PRIORITY AREA 1: DEEPENING A TRULY FUNCTIONING INTERNAL MARKET FOR KNOWLEDGE

Action 1: Enable the open sharing of knowledge and the re-use of research outputs, including through the development of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)

The implementation of the EOSC is based on long-term collaboration between the European Commission and stakeholders in the European research landscape, which was initiated in 2015. Between 2018 and 2020, the Commission invested EUR 250 million through Horizon 2020 to prototype components of the EOSC. Since June 2021 this initiative received further support at the EU level with the Portuguese Presidency of the Council and the European Commission recognising the implementation of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) as a major step towards realising a ‘web of data and services’ in the ERA. In June 2023, the role of R&I in contributing to addressing societal challenges was reinforced by the Lund Declaration of the Swedish Presidency, on the reuse of high-quality research data.

From 2021 onwards, EOSC is transitioning into a stakeholder-driven approach, co-developed with the entire EOSC community. The implementation of the action is based on a formally established Co-programmed European Partnership on EOSC under the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. The EOSC Partnership is governed through a tripartite collaboration of the European Commission, the EOSC Association (representing the European research community), and the EOSC Steering Board (representing EU Member States and Associated Countries).

It is being implemented according to a Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) which was co-developed with the EOSC community. The SRIA sets three core objectives for EOSC: 1) Ensure that OS practices become the ‘new normal’, 2) Enable the definition of standards, and the development of tools and services, to allow researchers to find, access, reuse, and combine results, and 3) Establish a sustainable and federated infrastructure enabling open sharing of scientific results.
Details of progress achieved towards the expected outcomes of this action are described below.

Deploying OS principles and identifying OS best practices.

Member States and Associated Countries have developed new national strategies for Open Science policy for the mainstreaming of Open Science practices and FAIR principles across national research funding programmes. Most countries have also developed action plans for the creation of national platforms and data services to enable the connection of national/regional research infrastructures to the EOSC platform. A recent example is the National Open Science Strategy 2023-2027 of Spain, with the strategic objective of guaranteeing interoperable and robust digital infrastructures for Open Science in order to facilitate the integration of Spain’s national Open Science policy into the international ecosystem, including EOSC.
Over 25 national tripartite events (involving the European Commission, Member States or Associated Countries, and the EOSC Association) and two annual EOSC Symposiums have taken place since 2022, bringing together stakeholders from governments, research performing organisations, and research communities across Europe to reflect on the key achievements and strategic challenges of EOSC implementation, as well as to identify priorities for the years ahead.
An ‘EOSC Catalogue of Best Practices’ was published in 2023, with illustrative examples from committed countries on EOSC and Open Science practices targeting publications, data, software, infrastructure, etc.

Deploying the core components and services of EOSC and integrating existing data infrastructures in Europe.

The deployment of the EOSC is supported by relevant EU funding, under Horizon 2020 (2014-2020) and Horizon Europe (2021-2027). During 2023-2024, EUR 130 million are invested into contributing to the objectives of the EOSC Partnership. This is part of co-investment (with in-kind and financial contributions) by the EU and non-EU partners of at least EUR 1 billion foreseen for the period 2021-2027.
For example, the ongoing EOSC-FUTURE project (April 2021 – September 2023) aims to connect major stakeholders in the EOSC ecosystem, develop scientific use cases in collaboration with the thematic communities, consolidate an EOSC Portal cataloguing, and provide access to several EOSC resources. Other calls, such as the ‘Managed Services for the European Open Science Cloud platform’ and six new calls for proposals under INFRAEOSC support accessing quality FAIR services, consolidating the sustainability of the EOSC ecosystem, developing innovative services for EOSC Exchange.
Successful thematic demonstrations of EOSC use cases have also been deployed since 2020. The BY-COVID project (funded under Horizon Europe) aims to make COVID-19 data accessible to scientists in laboratories but also to medical staff in hospitals or government officials. Other key contributions are the Blue-Cloud initiative (Blue Cloud project under Horizon 2020 and Blue Cloud 2026 project under Horizon Europe) and the AquaINFRA project, which aim to connect FAIR scientific data on the marine and coastal environment, biodiversity, and the water cycle. These projects act as EOSC blueprints in their domains.
Finally, the EOSC Tripartite Governance has initiated a strategic discussion on the governance and sustainability options for EOSC after 2027, including the possible evolution of the current EOSC European co-programmed partnership after Horizon Europe.

Establishing a monitoring mechanism to collect data and benchmark investments, policies, digital research outputs, OS skills, and infrastructure capacities related to the EOSC.

At the end of 2022, the EOSC Steering Board expert group published an 'Opinion Paper on Monitoring Open Science' which made recommendations in line with short-term objectives related to monitoring progress towards Open Science policies, and practices in Europe. The recommendations include the implementation of several target indicators by 2024, for example policy on Open Access to publications, and policy on data management.
This is facilitated by the EOSC Observatory, a policy intelligence tool co-developed by the Commission, Member States, and Associated Countries. The tool, launched in November 2022, is a one-stop-shop providing policymakers with intelligence on Open Science implementation across Europe. This policy intelligence tool collects and visualises data on the implementation of EOSC policies, initiatives, and financial mechanisms in more than 30 contributing countries. Data and related analytical reports support the ERA Monitoring Mechanism, where appropriate.

In addition, the ‘Analysis of the Survey on National Contributions to EOSC 2021’ was considered for the subsequent paragraphs looking at the level of financial contribution, and the types of policies implemented on the national level. The was conducted among representatives of EU Member States and Associated Countries at the EOSC Steering Board, and aimed to collect data on measures, policies, and practices toward Open Science.

According to the EOSC 2021 survey, 62% of the committed countries have one or more policies in place promoting Open Science, with many policies being put in place in 2021. Based on information provided by the 2023 OECD STIP Survey, Figure 15 shows with respect to the estimated budget expenditure range for relevant policies that more than half of the monitored policies fall under lower budget ranges. Most policies are funded within a budget of EUR 1 million and 5 million (50 policies). The OECD STIP survey data includes initiatives that specifically target implementation of this ERA action, as well as those which have broader scope, but are also related to this ERA action.

