11 July 2018 – EMBO is supporting the call as one of the petition’s initial signatories and encourages members of the life science community to sign the petition calling on the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers and the European Commission to move the current 100-billion-euro target for the next Framework Programme to 160 billion euros.
Speaking at a press briefing, Michael Matlosz, President-Elect of EuroScience, said: “One of the strengths Europe has is outstanding scientific research. It makes sense to build Europe’s strategy on this strength. And we believe the European Union must lead. Individual Member States also have a role to play, but the EU must make a big gesture.”
ISE President Martin Andler said: “This is actually a fairly good proposal by the EC. But we have to realize that national governments will likely be in favour of a decrease.” Peter Tindemans, EuroScience Secretary General, added that it is therefore essential that scientists and the organizations representing them talk to national governments and funding bodies to convince them of the need to invest in European science.
EMBO Director and former ISE President Maria Leptin explained: “We had a similar petition ahead of the last Framework Programme and collected more than 100,000 signatories, which we delivered to the Parliament, Council and Commission. It probably had an effect, and we want to recreate that with this petition.”
Stressing the importance of involving as many scientists across Europe as possible, she adds: “We will make use of all the connections we have across countries and disciplines to make a difference on behalf of European science.”
