Coimbra group provides feedback on Call for Evidence on ERA Act

The Coimbra Group (CG), an association of European comprehensive, multidisciplinary universities in 22 countries, has published its feedback to the European Commission’s Call for Evidence on the forthcoming ERA Act, welcoming the Commission’s initiative to strengthen the ERA.

The Coimbra Group notes that voluntary commitments by Member States alone so far have not proved sufficient to remove the structural obstacles to realising the ERA’s full potential and the achievement of the “fifth freedom”. This urgency has been echoed in the 2024 ERA Communication and in recent reports by Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi, amongst others. The Coimbra Group strongly supports the European Commission’s problem assessment and endorses the solutions proposed.

The Coimbra group proposes the following actions, based on the needs and considerations expressed by CG members, for the development of the ERA Act or related EU legislative acts:

• Integrate a binding target of at least 3% of GDP for investment in R&D, complemented by a specific target for public sector funding.
• Reinforce institutional autonomy: an ERA Act could potentially further enshrine this principle, for instance, by laying the basis for a system of “ombudsmen” or similar, that could react to infringements of institutional autonomy.
• Simplify and harmonise visa and residence rules for international researchers.
• Strengthen and streamline legal and financial safeguards to enable universities and their researchers to focus primarily on research and fully benefit from the realisation of the ERA.
• Recognise challenges specific to gender and support inclusive policies for disabled and minority staff.
• Establish common minimum standards for researcher careers and contracts, while preserving institutional flexibility.
• Support sustainable infrastructures and staffing for Open Science, including FAIR publishing models.
• Advance recognition and assessment reforms in line with CoARA principles, recognising diverse research outputs (regardless of format or language) and valuing researchers’ broader contributions to society.
• Provide clarity and incentives for university–business cooperation, including recognition of knowledge transfer in assessment frameworks.
• Better protect fundamental academic values, starting with institutional autonomy and academic freedom. This could also include safeguards for whistle-blowers.
• Create a harmonised framework for a sustainable, equitable Open Science ecosystem.
• Strengthen digital sovereignty, reduce reliance of universities on proprietary providers and closed, non-interoperable systems.
• Collect reliable national-level data on research careers and mobility (including at PhD level).
• Ensure the portability of pensions and social benefits for researchers.

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Paving the way for the European Research Area Act Input from the Coimbra Group