Estimated financial contributions were most likely to come from relevant ministries (10 countries), and Research Funding Organisations (7 countries). Many policies fall under the budget range of between 5 and 20 million (36 policies), and of less than EUR 1 million (37 policies). With respect to the types of policy instruments, the most common (Figure 15) are policies on collaborative infrastructures (e.g., academic libraries) and governance support, such as national strategic documents across all three budget categories. Policies providing direct financial support tend to provide between EUR 1-5 million in support. An example of an initiative with a budget of more than EUR 500 million is the Digital Europe Programme at the EU level.

Figure 15: Action 1: Distribution of budget per policy instrument.

In terms of policy themes, the EOSC survey results showed that in 2020, 95% of existing policies in Member States and Associated Countries related to addressing open access to data, data management, and/or FAIR and policies addressing preservation and reuse of scientific information. However, the lowest percentage (48%) corresponded to policies addressing citizen science. Policies that were still in the planning phase at the time of the survey showed similar trends.

Action 2: Propose an EU copyright and data legislative framework for research

There are two key parts to Action 2: copyright legislation and data legislation (data access infrastructures). As foreseen, in 2021, four independent expert studies were commissioned by DG RTD and published in 2022 to examine the existing and possible upcoming barriers:

Study on EU copyright and related rights and access to and reuse of scientific publications, including open access - Exceptions and limitations, rights retention strategies and the secondary publication rights;

Study on EU copyright and related rights and access to and reuse of data;
Study on the Open Data Directive, Data Governance and Data Act and their possible impact on research;
Study on the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act and their possible impact on research.

The study on EUcopyright and related rights and access to and reuse of data, as well as the study on EU copyright and related rights and access to and reuse of scientific publications, including open access examined the impact on access to data resources for scientific research and whether EU copyright legislation in place (e.g. Information Society Directive, Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market) fosters the reuse of scientific publications, as well as fundamental rights of both authors and researchers within this framework.

There are legal barriers encountered by researchers and institutions when obtaining access to scientific publications due to the copyright and licensing conditions in publishing agreements. Non-legislative and legislative solutions are discussed including: rights retention strategy; targeted harmonisation of copyright contract law; making mandatory the scientific research exception of Article 5(3) (a) ISD; introducing an EU-wide Secondary Publication Right (SPR); and a European harmonisation of authorship and first ownership of copyright, in general or in scientific publications. Some Member States have already introduced amendments into their national copyright legislation enacting an SPR for publicly-funded scientific publications.

In terms of data legislation, two of the studies published in 2022 in turn examine the Open Data Directive, Data Governance Act, and Data Act, and the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, and their impacts on research. This includes access to data, research data sharing and reuse, impact on research performing organisations, research funding organisations, and research infrastructures.

Key challenges highlighted involve the fact that researchers feel a strong sense of ownership towards their research data and value ‘trust’ in data sharing; researchers criticised the lack of clear and specific legal framework for opening datasets, especially where there are regional specific policies and regulations to consider. For example: having few common standards in terms of structures, formats, language, security is an obstacle to sharing data; researchers indicate they do not always know how and under what conditions they can share confidential data; and researchers say that they have difficulties choosing appropriate data licenses.

As a continuation and accompaniment to these studies, there have been two workshops with ERA Forum representatives, experts, and other stakeholders. The first workshop, in June 2022, presented and discussed the results of the four expert studies. The second workshop, in February 2023, further identified barriers, challenges and potential measures to support an EU copyright and data legislative and regulatory framework fit for research. This was especially pertinent in light of the recent adoption of the Digital Markets Act and Digital Services Act, as well as the Open Data Directive, Data Governance Act and Data Act. The discussion highlighted that the differences in national rules regarding copyright and data legislation is making it difficult for the international research sector to access and share data in a secure and useful way.

Two new studies have been launched in 2023. One regarding EU copyright legislation to: i) evaluate the concrete effects of the EU copyright framework on research, including evidence/data gathering (literature review, consultation, interviews etc.) on concrete impacts on researchers, research funding and performing organisations and on other affected stakeholders, including copyright right holders; ii) to further elaborate on areas in need of improvement; and iii) to evaluate the effects of potential interventions.
The other concerned EU data and digital legislation to: i) identify the relevant provisions for researchers, research organisations, research infrastructures and research services providers under specific EU data and digital legislation; and ii) assess and present how they can comply with the obligations and benefit from the rights they may have under these acts.

This further work will feed into the proposals for legislative and non-legislative measures in 2024, which is the main aim of Action 2. Action 2 also contributes to various existing EU policies. These include the EU’s Open Science Policy, the EU’s Action Plan on Intellectual Property, and the Commission Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information. The way in which Action 2 contributes to these policy initiatives is detailed below.

An important aspect affecting the implementation of Action 2 is the close relationship of the ERA to the EU’s Open Science policy, which aims to foster a standard method of working under research and innovation programmes, improving the quality, efficiency, and responsiveness of research. Access and reuse of publications, data and other research results are at the core of Open Science and of the EU´s Open Science policy. As such, Horizon Europe beneficiaries are required to ensure immediate open access to scientific publications and the management of research data according to the FAIR principles.

The work under ERA Action 2 is also linked to the EU’s Action Plan on Intellectual Property. This was designed to help companies, in particular SMEs, to make the most of their inventions to ensure that these benefit our economy and society. The Plan aims to not only protect intellectual property, but also to boost the uptake of intellectual property by SMEs and facilitate the sharing of intellectual property to increase technological uptake in industry.

This further links to ERA Action 7 and the development of the Code of Practice for the Smart Use of Intellectual Property by the Commission’s Community of Practice dedicated to identifying best practices that can effectively boost intellectual asset management.

Further related to the management of intellectual property rights and promoting open access is the 2018 Commission Recommendation on access to and preservation of scientific information. This asks Member States to:

Set and implement clear policies (as detailed in national action plans) for the dissemination of, and open access to, scientific publications resulting from publicly funded research;
Ensure, in compliance with the EU acquis on copyright and related rights, that as a result of these policies or action plans, researchers, when entering into contractual agreements with scientific publishers, retain the necessary intellectual property rights, inter alia, to comply with the open access policy requirements. This concerns in particular self-archiving and re-use (notably through text and data mining);
Ensure that research funding institutions responsible for managing public research funding and academic institutions receiving public funding implement the policies and national action plans at national level in a coordinated way by providing guidance to researchers on how to comply with open access policies, and supporting them to do so, especially regarding the management of their intellectual property rights to ensure open access to their publications.

