ALLEA publishes response to Call for Evidence on ERA Act

ALLEA, the association representing the European Academies of Sciences and Humanities, published its response to the European Commission's Call for Evidence on the ERA Act on 27 September 2025. ALLEA welcomes the European Commission’s proposal for such an ERA Act as a major step toward a fully integrated single market for research, knowledge, and technology. The Act should build on existing initiatives, legally anchor the 3% R&D investment target, and address persistent disparities across Member States and regions. According to ALLEA, this requires transparent national plans, measurable milestones, and targeted capacity-building measures for smaller and less-developed regions to strengthen infrastructures, avoid brain drain, and enhance participation in ERA priorities.

Furthermore, ALLEA stresses that the ERA Act must improve framework conditions for researchers by creating stable and attractive career pathways, particularly for early- and mid-career researchers, including portable and flexible funding schemes such as starter and smaller grants. It should harmonise recognition of qualifications, simplify mobility procedures, and institutionalise family-friendly provisions. The Act should also advance Open Science through sustainable and equitable mechanisms, strengthen the resilience of research infrastructures, and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy in funding while safeguarding the integrity of peer review.

ALLEA emphasises that academic freedom should be legally anchored in the ERA Act, research integrity and ethics promoted (including for emerging technologies such as AI), and equality, diversity, and inclusion systematically strengthened. Excellence-driven, investigator-led research, including the ERC, must be preserved and reinforced, the association points out. At the same time, the ERA Act should foster responsible openness to global collaboration, ensure proportionate research security, and explicitly integrate the social sciences, humanities, and arts into European research strategies. ALLEA is convinced that by embedding these principles, the ERA Act can deliver a truly inclusive, open, and competitive ERA that supports trust in science and benefits society across Europe and beyond.

Finally, ALLEA regards the ERA Act as a historic opportunity to create an integrated and competitive single market for research and innovation. To succeed, it must: legally anchor investments, align EU and national priorities, improve framework conditions, safeguard fundamental values, ensure inclusivity across disciplines and regions, and reduce unnecessary bureaucracy.

For more information:

ALLEA's response to the Call for Evidence on the ERA Act