We defend a continuum between fundamental research and applied research

The European Union places great ambitions in this future system, as the commission’s proposal increases the budget allocated to Research Infrastructures (IR) and Innovation Technological Infrastructures (IT) from 2.4 to 10 billion euros for the period 2028-2034. How does CNRS welcome this proposal? M.G.: CNRS welcomes it favorably. Indeed, infrastructures have a significant construction and operating cost, which requires financing often at the supranational level, notably European. Such an increase can only be welcomed. But this evolution calls for vigilance. The distribution between IR and IT of this new budget dedicated to infrastructures, which is significantly increasing, is not yet defined. The development of IT should not be to the detriment of IR, which are the foundation of scientific production. Without them, there is simply no innovation. CNRS is heavily involved in this landscape: it leads or co-leads 80% of the research infrastructures listed in the national roadmap, many of which are also recognized at the European level through the ESFRI roadmap. Our involvement is also financial, as we manage IR budgets of over 200 million euros each year. These infrastructures structure scientific excellence and upstream irrigate the entire innovation ecosystem. It is therefore imperative that this budget increase does not result in stagnation or even a decrease in the budget allocated to IR. Weakening this foundation would ultimately weaken Europe’s innovation capacity.