European Commission's Joint Research Centre's annual report 2010

This report provides an overview of the activities, accomplishments and resources related to the JRC's work carried out during 2010 and includes figures on staff, budget and publications.

In her foreword, Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, in charge of research, innovation and science, highlights the need for policy making based on the best possible advice and affirms that "the JRC has built an excellent reputation as a world-class provider of scientific and technical support to European policy makers and legislators". The Commissioner refers as well to the role of the JRC as a "trusted and truly independent voice advising us on what is on the horizon in order to take timely policy decisions".

JRC Director-General, Dominique Ristori, emphasizes JRC efforts to support the Europe 2020 policy priorities addressing major challenges such as health, safety and security.

Examples of JRC's results throughout the year are described, such as the European-wide electricity grid model, contributions to the car emissions regulations, the crisis response work to Haiti and the methods to measure mycotoxins in infant food.

Many other highlights of JRC's work in different areas, such as energy (including nuclear), safety of food and consumer products, open and competitive economy or sustainable management of natural resources can also be found in the report.

In addition, an overview is given of the JRC mission and its implementation, the scientific activities and relations with the outside world. It covers as well the JRC input to the various stages of the policy cycle: from anticipation and formulation to policy adoption, implementation and evaluation.

Provided by European Commission Joint Research Centre