Definitions for "European Research Area"
A research and innovation structure still to be created within the European Union that can be called an "internal market in research" (equivalent to the internal market for goods and services), i.e. an area of free movement of knowledge, researchers and technology, with the aim of increasing cooperation, stimulating competition and achieving a better allocation of resources. This structure was proposed by the European Commission in January 2000 in its communication "Towards a European Research Area" and launched at the Lisbon European Council in March 2002. It is meant to constitute the key contribution to achieve the strategic target for the European Union to become the most competitive knowledge-based society by 2010 and has become the central pillar of EU activities in the field of research. ( http://europa.eu.int)(DE:Europäischer Forschungsraum (ERA), FR:Espace européen de la recherche (EER), IT:Spazio europeo della Ricerca (SER) )
Structure pooling all Community resources for better coordination of research activities and bringing together policies in the domain of research and innovation, in both Member States and the European Union as a whole.
The creation of a European Research Area is intended to overcome the insufficient funding, lack of coherence and fragmentation that currently limit the effectiveness of European research. The Commission aims to establish a true internal market in research and technology, to improve the co-ordination of national research efforts, and to develop a clear European research policy. FP6 is the main instrument for the establishment of the ERA.