Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

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| CALL FOR EVIDENCE  FOR AN INITIATIVE (without an impact assessment) | |
| This document aims to inform the public and stakeholders about the Commission’s work, so they can provide feedback and participate effectively in consultation activities.  We ask these groups to provide views on the Commission’s understanding of the problem and possible solutions, and to give us any relevant information they may have. | |
| Title of the initiative | European Research Area – the new ERA 4 years on: achievements, lessons learnt and the way forward |
| Lead DG – responsible unit | RTD A.2 |
| Likely Type of initiative | Commission Communication |
| Indicative Timing | Q3/2024 |
| Additional Information | Home | European Research Area Platform (europa.eu) |

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| A. Political context, problem definition and subsidiarity check |
| Political context |
| Research and innovation (R&I) play a critical role in helping the EU deal with the pressing social and economic challenges it is facing. These include the need to navigate the twin green and digital transitions, while improving the health and well-being of the European public, and building a more competitive and resilient economy.  The European Research Area (ERA), launched in 2000 and revamped in 2020 via the ERA Communication, provides a framework for joint priority setting and coordination of R&I policies. It promotes the free movement of knowledge in the EU, including of researchers, data and technology.  For the ERA to move in the right direction, it is important to assess the progress made so far, while identifying the remaining challenges and gaps that need to be tackled in achieving the new ERA and in co-creating and implementing research policy agendas and programmes. |
| Problem the initiative aims to tackle |
| The implementation of the new European Research Area is assessed according to the four priorities laid down in the ERA Communication of 2020. The assessment identifies each priority’s core objective, main achievements and impact, and reviews the state of play with an eye to the future, while identifying the remaining gaps and challenges.  More specifically, the new ERA priorities and key problems to be addressed are:  ·Prioritising investments and reforms  The EU wants to prioritise R&I investments and reforms in order to accelerate the green and digital transformation and to increase competitiveness, so that it can progress towards investing 3% of its GDP in R&I. This includes specific efforts to strengthen private R&I investment. Several actions at EU level have been adopted to promote stronger and more targeted R&I investments, to contribute to the green and digital transitions; however, progress towards this goal is yet to be assessed. The reality is that the EU still lags behind its policy target of 3%, investing less than our main international competitors in R&I. Public and private R&I investments remain low and on the whole are not sufficiently coordinated at EU level, while in the Member States the state of play on R&I is very diverse.  ·Improving access to excellence  The EU wants to improve access to excellence in order to strengthen R&I systems across the whole of the Union. Along with cohesion policy, the Recovery and Resilience Facility and the Horizon Europe programme are mobilising significant resources to foster research and innovation across the EU and help bridge the innovation divide by supporting countries that continue to lag behind. Progress has been made under this priority, but more is needed to mobilise Europe’s full R&I potential.  ·Translating R&I results into the economy  The EU wants to ensure that R&I policies boost the resilience and competitiveness of our economies and societies. This means ensuring Europe’s competitive technological leadership while improving the environment for business R&I investment and the socio-economic take-up and valorisation of research results. Numerous policy instruments and bodies have been put in place to this end. These include the European Innovation Council, European private-public partnerships and ‘regional innovation valleys’, and the Strategic Energy Technology (SET) plan. Despite these efforts, the ERA still faces challenges in translating R&I results into societal use and economic value and in keeping this value inside the EU.  ·Deepening the ERA  The EU wants to promote the free movement of knowledge in its R&I system, in particular by moving from a coordination approach towards deeper integration between national research policies. This is at the core of the EU’s ‘fifth freedom’ – the free movement of knowledge. Over the last 4 years, the EU has made substantial efforts towards establishing common principles and values for EU R&I. These include gender equality and inclusiveness, ethics and integrity, freedom of scientific research, a reformed common approach to research assessment and a common framework for research careers, including the guarantee of proper conditions for research employment. Additional efforts to promote the movement of knowledge have focused on promoting open science and improving access to key research infrastructures, as well as on promoting responsible use of AI in science. These initiatives are helping improve the free flow of knowledge across the EU, thus developing a ‘fifth freedom’. The initiatives all need to be supported and properly monitored as they advance over the coming years. |
| Basis for EU action (legal basis and subsidiarity check) |
| Legal basis |
| The initiative falls within a policy area where the EU shares powers with Member States (‘shared competence’). Its specific legal basis is Article 179 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union as regards achieving a European Research Area. |
| Practical need for EU action |
