ERA position on the European Research Area Act

The European Alliance for Research Excellence (EARE) supports the European Commission’s ambition to advance a European Research Area (ERA) that enables the free circulation of researchers, scientific knowledge and technology. The forthcoming ERA Act offers a critical opportunity to strengthen Europe’s research and innovation ecosystem by combining increased R&D investment with openness, legal certainty and effective knowledge valorisation.

EARE considers that funding alone will not close Europe’s innovation gap. Persistent legal, technical and financial barriers continue to limit access to and reuse of publicly funded research outputs, restrict text and data mining (TDM), and slow the circulation of knowledge across sectors and borders. Strengthening and clarifying the legal framework for open science, including copyright-related provisions, is essential to ensure that increased investment translates into competitiveness and societal impact.

1. Making the free circulation of scientific knowledge enforceable by removing legal and technical barriers

EARE strongly supports the EU’s objective to establish the free circulation of scientific knowledge as a cornerstone of research excellence, innovation and competitiveness through the ERA Act, in line with the vision of the “Fifth Freedom” proposed by Enrico Letta’s report. The ability of researchers to access, analyse and reuse knowledge and data generated with public funds is essential for maximising the value of public investment and fostering cross-border and cross-sector collaboration.

However, despite progress on open access, significant legal and technical obstacles remain. A substantial share of publicly funded research is still locked behind paywalls and technical protection measures (TPMs), limiting access to publications and datasets, constraining TDM, and introducing bias into research outcomes. Fragmented copyright rules, rising costs of access to scientific information, and insufficient interoperability and standardisation of research data further hinder reuse and cross-border/cross-sector cooperation, including for data-driven technologies such as artificial intelligence.

The ERA Act should therefore establish a clear and enforceable framework that enables the effective circulation and reuse of scientific knowledge across the Union. This includes supporting open access, notably through the introduction of EU level secondary publication rights, ensuring that researchers retain the necessary rights to share and reuse their work, and investing in trusted infrastructures that facilitate access, interoperability and reuse. By removing unnecessary barriers, the ERA Act can strengthen knowledge valorisation and ensure that Europe’s research system fully leverages publicly funded knowledge for scientific, economic and societal benefit.

2. Maximising R&I potential through robust TDM exceptions

Access to large-scale datasets and the ability to analyse them is essential for modern research and innovation. EARE therefore calls for stronger and clearer TDM exceptions under Articles 3 and 4 of the Copyright in the Digital Single Market Directive, in line with the ERA Act’s broader objective to remove barriers to knowledge circulation.

A key challenge in this regard is the outdated distinction between commercial and non-commercial research in copyright rules. Today’s research increasingly relies on mixed funding models, public-private partnerships (including between academia and industry) and collaborative ecosystems that blur this distinction. This ambiguity creates uncertainty for researchers and limits the use of TDM, particularly in those cross-sector collaborations that are essential for translating research results into innovative solutions, including in areas such as health and medicine.

The ERA Act should therefore move beyond the obsolete commercial/non-commercial distinction, ensure legal certainty for TDM in public-private partnerships, and enable researchers, innovators and startups to analyse lawfully accessible content without undue restrictions. Clarifying and strengthening TDM rules would directly support open science, foster cross-sector collaboration and reinforce Europe’s capacity for data-driven research and knowledge valorisation.

The way forward

EARE believes that the European Research Area Act can be a transformative instrument for Europe’s research and innovation ecosystem, but only if it couples increased R&D investment with decisive action to remove barriers to data openness, access and reuse.

By strengthening TDM exceptions for research and innovation, introducing EU-level secondary publishing rights, clarifying outdated copyright distinctions and embedding open data and knowledge as guiding principles of the ERA Act, the EU can empower researchers, innovators and startups, enhance cross-sector collaboration and ensure that Europe remains competitive in an increasingly data-driven global environment. Legal certainty, interoperability and proportionality should be central to this framework to support excellence, innovation and effective knowledge valorisation across the Union.

You can download EARE’s position here.

About EARE: The European Alliance for Research Excellence (EARE) was convened in 2017, and now brings together nine members from the research and innovation ecosystem in Europe, including Microsoft, the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER Europe), the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation Associations (EBLIDA), Allied for Startups, BSA | The Software Alliance, LACA, Research Libraries UK, SCONUL (Society of College, National and University Libraries) and UCL (University College London) Library, advocating for the EU to live up to its innovation potential in the digital economy.