Action 3: Advance towards the reform of the Assessment System for research, researchers and institutions to improve their quality, performance and impact

The overarching aim of Action 3 is for research and researchers to be evaluated based on their intrinsic merits and performance rather than on the number of publications and where these are published, promoting qualitative judgement and peer-review, supported by a more responsible use of quantitative indicators.

The starting point of reforming the research assessment system was the 2018 Commission Recommendationto Member States to set and implement clear policies to reward a culture of collaboration and sharing of knowledge and data.

The improvement of the research assessment system was set as a strategic objective in the Commission Communication on a new European Research Area for Research and Innovation and reiterated in the Council Conclusions on the new European Research Areaof 1 December 2020. The Council conclusions on attractive and sustainable researchers’ careers and working conditionsof 28 May 2021 also stressed that research assessment system, which are an integral part of attractive and productive careers, should explore more talent-based and diversity-sensitive quality measurement systems.

Following the inclusion of the priority action for reforming the assessment system for research, researchers and institutions to improve their quality, performance and impact in the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024 within the path set by the Council Conclusions on Research assessment and implementation of Open Science of 10 June 2022, steps were taken to foster alignment on research and assessment reforms.

In December 2021, the European Commission issued a call for expressions of interest from stakeholder organisations to join the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA). As of September 11, 2023, the CoARA has grown to include 537 member organisations from around the world, all of whom have signed the agreement. The member organisations encompass various types, such as:

Universities, and their associations;
Research centres, research infrastructures, and their associations;
Academies, learned societies, and their associations, and associations of researchers;
Public or private research funding organisations and their associations;
National/regional authorities or agencies that implement some form of research assessment and their associations;
Other relevant non-for-profit organisations involved with research assessment, and their associations.

One of the most important milestones was the agreement on reforming research assessment of July 2022, which was one of the expected outcomes set by the ERA Policy Agenda 2022 -2024 (see 7.2 Achievements). The agreement established a common direction for research assessment reform, while respecting the signatory organisations’ autonomy. The core commitments include:

Recognising the diversity of contributions to, and careers in, research in accordance with the needs and nature of the research;
Base research assessment primarily on qualitative evaluation for which peer review is central, supported by responsible use of quantitative indicators;
Abandon inappropriate uses in research assessment of journal- and publication-based metrics, in particular inappropriate uses of Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and h-index;
Avoid the use of rankings of research organisations in research assessment.

The European Research Council (ERC), which signed the agreement on reforming research assessment, also contributes to improving the quality, performance, and impact of research. The ERC set up a task force to conduct a comprehensive examination of the ERC’s way to assesses researchers and research proposals, considering concerns expressed by the research community. Subsequently, the Scientific Council of the ERC approved modifications based on the task force's recommendations, which are implemented in the 2024 Work Programme.

The ERC reaffirmed its commitment to excellence as the sole criterion for selecting researchers and projects and implemented a shift towards a holistic and comprehensive evaluation of researchers beyond traditional metrices. To support diversity and fairness the changes will consider factors such as career stage and personal context, avoiding bias towards specific research types or outputs. The Scientific Council will closely monitor the effects of these changes and make refinements as needed in response to feedback from applicants, evaluation panels, and the broader scientific community.

Another example represents the Open and Universal Science funded under the ‘Widening participation and strengthening the ERA’ part of a Horizon Europe Call (Work Programme 2021-2022). The project develops coordination and support measures to reform the assessment of research and researchers at Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) and Research Funding Organisations (RFOs) towards a system that incentivises and rewards researchers to take up Open Science practices.

In addition to the CoARA and the ERC, national authorities and the European Commission are relevant actors in the . National authorities play a vital role in developing policies and legislative frameworks that support this reform and encourage collaboration among stakeholders. The European Commission acts as a facilitator in the preparation of the Agreement and has joined the Coalition as a research and innovation funder. The Commission participates on equal terms with other members of the Coalition in its operations.

Figure 16, below, which builds on data provided by the 2023 OECD STIP Survey, shows that most policy initiatives associated with Action 3 were implemented with a budget of less than EUR 1 million. 26 policies fall under a budget of less than EUR 1 million, while 10 policies are allocated between EUR 1 million and EUR 5 million. Additionally, eight policy initiatives received a budget of EUR 5-20 million, four initiatives received EUR 20-50 million, three initiatives received EUR 50-100 million, and four initiatives received EUR 100-500 million. Only one policy initiative benefited from funding exceeding EUR 500 million .

The policy initiatives with a high estimated budget expenditure were national-level funding programmes. The policy initiatives, benefitting from a budget of over EUR 100 million per year, were deployed in Hungary, Greece, Romania and Croatia, whilst the one policy initiative with over EUR 500 million was French. For instance, the General Secretariat for Investment in France holds the responsibility of maintaining the coherence of the State's investment policy. It accomplishes this by conducting assessments of investment projects and providing support while also facilitating thematic investment evaluation mechanisms.

National policy examples

At the national level, several policy debates are taking place related to Action 3. For instance, Slovenia has commissioned several research projects under the framework of Targeted Research Programs (CRP) to support the reform of science assessment in the country. Additionally, seven signatories of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) are actively involved in the implementation of Action 3. In Estonia, debates surrounding the diversification of research assessment reforms are gaining momentum. It is crucial to highlight that due to the high autonomy of Estonian research organisations, the development of career paths and researcher assessment systems is taking place in a decentralised manner.

Concerning the types of policy instruments employed to promote the objectives of Action 3, governance support (76%) is by far the most used policy instrument. Direct financial support (i.e., grants and public funding to promote the open science model) was also used, albeit significantly less (12%). Guidance, regulation, and incentives (6%) and collaborative infrastructures (5%) were less common, whilst indirect financial support was the least used instrument.

