The EU Member States are already cooperating closely in research and innovation to ensure Europe's long-term competitiveness and economic growth and to address major societal challenges. Europe is in a good position with its 7 percent of the world population living in the EU, contributing almost 30 percent to global knowledge generation. But the global endeavor for knowledge and innovation is intensifying. For this reason, Europe needs an efficient and open common research area that attracts the best talent from around the world.

In this context, it is important to pool Europe's strengths and forge stronger links between national research and innovation activities. The EU Member States are therefore working with the European Commission to firmly establish a common research area in Europe. The aim is to create a genuine single research and innovation area. The European Research Area (ERA) is intended to guarantee freedom of movement for researchers and to enable the free exchange of scientific knowledge and technologies.

Priorities of the European Research Area

The ERA aims to improve the conditions for research and innovation in Europe. These goals are set out in the four priorities of the Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe that was adopted in November 2021.

1. Deepening cooperation and a "genuine single market for knowledge”

The ERA shall provide attractive career opportunities and conditions for researchers, encompass world-class research and technology infrastructures, open science practices, and gender equality.

2. Meeting the challenges of green and digital transformation and strengthening society's participation in the ERA

This includes encouraging increased business investments in research and development, supporting innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, and actively involving citizens in the research and innovation processes.

3. Access to excellence in research and innovation across the EU and better links between innovation ecosystems in the EU

The goal is to achieve balanced excellence across Europe and promote the circulation of researchers to elevate the overall level of excellence.

4. Advance concerted investment and reform in research and innovation

This involves closing the investment gap with other global regions, fostering coherence among national and regional research systems, and working toward the objective of allocating three percent of the EU's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to research and development (R&D) to maintain competitiveness, particularly during times of crisis.

A key aspect of this process is to integrate the different science systems of the EU Member States and regions to a greater extent without losing their diversity, which represents their major strength.

A Long Way

The European Commission formulated the idea of a European Research Area for the first time in 2000 in its Communication "Towards a European Research Area". EU measures have been pursuing the goal of completing this common research area ever since. The focus is on strengthening joint research and innovation. The central idea of a common research area was incorporated in the Treaty of Lisbon, which took effect in 2009. Since then, the European Commission and the Member States have repeatedly demonstrated their willingness to develop the European Research Area in a number of policy documents. For example, the ERA is part of the Innovation Union Flagship Initiative and thus an objective of the comprehensive Europe 2020 Strategy, which provides the basis and direction for European policy.

Meanwhile, the ERA is considered to have been completed in principle. Nevertheless, it must be constantly enhanced in order to make full use of Europe's existing research and innovation potential in the global competition for knowledge and innovation. The Federal Ministry of Education and Research is working with other German government departments to achieve this goal. Germany was the first EU Member State to present a national strategy for the European Research Area in 2014. In November 2023, the Federal Government adopted a National Action Plan for the European Research Area (ERA) which will the foundation for the strategic direction of German EU research and innovation policy until 2027.