On the basis of the publication of the A new ERA for Research and Innovation, the European Commission launched the ERA Forum for Transition in February this year to prepare the governance framework of the new ERA together with Member States. Tied to the Forum is an informal expert group, which will provide recommendations on the ERA governance framework, develop the first ERA policy agenda, and provide input on a new annual ERA scoreboard to monitor progress.

A first action of the Forum is to adopt a Pact for research and innovation in Europe with the objective to reinforce the commitment to shared policies and principles as well as making the ERA governance process more effective and impactful. As such, the Pact will set the direction for national and EU research and innovation policy for the next decade.

On 20 April, the expert group organised a first workshop with stakeholder organisation to receive feedback on the first draft agreement of the Pact outlining the values, principles, and first policy actions. Building on our earlier recommendations on the renewed ERA, ERRIN’s input centred around three key principles that would strengthen and make the ERA more impactful: broadening the scope by explicitly including innovation; integrating a place-based research and innovation ecosystem approach; and applying a truly multi-level governance model where the regional and local levels are included. Read our written input here.

To further shape the Pact, the Commission is inviting stakeholders to provide feedback until 13 May.

ERRIN will respond to this call for feedback and would like to hear your input.

ERRIN members can provide their input here by 11 May.

Read more about our work on the European Research Area here.