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League of European Research Universities

LERU

The League of European Research Universities is an association of leading research-intensive universities.

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Massimiliano Esposito (Head of Unit Research and Innovation)

10 Dec 2025 · Horizon Europe 2028-2034

Meeting with Eszter Lakos (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur)

17 Nov 2025 · Upcoming ERA Act

Meeting with Manuel Aleixo (Cabinet of Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva)

24 Jul 2025 · R&I policy and funding

Response to European strategy on research and technology infrastructures

22 May 2025

LERU (https://www.leru.org) is an association of 24 leading research-intensive universities in Europe. Research-intensive universities are involved in all scales of research infrastructures; from small, specialised databases, and core facilities into specific technologies to the larger EFSRI-type projects which are more well known. Research infrastructures focus on technology development at lower TRLs and are complementary to technology infrastructures which focus on scale up and commercialisation of technologies. Together, they form the basis for developing innovative new products and tools and European Competitiveness. Both are crucial and should not compete for resources. This will foster innovation without compromising fundamental research. As Europe increasingly focusses on improving its competitiveness, LERU welcomes this consultation by the European Commission and takes this opportunity to outline our thoughts on what needs to be addressed within the research infrastructure ecosystem. It is clear that much has been done in recent years to improve the research infrastructure landscape in Europe. However, much still needs to be done. Our response and action points are attached.
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Meeting with Laurence Farreng (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur for opinion) and COIMBRA GROUP

10 Apr 2025 · Accord de Commerce et de Coopération avec le Royaume-Uni - enseignement supérieur

Meeting with Roxana Mînzatu (Executive Vice-President) and

18 Mar 2025 · Union of Skills

Meeting with Ekaterina Zaharieva (Commissioner) and

18 Mar 2025 · Exchange on the role of universities in research and innovation, competitiveness and FP10.

Meeting with Ekaterina Zaharieva (Commissioner) and

18 Mar 2025 · Exchange on the role of universities in research and innovation, competitiveness and FP10

Response to EU Start-up and Scale-up Strategy

14 Mar 2025

The League of European Research Universities consulted its Enterprise and Innovation policy group to collect feedback. The members of that group have extensive experience in the technology transfer offices of the LERU universities. LERU recognises many issues described in the document, including that the single market is incomplete and that its functioning is limited by the many internal barriers still present. LERU has additional reflections on the different points in the document that was published by the European Commission for this call of evidence and makes some recommendations on actions to include in the EUs Startup and Scaleup Strategy. These can be found in the document attached to this feedback.
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Meeting with Laurence Farreng (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and COIMBRA GROUP and

12 Mar 2025 · Réunion des parties prenantes sur le futur des alliances d'Universités européennes

Meeting with Malika Sorel (Member of the European Parliament, Shadow rapporteur) and COIMBRA GROUP and

12 Mar 2025 · Alliances universitaires européennes

Meeting with Massimiliano Esposito (Head of Unit Research and Innovation)

25 Feb 2025 · Exchange of views on R&I policy and funding for research and innovation

Meeting with Manuel Aleixo (Cabinet of Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva)

20 Feb 2025 · ERA Act

Meeting with Christian Ehler (Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur) and European University Association and

27 Jan 2025 · FP10

Meeting with Christophe Galand (Head of Unit Budget) and European University Association and

23 Jan 2025 · Discussion on research place in the the future Multiannual Financial Framework

Meeting with Christian Ehler (Member of the European Parliament)

17 Sept 2024 · European science policy

Meeting with Christian Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and Science Europe

11 Mar 2024 · Science and research policy

Meeting with Christian Ehler (Member of the European Parliament) and European University Association

31 Jan 2023 · Academic Freedom

Response to EU strategic Framework for Global Health

19 Sept 2022

Please find attached the input of the League of European Research Universities and the European Global Health Research Institutes Network (EGHRIN) for the call for evidence on a new Global Health Strategy for Europe. Overall, we stress the need for a highly interdisciplinary and evidence based focus for the new EU Global Health Strategy.
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Response to Interim evaluation of Horizon Europe

