Contributions of universities of science & technology to implement the European Research Area

PRAGUE, 24 June 2022

Recalling our long-standing commitments and efforts to reinforce the European Research Area (ERA) including through our joint partnership (2015), the leading universities of science & technology united in CESAER welcome the twenty actions planned from 2022 to 2024 to advance the ERA.

Our association and our Members have been and are engaging committedly in different ways with all twenty actions, and we therefore also welcome the full ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024. With this position, we present our top priorities, describe our ongoing efforts and offer additional commitments in line with our genuine offer to implement the ERA.

We look forward to continuing engaging with the ERA Forum towards the full implementation of the ERA.

President Rik Van de Walle said:

“Academics and their institutions are agents of the great changes and transformations needed to help tackle tremendous local and global challenges.

Achieving an ERA in which scientific knowledge and technology and their bearers circulate freely, as the treaty obliges us, is a key enabler for our community to assume our societal responsibilities. We therefore warmly welcome the emerging and much needed focus on genuine commitments and contributions.”

Deputy Secretary General Mattias Björnmalm said:

“Achieving the ERA has been a top priority for our association for many years, including through the partnership agreed in 2015 with the European Commission.

We urge the ERA Forum to deploy action- and result-focused subgroups composed of representatives of member states and stakeholder organisations who commit to concrete contributions. This will allow our association and Members to actively contribute along the commitments outlined in this position. ”

Please reference the position using https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6719848

• Full position (PDF) available for distribution