The European Union has decided to provide hundreds of millions of euros to strengthen university freedom and attract professors and scientists from around the world, especially the USA, where the "brain drain" has started due to the suppression of freedom of education and science by the government in Washington.
This was announced by French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at a conference of representatives of European universities, education ministers, and European Commission commissioners in Paris.
The message of that conference, under the motto "Choose Europe for Science", was that "Europe is determined to put education and science at the heart of its economy, to become a home of scientific freedom and cooperation, and to welcome talent from all over the world".
An interview with American professor Jason Stanley, who decided to leave the famous Yale University and go to the University of Toronto, Canada, attracted considerable attention in the EU media due to the restrictions on freedom of education and science and the decision of the US President Donald Trump administration to withhold state aid to universities.
The key message from philosophy professor Stanley, an expert on authoritarian regimes, was that "schools, universities, the media, and the judiciary are the pillars of democracy" which, as the foundations of democracy and a developed society, are now under attack in the USA.
At the "Choose Europe for Science" conference, Macron announced that the government in Paris had allocated 200 million euros for favorable conditions for the residence and work of foreign scientists, researchers and professors.
The head of the European Commission pointed out that the EU has provided 500 million euros for the period 2025-2027 to "support the best and brightest researchers and scientists from Europe and around the world."
In an address to American scientists and professors who have already begun to come to the EU, Ursula von der Leyen stressed that the Union is determined to become a center of attraction for brains from around the world.
"In the medium and long term, together with its member states, the EU wants to reach the target of three percent of gross domestic product for investment in research and development by 2030," she said.
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is planning a strong financial injection into the European technology sector and will allocate 70 billion euros for technology companies and scientists, the German daily "Handelsblatt" reports.
The aim is to reduce Europe's gap with the US in terms of investments in this sector, and by 2027, 70 billion will be made available to promising start-ups. The EIB's aim is to mobilise additional investments from the private and public sectors.
Thanks to this, the amount of such investments could increase to 250 billion euros.
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