Annexes to COM(2014)575 - European Research Area Progress Report 2014 - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2014)575 - European Research Area Progress Report 2014. |
|---|---|
| document | COM(2014)575  |
| date | September 15, 2014 |
The European Commission, in close collaboration with the Member States and with the contribution of the Stakeholders Platform, has developed the ERA Monitoring Mechanism (EMM). The EMM is becoming an essential component in ERA policy-making. This enables us to monitor the degree to which Member States, research funders and institutions are supporting and implementing ERA.
The efforts of the ERA Partnership actors up to now have proven to be successful and the conditions for the completion of ERA are now in place. However, the completion of ERA, much like the internal market, is a gradual process. Commitment on the part of all ERA Partnership actors will be a key factor in speeding up the pace of implementation of ERA which currently varies at Member State, research funding and research performing levels. It depends very much on the quality of actions taken by those actors to effectively deliver on their commitments with tangible and measurable benefits for society.
3. FUTURE CHALLENGES
Implementation of ERA
Further implementation efforts are needed. The ERA Roadmap at European level will be developed by mid-2015. It will contain guidelines and key measures in order to address the remaining bottlenecks. It will be instrumental in guiding ERA implementation nationally, while acknowledging diversity of national research systems. Member States should pay greater attention to ERA when preparing national research and innovation strategies, implemented by tailor-made ERA national action plans and initiatives. Different options might be considered to foster the development of ERA, including the legislative options if need be, based on the new ERA-related provisions in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
In addition, the Commission will launch a debate with Member States on the best possible level of coordination and alignment of national research strategies and pooling of funding in the domains of the societal challenges in order to increase impact at EU level. Possible outcomes could include defining a level of national funding to be spent within a coordinated European framework and measures to increase the number of countries committed to Joint Programming.
In order to deliver essential sustainable European Research Infrastructures, there is a need for further synchronisation of national and European roadmaps on research infrastructures and the related pooling of funding.
Finally, international cooperation should be enhanced as a cross-cutting priority of the ERA actions. As stated in the International Cooperation strategy for research and innovation in its approach towards EFTA countries, EU enlargement countries and countries covered by the European Neighbourhood policy, the focus will be on fostering integration into, or alignment with ERA.
Involvement of new stakeholders
National and European stakeholders should be properly involved in the development of national ERA action plans, and hence in the implementation of ERA, in order to ensure their full commitment to the values and benefits of ERA. The Stakeholders Platform is a good instrument, contributing to ERA policy-making and implementation. It could be expanded to include more research players. The future success of ERA will depend on the buy-in and active mobilisation of researchers and stakeholders, so that research reflects society's needs and challenges.
Maximising the benefits of research and innovation activities for society
There is a need for tighter integration of research and innovation objectives in many related policies at European and national levels. ERA is focused on maximising the potential of Europe's open research systems and fostering innovation. By concentrating on research sectors, Europe can provide the framework for regions to specialise in their areas of expertise. This pan-European approach to smart specialisation will lead to a more consolidated research strategy where the best minds are pooled together to produce excellent research. Cross-border regional approaches help spread excellence in research and increase ERA compliance.
Achieving a fully functioning ERA must be a key goal of future research and innovation policy initiatives. This should acknowledge the need for science to deliver sustainable solutions to societal challenges, the growing demand for research integrity and accountability, and the drive towards a new mode of conducting and sharing research, i.e. Science 2.0.
Continued support for ERA by the European Commission
The Commission will continue to support Member States and research stakeholders in their efforts to strengthen ERA, by providing information on existing good practices. It will set up a policy support facility under Horizon 2020 and organise mutual learning seminars. It will ensure that Horizon 2020 supports the functioning of ERA through both targeted and cross-cutting measures. A clear example of EU support to ERA is the forthcoming Retirement Savings Vehicle for European Research Institutions (RESAVER)[26], which, by removing barriers to researchers’ mobility and ensuring safe and sustainable pensions for research professionals, will contribute to the establishment of a European labour market for researchers.