29 Jul 2022

(See attachment for full contribution) LERU very much welcomes the call for feedback on the Horizon Europe mid-term review. The LERU member universities are very active participants in the framework programme and have been in the past framework programmes. As a stakeholder organisation, LERU has contributed to developing and changing consecutive framework programmes by making many and detailed recommendations and suggestions, both on the bigger policy and programme level and on the detailed level of administrative and financial rules and practices. LERU will submit a detailed contribution to the consultation on the mid-term review in the fourth quarter of this year. This call for feedback is used to highlight areas of importance for the European Commission to consider in the mid-term review. 1. Horizon Europe Budget In 2016, LERU called for a budget of Horizon Europe of €160 billion. Unfortunately, this has been far from realised. The EU should prioritise EU investment more in the next MFF. The declining R&I performance of the EU compared to its competitors, as shown in a recent EC report , should be a warning sign and be used to justify such an increase. In addition, R&I investment and the budget of the framework programme in particular, should be better protected in the future MFF, to avoid that the R&I Framework Programme (FP) is always targeted when new money needs to be found. The EC could use the mid-term review to investigate how this could be realised. 2. Better presenting the full value of the Framework Programme At the moment, the EC very often presents Horizon Europe as a means to realise or support EU policy priorities such as the twin transitions. Of course, the FP plays or could play an important role in supporting such policy priorities, but it should be made clearer, by the EC itself to start with, that the FP has huge value on its own. For LERU that value is crystal clear: The FP is an essential part of the European R&I landscape because of its EU-wide competition for excellence and push for transitional collaboration. It stimulates mobility of researchers and funds collaboration to jointly address global challenges and to stimulate innovation. It is an important instrument for realising the European Research Area (ERA), setting out frameworks and goals for EU funding and so influencing Member States to introduce structural reform in order to head in the same direction. 3. Association The EC’s plan was to realise association to Horizon Europe of more strong R&I countries compared to past Framework Programmes. This has so far not been realised. On the contrary, the FP has lost two R&I powerhouses, namely the UK and Switzerland, instead of gaining new ones. We repeat that no-association of the UK and CH to Horizon Europe is not only a loss to both countries, but also a tremendous loss to the EU and the EU’s R&I community in particular. Time goes by quickly and Horizon Europe is well in its second year. In addition, it looks like political solutions or breakthroughs with both the UK and CH are not close. Therefore, LERU urgently ask the EC to take a more pragmatic stance and pick the solution which is best for the EU, namely a swift and full association of both countries. 4. Horizon Europe and strategic autonomy The EU is increasingly concerned for its strategic autonomy and is looking to secure this better. The FP can and will indirectly support the EU’s autonomy in strategic areas. However, it should not be the victim of limiting international collaboration or of the narrowing down of topics researchers may address for the sake of strategic autonomy. The freedom of individual researchers to work with the best colleagues from across the world and to research the topic they find most relevant or important, should be safeguarded. Additionally, Framework Programme’s budget should not be used to fund initiatives linked to strategic autonomy if they go beyond what is ...
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Response to Recommendation for strengthened actions against antimicrobial resistance

24 Mar 2022

The League of European Research Universities (LERU), which brings together 23 of the leading research- intensive universities in Europe, welcomes this long overdue initiative from the European Commission. LERU considers that better financial support for AMR research and development, education and communications should be vital pillars of any EU AMR strategy. We provide some of our thoughts on these issues in the attached document.
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Response to Evaluation and revision of the general pharmaceutical legislation