Action 4: Promote attractive research careers, talent circulation and mobility

ERA Action 4 is in line with the Commission Communication ‘A New ERA for Research and Innovation’, and with recommendations issued by the Council of the European Union in 2021. The Council Conclusions of 28 May 2021 on ‘Deepening the European Research Area: providing researchers with attractive and sustainable careers and working conditions and making brain circulation a reality’ called for a development of an ‘internal market for research’, which is able to provide better framework conditions for research careers.

The Council also referred to the revision of the 2005 Charter and Code for Researchers, which constitutes the basis for the . The need to promote the attractiveness of research careers and mobility was also outlined in the 2021 Council recommendation on a ‘Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe’, which underlined the need to equip Europe’s researchers ‘with the training and skills required to meet the changing needs of the researcher role across the Union’. The Council Recommendation on a European framework for research careers, proposed by the Commission in July 2023, responds to these calls. It also includes a new Charter for Researchers, developed following the guidance received from a dedicated report issued by the European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC).

Implementation modalities of Action 4 rely on close cooperation between the Commission, Portugal and the Coimbra Group, which offered to sponsor this action. Ad hoc workshops take place with the participation of Member States, Associated Countries, stakeholders and experts to discuss relevant topics. A synergetic approach with other ERA Actions is ensured. In this regard, in a first meeting of the ERA Forum Action 4 delegates hosted by the European Commission on 1 February 2023, synergies of this Action with Actions 3, 5, 6, 13 and 17 were highlighted.

In particular, the European framework for research careers will cover aspects related to Open Science (Action 1), researchers’ assessment (Action 3), gender equality (Action 5), freedom of scientific research (Action 6), and will support research careers in Higher Education Institutions (Action 13) and in research management (Action 17).

Regarding the first key strand of activities towards the development of a European framework for research careers, effective interaction with Member States, Associated Countries and stakeholders committed to Action 4 has allowed for a swift start of the implementation phase . This includes the adoption of the Commission Proposal for a Council Recommendation on a ‘European framework to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe’. The framework includes recommendations on:

The recognition of research professions, and interoperability and comparability of research careers;
Recruitment and working conditions;
Researchers’ skills for inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary careers and for entrepreneurship and innovation;
Career development and progression;
Balanced circulation of talents and making the Union an attractive destination;
Support actions for research careers;
Monitoring of research careers.

The proposal also includes in the annex the new Charter for Researchers.

Regarding the second and third key strands of activities, swift implementation also allowed for: the launch of the website to foster researchers’ transversal skills and support inter-sectoral mobility ; the launch of a Mutual Learning Exercise on Inter-sectoral mobility and knowledge valorisation, covering both Action 4 and Action 7; preparatory work for the development of the , of the Research and Innovation Careers Observatory, and of a Horizon Europe pilot in support of early-career researchers which will focus on an investment approach to support organisational change for attractive and interoperable research careers.

Action 4 is being deployed in synergy with other EU-level strategies, such as the European Strategy for Universities, which aims at developing a framework for attractive and sustainable careers in higher education ‘in synergy with the research career framework developed under the ERA’. The Strategy additionally aims at ensuring that universities provide the right tools to achieve excellence in research, a dimension that plays an important role in the effort to offer better working conditions and opportunities to researchers across the ERA.

As regards funding and funding opportunities in relation to Action 4, the Horizon Europe programme part dedicated to Widening Participation and Strengthening the ERA includes a dimension on reforming and enhancing the EU R&I system, which comprises an element related to the ‘attractiveness of research careers and the links with higher education’.

The achievement of ambitions under Action 4 is supported by Horizon Europe calls, such as: those related to gender inclusiveness, which participate in improving career paths in research; ERA-Chairs, which aim to attract high-level researchers to a university or research centre located in a Widening Country; ERA Talents, which aim to boost the interoperability of careers and employability of R&I talents; and ERA Fellowships, which are provided to excellent researchers undertaking cross-border mobility. The European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) actions are also worth mentioning, as they provide opportunities for researchers to boost their careers and contribute to promoting talent circulation.

In addition, as mentioned above, the RESAVER Pension Fund, created by a consortium of employers and initially supported by the European Commission through Horizon 2020, is closely related to also Action 4 as it offers a pan-European pension solution for research organisations and their employees. This initiative facilitates the mobility of researchers during their careers, enabling them to remain affiliated with the same pension arrangements when moving between countries and jobs. Under Action 4, RESAVER will be supported for wider uptake both in terms of geographical expansion and uptake in the countries where RESAVER is already operational, as well as the continuous improvement of its offerings.

The provides information on policies and initiatives at EU and national levels on trends in science, technology and innovation policy. Its 2023 edition provides additional relevant insights into budget allocation for policies related to Action 4.

Figure 19 below shows the distribution of budget allocation for policies related to Action 4 at EU level (27 Member States). It indicates that most Action 4-related policies tend to fall under the lower budget ranges, with the majority of policies being funded within a budget between EUR 1 million and EUR 5 million (205 policies) or of less than EUR 1 million (199 policies). Only 49 policies benefit from a funding range between EUR 100 and EUR 500 million. These policies are mostly related to EU funding (e.g., Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions) or Government investment policies at national level (e.g., ‘Pakt für Forschung und Innovation’ in Germany ). Examples of initiatives with budgets of more than EUR 500 million include German Research Foundation (DFG) grants and the Polish Operational Programme for Smart Growth, particularly the priority axis IV on ‘Increasing the Research Potential’ .

Figure 17 also shows the distribution of policy instruments related to Action 4 at EU level (27 Member States). The major policy instrument related to Action 4 is direct financial support (402 policy instruments), followed by governance instruments (142 policy instruments). Indirect financial support is the policy instrument used in a minority of cases (53 policy instruments). Overall, governance tools include strategies, plans, reforms, regulatory tools, consultations of relevant stakeholders, the development of standards and certification, or public awareness campaigns.

Direct financial support can include institutional funding, various types of grants, procurement programmes dedicated to R&D&I, loans, credit and scholarships, equity financing or innovation vouchers. Indirect financial support includes social contributions reliefs to foster corporate or private investment in R&D, as well as risk sharing schemes (i.e. to cover part of the losses that can be faced by lenders).

