The deputies began Monday in the hemicycle the examination of the draft law on research, which the government presents as an
“unprecedented investment”
, but which the left and the unions reject as a
“trompe-l'oeil”
.
The text examined at first reading is
"above all a law of means, with 25 billion additional"
over ten years, or
"the largest movement of investments in favor of science since the end of the 1950s"
, insisted the minister Frederique Vidal.
The stake is to
"restore our scientific sovereignty"
, she launched, after having drawn up a very dark picture: after
"a lost decade"
,
"our research suffocates"
and
“Our scientific community sometimes feels abandoned”
.
Many times postponed, the result of long months of discussions and hearings, the multi-year research programming law (LPPR) was put on track by former Prime Minister Edouard Philippe in February 2019. To
"rearm"
research, the government proposes to reinject 25 billion euros in stages: 400 million in 2021, 800 in 2022, 1.2 billion in 2023 ... With the objective, in 2030, of an annual budget of 20 billion euros per year, or 5 billion more than today.
This should allow the budget for public research alone to reach 1% of GDP (3% with private research), a level to which the country committed itself twenty years ago.
A large part aims to enhance the careers of researchers.
And more than 5,000 jobs for researchers will be created.
Read also: Scientific journals: when publishing brings back research budgets
But for the opponents of the text, it is a
"trompe-l'oeil reform"
, since the government puts the bulk of the effort on the following five-year terms and can
"guarantee"
only 400 million more. next year.
In the hemicycle, the head of the socialist group Valérie Rabault defended in vain a motion of rejection, underlining
"the great disappointment"
of the researchers.
The rebels criticized a
“liberal”
project
, the Communists evoked a
“feeling of waste”
.
The right was not left out, deriding a
"juxtaposition of technocratic measures"
without
"a shared vision"
.
Within the majority, some voices plead for reducing budget programming to seven years, for
"a greater effort in 2021 and 2022"
.
This is also the wish of the mathematician Cédric Villani (EDS group), who supports the text.
But this change of schedule was rejected in the evening by the Assembly.
Beyond the budget, the very philosophy of the bill is criticized, and its flagship measure aimed at distributing new funding mainly through calls for projects, by boosting the National Research Agency (ANR) to the tune of one billion euros.
For the unions, this would push towards a “competitive and selective” research.
Tuesday, in front of the Palais Bourbon, about 200 people gathered behind a sign
"Stop LPPR Precariousness - Facs Labos en Lutte"
and flags CGT / NPA / SNESUP / PRCF.
"I am very worried about the funding of research and the future of young researchers,"
Alix Boulouis, 37, teacher and researcher in biology at the Sorbonne, told AFP.
From a distance, Pascal Maillard (SNESUP-FSU) deplored during a trade union meeting at the University of Strasbourg, that
"the government is in line with previous governments and aims to channel more and more money on calls for projects, to the detriment of recurring credits ”
.
Read also: France ranked 8th in the world in terms of number of researchers
Another major point of tension: the establishment of parallel recruitment channels.
The text provides for new
"route tenure"
in the US (
tenure tracks
) to access a tenure after six years maximum, as well as
"scientific mission CDI"
, intended to replace the CSD to repeat, but taking end with the associated research project.
Opponents fear a "questioning of the statutes" and more
"precariousness"
.
The parliamentarians in the evening debated the main directions of research for the decade, adding the development of the study of endocrine disruptors, Lyme disease and more alternatives to the use of animals for scientific purposes. The financial trajectory is to be tackled on Tuesday. Since January, unions and collectives have stepped up actions and brought several thousand people to the streets in early March. The confinement brought a big stop to the mobilization.
