Maintaining the Autonomy of the ERC: A Cornerstone of Europe’s Research Excellence

Amid the ongoing debate surrounding the leaked European Commission’s communication on the “Competitive Compass for the EU”, ALLEA echoes widespread concerns about potential risks to the European Research Council (ERC)’s autonomy.

ALLEA has consistently argued that the independence of the European Research Council (ERC) is fundamental to Europe’s ability to drive groundbreaking innovation through basic and fundamental research.

ERC President Maria Leptin has rightly emphasised the need to shield frontier research from short-term political and economic priorities.  We agree that Europe’s ability to remain competitive globally depends on ensuring that curiosity-driven research continues to thrive, as she pointed out recently, at the World Economic Forum.

We therefore recall and welcome the EU Competitiveness Council’s note from 26 November 2024 – which strongly reaffirmed the importance of preserving the ERC’s independent governance and implementation structure –, reiterate our commitment to scientific excellence as the guiding principle for European R&I (funding) policies, and stand firmly with the ERC in ensuring that independent, high-quality research remains at the heart of Europe’s innovation ecosystem.

You can read the EU Competitiveness Council’s note here.