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.
This is a political concept proposed by the Commission and endorsed by the European Parliament and Council to overcome the present fragmentation of Europe's efforts in the area of research and innovation. The concept comprises organising co-operation at different levels, co-ordinating national or European policies, networking teams and increasing the mobility of individuals and ideas. It is an area where the scientific capacity and material resources of the Members States can be put to best use. An area that is open to the world where national and European policies can be implemented more coherently, and where people and knowledge can circulate more freely. The multiannual Framework Programmes are the financial instruments to implement the ERA.
The European Research Area brings together all of the Community's resources to better coordinate research and innovation activities at the level of both the Member States and the European Union, so avoiding previous shortcomings, such as fragmentation of activities, isolation of national research systems, disparity of regulatory and administrative frameworks, and low levels of investment in knowledge. It makes it possible to share data, compare results, carry out multi-disciplinary studies, transfer and protect new scientific knowledge and gain access to centres of excellence and state of the art equipment.
The European Research Area (ERA) is a system of scientific research programmes integrating the European Union's scientific resources. Since its creation in 1984, the structure has been concentrated on multi-national co-operation in the fields of medical, environmental, industrial and socio-economic research. The ERA can be likened to a research and innovation equivalent of the European "common market" for goods and services.