Figure 17: Action 4: Distribution of budget per policy instrument

Action 5: Promote gender equality and foster inclusiveness

The European Commission, through Horizon Europe, has addressed gender equality at three crucial levels, that support Action 5.

First, it has introduced having a GEP as an eligibility criterion for certain categories of legal entities – core ones for ERA policy – from EU Member States and Associated Countries. This is done through a self-declaration at the proposal stage. Random compliance checks will be conducted annually, and a pilot is ongoing. This will provide key insights on GEP implementation and hence, gender equality and inclusiveness progress in the ERA, and ERA-supporting Horizon Europe projects funded under the ‘Widening participation and Strengthening the European Research Area’ (WIDERA) work programme are also monitoring GEP implementation at the national and institutional levels.

Second, the integration of a gender dimension into research and innovation content is a requirement by default, unless the topic description explicitly specifies otherwise, and is evaluated under the excellence criterion.

Third, the programme has defined gender balance as a core objective. Therefore, it has set a target of 50% women in Horizon Europe related boards, expert groups and evaluation committees, and, furthermore, gender balance among researchers has been set as a ranking criterion for proposals with the same score.

The Horizon Europe WIDERA Work Programme directly supports the implementation of Action 5. Calls addressing inclusive gender equality in the ERA were launched as part of the 2021-2022 work programme. Additionally, further calls explicitly mentioning the objectives of Action 5 of the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024 are included in the 2023-2024 work programme, including the Policy support to facilitate the implementation of a zero-tolerance approach towards gender-based violence in the ERA.

Gender equality across the R&I ecosystem and, particularly, across R&I institutions has been strongly promoted through different EU-funded projects. In this context, project GENDERACTIONplus, funded under the 2021-2022 WIDERA work programme, was launched in June 2022, as a follow-up to project GENDERACTION . This project aims at supporting the coordination of gender equality and inclusiveness objectives of the new ERA through capacity building, mutual learning, and policy coordination. To this end, the project has formed two trans-national Communities of Practice, one of national authorities and one of national Research Funding Organisations.

Action 5 is also building on the Horizon 2020-funded project UniSAFE which focuses on gender-based violence (GBV) in higher education and research, and has generated new research findings into the severity of the issue across the EU, with 62% of the more than 42,000 student and staff respondents declaring having experience at least one form of GBV. The project has developed two White Papers and recommendations for key stakeholders and launched an extensive toolkit for research-performing organisations (RPOs) . The 2023 WIDERA topic on policy support for the implementation of a zero-tolerance approach towards GBV in the ERA will follow up on UniSAFE in supporting even more directly the specific related outcome set for Action 5, i.e., a strategy to counteract GBV, including sexual harassment, in the European R&I system.

The Action 5 work on GBV actually kicked off in November 2022 with the Czech Presidency Conference on Ending GBV in Academia and the resulting Call for Action, to which the Spanish Presidency responded in particular by organising a follow-up presidency conference in October 2023, both conferences showcasing the UniSAFE findings and tools.

At the EU policy level, there are initiatives such as the EU strategy for universities, in which the European Commission is committed to strengthening women’s and girls’ participation in STEM studies and careers through a roadmap of activities that have synergies with Action 5, just as Action 5 has synergies with other ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024 actions, in particular Actions 3, 4 and 13.

Furthermore, in 2022, through the Horizon Europe WIDERA work programme, the European Commission established the EU Award for Gender Equality Champions, a new prize recognising academic and research organisations driving the change towards gender equality in research and innovation through (inclusive) GEPs and which is meant as a complement to the GEP eligibility criterion introduced in Horizon Europe as well as an incentive for achieving the ERA Action 5 objectives.

Importantly, based on the impactful work developed by the ERAC Standing Working Group on Gender in Research and Innovation, the ERA Forum has set up a subgroup on Inclusive Gender Equality in the European Research Area to support the implementation of ERA Action 5. The subgroup kicked-off its activities in March 2023, is co-chaired by the Czech Republic, and gathers from 22 Member States, 3 Associated Countries, and 14 stakeholder organisations . Furthermore, a Task Force on GBV was created withing the ERA Action 5 in October 2023.

As highlighted earlier, Action 5 not only focuses on advancing gender equality but also on fostering inclusiveness, in particular through intersectionality. As defined by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), intersectionality is the ‘analytical tool for studying, understanding and responding to the ways in which sex and gender intersect with other personal characteristics/identities, and how these intersections contribute to unique experiences of discrimination’. However, to help better frame intersectionality and inclusiveness in the context of R&I, a policy-support project is funded under the 2021 WIDERA work programme, project INSPIRE, with the ambition of creating a European Centre of Excellence on inclusive gender equality in R&I .

National policy examples

Several national policies and initiatives have been developed in the past years to better support the inclusion of marginalised groups. The DG Research and Innovation pilot report on Approaches to inclusive gender equality in research and innovation (R&I) published in September 2022 compiles a review of emerging practices for inclusive gender equality in national R&I systems across Europe. For example, the Netherlands developed in 2020 an integrated ‘National action plan for more diversity and inclusion in higher education and research’ that includes other grounds of discrimination besides gender.

Another example is in Austria, where the National strategy on the social dimension of higher education - Towards more inclusive access and wider participation incorporates the intersectional perspective to gender equality . This strategy considers the interaction of ‘diversity markers’, which can be gender, ethnic/migrant origin, disability and/or chronic illness, a lower socio-economic background, care responsibilities, or early school leavers. In defining actions to enhance the access to higher education for underrepresented groups.

Similarly, in Norway, the Committee for Gender Balance and Diversity in Research (KIF) considers how gender and ethnicity interact and foster inequalities in higher education institutions and research institutes .

For further assessing the impact of its policies and the relation between gender equality and intersectionality, DG Research and Innovation also commissioned a study to examine the impacts that EU and national policies and programmes supporting or imposing Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) in research organisations have actually had on gender equality across the ERA. This study focused not only on GEPs but also on inclusive GEPs. The key research findings, good practice examples, and policy recommendations from the study were discussed in an event conducted in March 2023, and the study will soon be available.

