Can the EU do enough to attract scientists to work in its countries?

Published connected 20/05/2025 - 16:20 GMT+2•Updated 16:25

The European Commission this period pledged a caller package of €500 cardinal for nan play 2025-2027, portion of which will beryllium specifically earmarked for investigation projects pinch business applications.

President Ursula von der Leyen said nan bloc needs to "stand for science" successful a reside astatine nan Sorbonne University successful Paris, adding that it's “the substance for maturation and progress” but “is being questioned successful today’s world".

US authorities fund cuts are seen arsenic an opportunity to pull specified talent to Europe, arsenic Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for start-ups, investigation and innovation, acknowledged.

"In Europe, we do things differently. We don't show researchers really and what to research. We respect their state to investigation and they are invited successful Europe," Zaharieva told Euronews. 

A caller European Research Area Act is intended to entrench state of technological investigation into law. 

"In Germany, for example, world and investigation state are considered basal authorities and are already enshrined successful nan German constitution," explains Amandine Hess, who covered nan announcement for Euronews.

Money is scarce and nan package whitethorn not beryllium enough

A caller seven-year assistance will supply researchers pinch semipermanent profession prospects and researchers who move to Europe will person a supplement connected apical of nan assistance (the magnitude will beryllium doubled this year).

But nan bureaucracy that scientists look erstwhile applying for grants and nan difficulties faced by institutions pinch constricted budgets show that nan EU is acold from delivering connected its promises.

"We are really very focused connected reducing bureaucracy, reducing reporting demands and focusing connected really to make nan programme much accessible to smaller investigation organisations, to smaller companies, which will prevention applicants clip and money," said nan European Commissioner, referring to Horizon Europe, nan EU's main backing programme for investigation and innovation.

Horizon Europe has a fund of €93 cardinal wrong nan EU's seven-year rolling budget. But personnel states are responsible for national investment, and location are significant disparities: Belgium spends 3.4% of its GDP, while Romania only 0.4%.

In total, nan EU spends 2.2% of its GDP connected investigation and nan Commission has group a target of 3% by 2030. But moreover that fig is good beneath that of different precocious regions, specified arsenic nan United States astatine 3.5% and Japan astatine 3.3%.

Scientists fearfulness that the research will not beryllium sufficiently funded wrong nan adjacent rolling budget.

“Public costs will ne'er beryllium enough. So what nan Commission is moving connected is really to get much backstage assemblage finance successful investigation innovation,” Zaharieva argued.

“But what we are lagging down is really successful transferring this knowledge to nan market, which is what nan Competitiveness Fund is each about. The Research Framework is successful our treaties, but nan relationship pinch competitiveness is really important for nan implementation,"she claimed.

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Journalist: Isabel Marques da Silva

Content production: Pilar Montero López

Video production: Zacharia Vigneron

Graphism: Loredana Dumitru

Editorial coordination: Ana Lázaro Bosch and Jeremy Fleming-Jones