"As part of the implementation of the ECVET Recommendation, the project ""ECVET in French !"" aims to share the practices of the ECVET experts, members of the national teams, able to use French as a working language to :- strengthen their capacity to sustain the implementation of ECVET in their VET system(s) and in relation with the VET system(s) of the partners ;- make easier using ECVET in the framework of international mobilities, in particular for learners to which using an other language than French is a barrier to mobility.This project proposes an intermediate level for exchanging practices between the national level that the national experts intervene on and the european level where the working language is - almost exclusively - English and where all the productions are written in this language. Using French aims to make easier the involvement of people concerned by implementing ECVET and for whom French may be the language for work and communication within the scope of the access to vocational qualifications. Also, the diffusion of the productions will be facilitated to actors of implementing ECVET, as much for trainers and accompanying persons as for learners.The partners of the project are national organisations involved in the implementation of the ECVET recommendation. The experts in these organisations (generally members of the national teams of ECVET experts) besides contribute in the improvement of the national systems for the access to the vocational qualifications and to life long learning.They are, for Belgium : - the CCGPE-DGEO near the General Direction for compulsory education in the Ministry of the French Community ;- the CCFEE (Bruxelles Formation), a consultant organisation associating 27 VET structures ;- the AID (Actions Intégrées de Développement), a network of 32 associations members working in VET ;for Luxemburg :- the Lycée Technique d'Ettelbruck, a secondary school for technical education ;for France :- the Secrétariat d'Etat aux Sports, Sous-direction de l'emploi et des formations ;- the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Paris-Île de France ; - the GIP FCIP in Toulouse, applicant organisation for this project;for Spain :- the Generalitat de Catalunya, Departament d'Ensenyament, Direcció General de Formació Professional Inicial i Ensenyaments de Règim Especial.The partners for this project foresee four methods for co-working : exchanging by teleworking on precise subjects ; transnational meetings for small workgroups on each subject ; a transnational meeting to assess and adjust at the middle of the project ; a final transnational meeting to assess and spread.The expected results during the project are : - pooling the practices of the ECVET experts in the national teams able to use French as a working language ;- harmonizing the documents written or translated in French that may be used collectively (individual statements of results, learning agreement, memorundum of understanding, assessment grid of learning outcomes) ;- determinating conditions making easier mobility for learners, in particular for learners to which using an other language than French is a barrier to mobility.At the end of the project, all the methodologic parts and all the productions will be diffused to the VET organisations in the field of the different partners of the project.The project ""ECVET in French !"" has the ambition of strengthing the appropriation of ECVET by the european citizens using French as a language to communicate."

Today, Europe faces a “crisis of values”. This crisis is related to the numerous challenges the European Union (“EU”) has faced in recent years – such as the sovereign debt crisis, the security crisis linked to the threat of terrorism, and the migration crisis. It has been characterized by a systemic deterioration in certain Member States of the EU’s founding values, such as democracy, the rule of law and the protection of fundamental rights. In particular, two Member States – Hungary and Poland – are experiencing a significant decline in the rule of law, which has involved the establishment of electoral autocracies that seek to undermine the limits on the exercise of executive power in order to maintain the dominant political party in power in the long term. Faced with the ineffectiveness of the political mechanisms intended to protect the rule of law in its Member States, the EU has developed a new strategy based on judicial and techno-managerial mechanisms. On the one hand, a number of preliminary references and infringement procedures that have been referred to the Court of Justice of the EU have found serious rule of law breaches in Hungary and Poland. Yet on the other hand, the EU has relied on instruments that were not specifically designed nor envisioned to protect the rule of law, such as the European Semester, the European Structural and Investment Funds, and the protection of EU’s financial interests. These mechanisms mainly pertain to the Economic and Monetary Union, cohesion policy and European fiscal policy, and rely on techno-managerial control mechanisms (indicators and scoreboards, benchmarking, peer reviews, etc.). While this new approach is likely to respond to criticisms regarding the lack of effectiveness of the Union's protection of the rule of law, it also raises some concerns. Firstly, the use of techno-managerial mechanisms is likely to undermine the constitutional balance of the Union by favouring, in particular, a management of the crisis of values by the European executive power and a marginalisation of parliamentary assemblies. Secondly, this new approach by the European Union could have the consequence that only those dimensions of the rule of law linked to economic and budgetary considerations will be effectively protected, to the detriment of other dimensions such as the rights of minorities, and thus, promote a conception of the rule of law that is not in compliance with international standards, such as those stemming from the Council of Europe. Using a pragmatic approach combined with an instrument-based approach and inductive reasoning, the MEDROI research project will critically analyse this new strategy. This has threefold-objective: (i) identify the techno-managerial control mechanisms mobilised by the EU alongside their effectiveness; (ii) analyse the consequences of this new approach for the protection of the rule of law within the EU; and (iii) assess the compatibility of this new approach by the EU with international standards for the protection of the rule of law. At the end of the two years covered by the project, MEDROI will mainly make it possible to identify the conception of the rule of law that is effectively produced by the EU through its new strategy, and to compare it with European and international standards for the protection of the rule of law; to assess the effectiveness of the protection of the rule of law in the EU; and to propose credible solutions to strengthen the protection of the rule of law in EU Member States.

