Future of ERA

This section provides background information, input papers on developments discussions on the future of the ERA until 2021.

In 2020, the European Research Area celebrated the 20th anniversary of its launch. Over the last two decades, a wide range of ERA-related policy reforms and initiatives have been successfully implemented, contributing towards the overarching objective of realising the ERA. The need for a new ERA paradigm was recognised in the European Leaders’ agenda 2019-2024 which underlined that "we must step up investment in people’s skills and education, do more to foster entrepreneurship and innovation, and increase research efforts, in particular by addressing the fragmentation of European research, development and innovation".

Against this background, an ERAC Ad-hoc Working Group on the Future of the ERA was established in 2019 and prepared the ERAC Opinion on the future of ERA.

On 30 September 2020, the European Commission presented its Communication on a New European Research Area.