French government announces 40 measures to attract brains and investment
French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin has announced 40 measures aimed at attracting foreign students and researchers to France, as well as creating favourable conditions for the return of French nationals from abroad. The newly-announced package is part of a long-term action plan initiated by the government in 2003 to make France more 'investor-friendly'. Many of the measures cited have already been implemented, such as the establishment in 2005 of the Agency for Industrial Innovation (AII) and National Research Agency (ANR). Outlining some of the measures during a government seminar on 22 May, Mr de Villepin said that the package was an essential component in the government's policy of encouraging economic growth and job creation, and an important issue in a globalised economy: 'Job creation, the development of growth, increased wealth, all depend on the country's ability to attract talent, intelligence and investment. 'we must [...] find a way to attract inward investment, remain a welcoming country, a country open to everyone with an economic project they want to realise in France, to everyone who wants to come and study in our country,' he said. The first set of measures in the package focuses on making France the prime destination for talented foreign students. It foresees, for example, making it easier for foreign students with master degrees to work in France after their studies by allowing them to apply for a six-month extension to their visa. This would rule out the need for students to return home to apply for a new visa. Also included in the package is a programme to extend a network of student service centres (CEF). CEFs provide information and advice to foreign students who wish to continue their studies in France. Tasks involve reviewing candidates' plans for future study and helping to arrange for institutions in France to enrol the best-qualified applicants. The second set aims at attracting world-class scientists. One measure is support for the continuation of 'Chaires d'excellence', a scheme which reserves academic chairs in France's teaching and research establishments for foreign or returning senior- and junior-level scientists. Here, the newly established ANR will be responsible for covering the candidates' expenses as well as the cost of any positions that are created to help them set up research teams. Another measure is the Descartes programme, which focuses specifically on young scientists. Starting in Autumn 2006, it will award 200 scholarships to highly-promising French candidates who will receive a bonus equal to 30 per cent of their income over a five-year period. The package also proposes measures to support researchers who are established abroad, but are involved in business start-up projects in France, offering them individual support and opportunities to develop technological partnerships with French companies to help them. The third set of measures focuses on attracting high value-added business operations to France. They include measures to enhance the economical benefits of conducting research and development (R&D) in France such as increasing the R&D tax credit from five to 10 per cent. Under the revised tax regime, businesses would also be entitled to include a higher proportion of the costs - up to EUR 10 million as opposed to EUR 2 million - in the calculation of their research credits, for research sub-contracted to research bodies anywhere in the EU.
Countries
France