31/01/2017 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 31 January, the European Commission published a list of the last 17 projects that will receive around €2 million each as part of the Fast Track to Innovation (FTI) instrument launched in 2015 as a pilot project in the European research and innovation framework programme, Horizon 2020. The selected projects involve 80 partners from 19 countries, 55% of which are SMEs. The main aim of this instrument is to help bring innovative ideas more quickly to the market. The range of projects includes self-clean coating for solar panels, an application for reducing beehive mortality through sensors and environmentally friendly rubber pathways. This is the final phase of the pilot project, which could return in another guise, as part of a possible European Innovation Council for the 2018-20 period. The list of projects is available at: https://goo.gl/ydzPTq (JK)