Summary : STOA mainly carries out projects that assess the impact of introducing or promoting new technologies, and identify the best possible options for action, from a technological point of view. In 2012, STOA continued its activities on the main topics of: - Eco-efficient transport - Sustainable management of natural resources - Security of the Internet, including e-Government, cloud computing and social networks - Health In addition, STOA also runs several activities on science policy. Of the thirteen ongoing projects, six were completed and published in 2012. In each case STOA published the final report and an Options Brief succinctly summarising in 2-4 pages the policy options identified. Four new prominent projects launched in 2012 are: - STOA-Project: Potential and Impacts of Cloud Computing and Social Network Sites - Methanol: a future transport fuel based on hydrogen and carbon dioxide? - Science Metrics: Measuring scientific performance for improved policymaking - Technology options for feeding 10 billion people. Fourteen workshops were organised, covering a wide variety of domains. Highlights amongst the workshops included: - The Science of Innovation & research management - Ethical issues of human enhancement - Digestive and liver diseases: a priority for Europe - Precision agriculture and optimised use of fertilisers STOA aims towards a closer collaboration between the scientific community and policy-makers. In theory, such collaboration should work well: with scientists producing evidence that policy-makers use for decision-making; in return, policy-makers provide scientists with requirements and resources for research. However, in practice more efforts are needed to ensure that the scientific projects are carried out according to the highest quality standards and their results inform policy-making in a meaningful way. Based upon these reflections, efforts were made to publish the outcomes of STOA events in scientific articles, as a further guarantee of their quality. Furthermore, for projects and workshops, more attention was given to clear communication of the outcomes. On several occasions STOA presented its studies in parliamentary committees. A highly successful Annual Lecture was organised with CERN, filling a 500-seat auditorium with many students and researchers. Further, a number of STOA delegation visits took place, amongst others to the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission in Ispra (IT), IMEC in Leuven (BE), the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF2012) in Dublin (EI) and the Science and Technology in Society (STS) forum in Kyoto (Japan). In 2012 STOA took its first steps into the world of social media, covering a live Facebook chat on the occasion of the Annual Lecture, as part of a new collaboration with the communication services (DG COMM) of the European Parliament.

Authors : STOA Secretariat, European Parliament

Committees : Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA), Industry, research and energy, Agriculture and rural development, Environment, public health and food safety, Internal market and consumer protection, Employment and social affairs, Transport and tourism

Summary : This note seeks to provide an initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's Impact Assessment accompanying the proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on marine equipment. The Proposal attempts to align the existing Marine Equipment Directive from 1996 (MED) with the New Legislative Framework (NLF) for the marketing of products.

Authors : Laura Zandersone

Committees : Impact Assessment, Transport and tourism

Summary : Eight years of EU external aviation policy have produced mixed results. Pillar 1 agreements have indeed largely contributed to restoring the bilateral agreements concluded by the Member States to legal certainty, but some of our key partners still do not accept the principle of EU designation. The agreements with neighbouring countries (Pillar 2) benefit the European low-cost carriers but it is difficult to conclude that they have significant impact on market growth. As for the Open Aviation Area agreements (Pillar 3), only two are applied and they are far from having achieved their main objectives. In this context, the major European network carriers call for a review of this policy.

Authors : Erwin von den Steinen, Claude Probst and The Association of European Airlines

Committees : Transport and tourism

Summary : This report provides a description and analysis of how, why, when and where industrial heritage based tourism and rural tourism have developed in Europe. It discusses current issues in those subjects and suggests ways in which both activities could be expanded, made more viable and sustainable, and so deliver greater economic, environmental and socio-cultural benefits for the local communities involved and for Europe as a whole.

