REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Third Report on the Application of Council Regulation (EC) No 723/2009 of 25 June 2009 on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)
Date: 2023-08-14
Institutions: Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission
Subjects: EU office or agency, application of EU law, associated country, consortium, innovation, operation of the Institutions, research body, research infrastructure, research programme, scientific cooperation

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 14.8.2023  COM(2023) 488 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT Third Report on the Application of Council Regulation (EC) No 723/2009 of 25 June 2009 on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC)  
 
 
REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT 

Third Report on the Application of Council Regulation (EC) No 723/2009 of 25 June 2009 
on the Community legal framework for a European Research Infrastructure Consortium 
(ERIC) 

In its conclusions of 26 November 2021, the Council underlined the integrating and structuring 
role  of  research  infrastructures  (RIs)  in  the  European  knowledge  and  innovation  ecosystem, 
endorsed  the  latest  ESFRI  Roadmap,  welcomed  the  assessment  of  the  European  Research 
Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC) legal framework and reiterated its invitation to the Commission 
to  submit  the  next  ERIC  implementation  report.  The  2  December  2022  Council  conclusions 
reaffirmed  the  relevance  of  the  ERIC  Framework  to  allow  for  the  setting  up  of  RI  operating 
entities, acknowledged the progress made with the ERICs established since its entry into force, 
and invited the Commission to propose an initiative on the possible evolution of the Framework. 

This third report on the implementation of the ERIC Regulation provides an overview of the state 
of play of the ERICs, identifies key opportunities for the ERICs to provide social and economic 
benefits to Europe and its citizens and discusses remaining challenges and potential solutions for 
an effective financing and operation of the ERICs. 

The ERIC Regulation addresses one of the major difficulties for establishing new European RIs, 
i.e. the lack of an adequate legal framework agreed by all Member States allowing the creation of 
a partnership with members from different countries. It simplifies the procedure for setting up an 
international legal entity with the scope of establishing and operating a RI, minimising negotiations 
among  governments  and  prioritising  investments  to  respond  to  key  challenges.  It  allows  for  a 
flexible internal governance structure and for the members to define, in the Statutes, their rights 
and obligations, the bodies and their competences and other internal arrangements as required by 
the specific type and scope of each RI.  

Since the last ERIC report in 2018, the number of ERICs has been accelerating with 26 established 
to date and at least another seven ERIC applications in the pipeline, some of  them already at a 
mature  phase.  When  considering  the  ERICs  with  an  existence  of  five  years  or  more,  their 
cumulative  membership  has  increased  by  70%  when  compared  to  the  number  of  founding 
members,  confirming  the  attractiveness  of  the  ERIC  legal  framework  to  research  facilities  and 
Member States. On average, each ERIC includes 14 members, representing half of the EU Member 
States, while some cover already most of the Union. The total investments in the ERICs to date is 
estimated  at  around  EUR  9  billion.  The  success  of  the  ERICs  has  led  to  the  formulation  of 
comparable frameworks such as the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) and the 
European Chips Infrastructure Consortium (ECIC).   

Within the European landscape of RIs, the ERICs are playing an increasingly important role in 
supporting ground-breaking research and innovation, addressing societal challenges, and helping 
Europe  collaborate  and  compete  globally.  Their  further  development  should  enable  linking  the 

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broader RI network and increasing the accessibility of their services in line with the priorities of 
the new ERA. For this to be achieved a number of issues should be further optimised. 

The further development of RIs including ERICs should continue to align with the EU’s wider 
policy  objectives.  The  long-term  funding  frameworks  of  ERICs  need  to  build  on  effective 
synergies among all possible funding sources at EU, national and regional level.  Further effort is 
needed to strengthen the access programmes of the ERICs and the availability of their services. 
Country members of ERICs should address the lack of career perspectives of ERICs staff through 
harmonisation of employment conditions. A better definition of the ERIC activities would help 
applying  the  VAT  exemption  and  facilitate  transnational  investments.  Further  guidance  on 
economic activities of ERICs and on state aid rules should be provided to enhance the broader 
impact of ERICs and therefore their sustainability. 

ERICs have the potential to become the legal instrument of choice for further developing globally 
integrated RI activities, provided that the participation of third countries in the ERICs is properly 
facilitated, to overcome the current legal and operational obstacles. This would allow a better use 
of  RIs  across  continents,  enabling  the  sharing  of  capacities,  knowledge  resources  and  services 
among international partners.  

The  further  evolution  of  the  ERIC  Framework  should  address  these  areas  requiring  further 
optimisation or harmonisation. 

1.  INTRODUCTION 

Europe’s scientific excellence is supported by globally competitive research infrastructures (RIs) 
developed and maintained by the EU Member States and the Union. With this support, RIs have 
become a backbone of the European Research Area (ERA) and have contributed to the way science 
is  nowadays  performed  in  Europe,  with  an  emphasis  on  collaboration,  inclusiveness  and  open 
access.  Like  public  infrastructures  such  as  transportation  systems,  RIs  tend  to  be  very  capital 
intensive and, at the same time, vital to the economic development and prosperity of regions.  

RIs  development  in  Europe  profits  from  a  well-established  EU  policy  framework  relying  on 
strategic  priority  setting  ensured  by  the  European  Strategy  Forum  on  Research  Infrastructures 
(ESFRI)1  and  a  common  legal  framework  for  a  European  Research  Infrastructure  Consortium 
(ERIC), underpinned by dedicated funding under the EU R&I Framework Programme. 

The ERIC Regulation2 was adopted in 2009 to facilitate the establishment and the operation of 
large European Research Infrastructures among EU Member States and associated countries.  It 
has  been  a  highly  successful  mechanism  to  initiate  and  integrate  many  RIs  at  European  level, 
aligning  national  investments  and  research  priorities,  pooling  resources  and  expertise.  The  26 
already  established  ERICs  represent  a  capital  investment  estimated  at  around  EUR  9  billion. 
Among the 41 RIs already implemented through the ESFRI Roadmap, the ‘ESFRI Landmarks’, 
60% have been set up as an ERIC. The membership of most ERICs grew substantially in the years 

1 www.esfri.eu  
2 OJ L 206, 8.8.2009, p. 1. See also Annex 1. 

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following their establishment. Currently the ERICs have on average 14 members, which means 
they include half of the EU countries. Their attractiveness as an effective vehicle for international 
scientific  collaboration  is  also  growing  among  the  associated  countries,  some  of  which  have 
already  transposed  the  ERIC  Regulation  into  national  law  (e.g.  Norway),  and  among  Europe’s 
international partners. 

This third report on the implementation of the ERIC Regulation reflects the increasing strategic 
importance  of  the  ERICs  in  the  European  landscape  of  research  infrastructures  and  takes  into 
account the recent EU priorities. The report provides an overview of the state of play of the ERICs, 
identifies key opportunities for the ERICs to advance the frontier of science and to provide social 
and  economic  benefits  to  Europe  and  its  citizens.  It  also  discusses  remaining  challenges  and 
potential solutions for an effective financing and operation of the ERICs. Important input to the 
report  was  provided  by  the  Commission  expert  group3  that  prepared  an  assessment  of  the 
implementation of the Regulation based also on contributions from a broad range of stakeholders, 
including ESFRI and the ERIC Forum4. Finally, the report seizes an opportunity to engage with 
EU  Member  States  on  how  to  further  capitalise  on  the  ERIC  Regulation  and  strengthen  its 
European added value, and on potential needs for optimising or harmonising some areas of the 
framework. 

