Upcoming European Research Area (ERA) Act

Amendments tabled for the plenary sitting on this text, in their own numbering series. This is a different set from the committee amendments tracked elsewhere on AmendEU, and is not counted in any of the site’s amendment totals.

1. Amendment 1PfEMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 4
   Current text

   4. Reaffirms the importance of freedom of scientific research and institutional autonomy; calls for the ERA Act proposal to be accompanied by a separate legislative proposal with a distinct legal basis protecting the fundamental freedom of scientific research, including minimum standards for researchers’ rights, ethical conduct, integrity and institutional independence, and supported by effective monitoring mechanisms;

   Amendment

   4. Reaffirms the importance of freedom of scientific research and institutional autonomy; considers justified, therefore, the decision of six Hungarian universities (Semmelweis University, Óbuda University, the University of Debrecen, the University of Veterinary Medicine in Budapest, the University of Miskolc and the University of Dunaújváros) to bring an action before the Court of Justice of the European Union for the annulment of the Commission’s measures on the grounds that they unduly interfere with Hungarian universities and disadvantage Hungarian students and researchers through discriminatory restrictions on access to Horizon Europe and exclusion from Erasmus+ programmes; calls for t…

   Excerpt — full text in the official PDF.
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2. Amendment 2PfEMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 4 a (new)
   Amendment

   4a. Recalls that, pursuant to Article 32.2 of the Horizon Europe Model Grant Agreement, termination of a beneficiary’s participation must be individually justified and assessed on its merits; underlines that exclusion or termination solely on the basis of nationality constitutes prohibited discrimination; stresses that Horizon Europe primarily funds civil research and that potential dual-use applications arising beyond the scope or duration of a project cannot justify collective or preventive exclusion; calls on the Commission to ensure that any restriction on participation is proportionate, legally grounded and based on an individual assessment;

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3. Amendment 3PfEMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 8
   Current text

   8. Recommends that the ERA Act use planning, measurable metrics and monitoring, reporting and evaluation tools, and that it strive to ensure a balance between research fields and basic and applied research;

   Amendment

   8. Recommends that the ERA Act use planning, measurable metrics and monitoring, reporting and evaluation tools, and that it strive to reduce the innovation gap and restore Europe’s scientific and technological leadership by prioritising fields such as artificial intelligence, quantum technologies, edge computing, aerospace and launch capabilities, energy net-zero technologies and isotopes, carbon capture, desalination, advanced manufacturing and applied research on enabling technologies, as well as health and biotechnologies, thereby strengthening the EU’s competitiveness and long-term growth;

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4. Amendment 4PfEMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 11
   Current text

   11. Calls for stronger and more inclusive European innovation and technology ecosystems to promote cooperation between universities, research institutions, start-ups, SMEs and industry to ensure effective and secure knowledge transfer and better uptake of results by European companies, and to promote up- and re-skilling, and lifelong learning; stresses the need to address the R&I disparities among Member States, particularly those with lower R&I performance, to improve their participation in Union programmes;

   Amendment

   11. Calls for stronger and more inclusive European innovation and technology ecosystems to promote cooperation between universities, research institutions, start-ups, SMEs and industry to ensure effective and secure knowledge transfer and better uptake of results by European companies, and to promote up- and re-skilling, and lifelong learning; stresses the need to address the R&I disparities among Member States, particularly those with lower R&I performance, to improve their participation in Union programmes; deplores the fact, therefore, that because of the entry into effect of Council Implementing Decision (EU) 2022/25061a, entities financed by Hungarian public interest trust foundations,…

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5. Amendment 5ECRMotion for a resolution · Recital E
   Current text

   E. whereas the ERA Policy Agenda serves as a valuable non-binding framework guiding national and EU-level policies in line with the objectives of Article 179 TFEU, promoting voluntary coordination and cooperation between Member States and the Union; whereas these objectives must be complemented by provisions and incentives under the future ERA Act, and tools such as the European Semester, to provide a stronger foundation for a coherent and high-performing ERA;

   Amendment

   E. whereas the ERA Policy Agenda serves as a valuable non-binding framework guiding national and EU-level policies in line with the objectives of Article 179 TFEU, promoting voluntary coordination and cooperation between Member States and the Union; whereas these objectives must be complemented by provisions and incentives under the future ERA Act to provide a stronger foundation for a coherent and high-performing ERA;

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6. Amendment 6ECRMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 2
   Current text

