The CONSIDER findings are relevant for current EU research & innovation policy. The Europe 2020 Strategy set a target to invest 3% of the EU’s GDP in research & innovation by 2020 and also identified specific targets to reduce poverty & social exclusion, raise employment and education levels and tackle climate change. These are all societal challenges where academic researchers and civil society organisations could join forces to build the innovative solutions that Europe needs.
The European Research Area was launched in 2000 and is now anchored in the Treaty of Lisbon. It is a framework for the creation of a single market for knowledge, research and innovation, implying action by the EU, Member States and research institutions. In four of the five priority areas of the ERA, there are implications of the CONSIDER findings:
The EU Commission is due to produce an ERA Roadmap by mid-2015 as requested by the EU Council (Competitiveness) in 2014. This will include European-level actions to advance the ERA and guide national actions leading to roadmaps by each Member State. In this context, the implications of the CONSIDER guidelines should be given due attention.