Ursula von der Reyen invited US scientists threatened by Donald Trump’s policies and committed to a legal commitment to respect greater financial incentives, longer contracts, fewer deficits and freedom of research to move to the European Union.
“More than ever, we need to stand up to science. The universal science shared by all humanity – and it is united,” the European Commission president said in a speech on Monday at La Sorbonne University in Paris.
“We can all agree that science has no passports, gender, ethnicity, or political parties.”
“We believe diversity is an asset of humanity and science’s life. It is one of the most valuable global commodities and must be protected,” she added.
Von Der Leyen did not mention Trump by name, and her spokesman later said that the speech was not “how science is managed in other countries.”
However, her abundant references to the importance of “free and open” research left almost doubtful about her ultimate goal. It’s about turning American turmoil into European opportunities.
Since his return to the White House, Trump has implemented drastic cuts to federal budgets that have taken grants to scientific, research institutions and multi-billion-dollar medical centers, thwarting his ability to maintain critical research that requires reliable and stable funding. Programs focused on climate change, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and HIV prevention are already I was affected.
It’s new requestTrump has called on Congress to cut spending at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) by 37% and by 50% at the National Science Foundation (NSF). This is a move that aims to “investment focus” in priority areas such as AI, quantum, nuclear energy, and “end scientific spending.”
These policies are met resistance And it defeated decades of bipartisan consensus, raising warnings that federal cuts could run so deeply, putting America’s ability to compete with other major economies at risk.
recently study To American universities, it estimated that a 25% decline in public R&D spending would reduce the country’s GDP by “equivalent amounts” to the decline experienced during the Great Recession.
In parallel, Trump launched an opposing campaign Elite University They are threatening to dismantle their diversity programs, cut federal funding and change tax systems.
“Unfortunately, the role of science in today’s world is being raised questionable. The investment in basic, free and open research is being questioned,” von der Reyen said in Paris.
“What a huge miscalculation.”
Von Der Leyen then announced a new initiative called “The Choice of Europe,” attracting scientists and researchers from the US and other countries to the bloc.
As part of the initiative, the bloc said it would reduce bureaucratic burdens, promote access to venture capital, and provide longer term contracts and higher allowances. Additionally, the EU will establish a seven-year “super grant” and add a financial “top-up” to scholarships for those who choose to relocate.
Freedom of scientific research is engraved in the law, she added.
The plan is based primarily on an existing research programme, which is Europe of 9.3 billion euros and includes 500 million euros of fresh envelopes for the 2025-2027 period.
“Our top priority is to ensure that European science is open and free. This is our calling card,” von der Reyen told the audience.
“We have to do everything we can to support it.
Speaking shortly after the chief of the committee, France’s Emmanuel Macron was far more clear in his condemnation.
“A few years ago, one of the world’s biggest democracies would abolish a research program under the pretext that the program had the term diversity,” Macron said.
“No one could have thought that this very big democracy would make such a mistake in a world where economic models are strongly based on free science and innovation (…). But we are here.”
French leaders rejected the “Dictat,” which allowed the government to impose scientists on whether they could or could not study. Macron’s name checked two specific areas targeted by the Trump administration: women’s health and climate behavior.
“Life is at risk too,” he said. “What is questioned is the progress of our humanity. It is moral and mandatory.”