| The proposed communication will contribute to identifying the remaining areas of fragmentation in EU R&I policies.  Action at EU level is crucial to support the development of consistent R&I policy agendas and to create common ground for the free movement of knowledge in the single market – the ‘fifth freedom’. Joint priority setting and coordination of R&I policies are essential to: (i) increase the quality and impact of European research; (ii) avoid duplication; (iii) build stronger synergies between investments across the EU; (iv) guarantee free and balanced movement of researchers and innovators and access to key research and technological infrastructures; and (v) contribute to addressing common societal challenges through scientific and technological advancements. |
| B. What does the initiative aim to achieve and how |
| The initiative will take stock of the progress made in the 4 years since the new ERA’s launch, running from the publication of the ERA Communication in 2020 and the Pact for Research and Innovation in 2021 until the present.  The initiative looks at the actions that have been carried out and aims to assess the need for future action to advance towards a more ambitious vision for the ERA.  The assessed actions have been implemented through various instruments, including the first ERA policy agenda 2022-2024. The agenda is structured around 20 specific actions addressing the four ERA priorities, all of which are described and monitored in the ERA Platform.  This initiative comes at a critical time, when the second ERA policy agenda covering the years 2025 to 2027 is under discussion and preparation with stakeholders. In this context, this initiative will help identify key strands of future action and coordinated R&I policies under the four priorities, while guaranteeing logical continuity between subsequent policy agendas.  The initiative is aligned with the priorities and strands of action recently identified by Enrico Letta in his report on the single market. The report underlines the ERA’s crucial role in developing a ‘5th freedom to enhance research, innovation and education in the Single Market’ and the need to foster synergies across policy domains, including industrial and higher education policies.  In this light, the initiative contributes to setting out the path for future actions and for progress towards making the fifth freedom a reality. Future actions under the ERA policy agenda will ensure continuity on careers, infrastructures and open science. At the same time, they will address important challenges still to be met in these fields and others. These include: (i) the low level of public and private investments in R&I (far below the 3% of GDP ambition); (ii) the persisting innovation divide; (iii) sub-optimal knowledge valorisation; (iv) insufficient access to capital; and (v) the need to address the use of AI in science. |
| Likely impacts |
| This initiative will help raise awareness about the European Research Area’s relevance for the EU’s economy and society and about recent developments in the ERA. It will feed into ongoing discussions of the challenges and priorities for future R&I policy actions, instruments and agendas. Implementing the new ERA has been a remarkably co-creative process, supported by the ERA governance structure, in particular the ERA Forum that brings together EU Member States, the Horizon Europe associated countries, stakeholders and the European Commission. The initiative will help further strengthen a common vision for the future of the ERA and will lay the groundwork for future co-creative endeavours. It is also intended to address the remaining challenges ERA faces as it strives to deepen its impact, while guaranteeing the free movement of knowledge, strengthening R&I ecosystems across the whole EU and making sure that research and innovation remain at the core of the EU economy, thus ensuring its resilience and sustainable competitiveness. |
| Future monitoring |
| The ERA has a sound governance structure that was put in place to deliver the four objectives of the 2020 ERA Communication. The ERA Forum, which brings together EU Member States, the Horizon Europe associated countries, stakeholders, assists the European Commission in implementing the ERA policy agenda. In 2023, a monitoring framework was put in place to provide a robust system to track progress and assess the impact of ERA initiatives. This framework includes the publication of two quantitative monitoring reports at the ERA level -an ERA dashboard and a scoreboard-, individual country reports and an EU-level report. Future monitoring of the ERA will take place within this stable institutional framework. |
| C. Better regulation |
| Impact assessment |
| The initiative will take the form of a Commission communication on the implementation of the European Research Area. As this does not include legislative measures, it does not require an impact assessment. |
| Consultation strategy |
| The Commission will consider stakeholders’ contributions to this call for evidence when drafting the communication. Stakeholders are invited to provide their feedback, in particular on the progress made so far and the remaining challenges, thus helping to build the path for future action. The contributions received will complement the other consultation activities described below.  Implementation of the ERA is based on a strategy of continuous open consultation through a variety of channels. It takes place within the governance structure established in 2021 This includes: (i) the ERA Committee, which serves as the high-level strategic policy joint advisory committee providing early advice to the Council and ensuring follow-up at national level; and (ii) the ERA Forum and its sub-groups. Consultation across all participants in the ERA Forum is wide-ranging and continuous, focusing on the conception, design and implementation of all policy actions.  The design of the ERA policy agenda is conceived as a co-creative process growing out of meetings, exchanges and ad hoc surveys. The methodologies and contents of monitoring reports are discussed in the ERA Forum and with the general interested public in dedicated workshops. All reports are available to the general public through the ERA Platform. Since May 2024, all stakeholders represented in the ERA Forum have full access to the same documentation as Member State representatives. |

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