With the Académie des Sciences in 2013-2014

With the Académie des Sciences in

2013 - 2014

Freedom to conduct research: the GMP case

French Academies Call for Freedom of Research on Genetically Modified Plants (GMPs) to be Restored. Interacademic Advice Note

(Agriculture, Sciences, Technologies), March 2014

Public research should maintain and develop its expertise skills for the

benefit of all, including through experimentation. The three academies

have set a reflection on the issue of genetically modified plants, with in

particular a colloquium in November 2013. This reflection has lead the

academies to express the following observations and recommendations:

• GMPs are not the only promising solution for agriculture. Yet they

constitute a tool to be used alongside others for a sustainable,

productive and environmentally friendly agriculture, designed to serve a

globally fast-growing population;

• the spread of some currently available GMPs should be backed up by close attention to environmental effects and especially

resistance against biotic factors (living organisms such as insects, weeds). This notably implies that Best Management Practice

training should be provided to farmers;

• the use of GMPs should be assessed on a case-by-case basis before it be authorised, from a Cost-Benefit-Risk analysis viewpoint

that takes into account the different social, ecological and economic situations;

• the very strict EU regulation on marketing authorisation allows their long-term efficacy and safety to be tested.

Scientific research: warning on a critical situation in France

Cri d’alarme de l’Académie des sciences sur le financement de la recherche [A Clarion Call on Research Funding from the Académie

des Sciences]. A communiqué, December 2013

The Académie publishes arguments to support its uneasiness

about the reduction of research funding in France. Well aware of

the financial crisis that affects this country, it considers that an

answer to this crisis would be to secure research funding, given its

promising impacts on the education and economy of the country.

Inquiétudes dans les laboratoires de recherche: l’Académie des

sciences tire de nouveau la sonnette d’alarme. [Worries at the

Research Laboratories: Another Clarion Call from the Académie des

Sciences]. A Communiqué, October 2014

The Académie des Sciences once more expresses its concern,

as the situation of research in France deteriorates, and wishes to

make known its proposals on bringing the required changes. On

7 October 2014, this statement was addressed to the President

of the Republic, the Prime Minister and the members of the

Government who are concerned by the issue, and to the President and Vice-President of the Office Parlementaire d’Evaluation des

Choix Scientifiques et Technologiques (the Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment, OPECST).

These statements follow the publication of the September 2012 report

Remarques et propositions sur les structures de la recherche

publique en France [Remarks and Proposals on the structures of public research in France],

which was the contribution of the

Académie des Sciences to the November 2012 French Symposium on Research (Assises de la Recherche).