Policies for co-ordination in the European Research Area: a view from the social sciences and humanities

The article aims at contributing to understanding the European Research Area (ERA), from the perspective of science policy coordination. It first looks at ERA as an evolution of European science policy, shaped by ideas as to what science policy is and should be, by its own history and by evolutions in national systems. The article argues that in a context of an apparently increasing concern with societal challenges and priority-setting, institutional developments in Europe mark a trend away from mission-oriented policies and towards diffusion-oriented policies. The article looks in detail at national structures, resources and programmes in social sciences and humanities which are subjected to the coordinating influence of a changing European policy landscape. As new elements in European policy increase the coordinating influence of the European level on the national, the article concludes on the way the differences in resources and structures affect the way different countries participate in the ERA.