PATCHED Freedom Scientific - Open Book V7 (full With Serial)
Kathryn Garivay
A. whereas the freedom of scientific research, which is an essential element of democracy and one of the constituent parts of academic freedom, is under pressure in the Union and is gradually eroding(2), which is exemplified by the fact that on the Academic Freedom Index all Member States had a score above 0,85 on the index in 2008 while in 2022 some Member States have dropped significantly, the lowest score for 2022 being 0,34;
B. whereas restrictions to the freedom of scientific research have negative impacts for the Union economy by stifling innovation, slowing scientific progress, and reducing Europe's global competitiveness;
C. whereas erosion of the freedom of scientific research contributes to brain drain of top researchers, self-censorship among academics, less critical analysis on social and political issues, less interdisciplinary collaboration, less public discourse and debate;
D. whereas job insecurity affects the ability to fully enjoy the freedom of scientific research; whereas thousands of researchers work with limited-duration project funding, by way of individual or project research grants, fixed-term employment contracts or by performing specific tasks as self-employed persons, and have poor job security and labour protection;
E. whereas the Bonn Declaration includes a definition of the freedom of scientific research and recognises the responsibilities for both governments and research organisations to promote the freedom of scientific research;
H. whereas a solid body of case-law of the European Court of Human Rights on academic freedom, including the freedom of scientific research, exists which sets out a number of legal standards and principles for the protection and promotion of academic freedom;
I. whereas, in its judgement of 6 October 2020 in Case C-66/18(3), the Court of Justice found that Hungarian Law on national higher education deprived the affected organisations of the organisational structure that is necessary for conducting their academic research, illustrating the erosion of academic freedom in Hungary;
K. whereas Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, prior to her confirmation by Parliament, pledged in the Political Guidelines for the next European Commission 2019-2024 to support a right of initiative for Parliament and committed to respond with a legislative act when Parliament adopts resolutions requesting that the Commission submit legislative proposals;
1. Reaffirms the Union's commitment to upholding fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, academic freedom as well as the freedom of scientific research in all scientific disciplines and the arts as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
2. Acknowledges the fundamental importance of freedom of scientific research in advancing our knowledge of natural and social phenomena, thereby contributing to the promotion of innovation, societal progress, and enhancing the overall wellbeing of Union citizens, both within and outside of the Union, and recalls that freedom of scientific research is a universal right and public good, to be applied to all scientific disciplines; underlines that in the global competition of research, development and innovation, freedom of scientific research is a prerequisite for attracting talent with competitive new ideas; regrets in that regard that the Bonn Declaration lacks concrete implementation at European level;
3. Acknowledges the profound impact of precariousness on the freedom of scientific research while precariousness in the sector persists; defends the labour rights of scientific researchers, enhancement of their careers, stable job contracts and access to comprehensive social protection systems; believes scientific researchers should be provided with quality jobs, decent working conditions, decent wages and healthy work places, including good work-life balance;
4. Highlights that equal opportunities, in particular those fostered by gender equality, are essential for the promotion of the freedom of scientific research as well as for ensuring that solutions to various challenges for advancing sustainable and equitable development incorporate diverse perspectives;
5. Emphasises the particularly precarious situation for early-career researchers and that, in order to increase the number of early-career researchers, clearer and more structured career opportunities should be established; stresses that this should also be guaranteed through fostering transparent recruitment procedures, free from any biases, and providing appropriate social security coverage to all researchers, including doctoral candidates who are engaged in remunerated research activity;
6. Notes that it is the management bodies of scientific research organisations that set those institutions' scientific research priorities; acknowledges that instances of degradation of democracy in scientific research organisations undermine the freedom of scientific research; emphasises therefore the importance of academic self-governance which should include the right of scientific researchers to have a say on the governance of their scientific institution, including on the labour conditions at the institution; emphasises that scientific researchers are entitled to all the rights under Article 12 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union;
7. Believes that scientific research organisations should be encouraged, while fully respecting their institutional autonomy, to engage in international cooperation to strengthen bilateral and multilateral relations to further develop a strong science diplomacy component addressing the freedom of scientific research and possible consequences in case of breaches;
8. Insists that the Union should be a safe haven for all researchers at risk and should set up a European Fellowship Scheme for Researchers at Risk providing financial support for emergency placements of researchers at risk at European research organisations; believes that this Scheme should also be a solidarity mechanism to support European researchers that face breaches of their freedom of scientific research;
9. Recognises, in line with the Bonn Declaration, that freedom of scientific research stands for openness, exchange, excellence, internationalism, diversity, equality, integrity, curiosity, responsibility and reflexivity and that it is, therefore, a pillar of any democracy;
10. Takes note of the definition of the freedom of scientific research in Annex II, point (2) of the Commission proposal of 13 July 2023 for a Council Recommendation on a European framework(4) to attract and retain research, innovation and entrepreneurial talents in Europe;
11. Believes that freedom of scientific research must come with the responsibility to respect highest ethical standards and integrity in scientific research and should foster Open Science; emphasises that integrity of scientific research requires transparency of funding, and that the freedom of scientific research brings a responsibility towards society to provide this transparency; strongly supports, therefore, the common practice of transparent communication on sources of funding for research activities and calls on the scientific sector to safeguard this practice;
12. Emphasises the decisive role of a properly designed and well implemented enabling framework to effectively protect and promote freedom of scientific research throughout the Union, taking into utmost account of available public support to facilitate production, sharing and spreading of knowledge, as a public good, and to avoid any risk of interference or undermining of independence of scientific research;
13. Insists on the relevance of open knowledge to ensure the freedom of scientific research; calls for efficient and transparent creation of knowledge without artificial barriers hindering the access to information and its dissemination; estimates that sharing results of scientific research for non-commercial purposes must be protected by Union law and actively promoted; stresses that publicly funded scientific results must be published in open-access academic journals and the results must be easily accessible for everyone;
14. Is concerned about the recent backsliding of this fundamental right in the Union, which is essential for political freedom and social participation and threatens to undermine the development of a functioning and competitive European Research Area (ERA);
16. Is deeply concerned that the Commission, despite its strong words in that communication, is failing to use its legal authority to protect this freedom in the Union; reaffirms the Union's commitment to upholding fundamental rights, including the right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, academic freedom as well as the freedom of scientific research and the arts as enshrined in the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union; is deeply concerned about the fact that freedom of research is under pressure to adhere to moral and political reservations;
17. Urges the Commission to take all steps within its power to protect and promote the freedom of scientific research in the Union and to ensure that research ethics and integrity are not compromised, including using its legal authority to prevent any further backsliding regarding this fundamental right; calls upon the Commission to actively promote and fund scientific pluralism by supporting projects across the full spectrum of scientific research;
18. Calls on the Member States to fully respect and uphold the freedom of scientific research, and to ensure that any measures taken in the name of public interest, for example in the interest of national security, territorial integrity or public safety, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, for the protection of the reputation or rights of others, for preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, or for maintaining the authority and impartiality of the judiciary, do not unduly restrict the freedom of scientific research;
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