2.  ENABLING THE POOLING OF ADVANCED RESEARCH RESOURCES AND EXPERTISE 

European  research  infrastructures  are  a  key  pillar  of  the  ERA  and  one  of  its  most  successful 
achievements to date.  

Over  the  last  20  years,  within  the  framework  of  ESFRI  and  its  roadmap  process,  national 
governments have worked in close partnership with the European Commission and the scientific 
community  to  catalyse  the  development  of  pan-European  research  infrastructures  and  to  foster 
collaboration and networking among them.  

ESFRI has enabled a strategic response to how a European research infrastructure ecosystem can 
most effectively support scientific progress and innovation across the Union, including helping to 
achieve  Europe’s  wider  policy  goals  and  the  UN  sustainable  development  goals.  In  December 
2021  ESFRI  published  the  sixth  edition  of  its  Roadmap5,  which  has  become  one  of  the  most 
poignant deliverables of the ERA with its 41 implemented research infrastructures and 22 ongoing 
projects, mobilising over EUR 24 billion worth of investments.  

These  joint  investments  have  also  been  instrumental  in  reaffirming  the  Union-level  target  of 
investing 3% of the Union GDP in R&D: they promote national investments where EU priorities 
meet national and regional strategies. 

The  developments  have  deeply  transformed  the  availability  of  state-of-the-art  facilities  for 
scientists and innovators, reinforcing Europe’s strong research performance, by pooling research 
resources  and  expertise  and  providing  researchers  with  access  to  the  specialised  equipment, 
technologies and resources they need to facilitate scientific discovery, improve research outcomes, 
and drive innovation.  

3 EC expert group report: Assessment on the implementation of the ERIC Regulation  
4 https://www.eric-forum.eu/ 
5 ESFRI Roadmap 2021 

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Responding  to  new  emphases  on  environmental,  social  and  economic  goals,  the  new  ERA 
envisions  stronger  contributions  of  research  and  innovation  activities  to  Europe’s  wider  policy 
objectives behind the Green Deal, the digital transformation, a competitive and strong economic 
base,  and  a  significant  contribution  to  tackle  global  challenges.  Priorities  in  the  European  RIs 
landscape have evolved along these objectives and, in addition, are seeking to further support the 
efforts towards EU sovereignty in critical and emerging technologies, including those relevant to 
the fair6 green and digital transition. 

To reinforce developments along Europe’s wider policy objectives requires new, strategic joint 
efforts  by  the  research  infrastructures  themselves,  among  which  an  effective  operation  and 
leadership of ERICs has an essential role to play.  

The further development of research infrastructures, including ERICs, should continue to align 
with the EU’s wider policy objectives, including addressing the fair twin transitions, contributing 
to the 3% target for R&D investments, and supporting EU competitiveness.  

2.1.  Research infrastructure policy context 

The development of Europe’s research infrastructures over the past few years has been shaped by 
a number of strategic documents. 

The ESFRI White Paper ‘Making Science Happen’7, published in 2020 as a contribution to the 
development  of  the  new  ERA,  proposed  a  vision  for  a  consolidated  European  ecosystem  of 
research  infrastructures  underpinning  the  ERA,  offering  cross-disciplinary,  integrated  and 
harmonised services enabling their users both to pursue the greatest of scientific challenges and 
generate  new  knowledge,  as  well  as  to  maximise  their  impact  on  the  most  pressing  of  global 
societal challenges and the everyday life of European citizens.  

Implementing  such  a  robust  ecosystem  requires  maintaining  an  absolute  edge  globally  in  the 
capabilities of RIs in Europe, accelerating their development and exploitation as knowledge and 
innovation  hubs,  strengthening  their role in  education and training, as  well as better  exploiting 
their data science and data engineering expertise and increasing data sharing and use. The ESFRI 
Roadmap 20218 elaborated further on how this can be achieved. 

The ‘Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe’9 underlined that RIs are the backbone of a well-
functioning research and innovation system and recognised that the current landscape of RIs in 
Europe  is  one  of  major  achievements  of  the  ERA,  stressing  the  need  to  further  support  its 
development and broader impact in line with the ESFRI White Paper. In particular, a priority action 
under  the  current  ERA  Policy  Agenda10  aims  to  strengthen  the  sustainability,  accessibility  and 
resilience of RIs in the ERA as an important element of further deepening the internal market for 
knowledge in the EU. 

Advancing the European RI ecosystem has also been high on the agenda of consecutive Council 
Presidencies.  In particular, the December 2022 Competitiveness  Council issued conclusions on 

6 See Council Recommendation 9107/22 on “Ensuring a fair transition towards climate neutrality”, 7 June 2022 
7 ESFRI White Paper | www.esfri.eu 
8 ESFRI Roadmap 2021 
9 European research area (europa.eu) 
10 See ERA Policy Agenda, ibidem. 

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Research Infrastructures11, addressing the different dimensions of the ecosystem and its role for 
European research and innovation, economic and social development, as well as addressing the 
Union’s political priorities. 

2.2.  The state of implementation of the ERIC Regulation – key achievements 

The ERIC Regulation addresses one of the major difficulties that was identified for establishing 
new  European  RIs,  i.e.  the  lack  of  an  adequate  legal  framework  agreed  by  all  Member  States 
allowing  the  creation  of  a  partnership  with  members  from  different  countries.  It  simplifies  the 
procedure for setting up an international legal entity with the scope of establishing and operating 
a RI, minimising negotiations  among  governments.  It  allows for a flexible internal  governance 
structure and for the members to define, in the statutes, their rights and obligations, the bodies and 
their competences and other internal arrangements as required by the specific type and scope of 
each RI.  

26 ERICs have already been set up12 and several more are under preparation, covering a broad 
range  of  scientific  fields  and  operating  different  types  of  RIs,  single-sited,  multi-sited  and 
distributed.  

The majority of the ERICs that have been established until  now operate distributed  RIs  and in 
several  cases  allow  for  multiple  technique,  multimodal  and  multidisciplinary  approaches, 
confirming  the  appropriateness  of  the  ERIC  legal  structure  to  implement  a  wide  range  of 
collaborative  frameworks.  This  approach  has  been  recognised  as  successful  and  comparable 
frameworks are now being considered by the Commission and the Council in other fields such as 
for digital infrastructures13, semiconductors14 and European defence15. 

