Over the past two decades, Eurodoc has been working with national and European stakeholders to highlight the conditions under which early career researchers build their careers. In this context, the forthcoming European Research Area (ERA) Act represents a significant point of reference for ongoing discussions on the future of research in Europe. It provides a space to consider how the original vision of the ERA, as a framework enabling the free circulation of knowledge, ideas and researchers, translates into present-day realities.
While the ambition of the ERA Act is widely welcomed, current progress towards a truly integrated research area continues to appear uneven. Fragmentation between national systems, persistent administrative barriers and structural inequalities in employment conditions continue to shape the daily realities of many researchers across Europe. These challenges do not only affect individual careers, but also the long-term attractiveness and resilience of the European research system as a whole.
Investment in research and innovation has long been recognised as a cornerstone of Europe’s future competitiveness and societal development. The long-standing objective of investing 3% of GDP in R&I, with at least 1.25% coming from public funding, remains a reference point in European policy discussions. Beyond economic considerations, such investment is essential for sustaining fundamental research and forms of knowledge production whose value cannot be measured solely in immediate commercial returns, but which are crucial for addressing societal, cultural and global challenges.
At the same time, research funding cannot be meaningfully discussed without addressing the conditions under which research is actually carried out. Research careers across Europe remain marked by precarity, short-term contracts, limited access to social security and legal ambiguities regarding employment status, particularly at the doctoral and postdoctoral stages. In several Member States, doctoral candidates are still not fully recognised as workers, while postdoctoral researchers often face fragmented contractual arrangements that limit their visibility, stability and long-term prospects within their institutions.
Mobility, which is often presented as a central strength of the European Research Area, further illustrates these structural tensions. While international experience is increasingly expected, researchers continue to encounter significant administrative obstacles related to visas, residence permits, social security and the recognition of academic qualifications. For many, especially third-country nationals, mobility becomes less a genuine opportunity and more a source of cumulative insecurity and personal cost.
From Eurodoc’s perspective, the ERA Act offers a timely framework to reconnect policy ambitions with the lived realities of researchers. Issues such as fair employment conditions, mobility, research assessment, open science and academic freedom cannot be treated as separate policy domains; they are deeply interconnected and jointly shape the sustainability of research careers and the quality of European research systems.
Ultimately, strengthening the European Research Area is not only a question of governance structures or funding instruments. It is, above all, a question of people. Without stable, fair and attractive working conditions, the goals of excellence, innovation and global competitiveness risk remaining abstract. A researcher-centred ERA is therefore not simply a social objective, but a structural prerequisite for Europe’s long-term scientific and democratic future.
Read the full statement here: https://zenodo.org/records/18359920