In addition, the GENDERACTIONplus project has recently carried out a benchmarking on intersectionality and inclusiveness in R&I, which underscores that while intersectionality and inclusiveness are increasingly supported as a general approach, this principle has until now very rarely been operationalised in concrete policies and actions.

Finally, the 2023 OECD STIP Survey provides key information on policies and initiatives both at the EU level but also national on trends in science, technology and innovation policy. Regarding policies related to Action 5, the budget distribution presented in Figure 18 illustrates that the funds allocated to policies promoting ERA Action 5 tend to fall under the smallest budget ranges (less than EUR 1M, between EUR 1 and 5M and between EUR 5 and 20M), partially as a result of the prominence of governance as the policy instrument most used within this action.

Figure 18: Action 5: Distribution of budget per policy instrument

Action 6: Protect academic freedom

On 18 January 2022, the European Commission released a Staff Working Document on Tackling Research and Innovation Foreign Interference. It provides a comprehensive strategy for tackling foreign interference in EU HEIs and RPOs across four categories: values, governance, partnerships, and cybersecurity:

In terms of values, the strategy involves identifying countries and partner institutions where academic freedom is at risk, conducting vulnerability assessments, providing training to personnel, and supporting scholars and researchers working on sensitive topics.
The governance aspect emphasises the need for a Code of Conduct for Foreign Interference, the establishment of a Foreign Interference Committee, and procedures for identifying and addressing internal conflicts of interest.
Regarding partnerships, the strategy suggests developing risk management systems, performing due diligence on potential partners, negotiating robust partnership agreements, and monitoring their implementation.
Cybersecurity measures focus on raising awareness of risks, training personnel in cyber hygiene, implementing detection and prevention measures, and establishing incident response and recovery procedures.

National policy example

Beyond the EU, Norway has demonstrated a commitment to academic freedom through policy initiatives. In the recently revised Long-term Plan for Research and Higher Education, specific objectives and priority areas were outlined, serving as a tool for coordinating the government's research policy. The government's white paper on the governance of public universities and university colleges presented in 2021 by the Norwegian Parliament, explicitly supports academic freedom and university self-governance, proposing changes to implement this policy.

The European Commission published its European Strategy for Universities on January 18, 2022, committing to ensuring academic freedom in higher education institutions at the heart of all higher education policies developed at the EU level, as well as the Bologna Process. It was accompanied by a proposal for a Council Recommendation on bridging gaps for effective European higher education cooperation, as well as a European Commission staff working document on what is required to foster and protect academic freedom, institutional autonomy, and fundamental values. On April 6, 2022, the EU ministers for higher education adopted Council conclusions and recommendations for strategic autonomy and emphasise freedom of scientific research across Europe.

The Protection of Higher Education Institutions and Research Organisations against conventional and Non-conventional Threats project, launched in June 2021, is part of the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. The goals of this project are to enhance the awareness of HEIs and research organisations regarding both conventional and unconventional threats, to strengthen their capabilities to prevent and address non-conventional threats and to enhance their resilience. Additionally, it aligns with EU actions promoting academic freedom and seeks to advance the objectives of this ERA action .

Recognising the significance of academic freedom, EP President Roberta Metsola initiated the STOA initiative called the EP Forum for Academic Freedom, during a conference held on 28 November 2022. A key outcome of this initiative is the creation of an annual Academic Freedom Monitor, which will assess the state of academic freedom within the EU. The newly established EP Forum for Academic Freedom aims at raising awareness about the magnitude of threats faced by academics and scientists within the EU.

Action 7: Upgrade EU guidance for a better knowledge valorisation

On 22 December 2022, the Council of the EU adopted a Recommendation on the guiding principles for knowledge valorisation. The purpose of the Recommendation is to establish a unified approach to policy principles and measures for national, regional, and local policymakers, with the goal of optimizing the translation of research and innovation outcomes into solutions that have a positive impact on society. The Recommendation was enacted on 1st March 2023 to reinforce the implementation of the guiding principles in knowledge valorisation. A Code of Practice on intellectual assets management and a Code of Practice on standardization were adopted. These codes provide comprehensive guidance on managing intellectual assets and standardisation, respectively, offering more detailed support in these areas of knowledge valorisation.

To engage stakeholders and Member States in the implementation of the recommendations, the European Commission launched an Awareness raising campaign on knowledge valorisation in March 2023, which received much commitment from Member States for hosting national awareness raising events. In addition, the campaign also includes stakeholder events organised by the European Commission. In parallel, a Mutual Learning Exercise on knowledge valorisationwas launched in March 2023 with the aim of defining concrete operational recommendations and delivering a policy toolbox identifying best practices and strategies, helping to implement the guiding principles in the Member States.

In addition, a Coordination and Support Action on fostering knowledge valorisation through societal and cultural interactions is funded by the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. It aims to enhance collaboration between arts, citizens, and industry to foster innovative, socially accepted solutions to societal challenges, while engaging diverse communities and enhancing skill development for a prepared, recoverable, and transition-ready society .

The EU Knowledge Valorisation Platform facilitates the exchange of good practices on knowledge valorisation to enhance the capacities and skills of stakeholders at all levels in line with the EU guidance developed under Action 7. The registry of good practices, which is filled by Member States and stakeholders themselves, counts more than 100 examples from across Europe and covering all knowledge valorisation channels.

The EU Knowledge Valorisation Week is a yearly event that brings together knowledge valorisation actors across Europe. It provides a unique occasion for studying and learning from excellent examples, discussing current trends and challenges in valorisation, and highlighting opportunities with a wide range of stakeholders. The 2023 edition of the Week (25-28 April 2023) focused on knowledge valorisation for sustainability, management of intellectual assets and industry-academia cooperation. Two communities of practice were launched in March 2023 to develop further guidance for R&I actors in the field of industry-academia collaboration and citizen engagement for knowledge valorisation.