The list of established ERICs is provided in Annex II. All EU Member States are members of at 
least one ERIC and ten of them host the statutory seat of an ERIC. Nine associated countries16 are 
members of an ERIC and, in the case of Norway and UK, also host the statutory seat of an ERIC. 
Two  intergovernmental  organisations  are  members  of  an  ERIC.  It  is  worth  noting  that  the 
membership of the ERICs is increasing with time. Overall, the cumulative membership (including 
observers) to all existing ERICs amounts to 357 members and observers of which only 232 are 
founding ones. This represents an overall increase of 54% compared to the founding ones. When 
considering  the  ERICs  with  an  existence  of  five  years  or  more,  this  increase  amounts  to  70%, 
confirming the attractiveness of the ERIC legal framework.  

11 Competitiveness Council conclusions on Research Infrastructures, 2 December 2022 
12 Status as of April 2023 
13  European  Digital  Infrastructure  Consortium  (EDIC)  in  Proposal  for  a  DECISION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL establishing the  2030 Policy Programme “Path to the Digital Decade” 
COM/2021/574  
14  European  Chips  Infrastructure  Consortium  (‘ECIC’)  in  Proposal  for  a  REGULATION  OF  THE  EUROPEAN 
PARLIAMENT  AND  OF  THE  COUNCIL  establishing  a  framework  of  measures  for  strengthening  Europe's 
semiconductor ecosystem (Chips Act) COM/2022/46  
15 COMMUNICATION FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL, THE 
EUROPEAN  ECONOMIC  AND  SOCIAL  COMMITTEE  AND  THE  COMMITTEE  OF  THE  REGIONS 
Commission contribution to European defence COM(2022) 60  
16 Article 2 of the ERIC Regulation: ‘associated country’ means a third country which is party to an international 
agreement with the Community, under the terms or on the basis of which it makes a financial contribution to all or 
part of the Community research, technological development and demonstration programmes. 

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The  distributed  ERICs  involve  nodes  and  hubs  operating  within  hundreds  of  universities  and 
national  (and  some  international)  research  institutions.  These  are  long  term  institutional 
partnerships  which  are  set  to  operate  for  decades  to  come,  well  beyond  the  limited  time 
perspectives of the ongoing R&I Framework Programme or national programmes and initiatives. 

3.  CONTRIBUTION OF ERICS TO ADDRESSING EU PRIORITIES AND GLOBAL CHALLENGES 

RIs is a priority area for joint action in the Union under the Pact for R&I in  Europe, aiming to 
improve open access to RIs, better exploit and connect RIs, integrate them in the ERA, and exploit 
their potential in providing solutions to the global challenges committed to under the UN Agenda 
for Sustainable Development and the Paris Agreement.  

In order to reach these objectives, RIs are needed to provide the foundations for ground-breaking 
research and innovation addressing global challenges like climate change and global health issues, 
and helping Europe collaborate and compete globally, including by exploiting the digital transition 
and technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).  

Within the European landscape of RIs, the ERICs are playing an increasingly important role in 
supporting R&I to better respond to these challenges. Their further development should enable to 
link more extensively the broader research infrastructure network and the new ERA. 

3.1.  Green transition 

An increasing number of ERICs support R&I for the fair green transition, the mitigation of climate 
change  and  biodiversity  loss.  ECCSEL  ERIC  contributes  to  cost  effective  solutions  for  carbon 
capture utilisation and storage (CCUS), and hence to the lower carbon energy and industry sector. 
CERIC-ERIC is developing services in the field of energy storage and collaborates with the Clean 
Hydrogen Partnership. The construction of the European Spallation Source ERIC contributes to 
new and better materials for energy solutions as well as technologies reducing the carbon footprint 
of  RIs.  ESS  ERIC  provides  robust  data  on  behavioural  patterns  relevant  to  addressing  climate 
change. ICOS ERIC data on carbon cycle and greenhouse gas budget supports policy on climate 
change and carbon-neutral Europe and is developing new concepts to observe cities’ greenhouse 
gas emissions. Euro-Argo ERIC contributes to climate change applications e.g. under Copernicus, 
and  to  ocean  health  monitoring.  LifeWatch  ERIC  provides  e-Science  research  facilities  to 
understand biodiversity and ecosystems functions and services. EMBRC-ERIC enables access to 
marine biodiversity across Europe. AnaEE-ERIC supports adaptation and mitigation strategies for 
the future of plants, soils, water and biodiversity. Some of these ERICs are also key players on the 
global scene, e.g. ICOS ERIC is a key contributor to the Global Carbon Project, and Euro-Argo 
ERIC is a key contributor to the international Argo programme. 

As any RI, the ERICs are also faced with the urgent need of their own greening. The recent energy 
crisis has jeopardised the normal operation of many ERICs, notably the energy intensive ones, but 
not only. To fulfil the EU climate neutrality targets, and to address crises of resources (such as 
energy, water, and raw materials), a strategy and possible actions should be urgently discussed in 
view  of  a  sustainable  landscape  of  RIs.  Greening  investment  needs  of  the  ERICs  should  be 
identified and new funding mechanisms explored. 

Distributed  ERICs,  perceived  as  less  energy-intensive,  have  nevertheless  the  challenge  of 
developing common strategies and synergies among the different nodes. This requires common 

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validated  methodologies  to  assess  the  environmental  footprint  during  the  whole  life  cycle, 
identifying  technology  needs,  and  developing  operating  strategies  including  for  access.  As  an 
example,  co-location  of  facilities  and  development  of  joint  services  are  being  discussed. 
Digitalisation strengthening remote and virtual access, can be part of these strategies.  

▪  Resources should be prioritised to reinforce the capacities of ERICs in supporting R&I for the 

fair green transition, and the mitigation of climate change and biodiversity loss. 

▪  The environmental footprint and resource efficiency of ERICs - present and future - should be 
considered across the entire RI lifecycle, including notably at the concept and design stages. 

3.2.  Digital transition 

Many ERICs are among the most advanced organisations when it comes to digitalisation, be it for 
their own operation, equipment and instrumentation, for the access and services they provide, as 
well as for the data and results they generate themselves. For example, in the field of environment, 
ERICs and other RIs are well advanced in digitising the whole data life cycles through automated 
instruments, calibration and data processing, AI-driven analytics, and archiving or through remote 
and virtual access.  

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated the development and use of virtual services and 
remote access. However, this has required major IT investments, new skills for ERICs staff as well 
as stronger support on site and further training to remote users. Virtual and remote access can be 
a particular challenge for new users and cause lost opportunities for networking and cooperation, 
in particular for early-career researchers.  

The ERICs are fostering data-intensive science and are actively engaged in making their data FAIR 
(findable,  accessible,  interoperable  and  re-usable).  As  such,  ERICs  are  important  actors  in 
contributing to deliver the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC). To this end, they participate 
either directly or through the representing entities of their members in many activities aimed at 
developing EOSC and at connecting to EOSC in different scientific domains. Many ERICs are 
also members of the EOSC Association.  

Major ICT investments and development of relevant skills of ERICs staff are needed to foster the 
successful digital transition of/through the ERICs, including harnessing the potential of AI, and 
appropriate measures should be considered for new users, notably early-career researchers and 
industry. 

