A new report of the online Roundtable on “Framework to measure access to justice including specific challenges facing women” is now available.

 The report discusses the concept of access to justice in accordance with international and Council of Europe’s human rights standards; it analyses the specificity of women’s access to justice and describes the role of governments in ensuring access to justice for all. It also lays out specific guidelines that can most contribute to inclusive access to justice in Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and Ukraine, and discusses relevant indicators. The report provides national authorities with recommendations towards a research plan aiming at collecting key data useful to inform policies and interventions by governments to ensure inclusive access to justice to all citizens, including women.

 The report was produced in the framework of the project “Women’s access to justice : delivering on the Istanbul Convention and other European gender equality standards”, funded by the European Union and the Council of Europe and implemented by the Council of Europe in their Partnership for Good Governance II.

Can democracy save the environment? This is the question of this year’s edition of the World Forum for Democracy. In the framework of the World Forum for Democracy, the Democratic Governance Division organised a webinar on 20 July to explore the role of the private sector and financial instruments in the fight against climate change.

In the aftermaths of the Covid-19 pandemic, governments and the private sector are seeking to ‘build back better’ and ensure a green recovery, in line with international commitments and obligations. To contribute to a transition towards a low carbon, climate resilient economy, cities must invest in infrastructure with green potential, especially in the sectors such as energy, building, transport, waste, to name but a few. How, then, can this transition be achieved? What role can the private sector play? And what will be the impact  of the public-private partnerships (PPP) for green city solutions? Furthermore, what are the green finance strategies that cities could follow and how can sustainability, participation and transparency be ensured?

The webinar Public Private Partnerships for Green City Solutions explored different approaches taken by cities towards meeting climate targets, discussed challenges and benefits associated with public-private partnerships, highlighted the role of innovative green finance strategies and identified ways to increase transparency, civil participation and responsiveness.

The webinar recording can be viewed here.

The Council of Europe’s Twelve Principles of Good Democratic Governance represent fundamental values defining a common vision of democratic governance in Europe.

ELoGE - European Label of Governance Excellence is awarded to the municipalities which have demonstrated compliance with the 12 Principles, measured against a Council of Europe benchmark. Currently, ELoGE is being implemented in about 20 of the Council of Europe member States.

In July, in cooperation with the Council of Europe’s Centre of Expertise for Good Governance, the ELoGE award ceremonies were organised in Greece, Italy, and Portugal and the ELoGE workshops for local authorities were held in Malta and Hungary.

An online seminar entitled “Tools for Good Governance of Local Authorities and Public Sector Innovation” was also organised for the Catalan municipalities by the Government of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and DIPLOCAT, with participation of the Centre of Expertise.

The overwhelmingly positive feedback from all participants of these programmes and events attested to the interest in and value of ensuring a sustainable and annual implementation of the ELoGE projects in the Council of Europe member states.

 The documentary on the impact of the Istanbul Convention presented on the occasion of its 10th anniversary is now available in Ukrainian. The documentary analyses the impact of the Convention on the ground.  It provides testimonies by state authorities and civil society presenting concrete examples of measures taken in Albania, France, Italy and Sweden implementing the four pillars of the Convention, demonstrating the practical relevance of the Convention in providing concrete responses to the needs of women victims of different forms of violence.

 The video ‘How will the Istanbul Convention help to stop violence against women in Ukraine?’ outlines the history of Ukraine’s signature of the Istanbul Convention, explains its contents and purposes and describes the positive changes which will take place following Ukraine’s ratification. It has been developed for Ukrainian MPs and civil servants, as well as professionals working in the area of combatting violence against women and domestic violence, civil society organisations, civic activists, experts, the media as well as the public at large. It complements earlier videos, including “Myths and facts about the Istanbul Convention” and “How the system of assistance to victims of domestic violence and violence against women will need to be improved following ratification of the Istanbul Convention”.

 The videos are part of the Council of Europe project “Combating violence against women in Ukraine” (COVAW).

 Two Ukrainian civil society organisations have been awarded grants to raise awareness about the Istanbul Convention. 

 La Strada Ukraine  raise awareness throughout Ukraine and promote further improvement of legislative and policy frameworks to draw Ukraine closer to fulfillment of the standards of the Istanbul Convention, focusing on decision makers and civil servants responsible for provision of services to the victims of violence against women and domestic violence in Ukraine, as well as the general public..