The EU has implemented a range of actions to promote knowledge valorisation and bridge the gap between research and practical applications. These actions include - among other initiatives- the contractual public-private partnerships (cPPPs) that aim to align public and private investments to expedite the translation of research findings from the laboratory to market-ready products and solutions, and the European Innovation Council schemes that support game changing innovations throughout the lifecycle from early-stage research to proof of concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scale up of start-ups and SMEs.

To support the early-stage development of research outputs, the European Research Council (ERC) offers the Proof of Concept (ERC-POC) program. The ERC-POC program provides funding to cover activities that bridge the gap between research discoveries and the commercial or social viability of propositions. By nurturing promising research outcomes, the program enhances the potential for economic and societal impact.

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) act as enablers for innovation, notably by attracting, training and retaining the research human capital that would drive innovation forward. With its emphasis on transferable skills training, inter-sectoral inter-disciplinary collaborations and promotion of innovative and entrepreneurial mind-sets, the programme nurtures the innovative potential of researchers in the EU innovation landscape.

In addition to these initiatives, the EU established EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs)that bring together businesses, research centres, and universities. Furthermore, the Standardisation Boosterwas established with funding from Horizon Europe, to assist researchers in testing the relevance of their results for standardization.

Other initiatives include the European IPR Helpdesk, which supports SMEs and research activities in managing and valorising intellectual property rights, and the IP Booster, a specialised service assisting public research organizations in extracting value from their research results. To enhance knowledge dissemination, the Horizon Results Platformserves as a central hub for showcasing the outcomes of Horizon 2020 projects, enabling stakeholders to connect with innovators and industry players.

With respect to budget the 2023 OECD STIP Survey shows (see Figure 19) that the funds allocated to policies strengthening the ERA Action 7 tend to fall under the medium budget ranges (less than EUR 1M, between EUR 1 and 5M and between EUR 5 and 20M), with fewer policies receiving high volume of fundings (between EUR 100M and EUR 500M and over EUR 500M). Examples of governance initiatives with budgets of more than EUR 500 million include the National Strategy for Research, Innovation and Smart Specialisation 2022-2027 in Romania and the Enterprise Policy - "To The Top" in the Netherlands. An example of a direct financial support instrument within the highest budget range includes the Programme of Revitalisation and Training on Processes of Exchange and Knowledge Transfer funded by the Spanish National Research Council.

With respect to the types of policy instruments being employed to push forward the objective of Action 7, direct financial support is the most used instrument. This financial support includes project grants, institutional funding for public research, credits, or loans for firms. The second two most used instruments are governance and guidance, regulation, and incentives. Governance entails instruments such as strategies, action plans, reform of governance structure or public awareness campaigns. Guidance, regulation, and incentives constitute instruments that ease business procedures, public practices and legislations, cross-border funding and adaptation of intellectual property.

Figure 19: Action 7: Distribution of budget per policy instrument

Action 8: Strengthen sustainability, accessibility and resilience of research infrastructures

As this Action by far pre-dates the first ERA Policy Agenda, a number of tools already exist to support its implementation. First, the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), established in 2002, is a platform for coordinating and prioritising the development of European research infrastructures, involving national governments, the scientific community, and the Commission. It plays a vital role in identifying and promoting key research infrastructures that are crucial for addressing major scientific challenges and driving European research and innovation.

The ESFRI Workplan for 2022-2023 is ambitious as it focuses on implementing a number of activities entrusted to ESFRI by the Competitiveness Council's Council Conclusions and Action 8 of the ERA Policy Agenda. To accomplish this, specialised ESFRI expert groups have been established to propose action plans and carry out mandates related to improving access to research infrastructures, ensuring sustainable funding, assessing impact, fostering industry collaboration, promoting international cooperation, conducting strategic analysis, enhancing transparency, and engaging stakeholders.

Second, the European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), established in 2009, reflects the European commitment to facilitating collaborative research and efficient utilisation of research infrastructures among member countries. The increasing number of ERIC applications and the growing community of established ERICs serve as clear indicators of the success of this legal entity. Furthermore, this success has served as an inspiration for the emergence of another distinct legal entity, the European Digital Infrastructure Consortium (EDIC) which focuses on advancing digital infrastructure initiatives within the European context.

National policy examples

Czechia has an Innovation Strategy and Smart Specialisation Strategy to prioritize R&D&I. It supports large research infrastructures, aims to strengthen collaboration between research and industry, and increase participation in EU Framework Programmes.

Cyprus is developing its National R&I Strategy 2030, which will address the government’s priorities in R&I and the needs of the national R&I ecosystem. The strategy will be based on the ‘Innovate Cyprus 2019-2023’ framework and the national long-term strategy ‘Vision 2035’. The pillar ‘competence and excellence’ aims to support research capacity and excellence by focusing on human resources, research infrastructures, and open science.

Finland is also committed to improving research infrastructures and creating an environment that fosters innovation within its commitment to reach a 4% R&D investment level by 2030. Efforts are being made to strengthen research infrastructure, including increasing funding for universities, universities of applied sciences, and public research institutes.

Third, research infrastructures are also recognised as a fundamental pillar within Horizon Europe and, hence, the key funding program for fostering research infrastructures in the period 2021-2027. Within the program, significant funding has been allocated to research infrastructures, including universities, public research organizations, and private research centres, to support their efforts in advancing knowledge, driving innovation, and addressing societal challenges. Horizon Europe offers various funding opportunities, such as grants for research projects, fellowships, and collaborative initiatives, enabling research institutions to pursue cutting-edge research and develop innovative solutions.

During the reporting period the following activities can be highlighted:

Strategic analysis of the European Research Infrastructure landscape.

The Landscape analysis is decoupled from the ESFRI Roadmap: a new methodology developed by ESFRI was implemented, with surveys, more strategic gap analysis based on user needs and considering impact as well. Ongoing work is taking place in parallel per large domain and on cross-cutting aspects with contribution of several ESFRI Groups.

Broader and more sustainable access for all countries to European research infrastructures and their services and revision of the European Charter of Access to Research Infrastructures.

Surveys to identify evolving needs and challenges to access were completed. Key findings and recommendations (on legal, institutional, financial and technical aspects) as well as main orientations for the revision of the Charter were discussed at within ESFRI and with ESFRI Stakeholders.