3.3.  Health challenges and crisis resilience 

The ERICs in the field of life sciences have increased their research and service performance as 
well as their quality. Their workflows have improved and analyses have become more efficient. 
Integrated Standard Operation Procedures (SOP) have been established, data have become better 
accessible  and  are  being  standardised.  As  a  result,  the  ERICs  are  better  equipped  to  support 
research  addressing  the  broad  range  of  health  challenges,  ranging  from  beating  cancer  and 
combatting  infectious  diseases  to  understanding  and  treating  rare  diseases.  A  result  of  this 
intensive capacity building over recent years is that the ERICs play an important role in meeting 
the objectives of the EU Mission on Cancer, proving access to services and data, enabling cutting 
edge  research  and  innovation  for  better  understanding  and  treatment  of  cancer. They  are  also 
instrumental in developing, within the EOSC, a gateway to diverse types of cancer research data, 

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available across the EU, making them accessible through a single entry point17 The ERICs have 
also developed effective collaborations with the Cancer Mission Board and the Innovative Health 
Initiative Joint Undertaking. 

ERICs,  like  other  RIs,  demonstrated  a  very  substantial  capacity  to  respond  to  the  emergency 
represented by COVID-19 pandemic, by rapidly revising and adapting their access  programme 
operations  and  delivering  their  services,  including  fast-track,  ad  hoc  new  services  to  support 
research related to COVID-19. The ERICs were engaged in the whole pipeline of vaccine (e.g. 
EATRIS  ERIC)  and  therapeutics  development  (e.g.  EU-OPENSCREEN  ERIC  and  Instruct-
ERIC), for the research on diagnostic tools and the analysis of the direct and indirect impact of the 
crisis. Likewise, research data on the COVID-19 disease has been readily made available in the 
public  domain,  thereby  helping  our  clinical  understanding  of  its  effects,  and  informing  the 
development of treatments and tracking new variants of the virus through genomic sequencing and 
coordinated data-sharing efforts. Infrastructures such as BBMRI-ERIC played an important role 
in mobilising public data infrastructure to enable research data-sharing via the European COVID-
19 Data Platform18  

The COVID-19 pandemics demonstrated that ERICs are an essential element of building up crisis 
resilience in the EU. At the same time, the resilience of the ERICs themselves has been severely 
tested by the pandemic. Taking into account the variety of ERICs, several lessons can be drawn 
for  increasing  their  preparedness  for  future  crises.  In  particular,  at  organisational  level,  it  is 
important to build up capacity to quickly adapt access models and use RIs in innovative ways as 
well as to strengthen the coordination among different nodes of the ERICs and across them. At 
policy level, like research in general, RIs are not considered in national crisis management plans 
and this makes their operation and use of their unique capacities more difficult. 

To  address  health  challenges  and  strengthen  crisis  resilience,  ERICs  should  develop  access 
management plans that include a crisis access mode, as part of national crisis management plans. 

3.4.  Technology development, innovation and education 

Industrial cooperation is an important factor that strengthens the long-term sustainability of RIs 
and contributes to the broadening and diversification of their user base. It also enables functional 
synergies between research and industrial policies. Moreover, through the optimisation of their use 
or possible spin offs, infrastructures can support SMEs either for technology development or in 
the uptake of innovative solutions, typically at significantly lower costs than through commercial 
services.  

ERICs and the facilities forming their national nodes can also play an important role in promoting 
the  development  of  local  or  regional  ecosystems  integrating  RIs,  technology  infrastructures, 
incubation  facilities  and  industrial  users,  opening  new  opportunities  for  hosting  projects  with 
industry, in particular SMEs with which interactions by RIs are usually local. 

17 BBMRI-ERIC, EATRIS ERIC, ECRIN-ERIC, EMBRC ERIC, EU-OPENSCREEN ERIC, Euro-BioImaging ERIC 
and Instruct-ERIC are all part of the EOSC4Cancer project. The project aims at making data on cancer genomics, 
imaging,  medical,  clinical,  as  well  as  socio-economics  aspects  fully  accessible,  enhancing  existing  federated  and 
interoperable systems for securely identifying, sharing, processing and reusing FAIR cancer data across borders. 
18 COVID-19 Data Portal - accelerating scientific research through data (covid19dataportal.org) 

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However,  as  service  provision  by  ERICs  to  industry  is  still  both  limited  and  fragmented  at 
European and national level, their innovation potential remains underexploited. Building visibility 
among  industrial  users  and  forming  lasting  partnerships  requires  significant  investment  of 
resources,  time  and  personnel.  Only  some  ERICs  can  afford  to  have  an  established  industrial 
cooperation  /  liaison  office,  with  dedicated  staff.  Their  role  is  not  only  to  communicate  with 
industry but more importantly to elaborate the offer to such users, which typically have different 
service needs than scientific users. This is particularly important for RIs where the offer to industry 
is a complex one, e.g., competence plus access to the instrumentation. In such cases, the ERIC also 
provides specific training, consulting services  and advice.  Industry usually opts  for proprietary 
access  against a fee, which does not  comply with the excellence-based open access  rules. This 
needs to be reconciled with the primary objective of the ERICs to support scientific excellence and 
with the limited economic activity principle. 

The impact of an interconnected ecosystems around ERICs is visible also in the field of education 
and  human  resource  development.  They  attract  experienced  researchers  and  engineers  and, 
therefore, act as platforms for skills and knowledge transfer to society and the economy. They also 
play an important role in training of researchers and fostering science literacy, contributing to skills 
development and increasing the attractiveness of research career paths.  

Preserving the primary objective of scientific excellence, the role of ERICs in local, regional and 
national innovation ecosystems, their use by industry and public authorities, and their capacity to 
transfer skills and knowledge to society should be further promoted. 

4.  MAKING FULL USE OF THE ERIC REGULATION 

The overarching challenges of ERICs lie in their scientific, financial and operational sustainability. 
Scientific sustainability is the capability to provide state-of-the-art research services and data as 
well  as  the  capacity  to  continuously  develop  and  upgrade  the  offer.  Financial  sustainability  is 
achieved when the funding model of the ERIC ensures a sufficient level of financial resources to 
maintain all its functions, without disruptions, at least in the medium term, also leaving space for 
its  further  development.  Operational  sustainability  is  linked  to  maintaining  adequate  human 
resources as well as continuous provision of necessary components that can ensure the effective 
use of the scientific potential of the organisation and its smooth operation.  

4.1.  Leveraging joint investments 

The funding models for most distributed ERICs ensure only the funding of coordination costs, and 
the commitments of the participating members are in most cases only for the expenditure linked 
to the central node. The funding for the operation of the distributed nodes comes from different 
budgets, often the institutional budgets of the universities and institutions hosting the nodes. This 
results in a short-term funding perspective limited to coordination, which impedes many of the 
joint  activities  often  foreseen  in  the  statutes  of  ERICs,  such  as  coordination  of  research  and 
innovation agendas, joint procurement, joint projects between nodes in different countries, as well 
as coordinated training and hiring of personnel. Such activities are therefore usually carried out 
through ad hoc, externally  funded projects,  often awarded at  EU level.  This  creates substantial 
funding uncertainty for the further development and operation of the ERICs, limiting also their 
resilience and capacity to react to specific needs. 

