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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 PARIS 002224 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR G, OES, EUR 
STATE PASS NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION 
WHITE HOUSE FOR OSTP 
DOE FOR INTERNATIONAL 
USDOC FOR NOAA, OFFICE OF ADMINISTRATOR, INTERNATIONAL 
HHS FOR INTERNATIONAL 
EPA FOR INTERNATIONAL 
EMBASSIES FOR SCIENCE OFFICERS; BRUSSELS FOR USEU ESTH 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: TSPL SENV PINR KPAO FR
SUBJECT: FRANCE'S NEW RESEARCH MINISTER TO REFORM UNIVERSITIES 
 
 
REF: A) 06 PARIS 7882; B) 05 PARIS 6874 
 
PARIS 00002224  001.4 OF 003 
 
 
//NOT FOR INTERNET DISSEMINATION// 
 
¶1. Summary: On May 18, parliamentarian and spokesperson for France's 
center right UMP party, Valerie Pecresse, was appointed as a full 
minister for Higher Education and Research in the new Sarkozy 
government.  (In the previous government a 'junior' minister held 
the same portfolio.)  Pecresse will need that status for the tasks 
ahead are arduous: deepening the reforms of France's 
scientific/innovation system begun in recent years (see ref A), 
while initiating a major change in direction for France's 
traditional, governmental university system.  The goal is to make 
universities the center of gravity for research and to shed them of 
their slow-to-change governmental nature.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------------- 
University reform tops the list 
------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  According to recent reports, Pecresse's top priority as new 
Minister for Higher Education and Research will be to develop an 
"autonomous status" for universities to help them "adapt to a more 
competitive world economy."  Ultimately, French universities are to 
find their place "at the core of the research effort."  Existing 
public research establishments would continue to perform independent 
research but would further transition into "funding councils," 
tasked with the role of supporting the best university research 
teams.  These measures are decidedly controversial in France's 
traditional research system which only recently began competing for 
government research funding.  During the presidential campaign, 
candidate Sarkozy pledged that funding would increase 50% for higher 
education and 25% for research by 2012.  While favoring university 
reform under certain conditions, student organizations have already 
cautioned against a too hasty attempt to change the system. 
 
-------------------- 
A jurist at the helm 
-------------------- 
 
¶3.  Although Valerie Pecresse, 39, does not possess scientific 
credentials, she attended HEC ('Hautes Etudes Commerciales') and ENA 
(the prestigious 'Ecole Nationale d'Administration'), before joining 
the Council of State in 1992 as an auditor-jurist.  In her several 
years there, she rose through the ranks to become 'master of 
inquests'.  From 1995-98, she served as secretary general of Agence 
France Presse's oversight committee and, concurrently, as jurist on 
the Council of State's Contentious Issues Board.  She joined the 
staff of former President Chirac's Elysee Palace office in 1998 
responsible for "emerging issues."  In 2000, she became Counselor 
for Technology and Information.  (Pecresse reportedly taught 
President Chirac how to use the Internet.)  During Chirac's 2002 
reelection campaign, Pecresse is credited with having a considerable 
talent for public communications.  She was elected as National 
Assembly Deputy in June 2002 and served in the Assembly's Law 
Commission.  Since 2004, she assumed the role of UMP spokesperson. 
 
 
¶4.  Additionally, during her period at the Council of State, 
Pecresse specialized in telecommunications, environmental, and 
social affairs issues.  In the National Assembly, she developed 
interests in areas such as information technologies, biotechnology, 
genetics, and bioethics, as well as children's and family issues. 
 
------------------------------- 
A full-fledged ministry, but... 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Despite a reduction in the number of ministers and ministries in 
the new government, the higher education and research portfolio has 
evolved from 'junior ministrial' status in the former government to 
a fully independent ministry; Pecresse will report directly to Prime 
Minister Fillon.  The ministry is ranked ninth out of the 15 
ministries.    Notwithstanding the manifold efforts of the previous 
 
PARIS 00002224  002.4 OF 003 
 
 
government to reform France's scientific/innovation system, she 
inherits a ministry subject to multiple and redundant structures, 
uncertain funding, and insufficient strategic direction and 
coordination.  (Note: Pecresse will be the seventh minister in 
charge of research since 2000.)  On the higher education side of her 
portfolio, long overdue university reform has been repeatedly 
postponed due to political pressure. 
 
