Von der Leyen also announced she would put forward a “European Innovation Act” and a “Startup and Scaleup Strategy” to cut red tape and boost access to venture capital to help turn innovative science into business opportunities. She pledged to legally codify the freedom of scientific research on the continent by proposing a “European Research Area Act.”
She added that she wants EU countries to spend 3 percent of their gross domestic product on research by 2030, though Brussels has been pushing member states to meet this figure for decades to no avail.
Macron announced a similar plan last month, “Choose France for Science,” but the initiative was met with criticism from French researchers who have been fighting for their universities to provide higher salaries and better working conditions to compete with their American counterparts. The French president said that they’ve received “several hundred” applications for the program.
Macron attempted a similar pitch during Trump’s first term after the U.S. president withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, but it’s not clear to what extent the “Make Our Planet Great Again” plan worked.
Macron said Monday that the program allowed France to “welcome the best researchers” whose work on climate science was under threat.
Clea Caulcutt contributed to this report.