26 Apr 2021

The review of pharmaceutical legislation with the aim of guaranteeing access to affordable medicines and health products in the EU, must include both existing legislation on medicine and on medical devices. Considering both legislative fields, the following aspects should be considered: • Support for research and innovation of medicines and health products. In this sense, the regulation of clinical studies is eminently warrant. It is good that the safety of people is always guaranteed and that the correctness of clinical studies is controlled, but mechanisms should be put in place to facilitate the approval process of such clinical trials without losing the exigency and control of them. • Regulatory aspects. The current European legislation has contributed to unify criteria (i.e. Common Technical Document -CTD- application in medicines for human use), to unify the regulatory system and to use the electronic document submission. However, it is necessary to simplify bureaucratic procedures and to reduce response times by the health authorities (at this time, the time limit is 210 days). Likewise, a rapid registration system could be defined, similar to the one designed for the authorization of orphan drugs. • Pharmacovigilance. Recently, new regulations have been put in place (implemented by each MS). At European level, appropriate mechanisms should be organized to quickly respond to the problems detected. The use of big-data tools could help to achieve this improvement. • Manufacturing, storage and distribution. These activities are perfectly regulated by the different medicines’ agencies, based on the application of GMP. However, there is a vacuum that causes the existence of parallel trade in medicines which should be regulated. This situation causes the export of medicines to countries of the Union itself where they are sold more expensively. • Pharmacotherapeutic control and dispensation. For this purpose, the existing network of chemist's, run by graduates in Pharmacy, must be used. Normally, citizens have easy access to these health professionals. Moreover, they have the expertise needed to know the medical condition of the population they serve. These professionals can do an important pharmacotherapeutic follow-up work and be a key element in epidemiological studies. The participation of chemist’s in the administration of vaccines should be also considered, taking advantage of the extensive existing social network, both in the urban and in the rural population.
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Response to European Health Emergency Response Authority

24 Feb 2021

Two pivotal advocacy, educational, and research promoting networks from European Universities - the League of European Research Universities (LERU) and the European Global Health Research Institutes Network (EGHRIN) jointly would like to provide their views on the Commission's perceptions and understanding of the problem and possible solutions in support of HERA’s key functions. LERU and EGHRIN believe that to meet its objectives, HERA should conceptually evolve from an entity focused mainly on stockpiling towards a five-part bundled model within which its primary stockpiling function can effectively be delivered, while strengthening other key elements of a comprehensive and timely response to health emergencies occurring in EU, or elsewhere. Therefore, for LERU and EGRHIN it is key that the new HERA includes the following key functions: (1) Stockpiling: Promotion of development capacity – identifying and addressing market and regulatory challenges and promotion of advanced research, innovation and development of corresponding technologies and countermeasures for cross-border threats to health are fundamental to success. This needs to be linked to production capacity through EU flexible and scalable manufacturing capabilities which need to be strengthened or established, and via training. (2) Policy harmonization: should deliver the key tools as catalytic components of a supportive package to Member States. (3) Monitoring of the status of preparedness in EU countries. (4) Horizon scanning to detect cross-border threats and hazards. While well-established, existing surveillance systems as implemented today must be further strengthened, research and innovations are fundamental areas for rapid support and expansion towards better forecasting. New technologies for health and medical countermeasures, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing, digital tools, big data, market intelligence, and foresight are crucial components of precision global health interventions capable of limiting the impact of health emergencies worldwide. HERA should facilitate research in all these fronts as well as coordinate and manage relations and knowledge sharing. Research-intensive universities are well placed to deliver state of the art knowledge regarding threats both of biological and non-biological origin. (5) Finally, the bundled approach is completed through its final element that spans across the other functions: education and training. Capacity building needs to be expanded through competent EU academic institutions that can start educational programs in all aspects of preparedness for international threats. A crucial point will be to pursue international partnerships with non-EU countries and entities which may be critical for timely communication and containment of threats before they reach the EU borders. This may require a well-structured global cooperation. LERU and EGHRIN welcome the suggestion to model HERA to the example of the US BARDA, which has demonstrated that investments in health preparedness are key in enabling and accelerating the development of new countermeasures and surge manufacturing capacities when needed. Over the years, BARDA has developed a fully integrated, systematic approach to the development of the necessary vaccines, drugs, therapies, and diagnostic tools. LERU and EGRHIN therefore suggest that HERA should be established as a full end-to-end Authority & streamlining of EU level initiatives on medical countermeasures for serious cross-border threats to health (option 3). Finally, HERA will need to be closely coordinated at the global level, promoting multilateral partnerships and collaborations with key stakeholders, including LMIC. Research-intensive universities and other research and public health institutes can bring significant expertise and value to the HERA.
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Response to Proposal for a Regulation on a Union framework addressing public health emergencies (EMA)

