Building an impactful European Research Area

In this policy input, EUA underlines that the European Commission’s proposal to put forward an Act to address the fragmentation of the European Research Area is a positive development that could strategically strengthen the European R&I landscape. However, it should avoid implementing overly restrictive measures that would risk placing additional burden on researchers and lead to limited autonomy for institutions.

To avoid unintended consequences, careful impact assessment will be essential for the ERA Act to be fit for universities and researchers. The Act should also seek complementarity with other EU initiatives such as the Innovation Act, European Education Area and European Higher Education Area.

This policy input presents EUA’s considerations and specific recommendations on the ERA Act for each area of intervention identified by the Commission, including:

• Underinvestment in R&I,
• Alignment of R&I policies and priorities across member states,
• Freedom of scientific research,
• Gender equality,
• Research careers and mobility,
• The free circulation of scientific knowledge,
• Knowledge valorisation,
• AI in research, and
• International cooperation and research security.

Following EUA’s response to the European Commission’s call for evidence on the ERA Act, this input builds on several consultation processes with EUA’s members.

Building an impactful European Research Area

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