The Council held a policy debate on open access to
scientific information resulting from public-funded research
projects, one of the objectives of the development of the
European Research Area, which is at the heart of the strategy for
growth and jobs.
Member States:
- supported the idea of
developing broader and more rapid access to scientific publications
in order to help researchers and businesses to build on the
findings of publicly funded research;
- noted the Commission proposal to develop experimental
policy actions on open access to research data and to run a
pilot for that purpose in the future Horizon 2020 research
framework programme;
- welcomed the Commission’s
view that open access to scientific publications should be a
general principle of the future Horizon 2020 research framework
programme and presented some of the initiatives carried out
under their respective national programmes.
Member States emphasised the need to:
- define clear policies, in consultation with relevant
stakeholders, on open access to
scientific publications and research data, on preservation and
re-use of scientific information and on related e-infrastructures
for disseminating scientific information, at both national and EU
levels,
- promote common implementation standards and
criteria, including interoperable
infrastructures, in order to achieve the maximum benefit from open
access in a sustainable way within a digital European Research
Area.