9 

 
 
One important bottleneck that continues to prevent many ERICs from reaching their full potential 
is the lack of sustainable funding for their access programmes, which are usually not funded as 
part of the regular operational  budget.  Instead,  access  is  to  a large extent dependent  on ad hoc 
project funding. This is an essential challenge that needs to be overcome in order to fully benefit 
from the investments made in the ERICs and to ensure that researchers in Europe and beyond have 
access to the best RIs.  

At  the  same  time,  in  order  to  maintain  their  global  competitiveness,  ERICs  need  constant 
investments in upgrading their scientific capacity, development of new and improved services as 
well as optimising their operations. Substantial funding is needed, for example in greening of the 
ERICs,  data  management  in  compliance  with  FAIR  principles,  and  development  of  new 
technologies, which are seldom planned in the member countries’ longer-term commitments.  

ERICs’  investment  needs  must  be  properly  identified  and  recognised,  and  long-term  funding 
frameworks must be developed, building on effective synergies among all possible funding sources 
at EU, national and regional level. 

4.2.  Optimising operations 

The  first  ERICs  have  now  several  years  of  operational  experience  and  are  becoming  mature 
organisations aware of their strengths, challenges and bottlenecks. Their functioning is undergoing 
constant  improvement,  but  a  number  of  issues  need  further  consideration  in  order  to  ensure 
operational sustainability. 

Human resources 

Despite ERICs being legal entities created under EU law, their human resources are essentially 
managed in the national context, i.e. the legal framework of each country of operation. In result, 
members of ERIC personnel are hired under different employment conditions, creating significant 
administrative burden for ERIC headquarters. This also significantly affects the ERICs capacity to 
attract  scientific,  technical  as  well  as  support  staff  (administrative,  legal,  communication,  data 
experts, etc.) at European level, and similarly limits the opportunities of staff at ERICs to embrace 
a  European  career.  It  severely  hinders  the  mobility  of  staff  within  a  distributed  ERIC.  Such 
mobility within and among ERICs, as well as with other European RIs, would highly facilitate the 
training and long-life learning of (often) rare and highly specialised staff. The fragmentation of the 
pension  schemes  is  also  a  significant  challenge.  This  can  be  to  some  extent  addressed  by  the 
RESAVER19  pension  scheme,  however  only  a  limited  number  of  ERICs  are  offering  this 
possibility to their staff members. 

The status of personnel working for the ERICs should be harmonised to the maximum possible 
extent between different countries and with the status of other personnel working for the EU, like 
for example in Joint Undertakings, in order to promote EU wide mobility and career perspectives. 
On a voluntary basis, countries that are members of ERICs could take benefit from the flexibility 
of the ERIC Regulation and include relevant provisions in the statutes of the ERICs to facilitate 
such harmonisation. Further alignment with a Joint Undertakings approach could be considered 
for appropriate cases with potential to attract high political support. 

19 Retirement Savings Vehicle for European Research Institutions. Web site RESAVER Home | RESAVER 

10 

 
 
 
 
Tax and procurement 

An ERIC may benefit, under certain conditions and limits, from exemptions from VAT and excise 
duties  on  its  purchases,  and  it  may  adopt  its  own  procurement  rules.  This  contributes  to  the 
attractiveness of the legal framework and is an incentive for a country to invest in a RI located in 
another  country.  It  is  a  stimulus  to  joint  development  of  prototype  procurement  and  industrial 
returns by the technology intensive RIs such as in physics, space, and astronomy. 

However, the exemptions are limited, typically restricted to goods and services wholly paid and 
procured by the ERIC.20 For distributed ERICs, the benefit is therefore very often limited to its 
central coordination and, to limit complex administrative procedures, to purchases in the hosting 
country.  

A better understanding of the underlying facts by tax authorities along with a better description of 
the activities bound to the scope of the ERIC would facilitate the implementation of the application 
of the exemptions.  

The  Commission  Communication  on  the  Commission  contribution  to  European  defence  21 
exploring accordingly a legal framework inspired by the ERIC one, could be an opportunity to 
further clarify the role of VAT exemption in joint investments in ERICs. 

Economic activities 

Under certain conditions, an ERIC can have limited economic activities by offering goods and/or 
services  on  a  given  market.  Such  activities  can  positively  address  the  increasing  demands  for 
‘innovative’  and  ‘socio-economic’  impacts  and  therefore  enhance  the  ERIC  sustainability. 
However, only a limited number of ERICs have such activities on a regular basis. Uncertainty on 
the real meaning of “limited economic activities” as well as on compliance with state aid rules and 
conditions for VAT exemptions are likely at stake. This question should also be addressed, among 
others, in the context of ‘smart specialisation’ as concerns possible support by regional funds (e.g. 
for construction and later use of parts of the facilities of an ERIC). It also includes other aspects 
such  as  how  ERICs  can  develop  (and  then  participate  in)  spin-offs,  technology  transfers  and 
receive revenues from services, without weakening their ERIC status. 

Operational synergies 

Most ERICs, notably the distributed ones, have light central offices with limited staff resources 
and  budget  for  integration.  In  this  context,  ERIC  managers  and  their  governance  (General 
Assemblies) have difficulties to implement cost-effective approaches such as the setting-up or the 
procurement of joint internal services between different ERICs (e.g., acquiring joint legal or tax 
advice, or setting up joint back-office capabilities, or supporting joint meetings of the government 
representatives of different ERICs). 

20 The VAT Committee recommended, according to its almost unanimous view, that “VAT exemption shall only be 
possible if goods or services supplied to a representing entity are acquired by that entity in the name and on behalf of 
the ERIC”, Working Paper No 828 Final (20/10/2014) 
21 COM(2022) 60: “The Commission will explore enabling a possible Value Added Tax (VAT) waiver to support the 
joint procurement and joint ownership of defence capabilities that are developed in a collaborative way within the EU. 
[…]. The establishment of a legal framework inspired by the European Research Infrastructure Consortium that would 
benefit from a VAT waiver on equipment that Member States consortia would buy and own, could be considered in 
this context.” 

11 

 
 
 
Furthermore, more detailed scientific, operational, and financial reporting are needed to facilitate 
the development of joint external services by relevant groups of different ERICs. Knowledge of 
real  costs  would  for  instance  help  a  smoother  aggregation  of  ERICs  resources  towards  a  more 
synergic  response  to  scientific  and  societal  challenges.  It  would  also  show  a  clearer  way  for 
evaluating the possible EU support to first implementation of services notably those addressing 
EU priorities. Catalogues of available RI services at ERICs should be further developed. 

▪  Country  members  of  ERICs  should  address  the  lack  of  career  perspectives  of  ERICs  staff 
through harmonisation of employment conditions e.g., by appropriate principles in the ERICs 
statutes.  

▪  A better definition of the ERIC activities would help the application of the VAT exemption and 

facilitate transnational investments.  

▪  Further and specific guidance on the meaning of ‘limited economic activities’ in the context of 
state aid rules should be provided for a consistent implementation, to enhance the broader 
impact of ERICs and therefore their sustainability. 

