Research in bad shape in France

Investing 3% of GDP in research and development (R&D) – one of the targets of the EU’s 'Europe 2020' strategy – is badly needed in France but there is little chance of this goal being met in the next decade, especially at a time of crisis. EURACTIV France reports.

Since 2000, when the Lisbon Strategy was launched, France has never reached the target of spending 3% of GDP on R&D. According to Eurostat, French investment was 2.2% in 2001 and has decreased ever since. In 2007, it was 2.08%, around half of which came from the private sector.

Compared to other European countries, France is ranked 14^th, far behind Sweden (3.6%) and Finland (3.5%). France spends around €40 million, while Germany spends €61 million and the US €269 million. Moreover, France is the only OECD country in which the government budget for R&D has decreased in real terms (around -4%) in the last decade.

To address the issue, the French government claimed to be putting new impetus into the research field in 2008 with a ''national strategy for research and innovation'' (SNRI).

Desgined to set out priorities to enhance research achievements between 2009 and 2012, it came up with the following: health and biotech; environmental emergency and green technologies; and information, communication and nanotechnologies.

29 projects have emerged from these priorities, which are subsidised by a 'big loan' (grand emprunt) of €35 billion.

In December 2009, French President Nicolas Sarkozy detailed the areas that were to benefit from the loan: universities and research received the lion’s share, securing €11 and €8 billion respectively. €5 billion was allocated to the development of renewable energies.

A necessary but unattainable objective?

There is general consensus in France about the necessity to increase investment in R&D. According to the government, the 3% goal is a ''key factor for growth'' and must remain ''at the heart of our priorities''. Investment is essential for France, since it is clearly lagging behind Japan and the US.

However, French economist Mathieu Plane believes that even though setting an EU-level target is ''desirable'', the objective is ''unattainable''. He argues that there are serious political obstacles: ''France did not manage to accomplish it during periods of growth in the early 2000s. Therefore, there is no way it will change during the next decade, especially at a time of crisis,'' he explained.

Indeed, whenever there is a crisis, the R&D budget is the first to be sacrificed. Cuts are inevitable since France will have to make them to limit its deficit to the 3% limit set by the EU's Stability and Growth Pact. According to Plane, investment in research is a long-term process which is ''disconnected from the electoral period''.

What about the 'grand emprunt'?

In December 2009, President Sarkozy described the 'big loan' as an important step forward and justified the large share allocated to R&D. ''It is key for our future competitiveness,'' he said.

Sarkozy argued that ''we need to take advantage of the crisis to modernise obsolete structures,'' because ''who could seriously think that France can win the battle of intelligence with tools dating back to the middle of the century?''

Jacques Fontanille, chancellor of Limoges University and vice-chairman of the CPU (Conférence des présidents d’universités), views the funds favourably, predicting that universities will gain more ''financial independence from the political changes''. He went on: ''Budgets will be funded in the long-term since they will no longer depend on the hazard of annual budgets.''

Yet several officials are deeply sceptical about the loan. Scholar and research workers' association 'Sauvons la recherche' points out that the €11 billion actually consists of capital contributions. This means that once funded, universities will only receive the interest rates – around €500 million per year, according to the association. Fontanille was also critical of this: ''Their amount will depend on the evolution of the markets,'' he said.

Moreover, these subsidies will go to the biggest universities, meaning that the gap between universities and students will widen and ''super elitist universities'' will propser while others are left behind.

Plane also pointed out that the investment does not mean that the 3% target will be met, since it is a ''short-term investment''. ''Long-term lack of debt is necessary to finance R&D,'' he concluded.

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