EUA publishes its response to Call for Evidence for the ERA Act

The European University Association (EUA) has published its response to the European Commission’s call for evidence on the future European Research Area Act (ERA Act), which closed on 10 September 2025.

The EUA calls the ERA Act "a promising step towards the full achievement of the ERA and the Single Market’s fifth freedom, i.e. the free movement of knowledge, research, innovation and education", and as "essential to overcome the structural obstacles that the voluntary nature of the ERA Policy Agenda has failed to address".

In its response, EUA includes the following six recommendations:

1. The ERA Act should improve researchers’ working conditions and allow more flexible career pathways, as well as provide incentives to foster researchers’ mobility.
2. The fifth freedom should encompass knowledge in all its dimensions.
3. The Act should support a harmonised framework for an equitable open science ecosystem.
4. Knowledge valorisation efforts should provide legal clarity on how to rethink academic structures to give more incentives for innovation.
5. Any measure to protect and support the freedom of scientific research should be mindful of pre-existing frameworks.
6. To reach the target of investing 3% of GDP in R&I, Member States must commit to reforms and significant national investments.

The EUA generally calls on the EC to better consider the higher education sector’s needs when developing EU legislation. The Act should therefore introduce a ‘university check’, actively involving universities to assess the impact of new legislation on education and R&I activities, ensuring it is ‘fit for research’.

At the same time, EUA warns against potential unintended consequences of the future Act, such as onerous compliance requirements. Policy measures should instead safeguard the flexibility and autonomy of universities. The ERA Act should also foster synergies with the forthcoming Innovation Act, the European Education Area and European Higher Education Area.

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European Research Area Act: EUA response to the European Commission’s call for evidence