European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and French President Emmanuel Macron have criticized the US President Donald Trumpʼs campaign against American higher education and instead presented a plan to attract foreign researchers to the EU, pledging €500 million.
This is reported by Politico.
“The role of science in the modern world is being questioned. Investment in fundamental, free and open research is being questioned. What a huge miscalculation,” von der Leyen said.
At a joint speech with Macron at the Sorbonne University in Paris, the President of the European Commission announced the "Choose Europe for Science" initiative, which aims to "support the best and most talented researchers and scientists from Europe and around the world".
Emmanuel Macron said France would allocate another €100 million from the France 2030 program to attract foreign scientists and make Europe a "safe haven" for science.
"We must not downplay what is at stake today. No one could have imagined a few years ago that one of the worldʼs largest democracies would cancel research programs on the grounds that their programs contain the word ʼdiversity,ʼ" Macron stressed.
During the event, some speakers criticized Donald Trump for his attempts to reduce public funding for scientific research and his desire to strip universities like Harvard of billions in grants. The reason was complaints from conservatives about the universities and accusations of anti-Semitism. The French education minister and a Stanford professor called it “a step back from the Enlightenment.”
Ursula von der Leyen plans to launch new laws and strategies to support innovation and startups in Europe, as well as reduce bureaucracy, facilitate access to investment and legally guarantee the freedom of scientific research. She is therefore calling on EU countries to spend 3% of GDP on science by 2030. So far, such efforts have been fruitless.
French President Emmanuel Macron recently announced a similar plan “Choose France for Science”, but it has been criticized by French scientists for its low salaries and poor conditions at universities. Macron says hundreds of applications have already been submitted for the program. He previously tried to attract foreign researchers after the US withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, and now says France has welcomed many prominent climate scientists whose work is at risk.
- In March, the Trump administration froze funding for the University of Pennsylvania because it allows transgender athletes to compete against women. For Harvard University, Trump cut billions in research funding, prompting a lawsuit against the US Presidential Administration.
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