Sustainability Issue #2 July 2009

For some years ERA, European Research Area, has been the designation for all that concerns research on the European level. ERA is thus greater than the seventh European framework programme for research that is now in progress from 2007 to 2013. ERA is thus the framework in which much of future European research is discussed. What occurs in the form of interaction among European member countries and associated states is an important part of ERA. Sometimes this takes place with the participation of the EU Commission. One intermediate form is an ERA-net which is a funding mechanism for research, with overriding coupling to the Commission and FP7. The Commission defrays some costs associated with the coordination of an ERA-net and sets this up after application by a consortium of country-based research funding agencies. These are later also responsible for funding the research for which applications had been invited by the consortium.

100 ERA-nets

Just now there are just under 100 ERA-nets which have gradually come into being over the past few years. They cover a large number of thematic areas – some of which are broad and some quite narrow. There are very large and small ERA-nets in terms of financial volume and the number of member organisations (often around 20). What is common to all of these is that they are funding mechanisms and that work in the various ERA-nets defines not only orientation but also mechanisms for how collaboration among the stakeholders should take place in order to mobilise the resources which are then advertised.

Since ERA-nets have existed for a number of  years, there are many from the "first generation". Some of these have wound up their inputs that have a time limit of 3-4 years, or are doing so. Whether they will get a new mandate depends both on the continued interest of the stakeholders and on the judgment of the EU Commission. It is permissible for cooperation among the stakeholders to continue without the sanction of the EU Commission, but in such a case the support resources for coordination are lost. To receive a renewed mandate, it is often necessary for cooperation to have been reinforced or renewed in some other way. One way is to combine some "old" consortia into a broader thematic consortium.

Strategic focus

Some ERA-net consortia that are now opened up for competition through decisions by the various EU programme committees often have a "strategic" focus, and their contents are carefully chosen to cover some focus that can be considered to be significant for Europe in competition with other focuses. The number of such ERA-nets is smaller than that of "first generation nets".

One example of another way to make progress with ERA-net consortia is the ERA-net BONUS concerning Baltic Sea issues of which Formas is member. The total resources of the members here have become so large that it has been possible to set up a reinforced ERA-net at a higher level of funding where the Commission, apart from administrative costs, also allocates research funds – in most cases 30 per cent of the collected resources of the members. EU funds are then added to the research funds  collected from the consortium's stakeholders. There are further levels beyond ERA-net+ that can be reached, with even greater resources and new forms of governance (Art 169 inputs). Bonus is a candidate for this.

Formas is member of  over 10 ERA-nets and has been the member of several of these right from the start. Some of these are facing a decision concerning a second stage, others are quite new and under construction.

Contact person: Ulf Westerlund, Coordinator of ERA-nets, Formas.

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