Don’t Letta Me Down: High-Profile Support for Freedom of Movement of Knowledge – Enrico Letta's Report

The landmark report for the European Council released by the former Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta focuses on the fifth freedom of the European Union’s Single Market dedicated to the free movement of research, innovation, knowledge and education.

Operationalising the fifth freedom requires a multifaceted approach encompassing policy initiatives, infrastructure enhancements, collaborative frameworks and an unwavering commitment to foster innovation, Open Science and digital literacy.

This report sets out both inspiration and concrete proposals to be explored. Recommendations include supporting the development of centralised platforms to enable access to publicly funded research data, the harmonisation of cross-border data flow mechanisms, the development of data spaces and a comprehensive Open Science framework. There needs to be easier access to data, and attractive rules for AI development coupled with the application of research ethics to this.

Among the report's flagship initiatives, the next European Commission should develop, in consultation with all EU institutions and Member State, a comprehensive and ambitious action plan to flesh out and implement the fifth freedom.

Report is available at: https://www.consilium.europa.eu/media/ny3j24sm/much-more-than-a-market-report-by-enrico-letta.pdf.