27 May 2025
YERUN welcomes new ERA Policy Agenda with further recommendations
YERUN, the Young European Research Universities Network, has published a statement welcoming the agreement on the next ERA Policy Agenda 2025-2027 by the Council Competitiveness on 23 May 2025. YERUN recognises the ERA Policy Agenda (EPA) as a valuable framework for translating shared European research and innovation (R&I) goals into concrete outcomes, and states that it will continue working on these goals, although not all elements included in the EPA 2025-2027 align with YERUN’s priorities.
YERUN welcomes the new EPA architecture as being clearer and more coherent than the previous one. In particular, it welcomes the division into a forward-looking policy narrative, a set of Structural Policies, and the targeted actions on emerging or pressing R&I issues. Having been involved in the preparation of the EPA at the ERA Forum as a stakeholder, YERUN particularly praises the collaborative approach and structured engagement there, and the co-creation among the European Commission (EC), Member States (MS), Associated Countries, and stakeholders.
YERUN also provides some recommendations it regards as essential for the successful development of the ERA and the effective implementation of the second EPA:
- maintain the stakeholder engagement approach embedded in the ERA Forum’s working methods, and increase efforts to strengthen national-level dialogue mechanisms with stakeholders across Member States.
- sustained national commitment is a necessary precondition to any debate on the EPA’s implementation.
- strong synergies among MS and between the European Union (EU) and the national level are essential to ensure that the benefits of ERA implementation are widely felt – across all levels of governance, within societies and at the local level.
- YERUN calls for the ERA Act to legislate on reducing fragmentation amongst MS and to realise the fifth freedom to integrate research, innovation, knowledge and education into the European Single Market.
- YERUN agrees with the priority areas of the Council Recommendation on boosting R&I investments and adopting structural reforms, and strongly calls for a commitment to achieving the 3% target for R&D investment to be included in the ERA Act.
- YERUN welcomes initiatives at the EU level, such as the ‘Choose Europe for Science’ 500 million package for 2025-2027.
- Member States and the EC should remain supportive of the full involvement of countries associated to the Horizon Europe programme and of EU-level umbrella stakeholder organisations in implementing the second ERA Policy Agenda.
- YERUN welcomes the integration of the EPA with other EU frameworks – such as Horizon Europe, the European Education Area and the Digital Europe Programme, while ensuring transparency and progress monitoring through instruments like the ERA Scoreboard and Dashboard.
Finally, YERUN reaffirms its full commitment to co-shaping and co-implementing the second EPA, and to building an ERA that enables Europe’s universities to contribute fully to societal progress, innovation, and sustainable development.