China-EU science and technology cooperation is substantial. The European Union is one of the most important partners in China’s external science and technology cooperation. Particularly, in the face of challenges of environmental protection and sustainable development, China and the European Union share common interests in the field of environmental sustainability. POREEN (Partnering Opportunities between Europe and China in the Renewable Energies and Environmental iNdustries) aims at integrating and combining economic, legal and engineering competencies to analyze the level of economic cooperation reached so far between China and Europe in the renewable energy and the environment industries and to identify areas where partnership opportunities could be exploited, at business, scientific and technical level. POREEN is funded by the European Commission under the 7th Framework Programme for Research in the Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities (SSH). It is a People Marie Curie Action, International Research Staff Exchange Scheme, whose aim is to help research organisations to set up or strengthen long-term cooperation with others, through a coordinated exchange programme for their staff.
The research project aims at integrating and combining economic, legal and engineering competencies to analyze the level of economic cooperation reached so far between China and Europe in the renewable energy and the environment industries and to identify specific areas to boost partnership opportunities. Using a multi disciplinary approach, the exchanged staff will work on three main research areas. The first one is focused on trade and investment flows and aims at identifying critical issues, gaps, and potentials in Europe-China relationships. Major effects of Europe-China agreements on foreign direct investments (FDI) and trade flows are examined. Problems encountered and opportunities to be seized at firm level will also be analyzed. The economic perspective is supported and enriched by the engineering and legal perspectives. Engineering knowledge is fundamental to defining concretely the sectors, products and processes which have high deployment potential. Engineering research activity is focused on two main research areas, both related with energy efficiency and carbon dioxide reduction: mobility and the transportation sector and low carbon buildings. The legal knowledge is relevant to understanding obstacles due to the regulatory environment, as well as to identifying appropriate solutions to enhance collaboration. Main investigation areas will be: offshore oil and gas and renewable energy; anti-dumping; environmental and social standards and corporate social responsibility. POREEN aims at increasing the availability of interdisciplinary studies, with a comprehensive overview of Europe-China relations. Developing integrated knowledge is fundamental to provide useful and reliable information to support EU and local policymakers, as well as companies working in/with China. POREEN should lay the ground for further related studies on this topic and establish integrated and interdisciplinary research links between European and Chinese centres of excellence.
Research activities Environmental protection and sustainable development have recently become of paramount importance, especially for China. Partnering and business opportunities can thus be significant for European companies in the field. At present, the Chinese energy system is characterized by the prevalent use of fossil-fuel resources while the renewable sources are just entering into the market. In recent years, China has initiated a process to update technologies and infrastructures, using the Best Available Techniques on the international market. This process is still ongoing and it must be completed in sectors such as heavy industry, where the conversion is aimed at increasing overall energy efficiency and reducing environmental impact. Given its size and increasing carbon footprint the evolution of the Chinese energy system and its environmental implications are of global relevance. Three main research areas are involved in POREEN, with specific but highly integrated and interconnected tasks: The economic research area The research aims to expand and deepening the knowledge of trade and foreign direct investments flows between Europe and China in the renewable energies and environmental industries so as to suggest: • the priority sectors that should be targeted to stimulate Europe-China trade and investment flows; • the obstacles, barriers and difficulties faced by European firms in initiating, maintaining and consolidating both trade and investment initiatives in China; • the obstacles, barriers and difficulties encountered by Chinese companies investing in Europe. The engineering research area Engineering research activity is focused on two main research areas, both related to energy efficiency and carbon dioxide reduction: • mobility and the transportation sector; • low carbon buildings. The research intends to analyze the state of the art and to propose a model addressing economical, legal and technical issues which need to be faced to ensure the introduction on the Chinese market of alternative fuels and low carbon technologies and instruments in the building sector, so as to identify concrete partnering opportunities for the European industry. The legal research area Critical legal issues, normative gaps and potentialities in Europe-China trade and FDI relations will be examined by researchers, who will specifically focus on: • oil and gas offshore and renewable energy; • environmental and labor standards and corporate social responsibility (CSR) issues. The researchers will make use of their knowledge in international law, EU law, International investment and trade law, commercial law, environmental law and CSR. Their perspective will take into consideration both the European investment and cooperation projects in China and the main Chinese investment initiatives in Europe.
Stay tuned for news on sustainable development, environment and climate change, international trade and human rights, Chinese issues and much more!
