On 4 July 2024, EARPA co-signed  a joint statement with 109 other European associations representing key European RD&I stakeholders.

While the global technology race accelerates, the EU significantly lags behind in terms of investments in RD&I, in particular related to automotive research, compared to its global competitors.

EARPA calls on the EU Institutions to significantly increase the current RD&I budget in view of next European Framework Programme Research and Innovation (FP10).

We are ready to further discuss the design of FP10 with the EU Institutions. We are fully convinced that Europe has much better potential in the gloal innovation race than what it is currently performing.

Two weeks ago, EARPA had an exhibition stand at the Transport Research Arena (TRA) conference in Dublin (15 – 18 April 2024). Under the with theme “Transport Transitions: Advancing Sustainable and Inclusive Mobility, the 2024 edition of the event attracted over 4000 attendees from across the transport research sector.

We had the opportunity spread awareness about our community of leading European independent R&D providers in the automotive sector too. At the stand, we showcased project videos which EARPA Members have been working on, as well as our 2024 Partners Guide and High-Level Position.

From 5 – 6 March 2024, EARPA (the European Association of Research Partners) held its Spring Meeting event at the Sofitel Brussels Europe Hotel.  

The 2-day event attracted nearly 200 attendees, which included EARPA Members and other professionals from the European road mobility and automotive sector. 

Day 1: Foresight Group & Collaborative Research Groups sessions and Networking Reception 

The event consisted of 2 days of sessions dedicated to EARPA Members, which included internal workshops focused on upcoming EARPA position papers and collaboration opportunities for calls related to the Horizon Europe research & innovation framework programme.

The evening reception on 5 March, marked the end of the Presidential tenure of Christof Schernus (EARPA President) and Gaetano de Paolo (EARPA Vice-President), who stepped down from their leadership roles within EARPA.  

EARPA’s Policy Officer, Elise Ekström, welcomed three fantastic speakers to the stage for the farewell speeches segment. Patrick Mercier-Handisyde (European Commission), David Storer (CLEPA) and Simon Edwards (Ricardo), and all paid tribute to Christof Schernus and Gaetano de Paola who have been instrumental in driving EARPA forward and bringing great stability to the association with their unwavering commitment and passion. 

Their leadership, hard work and dedication helped streamline EARPA’s activities, and their legacy will live on for many years to come. We can’t thank them enough for all the hard work and time they invested into EARPA.

New leadership roles within EARPA and Executive Board Members

The speeches concluded with Christof Schernus officially handing over the EARPA Presidency to Michele De Gennaro (AIT), who then presented the new EARPA Vice-Presidents Horst Pfluegl (AVL) and Peter Urban (ika). 

Michele De Gennaro also introduced the 2 new Executive Board Members, Margriet van Schijndel (Eindhoven University of Technology) and Wissam Dib, EARPA Treasurer (IFPEN).

Day 2: Collaborative Research Groups and Plenary Programme 

Highlights of the second day included more Collaborative Research Group sessions and updates from the European Commission, from Andrea Gentili, European Commission (DG RTD) and Max Lemke, DG Connect. 

Andrea Gentili’s presentation focused on the state of play within Horizon Europe programme and transport policy, while Max Lemke discussed Software defined vehicle activities. A lively panel discussion took place at the end of the session which was moderated by the new EARPA President Michele de Gennaro. 

For the second part of the Plenary programme, two enlightening EARPA projects took to the stage where Peter Priller (AVL) provided updated about the FEDERATE project and  Medina Ćustić (Virtual Vehicle) provided updates about the E-VOLVE project. 

The next big meeting for the EARPA community and the sector will take place from 30 September – 1 October 2024 at the DoubleTree by Hilton Brussels City for EARPA’s Autumn Meeting 2024.

To view more photos from the event see our Flickr Account here.

Brussels, 13 February 2024 

The European Automotive Research Partners Association (EARPA) was well represented at the RTR Conference (Results from road transport research) in Brussels last week (5 -7 February 2024). The 2024 edition of the event had 76 projects presentations which gathered 735 participants. 

The RTR Conference is a renowned platform for discussing cutting-edge developments in road transport research. The event had a remarkable turnout of EARPA members, which demonstrated EARPA’s leading role in shaping the future of the automotive industry. 

In many of the sessions at the event, EARPA members played pivotal roles, either moderating sessions or presenting their latest innovative results in road transport from Horizon 2020. 

Projects such as NEMO, HiPE, 3BELIEVE, SELFY and the LENS project are just some of the projects presented during the event, which include a high proportion of EARPA members in the different consortia. 

Simon Edwards (Ricardo) delivered both the opening and closing speeches at the event, while the following Members had other speaking/moderating opportunities: Christof Schernus (EARPA President) , Roland Uerlich (RWTH Ika), Anna Larsson (RISE), Burak Dermenci (VUB), and Leonidas Ntziachristos (LAT), Bert Pluymers (KU Leuven), Magnus Granström (SAFER), Thilo Bein (Fraunhofer) and Margriet van Schijndel (TUe Eindhoven), Peter Urban (RWTH Ika), Bernard Brandstätter (Virtual Vehicle) and Oihana Otaegui (Vicomtech). 

EARPA’s significant presence at the RTR Conference highlights the exceptional quality of our members and their pivotal role in advancing automotive research. 

We are immensely proud of our members’ contributions and their commitment to pushing the boundaries of automotive innovation. 

For more information about EARPA and its members, please see here.

31 January 2024

Yesterday, EARPA’s President Christof Schernus, Vice-President Gaetano de Paola and Policy Officer Elise Elise Ekström had the opportunity to meet with DG RTD at the European Commission.

At the meeting, EARPA presented our most recent High-Level Position Paper, where we outlined our suggestions for forthcoming European Research Programmes.

The meeting helped explore further opportunities, where EARPA could assist the European Commission in future Research Programmes with our valuable insights and expertise.

13 January 2024:

EARPA is proud to share the co-signed open letter urging for continued investment in battery research and innovation under the Horizon Europe programme.

In the open letter, stakeholders from the battery, materials, energy and mobility sectors urge the European Commission to champion continued investment in battery research and innovation under the BATT4EU Partnership, fortifying Europe’s global leadership in battery technologies and contributing significantly to our green transition.

The programme of the European Battery Alliance has been supported by strong commitments to battery R&I by both European Union and industry under the BATT4EU Partnership under Horizon Europe.

It is important that the European Union also stands to the commitments signed in our Partnership agreement, to support technology development at different TRL level, and to strengthen the message of their strategic importance to the battery community, investors and developers.