ERA Forum meets to discuss implementation of ERA Policy Agenda 2025-2027 and other important developments

A few months after the adoption of the ERA Policy Agenda 2025-2027, its implementation is gaining speed. At its meeting on 1 October 2025, the ERA Forum was informed about the launching of the ERA Structural Policy on research careers, the ERA Action ‘Empowering R&I: A new era in research management’, and the ERA Action ‘Facilitating and accelerating the use of AI in science and research in the EU’. Furthermore, the European Commission provided an update on the overall implementation of the ERA Policy Agenda. An important aspect is the establishment of networks of contact points for each Structural Policy and Action, enabling better coordination of the implementation of the Actions and Policies and a better connection to, and involvement of, national activities.

Another important topic was information and discussion about the ERA Pillar in the Framework Programme. ERA Forum members perceive the fact that there is no budget distribution foreseen within the fourth pillar for its three elements Research and Technology Infrastructures, Widening Participation, and ERA Policies as highly problematic. The role of the ERA Forum in defining and arguing the needs for support of the ERA Policies from the next Framework Programme was emphasised.

The recently published Strategy for Research and Technology Infrastructures was another topic for discussion. The Forum focussed mainly on the governance aspects and the potential role of the ERA Forum for the implementation of the strategy. The fact that Research and Technology Infrastructures are in two separate ERA actions while the strategy proposes a coherent governance framework was viewed with concern.

Under Any Other Business, the European Commission provided an update on the preparatory work on the ERA Act. The “Call for Evidence” for the ERA Act closed recently, and the Commission presented examples of contributions from the community to this call. All contributions can be found at European Research Area Act. The Commission is currently working on a questionnaire for the obligatory Public Consultation which will be launched still in October 2025 and will be open for 12 weeks. The Commission is still planning to present the proposal for the ERA Act in the third quarter of 2026. The ERA Forum will be involved in further preparation work after the Public Consultation, when it comes to translating the many good ideas into legal provisions that are legally sound and that provide concrete advantages for the RTI systems and community all over Europe.