Brussels, 23 May 2025 — EU Member States' ministers formally adopted the European Research Area (ERA) Policy Agenda 2025–2027 at the Competitiveness Council on 23 May, establishing a three-year framework that translates the EU's strategic research and innovation priorities into concrete joint actions. The adoption coincided with the 25th anniversary of the European Research Area and was announced alongside the launch of the Choose Europe for Science talent attraction initiative.
The new agenda builds on the achievements of the first ERA Policy Agenda covering 2022–2024 and represents the operational backbone of Europe's coordinated approach to research and innovation policy through 2027.
The Fifth Freedom
At the heart of the ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027 is the concept of a "fifth freedom" — a single market for research, innovation, and technology — sitting alongside the four existing freedoms of the EU single market (goods, services, capital, and people). The agenda aims to make open science the "new normal" by facilitating the sharing and reuse of research data, and to remove barriers to cross-border research collaboration.
Three Strategic Objectives
The ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027 pursues three overarching objectives:
1. Enhancing EU Competitiveness and Strategic Autonomy
By coordinating dedicated investments and reforms in research and innovation, the agenda aims to strengthen Europe's capacity to develop and deploy critical technologies, reduce dependencies in strategic areas, and maintain its position in the global R&I landscape.
2. Strengthening EU Excellence and Global Attractiveness
The agenda seeks to streamline research career paths, facilitate researchers' mobility and knowledge sharing across Europe, and promote access to cutting-edge research infrastructures. This objective is closely linked to the Choose Europe for Science initiative, which aims to attract top global talent to European institutions.
3. Enhancing Sustainable Development and Societal Impact
Through coordination of R&I efforts in industrial transformation and synergies with other policy areas, the agenda aims to maximise the contribution of research to Europe's sustainability goals and societal challenges.
Structural Policies and Joint Actions
The agenda outlines 11 long-term structural policies and 8 specific actions designed to address current challenges. Key priorities include:
| Policy Area | Focus |
|---|---|
| Open Science | Advancing the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) federation; making open science the default mode for publicly funded research |
| Research Assessment Reform | Implementing the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) principles; moving away from metric-based evaluation toward qualitative assessment |
| Research Careers | Streamlining career paths, improving working conditions, facilitating mobility across borders and sectors |
| Research Infrastructures | Strengthening and connecting European research infrastructure capacities |
| AI in Science | Addressing the role of artificial intelligence in research — both as a tool and as a governance challenge |
| Research Security | Developing frameworks to protect research integrity and intellectual property in an era of geopolitical competition |
| Science for Policy | Strengthening the evidence base for policymaking through structured engagement between researchers and policymakers |
Open Science as Structural Policy
The agenda reaffirms open science as a core structural policy for the European Union. This commitment is operationalised through several instruments:
- European Open Science Cloud (EOSC): The agenda supports the federation of EOSC, which entered its build-up phase in March 2025 with 75 organisations convening in Brussels. The EOSC Steering Board has framed the initiative as a cornerstone of the fifth freedom.
- Research Data Sharing: The agenda promotes FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable) data principles and encourages Member States to adopt national open science policies aligned with the EU framework.
- UNESCO Alignment: The agenda's open science priorities align with the UNESCO Recommendation on Open Science (2021), which is undergoing its first global monitoring cycle in 2025.
Research Assessment Reform: The CoARA Connection
The ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027 explicitly supports the implementation of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA), which has grown to nearly 1,000 signatory organisations from over 40 countries. The agenda encourages Member States and research institutions to move beyond simplistic metric-based evaluation (e.g., journal impact factors, h-index) toward qualitative, peer-reviewed assessments that value a broader range of contributions, including open science practices, teaching, and societal impact.
Implementation and Governance
The agenda was developed through the ERA Forum, a collaborative body bringing together the European Commission, Member States, and associated countries, ensuring a cohesive approach to research and innovation across the EU. Implementation will be monitored through a structured governance framework, with progress assessed against specific milestones and indicators.
The agenda's adoption on 23 May 2025 was accompanied by several concrete announcements:
- The Choose Europe for Science platform, consolidating 60+ funding schemes on EURAXESS
- A proposed €230 million ERA Chairs call under Horizon Europe 2026–27
- The MSCA Choose Europe for Science Pilot, launched on 15 May with €22.5 million
The 25th Anniversary Context
The adoption of the new ERA Policy Agenda in the 25th anniversary year of the European Research Area carries symbolic weight. Since the ERA's inception in 2000, the landscape of European research has been transformed by successive framework programmes, the expansion of the EU to 27 Member States, and the growing integration of research policy with broader economic and strategic objectives.
Looking Ahead
The success of the ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027 will depend on the willingness of Member States to implement reforms at the national level — particularly in areas where competence remains primarily national, such as research career structures, tenure systems, and national funding allocation. The agenda's non-prescriptive nature, while allowing for contextual adaptation, also risks uneven implementation across countries.
The European Commission has indicated that a renewed European Research Act — legally embedding the freedom of scientific research — will be proposed as part of the agenda's implementation, potentially providing a stronger legal foundation for ERA reforms in the years ahead.
Sources:
- European Commission, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, "Choose Europe for Science: EU comes together to attract top research talent," 23 May 2025
- European Commission, ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027, european-research-area.ec.europa.eu
- Inspiring ERA, "European Commission adopts ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027: A renewed vision for research and innovation," 2025
- GRASPOS, "Open Science and Research Assessment Reform: Key Priorities in the ERA Policy Agenda 2025–2027," 2025
- CoARA (Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment), coara.org
- European University Association, "Horizon Europe work programme 2025: new funding opportunities for universities," 16 May 2025
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Institutional Research Desk · Foresight Institute of Research and Translation
The collective editorial and research translation board of FIRAT, synthesising peer-reviewed evidence, policy briefs, and division milestones across our seven foundational research pillars.