In a survey undertaken in 2011 for DG Enterprise and Industry, SMEs and SME support organisations considered the inability to manage innovation processes efficiently and effectively as the second most important barrier to SME innovation (after 'lack of financial resources'). The current proposal builds a bridge between existing regional support schemes and the opportunities offered by European research and innovation support schemes (in the first place Horizon 2020). The PIC2INNO project aims at delivering services enhancing the innovation management capacity of SMEs by the Enterprise Europe Network Paris Ile-de-France Centre – PIC2. Its geographical area covers the Paris Ile-de-France region and the Centre region. It proposes to set up dedicated resources and process to enable SMEs to grow their innovation capacity, and to improve their record in the participation into and coordination of European projects. The objective of this project is to: - Provide SMEs benefiting from the SME instrument with a regional support (“Key Account Manager”, hereafter KAM) - Provide a selection of SMEs that have a significant growth potential in the region with an evaluation of their innovation capacities, and an action plan to address identified bottlenecks. (“Innovation Management System Advisers”, hereafter IMSA) The project will aim at initiating between forty (40) and sixty (60) 7-day service packages, (according to the SMEs needs), with a substantial progress for most of them by the end of 2014.

R2π examines the shift from the broad concept of a Circular Economy (CE) to one of a Circular Economy Business Models (CEBM), by tackling both market failure (business, consumers) and policy failure (conflicts, assumptions, unintended consequence). Its innovation lies in having a strong business-focus, examining stimuli beyond environmental goals (including ICT and eco-innovation), and in examining the role of policy innovation (including the use of policy nudges and of "Policy Packages"). R2π unfolds in diverse contexts with a strong emphasis on involvement and exchange. The research design employs mixed-methods, with a strong emphasis on case studies but also including desktop research, feasibility assessments (including surveys where applicable), policy formulation & stakeholder involvement. The ultimate goal of the project is to see the widespread implementation of the CE based on successful Business Models to ensure sustained economic development, to minimize environmental impact and to maximize social welfare. The goal of the R²π project is therefore to develop sustainable business models that would facilitate the circular economy and to propose "Policy Package" that will support these business models. The R2Pi Consortium consists of 14 partners from 9 Member states and associated countries. The wide range of expertise, knowledge, tools and connections existing among the consortium members will be leveraged to develop innovative practical tools and procedural guidelines that may be widely and systematically applied across many different business sectors in diverse regions and countries, across the spectrum from large established EU countries to newer and smaller member states.. Through these innovative business models and "Policy Packages", the European economy will move into a more sustainable, resource efficient and resilient economic track. R²π will position Europe as a world leader in advancing the circular economy model.