eindhoven, The

Netherlands

9 June High level roundtable on low-carbon innovation EC

Brussels, Belgium

10 June 2016 Work Forum on the implementation of the UN Convention on the rights of persons with disabilities

EC Brussels, Belgium

13 June Young Researchers Conference

EC, Permanent Representation of the

Slovak Republic to the EU,

Ministry of Education, Science, Research

and Sport of the Slovak Republic

Brussels, Belgium

13 June EAFRD financial instruments for agriculture and rural development in 2014-2020

EC Rome, Italy

13 June Supporting Innovation in Hungary EIB Budapest, Hungary

14 June Meeting of the European Electricity Regulatory Forum

EC Florence, Italy

14 June Conference on the blue economy of the Black Sea

EC

Odessa, Ukraine

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13-17 June

European sustainable energy week 2016 EC Brussels, Belgium

14-15 June

Scientific Colloquium: epigenetics and risk assessment

EC Valencia, Spain

15-16 June

European development days 2016 EC Brussels, Belgium

17 June Single Market for products: Fresh ideas to unleash the full potential

EC Brussels, Belgium

21 June IPR Enforcement Conference 2016 EC Brussels, Belgium

23 June Maritime Spatial Planning Worldwide EC Ponta Delgada,

Portugal

23-24 June

Energy Infrastructure Forum EC Copenhagen,

Denmark

24 June Eastern Partnership Platform on energy security EC Brussels, Belgium

2.3 International Conferences

Date Event Organiser Venue/Location

5-10 June 5th International ATALANTE Conference on Nuclear Chemistry for Sustainable Fuel Cycles Conference

CEA-Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux

énergies alternatives Montpellier, France

6-7 June Global Green Growth Forum 3GF Copenhagen,

Denmark

6-9 June World Plant Toxin Forum- World Mycotoxin Forum

Rikilt (The Netherlands), BOKU (Austria)

Winnipeg, Canada

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12-18 June ANS-American Nuclear Society Annual Meeting

ANS New Orleans,

Louisiana, USA

11-15 June SNMMI- Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging Annual Meeting 2016

SNMMI San Diego,

California, USA

13-16 June Graphene Week 2016 Chalmers University of

Technology, University of Warsaw

Warsaw, Poland

13-17 June 19th GTAP-Global Trade Analysis Project Conference

The World Bank, Purdue University

Washington DC, USA

14-16 June Google Earth Engine User Summit 2016 Google Mountain View, California, USA

16-19 June 5th International Fresenius Conference: Residues of Food Contact Materials in Food

Fresenius Academy Cologne, Germany

15-17 June 19th Annual Conference on Global Economic Analysis "Analytical Foundations for Cooperation in a Multipolar World

The World Bank, GTAP Washington DC,

USA

19-23 June 53rd Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology- ATBC

ATBC Montpellier, France

19-22 June 36th International Symposium on Forecasting International Institute of

Forecasters Santander, Spain

20-24 June XI. International Conference on Permafrost

International Arctic Science Committee, Ecologic Institute and the Embassy of Canada

in Berlin

Potsdam, Germany

22-25 June 22nd Annual Conference of the European Association of Environmental and Resource-EAERE

EAERE Zurich, Switzerland

22-23 June

OECD 2016 Ministerial: Meeting the policy challenges of tomorrow’s digital economy. The digital economy, innovation, growth and social prosperity

OECD Cancun, Mexico

26-29 June European and Global Summit for Cutting-Edge Medicine, Clinical Nanomedicine and Targeted Medicine

CLINAM Foundation Basel, Switzerland

26-29 June ICABR 2016- 20th International Consortium on Applied Bioeconomy Research Conference

ICABR Ravello, Italy

4-9 July

Bridging ICTs and the Environment. Geospatial Technologies and Remote Sensing for Monitoring SDGs.

CEU, UNOOSA Budapest, Hungary

11-15 July Bridging ICTs and the Environment. Innovations in Disaster Risk Reduction

CEU, UNDP Budapest, Hungary

23-27 July Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) EuroScience Manchester, United

Kingdom

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28 August-1 September

6th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDCR Davos 2016

IDRC Davos, Switzerland

6-9 September

The 1st Latin America and the Caribbean Open Science Forum- CILAC

CILAC Montevideo,

Uruguay

19-21 September

OECD Blue Sky 3 2016 – Informing science and innovation policies: Towards the next generation of data and indicators

OECD Ghent, Belgium

7-9 October Arctic Circle Assembly Arctic Circle Reykjavik, Iceland

12-14 October

CESAER General Assembly and Seminar 2016 CESAER Vienna, Austria

17-19 October

2016 EU-US Frontiers of Engineering Symposium

Euro CASE Helsinki, Finland

17-20 October

UN Habitat III– UN Conference on Housing and Sustainable Urban Development

UN HABITAT Quito, Ecuador

27-28 October

Sustainable Growth Summit Norwegian Centres of

Expertise Seafood Innovation Cluster

Bergen, Norway

14 November

Euro-CASE Annual Conference 2016: Big Data– Smarter Products, Better Societies

Euro-CASE, ATV, Technical University of Denmark (DTU)

