A group of 19 science Nobel laureates is urging the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, to make research and innovation a standalone portfolio for the next college of commissioners, and to nominate an established research champion as the next commissioner for research and innovation. In a letter dated 2 September, the signatories – including five chemistry prize winners – back von der Leyen’s European Prosperity Plan, and note the central role research and innovation plays in it.

The letter, endorsed by five European Academy presidents, notes that Europe is not keeping up with its main competitors in research funding, and it warns that any European competitive advantage in terms of world-class researchers and universities ‘will soon be lost without a clear focus on enhancing European research and securing a leading position for Europe in research and technology’. The laureates expressed support for von der Leyen’s commitment to increase Europe’s research spending and expand the European Research Council. However, they suggested that the ambitious agenda set forth for the next commission between 2024 and 2029, will require ‘a well-funded portfolio dedicated to research and innovation’, as well as the appointment of ‘a strong supporter of research’ with leadership experience as the commissioner for research and innovation.

In July 2023, Bulgarian economist Iliana Ivanova became the EU’s new research commissioner, following the resignation of Mariya Gabriel, who left that post to help Bulgaria form a new coalition government. But in late August 2024, Ivanova announced that she would be leaving the commission ‘for personal reasons’ after a year in office.

Former Italian prime minister Mario Draghi echoed some of the same concerns as the laureates during a speech in June, in which he called for a reimagining of the innovation environment in Europe. ‘As a share of GDP, European firms spend about half as much as their US peers on research and innovation, leading to an investment gap of around €270 billion (£228 billion) a year,’ Draghi stated. He also said there are no European innovation clusters in the top 10 globally and suggested that the EU needs to establish research and innovation as a collective priority.

The commission’s most recent estimates indicate that the EU’s R&D expenditure was 2.24% of GDP in 2022, which was below the previous year’s level of 2.27%. These GDP figures compare unfavourably to 4.93% for South Korea, 3.46% for the US, 3.34% for Japan and 2.41% for China.