▪  ERICs governance and EU support should promote operational synergies among ERICs and 

with other relevant RIs. 

▪  The further evolution of the ERIC Framework should address these areas requiring further 

optimisation or harmonisation. 

4.3.  Streamlining the governance of ERICs 

The 26 ERICs are reaching  and integrating resources across all of Europe by involving all EU 
Member  States  and  nine  associated  countries.  They  require  significant  funding  and  in-kind 
contributions  and,  therefore,  major  commitment  and  investment  with  the  expectation  that  the 
return  is  larger  than  individual  national  investments.  The  ERICs  act  also  as  drivers  for  further 
investment, e.g., through synergies with structural funds and participation in competitive project 
funding.  In  this  context,  they  are  continuously  monitored  and  stimulated  through  international 
evaluation  methods,  competition  and  collaboration  which  takes  place  in  all  ERICs,  with 
international access to selected users being based on excellence.  

The Commission expert group assessing the implementation of the ERIC Regulation highlighted 
that an ‘ERIC system’ is emerging with a role of structuring and integrating research activities and 
resources.  However,  it  also  identified  clear  issues  for  this  ‘ERIC  system’  to  become  a  real 
‘institutional backbone’ of the ERA22. 

Coordination and monitoring 

To  address  the  missing  registry  or  observatory  function  and  therefore  the  lack  of  detailed 
knowledge of all the components of the ERIC system, an EU-funded action has been launched to 
support  the  coordination  and  monitoring  of  the  ERICs.  The  more  in-depth  knowledge  of  the 
ERICs, notably the distributed ones, will facilitate their systemic governance, at individual and 

22 “The lack of detailed knowledge and visibility of all the components of the ERIC system (in particular the distributed 
ERICs)  limits  governing  and  implementing  its  structuring  effect  and  full  potential  to  become  a  real  ‘institutional 
backbone’ for the ERA. The recognition of the legal personality and capability of the ERICs and of their sites of 
operation as national research institutions in the MS should be implemented to structure and integrate the national 
resources. Issues in the implementation of the Regulation’s fiscal provisions and time-limited project funding decrease 
possible synergies between different funding sources.” 

12 

 
 
 
 
cluster level, bringing more visibility and understanding on implementation challenges and how 
to address them. It should facilitate the recognition of the ERICs in the national landscape and the 
search of alternative to time-limited project funding. It should also trigger harmonised reporting 
and feed the monitoring process of ESFRI. 

ERIC Forum 

The ERIC Forum organises the ERICs and ERICs-to-be in a network with the objective to ensure 
a  joint  representation  and  to  support  integrating  and  coordination  activities,  thus  developing  a 
systems  approach.  The  Forum  has  also  set-up  clusters  allowing  for  a  faster  and  stronger 
collaboration within more homogenous disciplinary fields, while helping multidisciplinary actions 
between  clusters.  The  ERICs  are  now  in  the  learning  process  of  joining  their  forces  to  tackle 
emerging  and  grand  societal  challenges  on  a  global  scale.  For  that  purpose,  they  increasingly 
address interoperability requirements, including for their evolution and instrumentation. The ERIC 
Forum is also developing its capacity for analysis in support to the RI policy. 

Strengthening access programmes and streamlining access policies 

The  ERIC  Regulation  requires  that  effective  access  is  granted  to  the  European  research 
community.  Accordingly,  the  ERIC  statutes  must  contain,  as  essential  elements,  the  basic 
principles covering its access policy for users and ensuring compliance with the Regulation. As 
such, ERICs are key enablers of open science and promoters of transnational access. Although the 
ERICs are very diverse in scope, size, type and in the profile of their users, common approaches 
and  trends  within  ERICs  (when  distributed)  and  among  ERICs  (and  other  European  research 
infrastructures) can be identified, notably within thematic clusters. More visible and streamlined 
access policies will strengthen the integrating and coordinating roles of ERICs.  
Lack of permanent, sustainable funding for access programmes limits the development of many 
ERICs  and  undermines  the  achievement  of  their  full  potential.  To  address  this  challenge,  new 
collaboration models between the European and national level as well as among the ERICs could 
be considered. Accessibility to RIs is part of the ERA Policy Agenda, and ERICs and the ERIC 
Forum are invited to contribute to related developments, including the revision of the Charter of 
Access to Research Infrastructures and the discussions shaping the future EU support to access. 

The governance of the ERICs should be streamlined through the coordination and monitoring of 
the  many  components  of  the  ERICs  (including the  distributed  ones),  the  full  recognition  of  the 
ERICs in the national (funding) landscape as well as coherent and effective access policies and 
funding models. The role of the ERIC Forum, building on its experience, should be strengthened 
in its capacity to identify best practices and propose common approach e.g., to the ERIC governing 
bodies as well as European and national funders. 

4.4.  Strengthening the international outreach 

The  ERICs  have  an  increasingly  significant  international  dimension,  which  is  enhanced  by 
globally  interconnected  networks  benefiting  from  exchanging  experiences  and  good  practices. 
These enrich their outputs from sharing access to their scientific services, data and information.  

ERICs constitute a new legal model for structuring international RI collaborations. In this sense, 
their  development  is  an  important  reference  for  international  bodies  concerned  with  research 
infrastructure  cooperations  such  as  the  OECD’s  Global  Science  Forum  and  the  G7’s  Group  of 
Senior Officials on Global Research Infrastructures (GSO). 

13 

 
 
The role of ERICs in the global RI ecosystem has also been recognised during the International 
Conference on Research Infrastructures (ICRI)23, where concrete examples of their global outreach 
and  impact  were  highlighted.  For  example,  the  facility  operated  by  JIV-ERIC  has  been 
instrumental  in  allowing  a  set  of  radio  astronomical  observatories  distributed  between  Africa, 
Europe and Asia to operate as a single and unique antenna of global size to observe black holes, 
including the one powering our galaxy, giving all of us a clearer idea of our position in the universe. 
Other  examples  are  in  observing  our  earth’s  environment.  Euro-Argo  ERIC  serves  as  the  EU 
contribution  to  the  global-ocean  ARGO  initiative.  EMSO  ERIC,  covering  the  deep-sea 
observatories,  is  linked to  international  partners in  the US,  Canada, Australia and Japan.  ICOS 
ERIC,  the  CO2  observation  infrastructure,  supplies  data  to  the  UN  Framework  Convention  on 
Climate Change, and EPOS ERIC is increasingly covering the behaviour of the solid earth in terms 
of plate tectonics and earthquakes.  

By  initiating  and  participating  in  networking,  clustering  and  integration  of  RI  facilities  at 
international  level,  ERICs  are  an  essential  part  of  the  European  contribution  to  building  an 
integrated, optimised and financially sustainable global RI ecosystem, in line with the goals set by 
the Brno Declaration.24 Recently, two memoranda of understanding were signed: Instruct-ERIC 
and National Centre for Research in Energy and Materials, Brasil, and Euro-BioImaging ERIC 
and  Institut  Pasteur  de  Montevideo,  Uruguay.  This  process  could  be  strengthened  to  identify 
further common priorities for international cooperation, as well as adequate tools and opportunities 
to align resources and increase interoperability, leading to more effective sharing of scientific data 
and services. 

