The European Research Area (ERA) is the ambition to create a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology across the EU.

It helps countries be more effective together, by strongly aligning their research policies and programmes. The free circulation of researchers and knowledge enables

• better cross-border cooperation
• building of critical mass
• continent-wide competition

ERA was launched in 2000 and a process to revitalise it began in 2018.

The new ERA will

• prioritise investments and reforms in research and innovation
• boost market uptake
• strengthen mobility of researchers and free flow of knowledge and technology
• improve access to excellence

Why a new ERA?

The European Union is facing enormous societal, ecological and economic challenges. The Covid-19 pandemic is not over and there is a need to build back better, achieving the green and digital transition. These new requirements need new responses, which is why the process to renew the ERA was started. Through the joint efforts of the Commission and EU countries substantial progress has been made over the past year.