April saw a flurry of developments at EU level, including input for education and youth policies, progress on digital regulation, ERA – and on association.
Education and youth ministers met on 5 April in Luxembourg. Key topics of the Council meeting included exchanges on the preparedness of EU education systems to respond to crises like the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Ministers focused on the need to identify the best instruments and mechanisms at EU level to cushion the impact of crises on education systems. Furthermore, education ministers adopted a recommendation on building bridges for effective European higher education cooperation and Council conclusions on enhancing teachers’ and trainers’ mobility, in particular European mobility, during their initial and in-service education and training. In addition, education ministers approved Council conclusions on a European strategy empowering higher education institutions for the future of Europe. The latter emphasises that “further steps should be taken to recognise the value of innovative transnational learning experiences”, for instance in the case of joint programmes provided by alliances of higher education institutions (HEIs): “Common criteria should be explored that could lead to a potential European label for joint programmes. Later on, the possible design and delivery, on a voluntary basis, at national, regional or institutional level, of joint degrees at all levels, based on these co-created European criteria, could be envisaged.” The conclusions stress that this process should take place “in close cooperation with national authorities, alliances of HEIs and stakeholders”. Youth ministers adopted a recommendation on the mobility of young volunteers across the EU and approved conclusions on fostering engagement among young people as actors of change in order to protect the environment.
On 8 April, the European Commission (EC) further clarified measures vis-à-vis Russian public entities in research and education. The new guidelines follow on those already taken on 3 March (see SwissCore article). EC services will terminate ongoing grant agreements and subsequent payments to Russian public bodies, including participation of Russian public entities in Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) and in Erasmus+ actions. However, the EC clarified that “MSCA fellowships and European Research Council (ERC) principal investigator grants to Russian individuals will in principle remain possible, keeping a thorough screening against the EU sanctions list”. Similarly, Russian students, scholars and academic staff will remain eligible for short term-exchanges or for degree mobility, participation of Russian individuals, youth, and civil society organisations in Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps youth actions also remains possible. In all these cases, they are likewise subject to a thorough screening against the EU sanction lists. Student and staff exchanges towards Russia remain eligible.
Over the course of the past weeks, EU institutions made good on the French Presidency’s plans when it comes to progress on the EU’s digital ambitions (see SwissCore article). On 23 April, the EU institutions reached a compromise in their trilogue negotiations on the Digital Services Act (DSA). The provisional political agreement forms the basis for a legal framework for strengthened content moderation by digital platforms and increased obligations for online marketplaces. The new regulation would be the first of its kind internationally. The DSA’s key principle declares “what is illegal offline must also be illegal online”. The compromise includes a provision that would be favourable to start-ups and SMEs: “To safeguard the development of start-ups and smaller enterprises in the internal market, micro and small enterprises with under 45 million monthly active users in the EU will be exempted from certain new obligations.”
However, the DSA appears to have also more immediate impacts on the education and science communities. In early April, a large coalition representing European universities, research performing organisations, research funding organisations, and research libraries and repositories in Europe published a statement, calling on EU institutions to foresee exemptions in the DSA for not-for-profit educational and scientific repositories, digital archives, and libraries. The stakeholders are worried that scientific and educational services which allow students, researchers and third parties to upload content could fall within the scope of the DSA. The procedure foreseen in the legislation to exempt not-for-profit repositories from the obligations imposed on online platforms is viewed as “overly long and complex, and will result in administrative and financial burdens that not-for-profit scientific and educational repositories, digital archives, and libraries will not be able to meet”, the organisations underscore. Furthermore, the coalition of education and R&I organisations argues that “the inclusion of not-for-profit scientific and educational repositories, digital archives, and libraries in the DSA scope would create inconsistency in EU legislation as Not-for-profit educational and scientific repositories are excluded from the scope of the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market”. After the announcement of the trilogue compromise, organisations mentioned according to Science Business that – depending on the final outcome – they would continue to raise the issue for the education and science communities. The provisional agreement is now subject to approval by the Council and the European Parliament. It will come into force either from 1 January 2024 or 15 months after its final adoption, whichever date is later.
In late March, EU institutions already reached a deal on the Digital Markets Act, which will structure digital markets in the future. It will give the EU a regulatory instrument for gatekeepers to ensure that digital markets are competitive and fair – and aims to create a level playing field for the EU’s nascent digital industry vis-à-vis global giants from America and Asia.
April saw also developments in the efforts towards a new European Research Area, following the set-up of the process in November 2021 (see SwissCore article). On 12-13 April, the European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC) held a first meeting on the ERA Policy Agenda 2022-2024, taking stock of the work of the ERA Forum since early 2022. Based on the discussions in Strasbourg, the ERAC will draft an opinion that will be adopted before the end of May. As foreseen by the Council conclusions of November 2021, Member States and Associated Countries will make commitments about the actions set out in the ERA Policy Agenda by June – implementation could then begin in autumn 2022. The ERAC will meet again in September 2022 to give guidance about the next steps. In the new ERA governance, the ERAC serves as a high level strategic advisory committee, providing early advice to the Council, the EC and the Member States on strategic R&I policy issues. The ERA Forum tackles the operational work on the new ERA, the implementation and monitoring of the ERA Policy Agenda.
On association to Horizon Europe, the EC announced on 21 April that exploratory talks on association of New Zealand and Canada to Horizon Europe are concluded. The EC is currently preparing recommendations to the Council to launch formal negotiations with the two countries. Once the research ministers approve the respective directives, negotiations could start. The EC, Canada and New Zealand hope that the two countries can be associated to the framework programme as from 2023. Association agreements are now in place for most of the countries that are interested in association. Agreements are signed with Albania, Tunisia, and Ukraine and will enter into force once the national ratification procedures are concluded. Negotiations have been concluded with the Faroe Islands but the agreement is not yet signed, while talks are still ongoing with Morocco. The EC is also still in exploratory talks with the Republic of Korea. However, there is no progress yet for the association of Switzerland and the UK (see SwissCore article).