EU chief calls on Europe to invest to regain global science leadership

The European Union chief warned Tuesday that the continent was "losing ground" in the global technology race and must boost research spending to "turn the tide".

"We must put research and innovation at the heart of Europe's economy," EU Commission president Ursula von der Leyen told a ceremony celebrating the 70th anniversary of Europe's CERN physics laboratory.

She hailed the world's largest particle physics lab for helping put the continent "back on the map" for scientific development, after the post-World War II brain drain.

"Just like 70 years ago, we live in times of rising geopolitical competition," she told the ceremony, attended by dignitaries, including Princess Astrid of Belgium and the presidents of Italy, Serbia, and Slovakia.

"We are in the midst of a global race for the technologies that will shape the world of tomorrow, from clean tech to quantum, from AI to fusion," Von der Leyen said, lamenting that "while Europe is home to more researchers than both the US and China, we are losing ground in many fields".

Among other things, she highlighted that "our global share of patent applications has been cut in half in the last two decades, from 30 percent to 15 percent".

"It is time to turn the tide," she said, adding that she wanted to increase research spending in the next EU budget.