The Public Movement “Faith, Hope, Love” will focus its efforts on raising awareness in the Odessa region on the need to combat violence against women and domestic violence by organising and conducting information campaigns, forums, press conferences, workshops and trainings, targeting notably decision-makers, civil servants, representatives of the self-government bodies in territorial communities, the media and the general population.

 The grants have been awarded through the Council of Europe Project “Combating violence against women in Ukraine” (COVAW).

On 25 June, the Council of Europe, UN Women and WAVE Network brought together communication specialists, journalists and NGO activists to exchange practices on impactful communication on gender equality and human rights.

Participants shared their experience and concrete techniques and ideas on how to effectively raise awareness on countering violence against women and domestic violence. They were aimed to inspire the NGOs that had received Council of Europe grants to run advocacy and communication campaigns on the  Istanbul Convention.

The workshop also featured national seminars for Czech Republic and Poland animated by local professionals to reflect on the specificities of these countries.  

On 26 July 2021, the Council of Europe, in cooperation with the Central Electoral Commission of the Autonomous Territorial Unit Gagauzia, and the Centre for Continuous Electoral Training, launched the development of training materials as well as organising trainings for electoral management bodies (EMBs) in view of  the elections for  the People’s Assembly of Gagauzia scheduled for 19 September 2021.

 These trainings will prepare the members of three district electoral councils and sixty-six precinct electoral bureaus  to fulfil their responsibilities and deal in a professional manner with the organisation and running  of the elections. Hand-outs will be produced to provide members of EMBs with responses so as to  fulfil their responsibilities during the electoral period. About 130,000 voters are expected to cast their ballots in ATU Gagauzia, Republic Moldova, on 19 September 2021.

Support for refugees and migrants in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia

The Council of Europe Development Bank (CEB) and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) signed three grant agreements, for a total value of €900 000, to continue providing essential assistance to migrants and refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina and North Macedonia. The funding will support Covid-19 prevention and response measures, including specific efforts aimed at integrating migrants and refuges in the local vaccination campaigns.

 CEB implements EU-funded project to support Roma inclusion

The CEB launched an EU-funded pilot project to develop new inclusion models for disadvantaged Roma in the Slovak Republic, Romania, and Bulgaria. The pilot project, entitled “Housing and Empowerment of Roma” (HERO), is a €2.8 million initiative that will support access to housing and employment for vulnerable Roma families. The support will include housing microloans and training and mentoring for life and work skills. About 240 families living in the three countries are expected to benefit from the project.

 CEB and Hungary sign a €152 million loan increase to finance ongoing COVID-19 measures

The CEB and Hungary’s Ministry of Finance have signed a €152 million loan agreement to provide medical services to those affected by COVID-19. This additional financing complements a loan approved in 2020 to support the country’s pandemic response. The additional funding from the CEB will cover eligible budgetary health expenditures and essential measures, including medical supplies needed in the continuous fight against the pandemic.

On 29 June, the Council of Europe and the Hungarian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers organised the high-level conference “Council of Europe norms and standards on national minority rights: Results and challenges”. Secretary General Marija Pejčinović Burić spoke about the reforms carried out since 2018 to streamline the work of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (FCNM) and the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML). She also underlined that the Council of Europe’s action on national minorities is particularly necessary with new problems arising, such as COVID-19. Snežana Samardžić-Marković, Director General of Democracy, moderated a panel on the Council of Europe’s instruments on the protection of national minorities and their monitoring procedures, to which Marie B. Hagsgård, Chair of the Advisory Committee on the FCNM, and Vesna Crnić-Grotić, Chair of the Committee of Experts of the ECRML, took part. They highlighted the problems faced by national minorities, which were exacerbated during the pandemic, such as the increase in hate speech, difficulties in accessing health or education or the need to strengthen communication in regional or minority languages, while mentioning positive examples and the possibilities offered by digitalisation.

