Public dissemination of research activities, including for purposes of verification of research results and for engaging in collaborative research, are essential to the scientific method. Europe needs a mandatory exception to copyright and other exclusive rights that facilitates all non-commercial research activities, including sharing of protected materials between researchers.
Last week, COMMUNIA submitted its response to the European Commission’s questionnaire on the European Innovation Act. The Commission considers this initiative a key element of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy, designed to improve conditions for innovators by facilitating the commercialisation of research results, strengthening collaboration between academia and industry, and improving access to markets, […]
Yesterday, COMMUNIA made a submission to the call for evidence for an impact assessment on the European Research Area (ERA) Act. The European Commission is expected to propose an ERA Act over the course of the 2024-2029 mandate, to turn the “fifth freedom” for research, innovation, knowledge and education into reality and unlock European research. […]
Today, COMMUNIA releases Policy Paper #23 for a general scientific research exception (also available as a PDF file), advocating for a comprehensive overhaul of the copyright framework for research uses. The research exceptions in the EU copyright acquis are too limited in scope, not sufficiently harmonised, and display additional conceptual issues, preventing the realisation of […]
Background It is the European Union’s stated goal to create a European Research Area (ERA), “a single, borderless market for research, innovation and technology across the EU.” Yet this ambition remains only partially realised. Significant barriers still prevent European researchers from accessing essential research resources remotely and legally sharing them with collaborators across Member States. […]
Today, COMMUNIA made a submission to the EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy call for evidence (available as a PDF file). Due to COMMUNIA’s focus on access to knowledge, we focused on this issue, outlining specific barriers to access to knowledge that apply to start-ups and scale-ups as well as the research sector, which is the […]
At the end of February, the European Commission adopted its proposal for a Council Recommendation on the European Research Area (ERA) Policy Agenda for 2025 to 2027. The proposal follows the previous ERA Policy Agenda which ran from 2022 to 2024 and will serve as a three-year roadmap for development goals in the European Research […]
With all the hearings of Commissioners-designate in the books, we present to you our key insights for copyright policy. Unsurprisingly, copyright is only one among many concerns of von der Leyen’s second mandate. Nonetheless, it is a cross-cutting issue that will keep multiple members of her College busy. Two hearings stood out in particular: Ekaterina […]
The EU heads of state or government came together for an informal meeting in Budapest last week to adopt the “Budapest Declaration on the New European Competitiveness Deal” with the goal to strengthen European competitiveness, develop common economic prosperity, and ensure the EU’s sovereignty and global influence. In the declaration, the Council commends the recent […]
Join us on October 2nd, from 1500h to 1700h, for an in-person event on why Europe needs a Digital Knowledge Act at TownHall Europe, Brussels! What to expect The European Union is spending massively on research and innovation. Horizon Europe has a budget of €95.5 billion, up from a cool €80 billion for its predecessor program, […]
On April 16th 2024, 40 organisations signed the Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information with the aim of preserving academic independence. The declaration calls on research institutions to unite around shared principles for open research information and a commitment to developing open research data infrastructure. Most of the conversation about Open Science in academic publishing […]
