Research in the EU

Under the Federal Ministries Act as amended, the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research (BMBWF) is responsible in the area of European research for matters related to the European Research Area (ERA) and the EU Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development.
The Treaty of Lisbon defines the European Research Area (ERA) as a unified research area set up to create an internal market for research. The aim of this political initiative is to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and improve the coordination of research activities at national and European level, to develop human resources more effectively and make European research attractive to the best researchers in the world.