On 16-20 August, the CoE participated in the Human Rights Conference of WorldPride Copenhagen–Malmö and EuroGames 2021, the most important event to promote Pride – LGBTI visibility, awareness and equality at international level. The Conference was open to human rights defenders and activists, elected officials, academics, NGOs, media, Pride organisers and sports leaders in the field of LGBTI+ rights. The Deputy Secretary General Björn Berge participated in the panel ‘Closing Conversation: The role of Europe for LGBTI+ Inclusion at Home and Abroad’ on 17 August, and Dunja Mijatović, the Commissioner for Human Rights spoke at the 'Plenary - A Way Forward for the LGBTI+ Community' on 19 August. Eleni Tsetsekou, Head of Unit, participated in the panel ‘EU LGBTIQ Equality Strategy: Empowering civil society in challenging times’ where she showcased the work of the Council of Europe and discussed future CoE-EU cooperation with Michael O'Flaherty, Director of FRA and Salla Saastamoinen, Director-General of DG Justice European Commission, focusing on LGBTI Action Plans, Hate speech initiatives and work with civil society. She also held various meetings on the CoE’s cooperation activities, including one with Victor Madrigal-Borloz, United Nations Independent Expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation & gender identity; PACE members of Parliament, including Fourat Ben Chikha, General Rapporteur on the rights of LGBTI people; Members of the European Governmental LGBTI Focal Points Network. The SOGI Unit was an executive partner in this Pride event and supported the participation of European NGOs especially from Balkan region in an event that pursues and promotes the right to assembly, freedom of expression and prohibition of discrimination, rights that are protected by the Council of Europe’s European Convention on Human Rights – and to support and show solidarity with those who face challenges to organise safe Pride events in their cities.

On the occasion of 2 August – European Roma Holocaust Memorial Day – the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, the Hungarian Ambassador on behalf of the Hungarian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers, and the Roma Rapporteur of the CoE’s Joint Council on Youth and Board Member of Phiren Amenca International Network, on behalf of Roma civil society, issued written statements in commemoration of the victims of the Roma Holocaust and to honour its survivors. Emphasis was put on the need to counter increasing history distortion and Holocaust denial through teaching the history of the Roma people in a balanced way, enforcing Holocaust remembrance, and stepping up vigilance against increasing racism and incidents of hate speech and hate crimes. 

On 29 June the ICC programme released the Facts and Figures page, a new tool that provides a quick visual overview of the composition of the ICC member cities. This new intuitive page, with its easy to interpret charts, is addressed to policymakers, city officials and anyone wishing to know how the intercultural integration policy model is being implemented across the network at a glance.

On the same day, the programme also launched a new awareness video about diversity, identity and equality, to engage citizens to reflect on the meaning of diversity and the importance of dignified identities for more inclusive societies.

On 1st July the ICC programme published two more guides on intercultural communication: a Policy brief on “Migration and Integration: Which alternative narratives work and why? And a toolkit on “Claiming the power of dialogue: toolkit for antirumours dialogue”. Both resources are part of the ICC Academy on Alternative Narratives and Intercultural Communication training material.

On 12 July the Spanish Network of Intercultural Cities (RECI) held its second coordination meeting with the view to debrief about the recent events organised by the network, the follow up to be given to the working group on welcoming migrants and refugees, and the organisation of the celebratory event on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the RECI.

With an online format, the 6th Anti-rumours youth gathering took place on 15-18 July. The event brought together young people to think, create, and build bridges by making their differences a strength. Usually targeting youth from Spain, this year’s programme was opened for the first time to young people coming from a number of ICC international member cities involved in Antirumours Strategies implementation.

 On 23 July the ICC programme released the Policy brief on Circular and intercultural cities: including migrants and diversity in circular and green economic models. While there is extensive guidance, scientific knowledge, legally binding instruments, and relatively big funding for a more sustainable development of our societies, there are still important gaps in dealing with the green transition in a way that is truly inclusive and offers solutions to social challenges – and vice versa. The ICC Policy brief on “Circular and Intercultural Cities” is a resource that cities can use to learn how best to integrate the agendas of interculturalism and green development through the lens of the circular economy concept. The publication is part of a wider project on Sustainable Intercultural Cities.

ECRI

ECRI held its 86th plenary meeting from 29 June to 2 July 2021. At this meeting, ECRI adopted its draft revised General Policy Recommendation No. 9 on preventing and combating antisemitism, which is to be published on 14 September 2021. In addition, ECRI also examined its preliminary draft revised General Policy Recommendation No. 5 on preventing and combating anti-Muslim racism and discrimination.

ECRI also adopted interim follow-up conclusions on Latvia and the Russian Federation, which are planned to be published on 16 September.

During the plenary, ECRI also held consultations with the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), ECRI’s sister body at universal level. Moreover, the newly appointed EU Commission’s Anti-Racism Coordinator and the General Rapporteur of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on combating racism and intolerance made statements on issues of common interest.

