EFR: Progress across all priorities despite ongoing structural challenges

The report provides insights and data on progress at EU and national level across the four ERA priorities: deepening a truly functioning single market for knowledge; driving forward the green and digital transitions and strengthening societal engagement with the ERA; improving access to excellence in research and innovation across the EU; and promoting coordinated investment and reforms in research and innovation.  

The results show significant progress across several sub-priorities of the ERA. Improvements are identified in particular, in areas such as R&D investment, open science, gender equality, researchers’ careers and mobility, and global engagement. Positive developments are also evident in terms of synergies with sectoral and industrial policy, as well as in the engagement of citizens and society with research and innovation.  

Rising proportion of international PhD students  

Between 2014 and 2019, the proportion of international PhD students in the EU-27 rose moderately from 16.3 % to 18.4 %. In 2020, a significant increase in the indicator value was observed. Following this peak, the indicator value fell slightly but reached 23.3 % again in 2023. This trend reflects a general increase in the international mobility of doctoral students over the years. Ireland, Cyprus, Finland, the Czech Republic, Estonia and Germany are among the Member States that have shown both above-average figures and above-average growth since 2018. Luxembourg and Malta have the highest proportion of international PhD students within the EU-27, over 75 %, followed by the Netherlands, Austria and Ireland. Germany’s figure is just above the average.  

What’s next  

The ERA Scoreboard 2025 will soon be supplemented by further analytical findings as part of the ERA monitoring mechanism, including country-specific assessments (‘Country Snapshots’). The European Commission plans to adopt a proposal for an ERA Act in the third quarter of 2026, as announced in the ‘Competitiveness Compass for the EU’.