JOINSTM Chapter | Europe
The STM Europe group closely monitors developments in European Union legislation, sharing intelligence and coordinating activity of STM and its members specifically in Brussels. It is made up of STM staff and representatives of STM members who actively have presence in Brussels, ideally with expertise in lobbying and government relations. Meetings take place once per month.
The activity of the STM Europe group is in support of and complementary to that of the standing STM Committees and Forums. Learn more about how we are structured.
STM Europe provides recommendations on how to best broadcast the work of STM, discusses advocacy activities to implement in Brussels and creates opportunities for STM and its members to communicate on their key messages.
The latest policy updates from the EU
EU COM set to present findings of study on economic impact of Secondary Publication Right and modified research exception
The study led by Visionary Analytics on the economic impact of potential legislative interventions regarding an EU-wide Secondary Publication Right and a modified research exception has now concluded. Findings will be presented in a webinar on 13 May. Programme and registration are available here.
German Federal Constitutional Court decision on secondary publication obligation
On 24 March 2026, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled against the state of Baden-Württemberg and the University of Konstanz, rejecting their attempt to establish a secondary publication obligation through state and institutional statutes under Section 38(4) of the German Copyright Act (UrhG). The Court found the obligation void on competence grounds: copyright legislation is a matter…
OA publication costs confirmed to be charged higher VAT rate in the Netherlands
A district Court in the Netherlands sided with the national tax authority and stated that Open Access publication costs must be charged at the higher VAT rate of 21% (rather than the lower rate of 9%, which applies to purchasing material to read). The prevalent view of national tax authorities is that the VAT regime on electronic publications…
Open Research Europe launching at CERN
On 26 March, the EU Commission’s publishing platform Open Research Europe officially launched at CERN, which will take over operation of the platform this autumn. Only researchers from participating countries will be eligible: Austria, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. All of these countries have several Transformative Agreements in place.