The leading universities of science and technology united within CESAER today reaffirm their support for open science and open access to scientific publications, building on our previous position paper CESAER going towards Open Science and our Roadmap towards Open Access. We acknowledge the laudable efforts by cOAlition S- a group of national research funding organisations with the support of the European Commission and the European Research Council - to ensure immediate open access to scientific publications, and we support Plan S. In line with our previousstatements and our mission, aims and values, we today present our advanced position on open access in the next EU Framework Programme for Research & Innovation (Horizon Europe). “The foundation of an innovative society is its ability to generate and critically reflect on knowledge, share it openly among its members, and thereby improve the human condition. Universities - key players in education, research and innovation - embody this process of knowledge exchange and trustworthiness. Open science aims to amplify this, taking advantage of digital possibilities. Although many universities embrace open science practices, realising its full potential still requires much work. I am encouraged by the European Commission’s support for these efforts, and I especially welcome continued developments to safeguard the rights of researchers and their institutions. Retaining full rights to their scholarly works is a vital condition for responsible research and education” said Rik Van de Walle (President of CESAER and Rector of Ghent University). “Our association has been a proponent of open science and open access for a long time and remains a constructive partner, for example through our representation in the Open Science Policy Platform and the Executive Board of the European Open Science Cloud. Our Members are helping to develop and lead the implementation of best practices at universities, as exemplified in our recent white paper on research data management. I thank our Members for their strong commitment and their efforts to the transition to full open access”, said David Bohmert (Secretary General). For more information about this position, please contact our Advisor for Research & Innovation Mattias Björnmalm