French Engineering Schools call for increase in scale and ambition of EU research and mobility programmes

The Conference of the Directors of French Engineering Schools (CDEFI) has called for "a surge in political ambition in education, research and innovation" and a "change of budgetary scale", notably for the EU's future research framework programme (FP10) and Erasmus+.

"Europe's ability to maintain its place in global competition will depend directly on the level of political and budgetary ambition it sets itself in the years to come," the organisation said on 27/05/2026.

According to CDEFI, FP10 must have a budget of at least €200 billion "to avoid a lasting technological gap with the world's major powers. This programme must support scientific excellence and bridge the 'valley of death' of innovation, the organisation said, particularly in the intermediate technology readiness levels (TRLs) 4 to 7.

The CDEFI also calls for the European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) "to be clearly linked to FP10, to provide effective support for the transition to industrial scale, with a view to complementing academic research".

The conference also believes that it is necessary to consolidate the…