Jordi Solé calls for more investment in research and develompent

EFA Group President Jordi Solé intervened in plenary to draw attention to the significant challenges the European economy faces and the importance of investing in R&D to overcome such challenges. 

“The European economy is subject to pressures that can weaken its competitiveness, and therefore its ability to generate and distribute wealth.”

“The geopolitical dynamic also poses challenges such as inflation or reducing strategic dependencies on technologies, energy or critical raw materials. And all this while we align our economic base to the ecological transformation,” He said

 

The EFA MEP also emphasized the fact that only four countries in the EU achieve the goal of investing 3% of their GDP in Research and Development. 

“At the last European Council meeting, it was again requested to achieve the target of investing 3% of GDP in research, an objective that today only 4 member states fulfil”

“We have been pushing for this goal for 21 years.” He added

 

MEP Solé finalized his intervention by stressing that the health of the Union´s economy is at risk and thus the research and development goals should be a key priority to member states.

“It will turn out that governments will make much more effort to reach the 2% military spending target than the R&D target. And this is worrying, because we are talking about the long-term competitiveness of our economy.”  He concluded.