A Proactive Approach to Co-creating the European Research Area: The Case of Slovenia in the Last Twenty Years

This article explores Slovenia’s role within the European Research Area (ERA) since it became a member of the European Union, and it provides a brief overview of the impacts that EU membership has had on the development of Slovenia’s national research and innovation (R&I) landscape. We argue that a proactive policy approach to EU membership, represented by what we term the feedback loop, and the recognition and integration of the EU’s strategic priorities within national R&I objectives, was conducive to making possible further development of research careers, research infrastructures, funding mechanisms, and the internationalization of the national R&I system. Examples are provided from both the policy perspective (presidencies, EU agenda-setting, and policy implementation) and the perspective of the key segments of the R&I system, where we focus on the European Cohesion Policy (financing), the EU R&I Framework Programmes (research careers), and research infrastructures. We conclude that Slovenia’s membership in the EU has had a positive impact on its research landscape by making possible and advancing research excellence at the individual and institutional levels. Slovenia has proved that it can assume a responsible and leading role as a co-creator of EU R&I policy within the ERA; however, one of its future challenges will be to make a cultural and mental leap forward and steadily continue with this proactive approach on a long-term basis, solidifying its position as one of the leading member states in R&I policy.