-------------------------------- 
Ongoing scientific system reform 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Moreover, France's new scientific/innovation system is 
considered a 'work in progress.'  It was only in April 2006 that the 
country adopted the important research and innovation bill (RIB, ref 
A), providing for the creation of semi-independent structures: a 
National Research Agency with its competitive grant system; 
competitiveness clusters; Research and Higher Education Hubs; and 
Advanced Research Thematic Foundations.  Most recently, the 
government formed an Evaluation Agency (AERES) for scientific 
research.  Evaluation of the work of public researchers has been a 
particularly sensitive subject - where traditionally little 
difference is made in public establishments between quality of 
research as regards promotion and funding.  Moreover, the newly-set 
up AERES system has yet to be put to the test.  The RIB also aims to 
reinforce science-industry relationships and encourage private R&D 
funding, recurrent weaknesses in the French research system. 
 
¶7. At university level, with 88 university poles and 80 percent of 
public research theoretically 'hosted' by universities via joint 
research labs, the university sector, traditionally the poor 
relation to public research in France, keeps voicing its discontent 
over the loss of university standing, lack of equipment, and 
organizational cumbersomeness.  (According to the most recent 
Shanghai ranking of universities worldwide, the highest-ranked 
French university came in at 46th place.) 
 
---------------------------------------- 
Changes in university governance sought... 
---------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  In order to reboot university research, the new GOF has decided 
to reinforce the role and autonomy of universities.  A new status 
will grant (candidate) universities freedom to modify the structure 
of the university boards (change of governance); undertake their own 
staff recruitment; set their own agendas, syllabuses, and research 
programs; fix salaries; and manage their own budgets via 
foundations, private donors or companies.  Also reportedly in the 
pipeline is an increase of student registration fees (possible 
"adjustment" according to family income) and a form of "selection" 
of students at entrance, or at least the introduction of student 
orientation according to job opportunities and not necessarily 
according to students' wishes.  Other possible measures include a 
new grant allocation system based not only on revenues but also 
according to student merit, as well as measures to improve students' 
living and working conditions.  According to the GOF agenda, the 
reform will be voted on during the summer and "experimented with" as 
early as this fall. 
 
¶9.  The Sarkozy program will also include reinforcing the role of 
universities in research and, ultimately, the transformation of 
public research establishments into agencies responsible for the 
funding of projects according to national priorities.  This would be 
nothing short of revolutionary in the French scientific system and 
prove undoubtedly highly controversial to implement. 
 
------------------ 
Top research goals 
------------------ 
 
¶10.  Priorities for research are fourfold: 
-- Reinforce a culture of scientific evaluation by promoting 
competitive grants; program funding (as opposed to institutional 
funding) should become the rule; 
-- Implementation of independent evaluation procedures; 
 
PARIS 00002224  003.6 OF 003 
 
 
-- Preventing brain drain and attracting international talent, 
through, inter alia, improving work conditions for young 
researchers. 
-- Increasing the percentage of industrial research in overall 
research. (Currently little more than half of France's research 
funding is devoted to industrial research.  The target will be to 
increase this amount to two-thirds of total research at the 2012 
horizon). 
 
Priority fields for research discussed in the presidential campaign 
included: life sciences, nanotechnology, and environmental and 
energy technologies. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Comment: Neither easy nor fast... 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  New Higher Education and Research Minister Pecresse faces one 
of the most sensitive tasks in the new government of reforming 
highly politicized French universities.  The new government's desire 
to push forward in this area has already triggered negative 
reactions among French student organizations.  University presidents 
have also requested in-depth consultations before reform processes 
are initiated.  It will also be interesting to watch whether 
Pecresse succeeds in the task of shifting resources away from 
research agencies to the university sector.  End Comment. 
 
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