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Lecturer at the UPV eguzki.urteaga@ehu.es |
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Research and development in France
Economic resources invested in research and development
are quite high compared to the BAC, but they are
dropping. In fact, amounts invested over the 1980s rose, coming
close to 2.4% of GDP, but they fell away from 1993 onwards. GDP
was 2.1% in 2006, a little lower than the average in the OECD
(2,26%), lying sixth in the country ranking, behind Sweden, Finland,
Japan, United States and Germany. On the other hand, private
French firms invest relatively little in RTD+i. According to
OECD data, 63% of funds spent on research come from the private
sector and they mainly revolve around industrial technology:
the automotive, aeronautics, pharmacy, electronics, medical
instruments and materials fields. The OECD average is 69%;
whilst Japan, United States and Germany exceed this average
by investing around 70 - 77%1.
This drop was steeper after 2002, thanks to measures adopted
by Prime Ministers Raffarin and particularly De Villepin and
Fillon: less researchers and university teachers employed, reorganisation
of the national research centre CNRS (dividing it
into six institutes, knowing that two already existed), the new
law promoting university autonomy2, creation of an agency to
distribute research resources, and complaints from the movement
entitled Sauvons la recherche. These changes have already
been read pessimistically: participation from the State
and public powers in general is dwindling and they seem to want to leave the task of financing both science
and technology in the hands of the private
sector3.
This situation has generated numerous
protests. The Universities Freedom and Responsibility
Law (LRU) brought many universities
to a halt in October 2007, as both students
and teachers protested against this
project. In March 2008, CNRS researchers
came out to protest that major research centres
were "disappearing". They recently occupied
the headquarters of the National Research
Agency (ANI), in order to complain about the instability
of research jobs, and protests were held throughout 2008 against
the evaluations implemented by AERES. Finally, in December
2008, a decree that modified
the status of researchers-
teachers caused an
intense series of strikes
among researchers and university
teachers, forcing the
Research minister to abandon
the project. Among the
many reasons for the protests
we should highlight
that the Ministry has not
come through with subsidies it promised. In fact, a directive law from 2008 sliced 2.2% off
the Ministry's budget for Research and Higher Education (wiping
out 500 million Euros), so the laboratories' budget has also dropped
and this has made it hard to create new jobs. This loss might
rise to 800 million Euros in 2009.
The truth is that the Government no longer wants to include
research among civil service positions. As the ANI awards subsidies
according to projects, university contracts, participation
from the private sector, plus the threat that the CNRS will become
a resources centre has raised the alarm among researchers.
Private sector management methods are unpopular in the
cultural field, as this community is strongly linked to equality,
general interest and the values of individual merit. In the field
of politics, the scientific community has been built on affirming
its independence, concerning both knowledge and methods. In
this respect, management and monitoring instruments, plus discourse
commending autonomy and liberalism come up against
this tradition. Concerns grow as we realise that the Lisbon Strategy
and discourse highlighting social demand have opened up
the road to this strategy4.
In any case, a large
number of reports have
questioned the effectiveness
of the French research
system. In January 2007, a
general financial inspection
report gave the system a negative
score highlighting
weakness in technological
innovation, scarce economic productivity in the public sector,
under-development in industrial research - proof of this is the
reduction in the number of patents produced in France: in 2006
they numbered 5.5% of the world total, and in 1988 this was
8.3%. However, above all, taking into account State spending
and the number of researchers with civil servant status (162,000
out of 364,000), the report highlights unjustified spending, poor
management, inappropriate organisation and insufficient evaluation
of results. It also reminds us of the convenience of promoting
private research and recommends a series of profound
changes: project management, merging universities and developing
their autonomy, simplifying the financing system, making
researchers more aware of results and help for doctorate students.
Nevertheless scientific research is not only evaluated
through technological applications. It is also evaluated in terms
of its producers' knowledge and intellectual shine. At this level,
French research is not enjoying the best of times. According to
the science and technical observatory (2008), the quota corresponding
to France for worldwide publications has fallen since
1999, and the same goes for appearances in foreign periodicals.
In general terms, its influence falls below the world average.
The number of students going abroad has increased, but
is still lower than in England and Germany. As far as Nobel prizes
and other awards are concerned, it is behind European countries
of the same size, without counting with the United States.
Although there is not so much information available, the population
of the North Basque Country has the same sensation.
This context directly influences the research and development
carried out in the North Basque Country where five characteristics
might be highlighted.
The first is by not having political-administrative recognition
as a territory, it does not have its own institutions, neither
a Regional Council, nor a General Council, except as a people,
as laid down in the Voynet Law in 1997. If we add this to the fact
that scientific policy is a State competence, and that economic
development is in the hands of the regions, it is impossible to
create a scientific policy just for the North Basque Country. Having
been named a people, meaning as a territory project, we
can bring together the State, the regions, the departments and
the town councils in order to produce sector-based policies. This
is exactly what happened with the Specific Basque Country
Agreement5 (2001-2006), and the Euskal Herria 2020 plan.
