Advancing concerted research and innovation investments and reforms

18. Support the development of EU countries’ national processes for the ERA implementation

In the past, Member States and Associated Countries taking part in the ERA were required to develop National Action Plans, as part of the ERA Roadmap process agreed in 2015. Measures, actions, and initiatives were set out in line with the EU common approach but also contained actions that were country and context-specific. For some ERA countries, this was a helpful effort, having a positive structuring effect to achieve the ERA objectives.

Taking into account the diversity of national R&I systems, Member States can choose to develop a tailor-made national process or policy vehicle, for example, in the form of a National ERA Action Plan or Roadmap in the future. This action would be on a voluntary basis and help identify running or planned measures at the national or regional level considered to be best suited to contribute to the implementation of the ERA policy agenda. The action would also provide coordination between the EU and Member States on the definition and implementation of a national ERA policy approach.

OUTCOME
• Provide coordination between EU and Member States on the definition and implementation of national policy approaches supporting ERA

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ACTION HAS BEEN SUBMERGED INTO OTHER ACTIONS

19. Establish an ERA monitoring system

The Council Recommendation on a Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe states that “the Member States and the Commission should implement an enhanced monitoring mechanism, to ensure a proper basis for evidence informed policy making in the ERA and to provide evidence and analysis in the context of the European Semester”.

The new ERA monitoring mechanism shall be designed to assess the implementation of the ERA Actions and to measure progress towards the ERA priorities both at EU- and national levels.
In detail, this Action was defined to achieve the following outcomes:

An online ERA Policy Platform to serve as an umbrella tool for sharing information on the implementation of Actions and allowing exchanges between all actors.;
An ERA Scoreboard to show the overall progress at EU level for a limited number of indicators in view of realising the ERA priorities (as defined in the Pact for R&I);
An ERA Dashboard to provide a more detailed monitoring of the overall progress at national level in view of realising the ERA priority areas (as defined in the Pact for R&I);
A report on the state of play of the implementation of the ERA Policy Agenda and the progress made towards the ERA objectives (as set out in the Pact for R&I) at EU-level every 18 months (“EU-level Report”);
Annual reports on each Member State’s progress in the implementation of the ERA (“ERA Country Reports”).

With the support of these different tools, the aim is to identify barriers and challenges in the achievement of the ERA Actions and priorities, outperforming and less performing actions as well as good practices which should feed and reshape EU and national policies to effectively accomplish the defined milestones and objectives.

20. Support research and innovation investments and reforms

This action will assist interested Member States in voluntarily translating the R&D investment targets at national level taking into account their specificities. The main objective of this activity is to build evidence and foster debates strengthening transformative R&I policy. It also aims at maximising the impact of R&D investments directed to the green and digital transitions as well as economic recovery.

In order to implement this process, the action will:

• Provide new knowledge and evidence on the R&D investment targets and the need for directionality, duly considering existing capacities in R&I areas, domains and technologies. The action will provide solid analytical work and targeted analyses for each interested Member State.

• Contribute to the organisation of joint policy and technical discussions with Member States, experts and stakeholders to reflect on the targets and commonly agree on their specificities as well as on the process and methodology for their potential roll out at national level.

• Frame the setting up of bilateral debates with interested Member States to voluntarily translate the targets in the national contexts. This action will provide quantitative information, including from joint work and cooperation with Eurostat as well as the OECD.

OUTCOME:
• Develop and promote the adoption of a policy and investment approach, through bilateral and multilateral policy dialogues in order to support interested Member States in prioritising R&I investment, including synergies between EU and national programmes and apply structural reforms.

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS ACTION IS CURRENTLY NOT IMPLEMENTED