Strengthening ERA monitoring
The EMM is based on indicators and data gathering mechanisms, agreed with the Member States. ERA monitoring has proved useful in measuring progress made on the ERA policy actions. However, the exercise has its limits, given the voluntary nature of surveys, which limits the use of results for policy making. Further work is needed to identify and fine-tune essential indicators of progress in ERA and potentially expand the scope of EMM.
4. CONCLUSIONS
The report confirms that the ERA partnership has made good progress in delivering ERA. The conditions for the completion of ERA identified in the 2012 ERA Communication are now in place:
Member States increasingly adopt measures in support of ERA, and reflect them in their national reform programmes. The Stakeholder Organisations continuously support the ERA agenda. The EU has embedded ERA in the European semester, provides substantial funding for ERA measures and promotes open recruitment, open access to publications and data as well as gender equality through the Horizon 2020. A solid monitoring mechanism has been established and is delivering data on levels of progress. It is an essential component in ERA policy-making.
The completion of ERA, like the internal market, remains a gradual process. However, more efforts are needed to make ERA fully operational and, more than ever, it is now up to Member States and research stakeholders to implement the necessary ERA reforms and make ERA work.
Complying with ERA is associated with increased performance:
Open and attractive research systems are more innovative
· ERA compliant institutions produce a higher number of publications and patent applications per researcher.
There is no single path to achieve ERA. In particular:
ERA tends to be more effective when national measures are in place and supported by research funding and research performing organisations. Small research organisations appear to be less ERA-compliant than big research organisations.
[1] COM(2012)392 final
[2] idem
[3] COM(2012) 401 final
[4] COM(2012) 497
[5] Namely Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, Serbia, Montenegro and Turkey
[6] COM(2014) 339 final
[7] Facts and Figures report, Section ‘Competition for public funding’
[8] Furthermore, almost 70% of institutions represented in the 2014 ERA Survey belong to organisations whose funding is subject to an institutional assessment
[9] According to commitment 5 of the Innovation Union Flagship initiative
[10] MORE II study http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/pdf/research_policies/more2/Final%20report.pdf
[11] MORE II study. It is increasingly accepted that today’s doctoral candidates are trained not only for an academic career but will increasingly build a career outside academia. This requires the ability to adapt to another environment, the development of new skills as well as receiving the right training.
[12] Facts and Figures, section ‘Open, transparent and merit based recruitment of researchers’
[13] Based on the following three Innovation Union Scoreboard indicators: international scientific co-publications, scientific publications among top 10% most cited, non-EU doctorate students.
[14] In the course of a European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC) mutual learning seminar organised in 2014.
[15] jobs.euraxess.org
[16] Facts and Figures report, Section ‘Gender equality and gender content in research’
[17] Open access can be defined as the practice of providing on-line access to scientific information that is free of charge to the reader. In the context of R&D, open access typically focuses on access to 'scientific information', which refers to two main categories: Peer-reviewed scientific research articles (published in academic journals); Scientific research data (data underlying publications and/or raw data).
[18] COM(2012) 401 final
[19] The actions considered are not correlated. Only actions differentiating the implementation of ERA were included in the analysis.
[20] i.e. below 300 researchers for universities and 100 researchers for research performing institutions
[21] Facts and Figures report, Section ‘Why ERA?’
[22] The first of these roadmaps has been adopted by the Federal Government of Germany on 16 July 2014.
[23] See for example Science Europe Dec 2013 Statement on ERA: http://www.scienceeurope.org/uploads/PublicDocumentsAndSpeeches/120717_Science_Europe_ERA_Statement.pdf and LERU May 2014 briefing paper on ‘An ERA for a change’: http://www.leru.org/files/publications/BP_ERAOFCHANGE_FINAL.pdf
[24] Article 32 of the General Grant Agreement. http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/desktop/en/funding/reference_docs.html#h2020-mga
[25] Article 33 the General Grant Agreement
[26] http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/rights/resaver