Blog post by Stephen Wyber
Placing research at the centre of policy-making in Europe
Ever since the publication of the Mission Letters to European Commissioners-designate, MEPs and stakeholders alike have been looking through the available information, working out which themes and issues are likely to take up their time over the coming five years.
This is no different when it comes to work around research, where press coverage has highlighted the creation of new research centres, the ambition to increase funding, and research careers. Much of the work here is set to be included in the proposed European Research Area Act.
A clear tipping point for Europe?
However, while of course the detail does matter – and indeed can make the difference between success and disappointment – it is worth noting how significant it is that in the 10th mandate of the Parliament, we seem set to have a piece of legislation specifically focused on research.
Of course, the Regulations setting up Horizon Europe are also legislation, but stand apart from the more general nature of ‘Acts’ which aim to take a more holistic approach to dealing with issues (see, for example, the Digital Services and Digital Markets Acts).
Arguably, we may be on the point of a Copernican Shift in the way that Europe is looking at research: away from being a peripheral area that tends to be dealt with as part of other legislation (and is otherwise a question for funding and soft law), to one that is at the centre of rule-making.
Knowledge Rights 21 has been calling for such a shift since its early days. We see the consequences of laws that regulate the research sector, without fully considering what it needs. The inclusion, in extremis, of an exemption for research repositories from rules on upload filters in the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market and the sub-optimal rules on access to data for researchers in the Data Act are just two examples.
The consequence is that researchers, as well as the libraries and other institutions that support them, face barriers, complexities and uncertainties. None of these are likely to lead to increases in research productivity.
From words to action: the real work begins
With the clear calls in the Letta and Draghi reports to make research far more central to Europe’s plans for the future – calls which certainly appear to have been heeded by the incoming Commission – we can hope that we are in a better place now.
Of course, it is easy to say that research is now a core legislative priority, and another thing to do it. Among other Commissioners’ designate, old habits are arguably very much on display still. In the extensive discussion about simplification and competitiveness in the various hearings over the past fortnight, the focus is almost entirely on SMEs, forgetting that research institutions too are affected by regulation (in particular when engaging in research-industry collaborations). Look out for our longer report on the hearings shortly.
In the community working on research, we need also to be ready to seize the opportunity, and hold the incoming Commission to its word when it talks about meaningfully enabling the free movement of knowledge around Europe. We need to be readier to identify how legislation can help us advance science and research, be they related to researcher and institution contracts, copyright, data regulation, liabilities or more.
Then we need to mobilise to make sure that these ideas get onto the agenda, in addition to continuing to engage in funding programmes and ‘soft law’ processes. Indeed, such steps have the potential to enable greater value and impact from the sums that Europe invests in the field. With the European Research Area Policy Forum meeting tomorrow, 20 November 2024, in Vienna, it is a good time to build momentum.
Keeping the momentum going
In short, the telescope has turned around. The 10th mandate of the European Parliament has the potential to be the moment that a Copernican Shift took place in the way we consider research policy. However, the same telescope will swing back, unless we make sure to follow through.
19 November 2024
