"One of the priorities of the Flemish government during the Belgian EU presidency will be the implementation of the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) plan. Launched by the European Commission, the plan is the EU's response to the challenge of accelerating the development of low carbon technologies, leading to their widespread market take-up. In this regard it will be one of the pillars to reach the climate and energy targets for 2020.The EWI department in collaboration with the European Commission will organise the SET plan conference in which an overview will be given of the current state of play of the SET plan. The conference will host the launch of two European Industrial Initiatives (EIIs) for Bioenergy and Nuclear energy. These Industrial Initiatives are industry driven and aim to strengthen industrial energy research and innovation by mobilising the necessary critical mass of activities and actors. The conference will also provide the platform to launch additional Joint Programmes for the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA).In addition the conference will initiate the reflection on the international dimension of the SET-Plan since Europe needs to build on a comprehensive but realistic 'European' international cooperation strategy for energy technologies. With this international cooperation, EWI and the European Commission are aiming at a global approach regarding renewable energy technology to develop a pathway to a low carbon economy."