The EU’s Fifth Freedom goal: The “Freedom of Knowledge”

Abstract: In this talk, I explain the EU’s science policy agenda related to the idea of a so-called “Fifth EU Freedom” – also called the “freedom of knowledge”, and I show how scientists can become engaged with shaping that freedom important for their research. The Fifth Freedom idea is located at the intersection of two European projects: a unified European Research Area (ERA), and a strengthening of the Single Market by an addition to its four basic freedoms. While the Single Market’s relation to the Fifth Freedom is the focus of the recent Letta report, my comments here center on the former project: what conditions must be satisfied to push forward the Fifth Freedom as such? I first present typical problems that arise in the administration, funding, and organization of science within the EU to demonstrate that the Fifth Freedom is still a long way from being a reality, focusing especially on how scientists in the EU are still hindered in their mobility by national bureaucratic rules and habits. I then explicate the meaning of this freedom, and outline four arguments in support of it, concerning scientific progress, freedom of research, the economic and technological progress of societies, and the democratic ideals of the European project. Finally, I present a webpage built in collaboration with the European Citizen Action Service (ECAS), where academics can become actively engaged by uploading similar problems and specific policy proposals to be communicated to academic administrations, funding agencies, and political actors at regional, national, and European levels. The webpage should facilitate the open deliberation about the Fifth Freedom and the ERA project between academics and science policy makers in the EU. (for those interested in learning about the topic in advance, see this paper)