Authors : Bernard Lane, Richard Weston (Institute of Transport and Tourism, the UK), Nick Davies (Institute of Transport and Tourism, the UK), Elisabeth Kastenholz, Joana Lima and Janusz Majewsjki

Committees : Transport and tourism

Summary : The literature reports on substantial planning and procurement failures of large transport infrastructure projects. This study should elaborate if and how TEN-T co-funded projects are affected by such operational problems and should provide recommendations on how these could be avoided for the next TEN-T programming period. Based on a literature review and ten case studies, this study elaborates recommendations for improving strategic planning, the choice and definition of projects as well as a sound assessment for transport and socio-economic impacts. The role of transparent information regarding ex-ante planning and ex-post success is studied to support EU co-funding decisions and the monitoring of project implementation.1

Authors : Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung (Germany): Wolfgang Schade, Florian Senger; Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany): Werner Rothengatter; ProgTrans (Switzerland): Olaf Meyer-Rühle, Ian Sean Brouwer

Committees : Transport and tourism

Summary : Urban transport is related to a wide range of unsolved problems and challenges that need to be tackled in order to guarantee a high quality of life in European cities and to make the transport system an even more efficient pillar of the European economies. This final report highlights relevant aspects and pathways for a transition to a more sustainable urban transport system. For this purpose, relevant technologies and the factors influencing end-user behaviour were analysed, as well as the interrelations between them. The transport system is understood as a socio-technical system of five key elements: paradigms and visions, mobility patterns, technologies and infrastructures, business models, and transport policies. In this report it is illustrated that changes in all elements of the transport system are taking place: - On the one hand, a broad range of innovative technologies and concepts to achieve sustainable urban transport are emerging or are already used. - On the other hand, the paradigm of sustainable transport is about to dominate transport planning in many urban areas and at different governmental levels – which has by far not always been like this. Further there is evidence that travel behaviour is not as static as it seems, but rather changes over time. In several countries, the travel behaviour of some societal groups is evidently changing. All of the five elements offer pathways to sustainable urban transport. Nevertheless, successful pathways do not only require new developments in one of these elements, but in several or in all of them, and at the same time. Against this background it is essential that governance strategies deal with the transport system as a whole. Integrated policies need to consider technical, as well as non-technical factors and developments. The facilitation of learning opportunities is crucial. Innovations need “spaces” to be tested and demonstrated. But, for a successful transition, the transport users need to be taken into account more systematically. More research is needed in order to understand the dynamics that are currently at work in the transport system and the way users adapt to changes in the long run.

Executive summary :

Authors : This project has been carried out by the Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) as a member of the European Technology Assessment Group (ETAG). PROJECT LEADER :Jens Schippl, ITAS AUTHORS: Jens Schippl, ITAS, KIT; Maike Puhe, ITAS, KIT

Committees : Science and Technology Options Assessment (STOA), Environment, public health and food safety, Transport and tourism

Summary : Initial analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the European Commission's Impact Assessment accompanying the three proposals contained in its "Roadworthiness Package" communicated in July 2012.

Authors : Elke Ballon

Committees : Impact Assessment, Transport and tourism

Summary : The study provides an analysis of the state of enforcement of European social legislation in the field of professional road transport in the different Member States. Main issues are related to the state of implementation of European legislative measures, checks performed and penalties applied. After an overall analysis which includes the general enforcement of social rules in the European Union, detailed data on checks performed, offences detected and penalties imposed for different years are reported for specific case studies.

Executive summary :

Authors : Enrico Pastori, Alessio Sitran and Caterina Rosa (TRT - Trasporti e Territorio Srl) ; Manuela Samek, Nicoletta Torchio and Nicola Orlando (IRS Istituto per la Ricerca Sociale) ; Rémy Rusotto (CORTE)

Committees : Transport and tourism

Summary : This update of the 2009 study evaluates the challenges and opportunities of developing a cycle tourism network across Europe. It focuses on EuroVelo, a network of 14 long distance routes managed by the European Cyclists’ Federation which is being developed in different countries by a wide range of partners. The study reviews the market for cycle tourism and presents a model of demand for EuroVelo. It also evaluates the recent developments on the Iron Curtain Trail.

Executive summary :

Authors : Richard Weston, Nick Davies, Les Lumsdon and Peter McGrath (Institute of Transport and Tourism, University of Central Lancashire, UK) ; Paul Peeters, Eke Eijgelaar and Peter Piket (Centre for Sustainable Transport and Tourism, NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands)

Committees : Transport and tourism