On 5 October the Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) published a study in Nature which appears to confirm that EU researchers perform considerably well due to the scientific openness of European countries.
The article shows a correlation between the degree to which a state cooperates with other countries in the field of research and the quality and success of its research.
On the occasion of the publication Tibor Navracsics, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, responsible for the Joint Research Centre, and Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, said that in research and innovation, cooperation across disciplines and countries is a must. According to them this is one of the many areas where the EU has a clear added value as Member States perform exceptionally well thanks to the enhanced collaboration within the Union and with third countries. It unquestionably helps our researchers produce world changing science and our public and private sectors to improve people's lives. The EU has maintained its share of the world's top 10% most highly cited scientific publications, in the face of strong competition from China and elsewhere.