1 Feb 2021

LERU welcomes the proposal to strengthen the role of the European Medicines Agency to address public health emergencies. We would like to highlight that "regulatory preparedness" can be ensured by putting in place and maintaining a strong evidence/regulatory science base to underpin decision-making. Universities and university hospitals therefore have a key role in regulatory preparedness, but this requires both recognition of their role and appropriate funding where necessary. In particular, we would like to stress the important role universities and university hospitals can play in: 1) Development of medicines to novel health issues; 2) Testing of medicines (especially when there are concerns about quality of medicines); 3) Providing ethics experts/research for ethical aspects of trial design; 4) Providing advice (for example concerning the use of medicines in non-registered diseases). Academic experts are at the forefront of science and should be used in formulating advice. Academic collaborations can be leveraged to optimise investigator-led research; 5) Testing pathogens/sequencing.
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Response to Proposal for a Regulation on serious cross-border threats to health

1 Feb 2021

Overall, an increased EU collaboration and joint preparedness for future health crises is a laudable initiative with many potential benefits for Europe’s major research universities. Some points that deserve more specific comments are as follows: The plan for a network of reference laboratories should more specifically take into account also academic facilities and national research infrastructures to optimise capacity and access to expertise. It is important to include such facilities in dialogue at an early stage of planning and consider including them in the planned system for stress tests. This pertains especially if they are to be part of an increased surge capacity, for example when sequencing of pathogen genomes is needed at a large scale. There may be specific funding required should such facilities be included in overall plans for preparedness. There is a notable absence of planning for antagonistic medical emergencies, i.e. events purposefully instigated by state or non-state actors. This is surprising considering that public health has become an increasingly politicised issue during the covid-19 crisis, while at the same time synthetic biology is a field under very rapid development. Research universities could contribute expertise regarding risks with dual use of these technologies. On the same note, the very ambitious plans for monitoring of member country medical emergency stock piles and preparedness plans touch the realm of civil defence, which could make some of this data sensitive from the point of national security. The legal framework for collecting such data should be clarified as well as aspects of information security.
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Response to A European Health Data Space

1 Feb 2021

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) are very enthusiastic about this proposal. We think it provides a very ambitious framework that will help the health sector to move forward in digitalisation. We very much approve of the federated approach. Furthermore, it pushes all member states to stop thinking and start acting. It has a high potential to facilitate research and healthcare across the EU. Our detailed feedback is attached.
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Meeting with Mariya Gabriel (Commissioner)

3 Jul 2020 · Stakeholder consultation with Rectors of the European Education Area on the forthcoming European Education Area Communication

Meeting with Themis Christophidou (Director-General Education, Youth, Sport and Culture)

29 Nov 2018 · Digital Higher Education Summit

Meeting with Jean-Eric Paquet (Director-General Research and Innovation)

12 Jul 2018 · Courtesy visit

Meeting with Hilde Hardeman (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)

21 Jun 2016 · Research & Innovation

Meeting with Ann Mettler (Director-General Inspire, Debate, Engage and Accelerate Action)

12 May 2015 · Meeting with the Secretary-General of the League of European Research Universities

Meeting with Antonio Lowndes Marques De Araujo Vicente (Cabinet of Commissioner Carlos Moedas)

24 Feb 2015 · Open Access, ERA, Innovation Union

Meeting with Hilde Hardeman (Cabinet of Vice-President Jyrki Katainen)

16 Jan 2015 · Investment Initiative; European Research Area