ERICs have the potential to become the legal instrument of choice for further developing globally 
integrated RI activities, provided that the participation of third countries in the ERICs is properly 
facilitated in order to overcome the current legal and operational obstacles. This would allow a 
better  use  of  research  infrastructures  across  continents,  enabling  the  sharing  of  capacities, 
knowledge resources and services among international partners.  

4.5.  Assessing socio-economic impacts 

Given  the  relatively  large  and  long-term  investments,  assessments  of  the  targeted  and  actual 
performance and impacts of the ERICs are important. Impact assessment is based on what they 
should  deliver  within  four  broad  objectives:  creation  of  scientific  knowledge,  contribution  to 
addressing  societal  challenges,  contribution  to  economic  development  and  innovation,  and 
contribution to policy making.  

Agreement is needed on the specific objectives and dimensions of impact, as well as on who would 
be affected, the methodology selected, and the indicators identified.  

The outcomes from a dedicated policy brief prepared by the ERIC Forum25 reveal that some ERICs 
have already produced impact assessments, however using various methodologies, with different 
indicators  and types of  targeted outcomes. However, these have often been punctual exercises. 
Structural  integration  of  impact  analysis  into  the  management  culture  of  an  ERIC  requires 
dedicated  personnel  and  funding  and  a  robust  monitoring  system.  Continuous  guidance  and 

23 https://www.icri2022.cz/ 
24 Brno Declaration on Fostering a Global Ecosystem of RIs | www.esfri.eu 
25 ERIC Forum Policy Brief_2022 (eric-forum.eu) 

14 

 
 
 
 
support for the ERICs would be beneficial to strengthen their broader impacts as well as to further 
develop the impact assessment methodology and increase its coherence across the ERICs.  

Conducting regular impact assessments is an important part of demonstrating the long-term value 
of ERICs. To follow up the ERIC impacts over time in a coherent way, the assessment needs to 
become a permanent activity of an ERIC, with dedicated human and financial resources as well 
as properly developed in-house expertise. 

5.  CONCLUSIONS 

With 26 ERICs set-up since 2011, the ERIC Regulation has become a legal instrument of choice 
for a large proportion of common European initiatives in the field of research infrastructures. In 
particular,  it  provided  an  effective  implementation  tool  for  the  research  infrastructure  projects 
prioritised  by  the  ESFRI  Roadmap.  By  putting  in  place  a  new  type  of  research  organisation  it 
clearly impacted the European R&I landscape helping to structure and integrate research activities 
and resources within the ERA.  

However, even though the ERIC does provide increased legal certainty and financial stability, as 
for many pan-European RIs, the scientific, financial, and operational sustainability of the ERICs 
remains a challenge. In particular, further effort is needed to strengthen the access programmes of 
the ERICs and the availability of their services. The funding available to ERICs is also still too 
fragmented and inconsistent, with limited synergies among the different potential funding sources. 
A more robust framework is also needed for the implementation of the benefits granted by the 
ERIC Regulation or the VAT and Excise Duty Directives, such as VAT exemptions and special 
procurement  rules.  The  scope  of  allowed  economic  activities  of  ERICs  also  requires  further 
clarification in the context of state aid rules. A number of operational challenges still remain, such 
as the diversity of employment conditions for ERIC staff, membership conditions or recognition 
of the ERIC status in national legal systems. 

Action should be taken to further strengthen the ERICs as research organisations and increase their 
impact, including for example gathering in-depth information about all components of the ‘ERIC 
system’ and activities bound to each ERIC, developing operational synergies including via joint 
internal or external services, fostering the fair green and digital transition, and strengthening crisis 
resilience. 

A  number  of  areas  require  further  optimisation  or  harmonisation.  This  is  notably  the  case  for 
addressing  ERICs  staff  career  perspectives  at  EU  level,  opening  further  opportunities  for 
innovation,  better  recognition  of  ERICs  in  national  research  landscapes,  including  access  to 
national research funding, as well as facilitating the engagement with international partners. 

The  development  of  the  new  ERA  Policy  Agenda,  supported  by  the  work  of  ESFRI  and  the 
involvement of stakeholders can provide an effective framework to discuss the way forward. 

15 

 
 
 
 
 
ANNEX I - THE ERIC REGULATION: BACKGROUND AND DEVELOPMENT  

The ERIC Regulation provides a common legal framework, based on Article 187 of the Treaty on 
the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), complementing national and intergovernmental 
legal and regulatory schemes for establishing transnational research infrastructures. 

It was adopted in 2009 with the scope to facilitate the establishment and the operation of large 
European research infrastructures among several Member States and associated countries as well 
as intergovernmental organisations, by providing a new legal instrument, the European Research 
Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC).  

The ERICs are set-up by the Commission upon a proposal by at least three EU Member States and 
associated  countries.  A  management  committee  (the  ERIC  Committee)  oversees 
the 
implementation case by case, while the Commission may further intervene in case an ERIC does 
not fulfil its scope. The Commission also provides reports submitted to Council and the European 
Parliament in accordance with Article 19 of the ERIC Regulation. 
The  ERIC  Regulation  was  amended  in  December  201326  to  better  reflect  the  contributions  of 
associated countries in the ERIC, included as a host, by putting those countries at an equivalent 
level as Member States in the governing bodies of the ERIC in terms of voting rights. 

The first report on the application of the ERIC Regulation was adopted by the Commission on 14 
July 201427 and submitted to the Council and the European Parliament as well as to the Committee 
of Regions and the European Economic and Social Committee. 
The second report was adopted by the Commission on 6 July 201828 following the invitation of 
the Council in its conclusions of 5 December 2014. 

In  its  conclusions  of  19  November  2021,  the  Council  "UNDERLINES  the  integrating  and 
structuring role of research infrastructures at all levels, including e-infrastructures, in the European 
knowledge  and  innovation  ecosystem,  ENDORSES  the  ESFRI  Roadmap  adopted  in  2021, 
WELCOMES  the  ongoing  assessment  of  the  European  Research  Infrastructure  Consortium 
(ERIC) legal framework and REITERATES its invitation to the Commission to submit the next 
ERIC implementation report by 2022." 

An ERIC is considered as an international body or organisation in the sense of the directives on 
value-added tax (VAT) and on excise duties. The ERIC and its members may thus benefit from an 
exemption from VAT and excise duties for the purchase of goods and services used for the ERICs 
institutional activities, if members so agree. Being also considered an international organisation 
within  the  meaning  of  the  directive  on  public  procurement,  an  ERIC  may  adopt  its  own 
procurement rules. 

26 OJ L 326, 6.12.2013, p.1. 
27 COM(2014) 460 final 
28 COM(2018) 523 final 

16 

 
 
 
 
 
Annex II - List of established ERICs and their increase over time. 

