The European Union must make the goal of spending 3 per cent of its gross domestic product on research and development a ¡°priority¡±, Emmanuel Macron has said, calling for a ¡°paradigm shift¡± in investment to enable Europe to compete with the United States and China.

In a wide-ranging?Sorbonne University?that lasted almost two hours, the French president warned that ¡°Europe is mortal ¨C it can die¡±, calling research and higher education ¡°absolutely decisive¡± in a period of geopolitical and socioeconomic crises.

Describing human capital as ¡°the rarest resource¡±, Mr Macron said that for Europe to remain a ¡°great power¡± in research and innovation, it must train, attract and retain more talent. To do so, the EU must ¡°reaffirm¡± the objective, as set out by the European Council in 2002, of committing 3 per cent of its GDP to research and innovation. Horizon Europe, he added, must be ¡°strengthened¡±, with focus on the ¡°most effective programmes¡± such as the European Research Council.

The president also named five ¡°strategic sectors¡± in which Europe should aim to become a ¡°world leader¡± by 2030: artificial intelligence, quantum computing, space, biotechnology and new energy sources such as hydrogen and nuclear fusion. The EU ¡°must adopt dedicated financing strategies¡± to fund these key sectors, he said, while Europe¡¯s computing capacity must increase from 3 per cent of the world¡¯s total to 20 per cent by 2030 to 2035.

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While commending the European Innovation Council, which has ¡°made it possible to reach new milestones¡±, Mr Macron said Europe ¡°must go much further on disruptive innovations¡±, among them quantum computers, new materials and chips, in order to ¡°reposition¡± itself on the ¡°geopolitical map of growth¡±.

Investment in innovation and ¡°the most advanced fundamental research¡± could also enable Europe to tackle health issues including cancer and neurodegenerative diseases, he said.

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The address came almost seven years after Mr Macron¡¯s 2017 Sorbonne speech on the European Union, delivered months after taking office, in which he proposed the?establishment of ¡°European universities¡±?among other initiatives.

In his latest speech, he thanked the ¡°university presidents, students and professors¡± who had since contributed to the creation of 50 European university alliances. The initiative must now progress to a ¡°second stage¡±, he said, involving the consolidation of funding, increased integration and the establishment of ¡°fully joint European diplomas¡±.

Last month, the European Commission published a?blueprint for a European degree, proposing two routes to the long-awaited qualification. Graduates of joint degree programmes that meet certain criteria could receive a ¡°European degree label certificate¡±, the commission recommended; alternatively, a new ¡°European degree¡± qualification could be established and jointly awarded by multiple universities.

emily.dixon@timeshighereducation.com