The European Commission has published a new expert report assessing Open Access policies across all 27 EU Member States and eight non-EU countries.
The report identifies significant progress, alongside substantial fragmentation in national rules, repository requirements, copyright approaches, funding models and monitoring arrangements.
What the report recommends
The experts call for stronger alignment between national and EU approaches, movement towards immediate Open Access for publicly funded research, wider use of open licensing and minimum standards for repositories.
They also recommend better monitoring of publication charges and stronger links between Open Access policy, research assessment and research security. The future ERA Act is identified as a possible vehicle for achieving greater coherence.
Why this matters
The findings are directly relevant to universities and research organisations managing Horizon Europe projects, Data Management Plans, dissemination obligations and institutional Open Science policies. Organisations should follow the policy discussion while continuing to apply the rules and grant obligations currently in force.
This is an expert report containing policy recommendations. The recommendations are not binding EU rules.
Official source
This EXELIXIS briefing is an original summary based on official EU information. The European Commission report and any future legislative text prevail.