National Action Plan for the European Research Area adopted

15th November 2023 — With the adoption of the National Action Plan for the European Research Area (ERA), the Federal Government has determined the guidelines for German EU research and innovation policy for the years 2024 to 2027. The Federal Government's aim is to work with its European partners to ensure Europe's future viability through even better European research cooperation. The DLR Projektträger has assisted and supported the BMBF in the development of the National Action Plan.

European Research Area becomes a single market for knowledge

In support of an innovative, excellent and free Europe - the National Action Plan for the ERA translates this political objective into a series of concrete measures along six fields of action:

• Shaping economic and social transformation through technological sovereignty
• Translating knowledge into applications across Europe
• Modernising parameters for open and excellent research cooperation
• Removing obstacles to European cooperation
• Boosting participation in the research and innovation system
• Ensuring global cooperation is value-based and secure

These concrete measures include, for example, facilitating the mobility of researchers across Europe, improving and accelerating the transfer from research to application and free, value-based cooperation with international partners.

The National Action Plan contributes to the implementation and deepening of the ERA as a European "single market for knowledge". The National Action Plan aims to facilitate and strengthen Europe-wide, cross-border cooperation between stakeholders in research and innovation. The National Action Plan thus ties in with both the Federal Government's "Future Research and Innovation Strategy" and the "Pact for Research and Innovation in Europe". The perspectives and priorities of the stakeholders who are active in research and innovation in Germany were included in a comprehensive consultation process in advance. The DLR Projektträger was closely involved in the conceptualisation and implementation of this consultation.

The EU Bureau of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) at the DLR Projektträger assisted and supported the BMBF in the development of the National Action Plan - for example in the development and implementation of the online survey with 1,500 participants in October 2022 or in the conception and implementation of a series of events to involve research and innovation stakeholders. The EU Bureau also supported the BMBF in analysing the results and with background research on the National Action Plan.