Enhancing research security

Summary:

On 24 January 2024, the European Commission tabled a proposal for a Council recommendation on enhancing research security. The procedure does not require the European Parliament's involvement. Research security refers to the safeguarding of scientific activities against misuse and undue influence by third countries or non-state actors. Risks to research include the illicit transfer of knowledge or technology resulting in a threat to the EU's security or undermining its values. Competence for identifying and managing these risks lies with several public bodies, including national authorities and academic institutions. Research security is therefore distinct from research integrity, which seeks to safeguard the reliability and honesty of knowledge creation by individual scientists and academic institutions in line with scientific standards. Against a backdrop of global challenges, including climate transition and geopolitical tensions such as Russia's war on Ukraine, the current economic situation is highlighting the risks inherent in international cooperation in science and technology and the need for the EU to build resilience by reducing vulnerability to foreign interference. While research and innovation (R&I) are an EU asset, in that they can generate knowledge and solutions to global challenges, they also require an appropriate framework to balance the benefits of openness with the need for safeguards regarding research integrity and the dissemination and exploitation of knowledge, technology and know how. The proposed recommendation, adopted as part of the economic security package, is expected to help establish an EU-wide level playing field in research security in line with the objectives set by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union for the European research area (ERA): developing the EU's scientific and technological base and ensuring the free circulation of knowledge. With the inclusion of an EU definition of research security, the proposal seeks to prevent the fragmentation of the ERA that could result from diverging national approaches on research security. This approach, empowering the main academic and industrial actors in research creation, should also comply with the principles underpinning research in the EU, such as academic freedom.

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