A good time to assess progress in the realisation of the ERA, writes CONOR O'CARROLL
THE END of 1992 marked the deadline for achieving the Single European Market for the free movement of goods and services in the EU. This was a major achievement of the union as it broke down centuries of trade barriers between countries. For the past 12 years, EU research policy has aimed at creating a single market for researchers and knowledge, the European Research Area (ERA). The concept is for people and knowledge to move freely throughout Europe. Examples of activities that promote ERA are the lowering of immigration barriers for non-EU researchers to attract global talent and open access to publications making knowledge more accessible.
The process began in March 2000 when the European Council of Ministers agreed at a meeting in Lisbon that to strengthen Europe there should be a transition to a knowledge-based economy and society by improving policies for research and development. On June 15th, 2000, the council adopted a resolution establishing an ERA that sought to implement the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council (Lisbon Agenda).
The Lisbon Treaty took the ERA further. It made it a legal objective of the EU, and, in particular, it promoted the ERA as a means to strengthen the scientific and technological bases of the union and thereby make its industries more competitive.
The completion of the ERA is an explicit part of the Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
In 2011, the European Council of Ministers stated that Europe needed a unified research area to attract talent and investment and called for the completion of the ERA by 2014.
So what has happened over the past 12 years in changing Europe? One of the main tools has been the open method of co-ordination, which is based on “soft law” mechanisms such as guidelines and indicators, benchmarking and the sharing of good practice. This is voluntary and there are no sanctions against countries that do not participate.
An example is the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct for their Recruitment (2005), which was developed by the European Commission in partnership with EU countries. The charter and code is a set of principles and requirements that specify the roles, responsibilities and entitlements of researchers, employers and funders with regard to research careers. These principles are built on the basis that improving researcher career prospects provide an incentive for individuals to remain within research careers and stay in Europe.
The charter and code is voluntary and more than 220 organisations representing more than 1,000 institutions across 30 countries have committed to implementing the principles (the Irish Universities Association signed up in 2006). However, on analysis, its success has been variable. For example, the principle of open and transparent recruitment of researchers is by no means implemented across Europe. Funding schemes that admit only nationals, and recruitment practices that make it difficult for outsiders to compete, are still common. We do have an open system in Ireland; more than 35 per cent of doctoral candidates and 35 per cent of post-doctoral researchers are from overseas. The percentage of international permanent academic staff across the seven universities goes from about 26 per cent up to 42 per cent.
However, there has been significant progress recently through the Human Resources Strategy for Researchers, a tool that helps employers and funders to put the principles of the charter and code into practice. It is implemented by individual universities and is based on internal self-assessment. There is a logo, HR Excellence in Research, associated with the universities that go through this process. Six Irish universities are in the process of acquiring the logo. While this logo is not linked to funding it will be a positive factor in the decision-making process when researchers are considering a position.
In the first half of 2013, Ireland will hold the presidency of the EU. The Irish Universities Association will host, along with the Department of Jobs Enterprise and Innovation, a presidency conference focusing on researcher mobility and careers. It will be a good time to assess the progress of the realisation of the ERA.
Conor O'Carroll is research director in the Irish Universities Association, iua.ie