01 Feb 2024
Research and higher education organisations' open letter calls for consideration of sector's needs in legislation
A number of European organisations representing the research and higher education sectors have addressed an open letter to Ilze Juhansone, Secretary-General of the European Commission (EC), calling on the Commission to better consider the sector’s needs when developing legislation. In particular, the eight signatories pinpoint prioritising research and education in the ex-ante impact assessment process as a key measure to achieve this.
The organisations point out that European regulations and directives have frequently been proposed with far-reaching consequences for universities, research centres and the people who work there, but with little or no consideration of these implications.
The letter of 31 January 2024 proposes concrete steps, including a review of the Union's Innovation Principle, which is currently focused only on private-sector research, as well as an update of its tools for impact assessment and more effective outreach both between European Commission's services and to stakeholders. Finally, it urges rapid steps to correct the uncertainties caused by recent legislation.
The signatories of the open letter include the European University Association (EUA), The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), Knowledge Rights 21 (KR21), LIBER (Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche – Association of European Research Libraries), Science Europe, SPARC Europe, and Stichting eIFL.net (EIFL).