In parallel, the Chair of ECRI held an annual exchange of views with the Ministers’ Deputies. 

ECRI is now preparing reports on Denmark, Estonia and Monaco following in situ visits to these countries from May to July 2021. It now organises visits to Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Georgia and Greece by the end of 2021.

ECRML

On 30 June, the Committee of Experts of the ECRML held its 69th plenary meeting and adopted its evaluation of the Implementation of the Recommendations for Immediate Action contained in the Committee of Experts’ fifth evaluation report on Slovenia.

On 7 July, the Committee of Ministers adopted two resolutions on the implementation of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities by Liechtenstein and the Republic of Moldova.

During the summer, the Committee of Experts of the ECRML and the Advisory Committee on the FCNM carried out several country visits. The Advisory Committee visited Estonia (coordinated visit with ECRI) and Germany, while the Committee of Experts of the ECRML visited Ukraine and Cyprus. In addition, both committees carried out a coordinated visit to Norway. The two committees are now preparing their respective evaluation reports and opinions.

CDENF

The Committee of experts on the rights and the best interests of the child in parental separation and in care proceedings (CJ/ENF-ISE) published the two feasibility studies on the protection of the best interests of the child in domestic law proceedings by public authorities to limit parental responsibilities or place a child in care, and in parental separation proceedings. These studies, as  approved by the Bureaux of the Steering Committee for the Rights of the Child (CDENF) and of the European Committee on Legal Co-operation (CDCJ), will inform the CJ/ENF-ISE further work on the elaboration of (a) non-binding legal instrument(s) in accordance with decisions of the Committee of Ministers.

Sport Conventions

 The Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games have provided an excellent opportunity to raise awareness on the Council of Europe Sport Conventions, of high relevance to such competitions, be it in the fight against doping and the manipulation of sport competitions, or by promoting an integrated approach to the safety, security and service of sport events. Under the aegis of the Macolin Convention, close coordination of various stakeholders in the field of the fight against the manipulation of sport competitions, together with the International Olympic Committee, allowed these key stakeholders to work together throughout the summer and from various regions of the world, share information and monitor the betting market activity relating to the multiple Olympic disciplines. 

 On 3 August, Austria ratified the Council of Europe Convention on an Integrated Safety, Security and Service Approach at Football Matches and Other Sports Events (CETS No. 218), also known as the Saint-Denis Convention. The Convention has now 21 States Parties.

On 28 June 2021, an online conference took stock of the achievements of the European Union/Council of Europe Joint Project “Inclusive Schools: Making a Difference for Roma Children (INSCHOOL)” and identified possibly ways forward. The event brought together project partners and stakeholders from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania and the Slovak Republic, including policy makers, educational practitioners as well as the Council of Europe and European Union representatives and experts. Representatives of national authorities of the Czech Republic, Romania and the Slovak Republic presented structural reforms undertaken to ensure equality, respect for diversity and inclusive approaches in their respective educational systems, while school principals from the three countries discussed the practical steps taken by their schools to implement the methodologies presented by the INSCHOOL project. One of the main achievements of the joint project is the creation of strong networks of support from state authorities vis-à-vis schools implementing inclusive education concepts.

More information on the Conference, including the presentations, can be found here

On 26 August, the 2021 edition of the Roma Political School was launched in Ukraine. Between August and October, participants will undergo 5 training modules. The first session, which took place on 26-27 August 2021, focused on political participation and Roma, gender equality and Roma women participation, the role and importance of the local councils and the impact of the decentralisation reforms. The purpose of the Roma Political Schools, which will also be implemented this year in Albania, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, is to foster the participation of Roma in public and political life, including standing for election at local, regional, national and European levels

As part of the IPACS partnership, the Task Force 3 drafting group met on 8 July 2021, online, to finalise the drafting of the guidelines for the implementation of the Benchmark for the governance of sport, approved by the Enlarged Partial Agreement for Sport in 2020. The next steps in the Task Force's activities are to develop a strategy for the use of the benchmark and accompanying guidelines with a particular focus on how they can be used by sports organisations and public authorities, offering advice and support on how to include the benchmark in their own monitoring process.

Task Force 3 includes representatives from the IPACS Steering Committee, international sports organisations and government bodies, as well as independent experts who provide expertise in the fields of corporate governance, public governance, governance in sport, anti-corruption, compliance and monitoring.

