Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002842/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Dario Tamburrano (The Left), Danilo Della Valle (The Left), Carolina Morace (The Left), Pasquale Tridico (The Left), Gaetano Pedulla’ (The Left), Mario Furore (The Left), Jutta Paulus (Verts/ALE), Rudi Kennes (The Left), Jan-Peter Warnke (NI), Thomas Geisel (NI), Giuseppe Antoci (The Left)
A ‘secondary publication right (SPR)’ refers to the right to republish publicly funded research that has been deposited in an open access repository simultaneously or following its publication in academic journals, with guarantees on the subsequent use that can be made of the work[1].
According to an analysis by the Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER)[2], the traditional system limits potential future research as it transfers all rights to publishing entities.
In the light of this, can the Commission answer the following questions:
- 1.As a quarter of Member States now have an SPR provision, what actions will the Commission take to ensure harmonisation and to support open access to publicly funded research across Europe?
- 2.Does it agree that a zero-embargo SPR for publicly funded research strengthens the impact of EU research investments and aligns with the goals of Horizon Europe and the future framework programme for research and innovation (FP10)?
- 3.Given widespread support for cost-free publishing models and the financial sustainability challenges of the gold open access model, how will the Commission promote equitable alternatives like green and diamond open access, and safeguard authors’ rights over their work?
Submitted: 11.7.2025
- [1] A position statement from Knowledge Rights 21 on secondary publishing rights, February 2023, https://www.knowledgerights21.org/statement/secondary-publishing-rights-new-position-statement-from-knowledge-rights-21/.
- [2] Association of European Research Libraries report of 10 October 2023 entitled, ‘Secondary Publishing Rights in Europe: Status, challenges & opportunities’, by Giannis Tsakonas, Kyriaki Zoutsou, Marina Perivolari, https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8428315.