Towards a European Research Area

At the European Council meeting in Lisbon 2000, the member states of the European Union formulated the Lisbon Agenda. With the establishment of the Lisbon Agenda, EU leaders signed on to an ambitious reform programme that aims to 'become the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the world' by 2010. The cornerstone of the Lisbon Agenda is the creation of a European Research Area: an area in which research activities at the national and EU levels are well integrated and coordinated. However, does an European Research Area not yet exist? Would such an area indeed contribute to innovation? Which countries exhibit best practices in generating technological innovations? And which potential conflicts and synergies exist between ERA policy and cohesion policy? These questions are analysed in terms of research collaboration between scholars engaged in scientific and technological knowledge production.