With an exceptional selection of 18 films supported by Eurimages, including 8 in the official competition, the 74th edition of Cannes Film Festival wrapped up on Saturday evening with Julia Ducournau’s TITANE, a co-production between France and Belgium and supported by the Fund, receiving the Palme d’Or award.

The Jury chaired by Spike Lee also chose to reward other films supported by Eurimages by awarding

the Grand Prix to COMPARTMENT NO.6 by Juho Kuosmanen, an outstanding co-production between Finland, Germany, Estonia and the Russian Federation,

the Best Director award to Leos Carax for ANNETTE (FR, BE, DE, MX, JP) and

the Best Performance by an Actress award to Renate Reinsve in Joachim Trier’s THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD, a co-production between Norway, France, Sweden and Denmark.

in the Un Certain Regard section which included 6 films supported by Eurimages, two received awards: LA CIVIL (BE, RO) by Teodora Ana Mihai obtained the Courage Prize and LAMB (IS, SE, PL) by Valdimar Jóhannsson was awarded the Prize of Originality. Finally, the Eurimages-supported co-production A CHIARA (IT, FR) by Jonas Carpignano, selected at the Directors’ Fortnight was awarded the Best European Film by the Europa Cinemas Label.

Eurimages is proud of this exceptional selection which has been rewarded with so many prestigious prizes, including this 10th Palme d'Or awarded to a woman for the direction of her second and particularly daring feature film.

This recognition by the jury of one of the most important international film festivals in the world of the quality of the cinema supported by the Fund confirms once again the value of the Eurimages label. Since it was set up in 1988, EURIMAGES has supported 2 236 co-productions for a total amount of approximately 640 million euros.

This year, the European Heritage Days are celebrating their 36th anniversary under the shared theme of Inclusive and Diverse Heritage to encourage broad participation in culture, to foster and celebrate diversity and to emphasise that interaction with individuals and communities with different cultural backgrounds can enrich our lives. Particular attention is paid to making events more accessible, both in terms of removing physical barriers and of offering a platform to different groups, including vulnerable and marginalised people who often have less opportunity to share their stories.

 The Heritage: All Inclusive brochure has been prepared and widely shared. It serves as an introduction to the theme and offers event organisers practical tips and ideas for delivering accessible EHD events. Also a special Inclusive Events Toolkit for developing, organising and evaluating inclusive EHD events, draws on the experience and input of the EHD National Coordinators across the continent, as well as a range of partners and participants, on how to engage with new audiences and dismantle barriers to participation by ensuring event spaces are welcoming and accessible.

 The annual two-month EHD festival began in Ireland on 14 August and will take place all over Europe, ending in late October. To accompany this year’s events, the European Heritage Days website has recently been re-designed and important changes have been made to provide a better user experience. The new functionalities should enable the EHD National Coordinators and local event organisers to upload their events directly to an interactive map and for the visitors to have a clear overview of what is happening in their local area as well as beyond national borders. The website also contains news, stories, publications and country profiles.

 The European Heritage Days chronicles, a documentary film that introduces the diverse experiences of the EHD events from the organisers and visitors in three countries (UK-England, Georgia, Slovenia) has also been made public and widely shared on the EHD digital platforms. The stars of the film talk about their vision of the EHD, the value of our shared cultural heritage and the inspiration for participating in the events. The animation video explains how to participate in the EHDs celebrations and this year it has been adapted to multiple languages.

On 19 August, at the awards ceremony which closed the Sarajevo Film Festival, the project FORGET THE OCEAN, WHY NOT TRY SURFING THESE INSANE RIVER WAVES by Marko Grba Singh, to be produced by the Serbian company Non-Aligned Films, won the €20,000 Eurimages Co-production Development Award presented at the CineLink Co-Production Market.

Eurimages also continued the implementation of its governance reform during the summer. A new IT tool was developed to allow the launch an open call for applications for external film experts. As of January 2022, independent experts will assess co-production applications and make recommendations for support, based on selection criteria and guidelines defined by the Fund’s Board of Management. Experts will also be called upon to assist decision-making in other programmes of the Fund.

The North-South Centre is promoting an online training course from the 23 August to 31 October 2021, within the framework of the project “Global Youth”, to increase competences of facilitators willing to improve the quality  of the dialogue between youth-related civil society organisations and institutional representatives, in order to increase awareness about each other's roles for the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The online course intends to develop the skills of professionals facilitating virtual moments of dialogue, consultation and sharing among different youth stakeholders (policy makers, researchers, youth representatives, international organisations) ensuring a high level of engagement among all the actors. 

