Consolidating the European Research Area: for a stronger and more integrated ERA
26 January 2026
Coimbra Group’s input to the European Commission’s consultation on the development of the European Research Area Act
The Coimbra Group (CG) has submitted its contribution to the European Commission’s public consultation on the development of an European Research Area (ERA) Act. We welcome the opportunity to provide complementary input after the set of actions proposed at the call for evidence launched by the European Commission in summer 2025.
Our network has long advocated for a fully implemented ERA as a genuine single market for research and innovation, fostering free movement of researchers, scientific knowledge, and innovation across the EU. The ERA Act represents a critical opportunity to consolidate existing legislation and key policy frameworks into a robust and coherent single text, addressing long-standing structural fragmentation, capitalising on past achievements, and strengthening Europe’s global attractiveness and competitiveness in research and innovation.
Drawing on the collective experience and perspectives of CG member universities, the following actions could guide the development of the ERA Act:
- Promote stable, predictable and sufficient funding
- Reaffirm a stronger commitment toward the 3% R&D investment target
- Uphold international R&I cooperation
- Establish a proportionate EU framework for research security
- Support EU-level risk assessment and due diligence
- Scale up responsible research assessment
- Establish minimum standards for researchers’ rights
- Recognise the relevance of the research managers and administrators
- Improve employment conditions for postdoctoral researchers
- Strengthen the protection of academic freedom
- Reinforce gender equality, diversity and equal opportunities
- Enhance knowledge valorisation and societal impact
- Support Open Science practices
- Reduce administrative burden, harmonising R&I procedures
The CG Members highlighted the following challenges, needs and priorities:
- Multiple challenges in current levels of R&D investment, like difficulties in attracting
- private investment, regulatory and administrative burdens, and insufficient and unpredictable national funding
- Fragmentation in research security and due diligence
- Barriers to researchers’ mobility (fragmented employment and contractual frameworks, complex visa and residence procedures for non-EU talent, difficulties in recognition/portability of social security and benefits, practical family support issues)
- Clear minimum standards and enforceable expectations for research-performing organisations, combined with practical guidance and support for implementation
- Strengthen cooperation between universities, research organisations and businesses
- Address the challenges in knowledge valorisation, such as limited long-term incentives, complex administrative and procurement procedures, and intricate IP regulations
- Barriers related to the ethical use of AI, like legal uncertainty and inconsistent interpretations of what constitutes compliant and responsible AI use in research
- Discuss and address AI misuses, by adopting practical EU‑wide guidance, support institutional capacity‑building and validated tools, promote AI literacy and ethics training, add systematic monitoring, and adopt an adaptive regulatory approach