The second characteristic is that the North Basque Country
does not have its own university. Currently, the University of Pau
and Aturri (PAHU) has annexe campuses in Anglet and particularly
Bayonne, which gives degree courses in law, economics, Basque philology and modern arts, as well as masters in international
studies and European Law6, without forgetting DUTs in
business and administration management. Over the last few years,
the scientific pole based in Angelu Montaury has been considerably
developed and offers degrees in biology, IT and physics
and chemistry, DUTs in industry and IT, plus masters
degrees and professional masters in construction, the environment
and IT systems, among others. In addition to the university
there are engineering schools such as ESTIA and ISA BTP. The
offer has grown, but it is still poor7, as the number of qualifications
does not exceed 37. Also, only the first and second cycle
are taught, not the third. So every year around 8,000 students
have to leave the North Basque Country for the final years of
their studies.
Thirdly, there are very few research centres in this territory.
In addition to centres that are part of PAHU (IKER and CDRE, for
example), there are laboratories associated with CNRS and INRA
(such as Ecobiop). In fact, the majority of research centres, and
therefore the majority of researchers, budgets and publications
are concentrated in Pau. So, throughout the whole PAHU there
are 500 researchers and 26 labs, 9 of which are registered to
CNRS. In total, there are 335 doctorate students and 70 doctoral
theses are read every year. The researchers publish more
than 400 theses and 13 patents8 have been presented, with a
budget of 12 million Euros, not including salaries. The problem
is that only a small fraction of them are located in the North Basque
Country9.
The fourth characteristic is that the companies in this territory
are medium sized or above all small and specialised in production
or application. Consequently they do very little research
and development, because they do not feel the need, they
do not have sufficient resources available to them, they do not
have qualified workers or because they do not receive the required
help from public powers. Consequently they are not particularly
innovating companies and they find it hard to grow and
therefore to attract better researchers10.
In fifth place, the North Basque Country has resources to
attract research centres and
researchers. In fact, it is
well connected by land and
by air with other regions and
towns, it offers a high standard
of living, public institutions
(regions, departments,
districts and town
councils) and entities serving
the public, such as the
Bayonne Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, have
expressed their good intentions,
it has an agreed and
financial territorial project
and the level of studies
among the potential population
is high, particularly if students who left for their studies
return.
Consequently, research and development in the North Basque
Country has resources and opportunities but it has to confront
problems linked to human capital (Human Resources
applied in science and technology are 249.65 per 10,000 inhabitants;
in the Paris region, this figure is 2893.88), to investment
(RTD spending is 1.2% compared to 2.24% in France as a whole,
so only half the average) and to the structure to, above all, guarantee
the future.
1.- JOURNET, N.: «La réforme de la recherche», in Sciences Humaines,
203, apirila (2009), 26. or. 2.- The "University Freedom and Responsibility" Law approved in August 2007 establishes universities' budgetary autonomy and changes in their internal operation: rectors have more authority, the board of directors can include figures from outside the university, foundations are authorised and, as a whole, there is a break with equality in terms of managing study conditions and teaching and research courses. In exchange, the budget that the State offers the universities was raised: +50% in five years, meaning an increase of 10,000-15,000 million €, given that universities continue to depend on "centre contracts" linked to the State. 3.- These transformations are part of the general direction taken in the 2000 decade. In this way, the organic law on financial laws voted in 2001 aims to condition all public spending to obtaining results. It is one of the bases for the research agreement put forward in 2004 and reflected in the Law in 2006. The increase in the research budget is linked to creating new instruments to guarantee the direction of the public sector. The 2006 Law reforms cooperation rules and affects the universities. New institutions have been created. The Senior Scientific and Technical Research Council set the general lines of the research, although it works at a consultancy level. The National Research Agency that works alongside institutions receives and distributes credit for financing short term research projects; some of them are decided by higher authorities and others are linked to the researchers' proposals. At the start, research credit was limited (358 million € in 2007), but this soon increased: 955 million € in 2008 and 1600 million € in 2009. The Research Evaluation and Higher Education Agency centralises the centres' classifications, qualifications, periodicals published, groups and researchers, in addition to other organisations (CNU, CNE, CNRS). Their evaluations require in-depth analysis. The authorities, by means of the results, can modulate credit, professional careers and programmes. This organisation can take measures concerning cooperation between universities and agents from both the public and private sectors, tending to merge resources and reduce taxes for companies. 4.- JOURNET, N.: «La réforme de la recherche», in Sciences Humaines, 203 (2009), 29. or. 5.- AHEDO, I., URTEAGA, E.: La nouvelle gouvernance en Pays Basque, L’Harmattan, Paris, 2004. 6.- EDUCATION NATIONALE: L’enseignement supérieur et la recherche. Bayonne, Académie de Bordeaux et du Pays Basque (2007). 7.- CONSEIL DE DELOPPEMENT DU PAYS BASQUE: Synthèse de la contribution de l’atelier Enseignement supérieur-Recherche. Baiona, 2006ko ekaina. 8.- On the contrary, taking into account data from 2005, the number of patents per 10,000 inhabitants is 2.44 on average, and for the Basque Country this is 0.65. 9.- URTEAGA, E. : “Zientzia eta teknologiari buruzko gizarte irudikapenak Iparraldean », Argitaratzear, GGOA, EHU, 2009. 10.- EIZAGIRRE, A., URTEAGA, E.: Zientzia eta teknologiaren gizarte iritziak eta irudikapenak Euskal Herrian, Cuadernos Sociológicos vascos, 26, 2009.
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