The European Commission presented the measures to improve open access to scientific information produced in Europe. According to the Commission, broader and more rapid access to scientific papers and data will make it easier for researchers and businesses to build on the findings of public-funded research.

The measures presented by the European Commission have as main aim to improve access to scientific information produced in Europe. With these measures, Europe will give Europe a better return on its €87 billion annual investment in R&D. The measures complement the Commission's measures to achieve a European Research Area (ERA), presented on 17 of July.

As a first step for achieving this objective, the Commission will make open access to scientific publications a general principle of Horizon 2020, the EU's Research & Innovation funding programme for 2014-2020. As of 2014, all articles produced with funding from Horizon 2020 will have to be accessible. In addition to this, the Commission will start experimenting with open access to the data collected during publicly funded research.

The goal is for 60% of European publicly-funded research articles to be available under open access by 2016. The Commission has also recommended that Member States take a similar approach to the results of research funded under their own domestic programmes.