{"id":353176,"date":"2025-08-18T03:08:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-18T03:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/353176\/"},"modified":"2025-08-18T03:08:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-18T03:08:16","slug":"top-down-approach-needed-for-eu-to-finally-establish-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/353176\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Top down approach needed\u2019 for EU to finally establish ERA"},"content":{"rendered":"

Legislation is \u201ccrucial\u201d if a \u201cfifth freedom\u201d of research, innovation and education is finally to be established in the\u00a0European Union, sector leaders have said, as the European Research Area<\/a> (ERA) initiative approaches its 25th\u00a0anniversary without being properly realised.<\/p>\n

The European Commission opened a call for evidence on an ERA act this month, stating that the proposed legislation \u201cwill focus research support more on strategic priorities, strengthen alignment between the EU and member states\u2019 funding priorities, and promote the free movement of knowledge and talent across Europe\u201d.<\/p>\n

Since 2000, the\u00a0EU has aimed to create a \u201csingle market for science\u201d<\/a>\u00a0alongside its other \u201cfour freedoms\u201d of capital, people, services and goods, as a way of ensuring the bloc can compete with the likes of the US and China.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A\u00a0June report on the implementation of the ERA policy agenda found that while \u201csystemic challenges\u201d remain, \u201csignificant progress has been made\u201d towards its four priorities: strengthening a \u201ctruly functional internal market for knowledge\u201d, tackling the challenges of the green and digital transitions, broadening access to research and innovation excellence and aligning R&I investments and reforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Vincent Klein Ikkink, adviser for research at the science and technology university umbrella body CESAER, told Times Higher Education that while the ERA\u2019s progress was welcome, obstacles including \u201clegal barriers and the voluntary nature and fragmented approach of the ERA policy agenda\u201d continue to \u201chinder the free circulation of researchers, scientific knowledge and technology\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cLegislating the ERA through an ERA act is crucial…to advance the ERA in areas where\u00a0the ERA policy agenda has been unable to achieve substantial progress due to its voluntary nature,\u201d said Klein Ikkink.<\/p>\n

Silvia G\u00f3mez\u00a0Recio, secretary-general of Young European Research Universities (YERUN), described the potential act as \u201ca crucial opportunity to provide the European Research Area with the legal and political backbone it has long lacked\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor too long, ERA priorities have relied on soft instruments and voluntary commitments, resulting in uneven implementation across member states,\u201d said G\u00f3mez\u00a0Recio.<\/p>\n

The act, she said, should comprise a \u201cclear framework that secures the free movement of knowledge as the EU\u2019s fifth freedom, reduces national fragmentation and sets binding commitments \u2013 particularly on public and private R&D investment, research careers and the interoperability of research systems<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

At present, said Lidia Borrell-Dami\u00e1n, secretary general of Science Europe, \u201cthere is underinvestment in research and innovation across Europe, with many countries failing to meet the 3 per cent and 1.25 per cent [EU] targets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many ERA priority areas \u201csee little progress,\u201d she continued. \u201cFor instance, academic freedom has declined in Europe and globally, according to the most recent\u00a0Academic Freedom Index<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Equality, diversity and inclusion is also being challenged and\u00a0\u201clegislation would help cement progress and obligations in these areas,\u201d Borrell-Dami\u00e1n said.<\/p>\n

While CESAER has yet to solidify its official position on the ERA act, said Klein Ikkink, potential areas the legislation could target include the alignment of currently \u201cincompatible labour laws, migration rules, social security schemes and pension systems\u201d, in order to ease the free circulation of researchers around the EU.<\/p>\n

The act could also introduce safeguards to institutional autonomy, he suggested, and establish a \u201csecondary publication right\u201d that would allow researchers to openly share their published articles.<\/p>\n

Kurt Deketelaere, secretary-general of the League of European Research Universities (Leru), warned that sector leaders must be \u201crealistic\u201d about the scope of the ERA act. \u201cThe best way to kill the whole exercise is to come up with a very ambitious, far-reaching, legislative initiative, imposing all kinds of obligations on member states, intervening in domestic law,\u201d he said. \u201cThis will not work. They will oppose that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nevertheless, Deketelaere said, any legislation must \u201cforbid member states to keep national rules in place which block free circulation\u201d, while establishing a legal basis for individuals and organisations to request the \u201celimination of such national rules\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is an illusion to think that changes in labour law, social security law, pension law, tax law, etcetera will be introduced in a voluntary, bottom-up way,\u201d he said. \u201cThis necessary level playing field can only be achieved through legislation.\u201d<\/p>\n

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Legislation is \u201ccrucial\u201d if a \u201cfifth freedom\u201d of research, innovation and education is finally to be established in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":353177,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5174],"tags":[2000,299,5187,1699],"class_list":{"0":"post-353176","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-eu","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-european","11":"tag-european-union"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115047570136225982","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353176","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=353176"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/353176\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/353177"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=353176"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=353176"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=353176"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}