With the EDQM laboratory’s ISO 17025:2017 accreditation (General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories) due to expire at the end of April this year, an audit by the accreditation body BELAC had to be set up at the end of 2020 with a view to its renewal. However, due to the ongoing health crisis, an on-site audit was not possible and BELAC therefore prolonged the certificate administratively from April 2021 to October 2021, postponing the date of the audit itself. The audit was eventually carried out in two stages.

Firstly, a remote audit was carried out in February 2021 by two technical auditors who had already done an on-site inspection of the laboratory. Although this involved more preparatory work for them, the two auditors reported that the actual audit went smoothly, due to the ready availability both of the documents requested in electronic format and of the staff members audited in virtual meeting rooms. This remote audit used the lessons learned from a similar – but internal – audit of the laboratory carried out in test mode in November 2020.

This was followed in July by an on-site audit conducted by two new auditors, both of whom were impressed by the laboratory’s state-of-the-art equipment and facilities. The interviews on technical and quality system aspects were conducted in hybrid mode with the number of staff members audited in person kept to the very minimum (with strict compliance with the current health protection measures) and the documents made available electronically. Carried out during the summer period, this audit had to work around the absence of many staff members and required a lot of organisation.

Corrective actions were proposed for the minor non-compliances detected and immediately accepted by the BELAC auditors.

These different exchanges gave rise to extremely interesting and fruitful discussions. They are true opportunities and support the continuous improvement of our quality management system and working methods, which in turn guarantees the validity of the results generated by the laboratory.

After the successful transition from the 2005 to the 2017 version of ISO 17025 in 2020, the EDQM laboratory is now awaiting the decision concerning renewal of its ISO 17025 certification by the BELAC accreditations board which meets in October 2021.

And of course, we’ll let you know as soon as we hear back from them!

Following the successful completion of the BSP090 study on recombinant major allergens, in collaboration with project leaders from the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut (Germany), an article on one of the major study outcomes “Validation of a candidate European Pharmacopoeia standard method for quantification of major grass pollen allergen Phl p 5” has recently been published in the scientific journal Allergy.

Allergic diseases constitute a significant cause of morbidity worldwide and a considerable burden on the health and medical systems of both developed and emerging economies. Allergies and related diseases including asthma, rhinosinusitis, atopic dermatitis and life threatening food, drug, and stinging insect allergies affect at least 30% of the population and nearly 80% of families. According to recent studies, their prevalence is increasing globally. Most frequent allergens include pollen (trees, grasses, weeds), dust mites, food components (e.g. peanuts), insect venoms and pet hair or dander.

The BSP090 study successfully achieved the establishment of reference standards for the quantification of Bet v 1, the major allergen in the pollen from birch (Betula verrucosa), and Phl p 5, a primary allergen in the pollen of meadow timothy grass (Phleum pratense). Validation of standardised enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods for the two allergens was also part of the scope of the project. The inclusion of the ELISA for Bet v 1 in the European Pharmacopoeia has undergone public consultation in Pharmeuropa (31.4) and the text will shortly be proposed to the European Pharmacopoeia Commission for adoption.

The last phase of the BSP090 study was aimed at the validation of an ELISA method for Phl p 5a, and this was successfully completed in 2020. The method has been submitted for consideration for inclusion in the European Pharmacopoeia. A further article on the study outcome including more details on the method is expected to be published in Pharmeuropa Bio & Scientific Notes in the autumn.

The EDQM regularly receives requests for internships from students and universities. Due to the sanitary situation and the need to reduce on site presence, the EDQM’s laboratory department looked into alternative ways to be able to accommodate such requests. For the first time, a 4-week virtual internship took place in July. The objective was to create a tutorial on how to perform a microbiological assay of antibiotics. The outcome is a powerpoint with video clips embedded. It turns out to be extremely telling and dense of knowledge, and much more useful than a document or a written procedure, especially for newcomers. Based on the successful outcome of this pilot, this initiative is likely to continue in the future, to have tutorials for other techniques. On the longer term and as a by-product of this initiative, the EDQM’s laboratory department will reflect on the possibility of progressively replacing written documents with modern tools more suitable to capture/share knowledge.