On Tuesday 10 March, the European Parliament adopted a resolution on the future legislative act on the European Research Area (ERA) by 399 votes to 78 with 69 abstentions (see EUROPE 13816/33). It calls for measures to strengthen private participation in the EU’s research and innovation (R&I) ecosystem, through closer coordination and public-private partnerships.
It also wants the legislative act on the ERA to include the European Union’s objective of investing at least 3% of the Union’s gross domestic product in research and development (R&D) by 2030, complemented by national targets for total R&D expenditure. It also calls on Member States to improve the coordination of R&D investment by means of national roadmaps and targets to ensure that public and private funding are complementary.
Furthermore, it adopted the amendment tabled by The Left Group, calling for greater support for public research by increasing funding for European programmes such as Horizon Europe and encouraging Member States to increase financial resources for universities and public research bodies.
“Once and for all, we have an opportunity to address longstanding challenges in Europe’s research ecosystem, from fragmented frameworks and uneven R&D investment to barriers for researchers’ careers and mobility. And we must do it right this time”, said the rapporteur, Eszter Lakos (EPP, Hungarian), during the debate the previous day.
Read the resolution: https://aeur.eu/f/l3x (Original version in French by Anne Damiani)