At the time of writing of the first report on the application of the ERIC Regulation, seven ERICs  were 
established. These are: 

•  SHARE-ERIC (Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe)29, now hosted by Germany,  

•  CLARIN-ERIC (Common Language Resources and Technology Infrastructure)30, hosted by the 

Netherlands, 

•  EATRIS ERIC (European Advanced Translational Research Infrastructure in Medicine)31, hosted 

by the Netherlands,  

•  ESS ERIC (European Social Survey)32, hosted by the United Kingdom,  

•  BBMRI-ERIC  (Biobanking  and  Biomolecular  Resources  Research  Infrastructure)33,  hosted  by 

Austria,  

•  ECRIN-ERIC (European Clinical Research Infrastructure Network)34, hosted by France, and  

•  Euro-Argo ERIC35, hosted by France. 

By the time of the second report ten additional ERICs were established. These are: 

•  CERIC-ERIC36 (Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium), hosted by Italy,  

•  DARIAH ERIC37 (Digital Research Infrastructure for the Arts and Humanities), hosted by France,  

• 

• 

• 

JIV-ERIC38 (Joint Institute for Very Long Baseline Interferometry), hosted by the Netherlands,  

the ESS European Spallation Source ERIC39, hosted by Sweden,  

ICOS-ERIC40 (Integrated Carbon Observation System), hosted by Finland,  

•  EMSO ERIC41 (European Multidisciplinary Seafloor and Water Column Observatory), hosted by 

Italy,  

•  LifeWatch  ERIC42  (e-Science  and  Technology  European  Infrastructure  for  Biodiversity  and 

Ecosystem Research), hosted by Spain,  

•  CESSDA ERIC43 (Consortium of European Social Science Data Archives), hosted by Norway, 

29 OJ L 71, 18.3.2011, p. 20. 
30 OJ L 64, 3.3.2012, p. 13. 
31 OJ L 298, 8.11.2013, p. 38. 
32 OJ L 320, 30.11.2013, p. 44. 
33 OJ L 320, 30.11.2013, p. 63. 
34 OJ L 324, 5.12.2013, p. 8. 
35 OJ L 136, 9.5.2014, p.35. 
36 OJ L 184, 25.6.2014, p. 49. 
37 OJ L 239, 12.8.2014, p. 64. 
38 OJ L 363, 18.12.2014, p.156. 
39 OJ L 225, 28.8.2015, p. 16. 
40 OJ L 303, 20.11.2015, p. 19. 
41 OJ L 268, 1.10.2016, p. 113.   
42 OJ L 76, 22.3.2017, p. 35 
43 OJ L 149, 13.6.2017, p. 85 

17 

 
 
 
•  ECCSEL ERIC44 (European Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage Laboratory, hosted by Norway, 

and  

• 

Instruct-ERIC45 (Integrated Structural Biology), hosted by the UK. 

Since then, nine additional ERICs have been established. These are:  

•  EMBRC ERIC46 (European Marine Biological Resource Centre), hosted by France,  

•  EU-OPENSCREEN ERIC47 (European Infrastructure of Open Screening Platforms for Chemical 

Biology), hosted by Germany,  

•  EPOS ERIC48 (European Plate Observing System), hosted by Italy,  

•  Euro-BioImaging  ERIC49  (European  Research  Infrastructure  for  Imaging  Technologies  in 

Biological and Biomedical Sciences), hosted by Finland,  

•  ELI ERIC50 (Extreme Light Infrastructure), hosted by the Czech Republic, 

•  AnaEE-ERIC51(Analysis and Experimentation on Ecosystems), hosted by France,  

•  MIRRI-ERIC52 (Microbial Resource Research Infrastructure), hosted by Portugal, 

•  EU-SOLARIS  ERIC53  (European  Solar  Research  Infrastructure  for  Concentrated  Solar  Power), 

hosted by Spain, and 

•  ACTRIS ERIC54 (Aerosol, Clouds and Trace Gases Research Infrastructure), hosted by Finland. 

44 OJ L 149, 13.6.2017, p. 91 
45 OJ L 173, 6.7.2017, p. 47 
46 OJ L 51, 23.2.2018, p. 17 
47 OJ L 82, 26.3.2018, p. 8 
48 OJ L 288, 16.11.2018, p. 10 
49 OJ L 285, 6.11.2019, p. 9 
50 OJ L 212, 15.6.2021, p. 3 
51 OJ L 43, 24.2.2022, p. 73 
52 OJ L 186, 13.7.2022, p. 14 
53 OJ L 304, 24.11.2022, p. 78 
54 OJ L 115, 3.5.2023, p. 15 

18 

 
 
 
 
Annex III – ERIC Membership 

Overview of ERIC Membership (as of April 2023) 

19 

ERIC / Membership(Host - Member - Observer)TotalATBABEBGCHCYCZDEDKEEELESFIFRHRHUIEILISITLTLULVMEMKMTNLNOPLPTRORSSESISKTRUKQAZA(IO) CIHEAM(IO) EMBL(IO) WHO/IARCTotal35710116121171715114121612207117542352811216161315441411411311121ACTRIS ERIC16xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxAnaEE-ERIC8xxxxxxxxBBMRI-ERIC 24xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCERIC-ERIC 9xxxxxxxxxCESSDA ERIC23xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxCLARIN ERIC 25xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxDARIAH ERIC21xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEATRIS ERIC 14xxxxxxxxxxxxxxECCSEL ERIC5xxxxxECRIN-ERIC 12xxxxxxxxxxxxELI ERIC6xxxxxxEMBRC ERIC10xxxxxxxxxxEMSO ERIC9xxxxxxxxxEPOS ERIC17xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxESS ERIC 29xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEU-OPENSCREEN ERIC10xxxxxxxxxxEuro-Argo ERIC 12xxxxxxxxxxxxEuro-BioImaging ERIC18xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEur. Spall. Source ERIC15xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxEU-SOLARIS ERIC5xxxxxICOS ERIC 16xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxInstruct-ERIC16xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxJIV-ERIC 7xxxxxxxLifeWatch ERIC8xxxxxxxxMIRRI-ERIC5xxxxxSHARE-ERIC 17xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
 
 
 
Evolution of membership 

20 

ERICFoundersAllYear setupDurationNew MbGrowthACTRIS ERIC16162023NANANAAnaEE-ERIC882022100%BBMRI-ERIC 13242013101185%CERIC-ERIC 6920149350%CESSDA ERIC152320176853%CLARIN ERIC 82520121117213%DARIAH ERIC152120149640%EATRIS ERIC 41420131010250%ECCSEL ERIC552017600%ECRIN-ERIC 5122013107140%ELI ERIC662021200%EMBRC ERIC91020185111%EMSO ERIC8920167113%EPOS ERIC101720185770%ESS ERIC 142920131015107%EU-OPENSCREEN ERIC71020185343%Euro-Argo ERIC 81220149450%Euro-BioImaging ERIC161820194213%European Spallation Source ERIC131520158215%EU-SOLARIS ERIC552022100%ICOS ERIC 91620158778%Instruct-ERIC111620176545%JIV-ERIC 4720149375%LifeWatch ERIC6820176233%MIRRI-ERIC552022100%SHARE-ERIC 61720111211183%Grand Total232357NA12554%