   2. Calls for a two-track approach of voluntary cooperation under the ERA Policy Agenda 2025-2027 combined with legislative measures, including the ERA Act and complementary initiatives, to provide ERA with a binding and enforceable framework;

   Amendment

   2. Calls for a two-track approach of voluntary cooperation under the ERA Policy Agenda 2025-2027 combined with legislative measures, including the ERA Act and complementary initiatives, to provide ERA with an effective and delivery-focused framework;

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7. Amendment 7The LeftMotion for a resolution · Recital A a (new)
   Amendment

   Aa. whereas scientific and technological development should aim at expanding knowledge and meeting social needs; whereas scientific policies and development strategies should be based on scientific and technological systems that are public and democratic and have budgets commensurate with their tasks, on the professional development of researchers and science workers, on listening to the scientific community and on international cooperation and solidarity;

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8. Amendment 8The LeftMotion for a resolution · Recital D a (new)
   Amendment

   Da. whereas there is a high concentration of funds from the Horizon Europe programme in the technologically most developed Member States; whereas, according to the Horizon Dashboard, Germany, France, Spain and the Netherlands received 51.3 % of these funds – 68.7 % if we include Italy and Belgium – while the 15 Member States in the Widening programme together received 14.8 %; whereas initial asymmetries in scientific and technological development between states make it difficult for research units to access these funds, asymmetries that are deepened by the concentration of Horizon Europe funds;

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9. Amendment 9The LeftMotion for a resolution · Recital D b (new)
   Amendment

   Db. whereas the constraints placed on the least developed Member States in the framework of economic governance impede the necessary investment in R&D and the proper functioning of research units and centres and academic institutions, promote the use of budget cuts to public science funding entities and limit the full harnessing of states’ development potential;

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10. Amendment 10The LeftMotion for a resolution · Recital F a (new)
    Amendment

    Fa. whereas the scientific sector is characterised by widespread precarious employment and dependence on research grants; whereas thousands of researchers work with funding for projects of limited duration, through individual research grants, project grants or fixed-term employment contracts, or by performing specific tasks as self-employed workers, with added difficulties for young people at the start of their careers; whereas job insecurity restricts the freedom of scientific research; whereas failing to address precariousness excludes researchers from the full enjoyment of labour rights and protections, puts them at a disadvantage in terms of social security contributions and restricts th…

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11. Amendment 11The LeftMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 3 a (new)
    Amendment

    3a. Rejects interference in the autonomy, democracy and internal functioning of academic and scientific institutions, and the conditioning of research and scientific freedom by private interests on the basis of objectives that are contrary to the proliferation of knowledge, to social cohesion and to the fight against inequalities; rejects the instrumentalisation of science for warfare, militarisation and the arms race;

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12. Amendment 12The LeftMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 4 a (new)
    Amendment

    4a. Defends the labour rights of researchers and scientific workers, the enhancement of their careers, stable job contracts and access to social security with guaranteed sickness, maternity, unemployment and retirement protection; advocates the end of statuses and systems based on research grants that promote the dependency of researchers on these grants indiscriminately over time, which is incompatible with the promotion of scientific work; recognises that there can be no real freedom of production and scientific and intellectual creation as long as precariousness in the sector persists;

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13. Amendment 13The LeftMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 4 b (new)
    Amendment

    4b. Recommends the development of policies to strengthen the labour rights of researchers and other R&D professionals as a central and indispensable element of national development policies and strategies, including in scientific and technological terms;

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14. Amendment 14The LeftMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 9 a (new)
    Amendment

    9a. Calls on the Commission to take effective action to address the high geographical concentration of Horizon Europe funds by strengthening the instruments aimed at the participation of countries in the Widening programme and ensuring a more balanced distribution of resources that takes into account the existing asymmetries in scientific and technological development, promoting economic, social and territorial cohesion by building research and innovation capacities in the less developed Member States;

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15. Amendment 15The LeftMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 4 a (new)
    Amendment

    4a. Calls for the ERA Act proposal to restate the importance of respecting ethical and human rights principles in the different funding programmes and in international partnerships within those programmes; reaffirms the urgent need to exclude Israeli universities and companies from any research programme funded by the EU, including Horizon Europe, given the risk of financing the development of technologies used against Palestinian civilians in the ongoing genocide;

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16. Amendment 16The LeftMotion for a resolution · Paragraph 6 a (new)
    Amendment

    6a. Calls for increased support for public research by strengthening funding for European programmes such as Horizon Europe; encourages Member States to increase financial resources for universities and public research organisations;

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