Update of the ESFRI Roadmap and implementation of the research infrastructures performance monitoring framework.

The steps towards the next ESFRI Roadmap and general timeline are under discussion. With regards to monitoring: a first batch of 12 ESFRI Landmarks was completed, and a public report is available (highlighting overall good performance of the RIs but sustainable funding still a challenge). A second batch (11 Landmarks) has been launched and will be followed by third and last batch (8 Landmarks).

Report on the ERIC Framework

The third Commission report on the application of the ERIC Regulation was adopted in August 2023. With 26 ERICs and several in the pipeline, the legal framework is instrumental in structuring and integrating resources within the ERA. However, the financial and operational sustainability of the ERICs remain a challenge. The report recommends that further effort is needed to strengthen the access of programmes of the ERICs and the availability of their services, to increase synergies among the different potential funding sources, to facilitate the engagement with international partners, and to address several operational challenges.

Increased cooperation between research infrastructures, e-infrastructures and stakeholders, including through EOSC.

Several cooperation channels have been put in place or have been reinforced, which includes regular engagement of the ESFRI Stakeholder Forum and the ESFRI-EOSC task force, which is to ensure a structured interface between the ESFRI Forum and the EOSC Steering Board beyond the current ad-hoc cooperation. It should help reduce the fragmentation of the research data landscape in Europe and assist in increasing FAIR research data productivity in Europe. Moreover, the ERIC Forum received a new Horizon Europe grant for further cooperation among ERICs, integration in ERA and contribution to EU policies.

Action 9: Promote international cooperation

In May 2021 the European Commission published a Communication on the Global Approach to Research and Innovation. It sets out the EU’s approach to international cooperation in R&I preserving openness, promoting a level playing field and reciprocity underpinned by fundamental values and strengthening multilateral partnerships. Key to this communication is the ‘Team Europe’ approach combining resources from the EU, its Member States, and the European financial institutions, in particular the European Investment Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to achieve greater impact.

According to the Team Europe Initiative and Joint Programming Tracker managed by the European Commission's Directorate-General for International Partnerships, in the area of Science, Technology, Innovation and Digital Team 33 Country Team Europe Initiatives (TEIs) and 9 Regional Team Europe Initiatives have been launched by May 2023. Regional TEIs have been launched in Latin America and the Caribbean, Middle East, Asia and Pacific, Neighbourhood and Sub-Sahara Africa.

In its Conclusions on the Communication of the Commission on the Global Approach to Research and Innovation (September 2021), the Competitiveness Council called on the Commission and the European External Action Service to ‘develop a European Science Diplomacy Agenda and to present it to the Council, to explore designating science focal points in order to ensure adequate capacities for science in Union delegations, to foster cooperation with Member States’ science counsellors in third countries, […] and to report to the Council on their progress by 2023.’

The Council Conclusions on the Future Governance of the ERA recommended “setting up a standing subgroup of the ERA Forum, co-chaired by Member States and the Commission, to take into account and continue the work done by SFIC”. On 15 February 2022, the mandate of the ERA Forum Standing Subgroup on the Global Approach was adopted. Its main tasks - as described in the mandate - echo the initiatives listed in the ERA Policy Agenda. Until October 2023, the standing sub-group of the ERA Forum on the Global Approach has met nine times.

By mid-2023, after various consultations with stakeholders, a draft structure of a European framework for science diplomacy has been developed, which is also reflected in the Global Approach Implementation Report published in May 2023. Following a discussion about science diplomacy at the informal Meeting of Research Ministers on 28 July 2023 in Santander, informal working groups involving both the science and diplomacy spheres will be set up to develop concrete proposals to be included in a future framework. A European Science Diplomacy Agenda launch conference has been scheduled for the end of 2023.

As regards the Multilateral Dialogue on Principles and Values, the Commission launched the multilateral dialogue with a successful event in July 2022 following the Marseille Declaration and the Council Conclusions for Principles and Values for International Cooperation in Research and Innovation. Following this launch event, a series of thematic workshops, each focusing a specific value or principle in R&I, have been held.

Two Team Europe pilots have been launched on China and on Africa. On R&I cooperation with China, work is being done in the framework of the EUKNOC 2.0, the EU R&I Knowledge Network on China. It has proven to be a valuable platform for Member States, stakeholders, and experts to exchange information and experiences regarding R&I cooperation with China and promote a common response. On R&I cooperation with Africa, a drafting team was established under the standing sub-group in 2022 which as a first step formulated an operational framework for how a Team Europe pilot might be developed in support of implementing the AU (African Union)-EU Innovation Agenda. The framework focusses on strengthened policy coordination as well as coordinated investment at EU and national level.

Last, but not least, as regards multilateral initiatives and platforms, the standing sub-group concluded that further discussions regarding the scope and the added value of the initiative was needed. The focus of the exercise would be on the cooperation and coordination between the Commission and the Member States in the context of existing R&I multilateral initiatives/platforms.

Beside the work in the context of the standing sub-group, international R&I cooperation is also a key pillar of Horizon Europe, thus underpinning ERA Action 9. Horizon Europe includes targeted actions with key non-EU partners, including the first ever 'Africa Initiative’ to enhance cooperation with Africa to promote actions targeted to finding locally adapted solutions to challenges which often hit Africa hardest. The calls for proposals require or encourage participation of African entities.

The 2023 OECD STIP Survey provides additional insightful information on the budget. The policies related to Action 9 are rather small in the majority (under EUR 1M and EUR, 1M-5M). The four policy initiatives linked to the highest budget (more than EUR 500 M) are related to direct financial support and governance (Figure 20). The governance instruments include the Bulgarian National Strategy for Development of Scientific Research 2030 and the Romanian National Strategy for Research, Innovation and Smart Specialisation 2022-2027. The direct financial support instruments include the contribution of the Slovak Republic to the Horizon Europe Framework Programme and the German membership to European Space Agency (ESA).

The policy instruments related to Action 9 fall mostly into two categories: direct financial support and governance. Guidance, regulation and incentives only account for few of the policies, while a considerable number of policies exist for collaborative infrastructures.

Figure 20: Action 9: Distribution of budget per policy instrument