Lyngby, Denmark

7-18 November

UNFCCC COP 22 UNFCC Marrakesh,

Morocco

7-13 January 2017

16th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering

WCEE and Chilean Association of Seismology

and Earthquake Engineering- ACHISINA

Santiago, Chile

28-30 November

Budapest 2016 Water Forum Government of Hungary Budapest, Hungary

22-24 February

2017 World Ocean Summit The Economist Bali, Indonesia

3. DG JRC News

2015 DG JRC Annual Report

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2015 Overview of the scientific process of the EU Agencies network for

scientific advice (EU-ANSA)

May DG JRC Newsletter May 2016

Open The EU is recruiting researchers - Call for expressions of interest

May Highlights

9-13 May Living Planet Symposium 2016

The 2016 European Space Agency Living Planet Symposium (LPS), which in 2013 attracted 1 800 participants, focused on the exploitation of satellite data in various thematic domains: Atmosphere, Oceanography, Cryosphere, Land, Hazards, Climate and Meteorology, Solid Earth/Geodesy, Near-Earth Environment, New Methodologies and Products, Open Science 2.0.

11-12 May State of the World’s Plants Symposium

The State of the World’s Plants Symposium accompanied the launch of a ground-breaking new report highlighting the global status of plants, released on 10 May 2016. An annual review of the major issues affecting plant diversity and abundance, the State of the World’s Plants report provides baseline data on important indicator metrics that will tell us how plants are faring and how this is changing over time.

13 May Why and how to build a FabLab

On the eve of the FABelgrade 2016 conference, the JRC hosted a workshop where invited speakers presented on the purposes and means for current and emerging Fab Labs in the Balkan countries, with the goal of fostering knowledge-sharing, networking and collaboration within the region. Presentations were complemented by project demos, where attendees were invited to engage in hands-on experiments in a Fab Lab space. The audience was made up of students, future entrepreneurs and DIY interested citizens (FABelgrade held specific workshops for Serbian teachers from high schools and vocational schools).

17-20 May International Conference on Regional Climate CORDEX 2016

The International Conference on Regional Climate-CORDEX 2016 (ICRC-CORDEX 2016), organised by the World Climate Research Programme, brought together the international community involved in regional climate research, focusing on high resolution climate information and its applications to vulnerability, impacts and adaptation and the full spectrum of potential end users of regional climate information. It promoted the CORDEX vision to advance and coordinate the science and application of regional climate downscaling through global partnerships. A further goal of CORDEX is to build the capacity of regional climate science in developing and transition regions; great steps have been made but there is still much work to be done. ICRC-CORDEX 2016 offers a platform for further capacity development, training and knowledge exchange for developing nation scientists together with the opportunity to expand existing, or build new, collaborations.

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19 May The role of microeconomic evaluation in ex-post impact quantification of EU

policies

The purpose of the event was to bring together policymakers, analysts and researchers from the European Commission, international organisations, think tanks and academia, to discuss the role of quantitative evaluation of policy impacts in the European policy process. During the event, the JRC launched the Competence Centre on Microeconomic Evaluation. The Commission’s focus on quantification of EU policy results generates on the one hand demand for transversal, robust, objective and transparent impact evaluation tools; on the other hand it calls for an increased accessibility to existing administrative micro-data sources to foster microeconomic impact evaluations. By bringing together relevant policy and scientific expertise across the Commission, the Competence Centre on Microeconomic Evaluation will help ensure that both appropriate counterfactual methods and micro-data sources are used in a systematic way across the Commission policy cycle. Quantitative evaluation of EU policies across a variety of socio-economic outcomes could greatly contribute to the Better Regulation agenda, the European Semester and the targeting of the European Structural Investment Funds.

19-21 May First European Citizen Science Association Conference 2016

The ECSA Citizen Science Conference 2016 - Citizen Science – Innovation in Open Science, Society and Policy - was aimed at policy makers, science funders, scientists, practitioners in the field of citizen science, NGOs and interested citizens. This trans-disciplinary conference highlighted, demonstrated and debated the innovation potential of citizen science for science, society and policy, and its role within open science and innovation. The three-day conference showcased how both new and traditional ways of citizens working with scientists can enable the transformative enhancement of science-policy and social impact, scientific advancement, scientific literacy and empowerment. Of particular importance is the role of citizen science within wider agendas such as open science and innovation, and progressing towards responsible research and innovations.

23-24 May Workshop on Control and Management of Agricultural Land in IACS

JRC workshop on control and management of agricultural land in the Integrated Administration and Control System (IACS) was organised from Monday 23 May (9.00 AM) to Wednesday 25 May (4.00 PM) in Baveno (VB), at Grand Hotel Dino. This workshop integrated established elements of the Control with Remote Sensing (CwRS) campaign 2016 Kick-off event, Control Methods workshop and Land Parcel Identification System (LPIS) workshop. Furthermore, its scope will be extended to the area-based schemes of the 2nd pillar of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

24 May Policy Research Forum on the Social Dimension of the Economic and Monetary

Union

The JRC, together with the College of Europe, brought together financial and fiscal experts, representatives of the scientific community, international organisations and policy makers to review relevant research findings on the social dimension of EMU, and to discuss which tools and methods could support policy responses for building social fairness while implementing necessary structural reforms. The Forum focused on two topics: the social dimension of taxation and the financing of inclusive growth within the European Union.