The ELECTRA Integrated Research Programme on Smart Grids (ELECTRA) brings together the partners of the EERA Joint Programme on Smart Grids (JP SG) to reinforce and accelerate Europe’s medium to long term research cooperation in this area and to drive a closer integration of the research programmes of the participating organisations and of the related national programmes. ELECTRA’s joint research activity and collaborative support actions build on an established track record of collaboration and engagement. Together, the JP SG and ELECTRA will establish significant coherence across national research efforts critical to the stable operation of the EU power system of 2020+. The EU energy strategy sets ambitious goals for the energy systems of the future that foresees a substantial increase in the share of renewable electricity production. The whole-sale deployment of RES connected to the network at all voltage levels will require radically new approaches for real time control that can accommodate the coordinated operation of millions of devices, of various technologies, at many different scales and voltage levels, dispersed across EU grid. ELECTRA addresses this challenge, and will establish and validate proofs of concept that utilise flexibility from across traditional boundaries in a holistic fashion. In addition to the joint R&D activities, coordination work packages in ELECTRA build on existing efforts established through EERA and will significantly escalate these through the coordination and collaboration amongst EU leading research infrastructures, researcher exchange across EU and internationally, and actions on international cooperation. The support received at proposal stage from 16 national funding agencies, ENTSOE, EDSO4SG, ETP SG, as well as from a number of international organisations will be developed to leverage the research effort in ELECTRA and to strengthen its exploitation potential.