During a conference at the Sorbonne, this Monday, aimed in particular to attract scientists stationed in the United States, whose research is threatened by the policies of the Trump administration, the French president denounced all “diktat which would consist in saying that whatsoever can say” it is forbidden to seek this or that “, whether it is” women’s health “,” cyclones “or” climate “.
“No one could think that this very great democracy in the world, whose economic model is so strongly based on free science,” was going to make such an error, “he added in an attack on the research policy of his American counterpart, which he did not name.
“Faced with threats”, “Europe, yes, must become a refuge”, added Emmanuel Macron, launching “a call from the Sorbonne which is aimed at all free minds who want to work for science and defend our model”. According to him, “without free science, we lose (…) which makes the very heart of Western liberal democracies”.
A “free science, open for all and for all”
Emmanuel Macron intends “to allow researchers, researchers from around the world who believe in this free science, open for all, to join Europe and to be able to work there, seek and teach their families in complete freedom”.
The 100 million euros of additional public money to attract them will be funded by a reserve of the France 2030 public investment program which has so far not been assigned, said the Élysée.
The Internet platform “Choose France for Science” launched by the government on April 18 has already “aroused more than 30,000 connections, including a third from the United States,” said the head of state.
He also expressed support for “proposals, including legislative elections, aimed at better protecting scientific refugees”, in an apparent allusion to the text of the law tabled by his socialist predecessor François Hollande in the National Assembly.
For Emmanuel Macron, “what is called into question today, mainly given the pivotal role of the United States for global science, it is the major structuring research platforms on a planetary scale, the essential databases in epidemiology, climatology, which may be stopped, made inaccessible, even in certain cases irreparably lost for science”.
“France and Europe cannot let this do. This is why we need to shelter or recreate these databases to take over, ”he insisted.
-“Stable and supported investments”
He finally called on Europe to “invest massively” on “a dozen sites of the century”, in terms of health, space, quantum, artificial intelligence, circular economy, aging, nuclear energy, climate, electronics or the fight against disinformation.
And indeed, the European Union will offer a “new envelope of 500 million euros” for the period 2025-2027 “in order to make Europe a pole of attraction for researchers,” the president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Monday.
“The role of science at present is called into question. Investment in basic, free and open research is questioned. What a huge error of appreciation (…) Science is the key to our future here in Europe, “she said, at the end of the” Choose Europe for Science “conference.
Stopping “stable and supported investments” and the “infrastructure” favorable to research in Europe, Ursula von der Leyen has announced measures to compensate for its “shortcomings”, in particular “a new” super-subsidy “with a duration of seven years” as well as the doubling until 2027 of the “complement” paid to research scholarships.
“Entering the freedom of scientific research in law”
“In the medium and long term: with our Member States, we want to reach the objective of 3 % of GDP for investment in research and development by 2030,” she added.
She also repeated her desire to “inscribe freedom of scientific research in law by means of a new legislative act on the European research area”.
In order to facilitate the arrival of researchers, “we want to help public and private institutions to get closer to highly qualified workers and researchers” and “accelerate and simplify the entry of high-level researchers” in the European Union, she said.
“Bringing the best researchers from around the world is bringing out the best in Europe,” she said.
