Research and innovation are key to building a prosperous future for the EU. They therefore figure prominently in the Europe 2020 strategy and the European Semester process and underpin progress towards the 10 priorities of the Juncker Commission, from providing a new boost to jobs, growth and investment, to developing the digital single market and developing the Energy Union. The EU has fantastic strengths. It is open, diverse, and hosts excellent institutions. With Horizon 2020, the Union funds research and innovation on an unprecedented scale.

Open Science is about greater collaboration, access and reuse of results and is the foundation of excellence in science and future prosperity. Here the Report shows how continued policy efforts are paying off. The EU is now not only the largest producer of scientific publications in the world, but has also become the largest producer of high quality publications and is reducing the gap with the US in other metrics of scientific quality. On the other hand, the intensity of knowledge circulation and therefore the openness of the EU’s science system still lags behind that of its main competitors. More needs to be done to equip the EU with a high quality science base and to strengthen the EU’s position as a global leader in open science.