French Polar Institute Paul-Émile Victor (Ipev) fears merger with Ifremer. Ipev carries out scientific research in Antarctica and the Arctic.
The French Research Institute for exploitation of the sea (Ifremer) is also based in Plouzané. Minister of Higher Education and Research Sylvie Retailleau could provide clarifications next week, during a trip to the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. The objective of the merger is to “strengthen IpeV and the French capacity to carry out research in polar areas” in November 2023, President Emmanuel Macron announced an investment of one billion euros in polar research by 2030. The ministry, for its part, clarified on Friday during a press point that it was a “reconciliation” with If remer, assured that “under no circumstances will Ipe V disappear from the landscape”.. “For the moment, we are in the dark with two speeches: the DGRI which talks to us about integration, the ministry of rapprochement. Two completely different scenarios,” Catherine Ritz, president of the general assembly of Ipeve financiers, who employs around fifty permanent agents, said.