Europe Positions Itself as Global Science Superpower Amid US Research Turmoil

The European Union is making an ambitious bid to establish itself as a global science superpower, capitalizing on what many see as a retreat by the United States from its traditional leadership role in research. In May 2025, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen declared that "Europe will always choose science," launching the nearly €900 million (US$1 billion) Choose Europe initiative designed to attract researchers fleeing what she characterized as a chaotic US research environment.

The initiative comes in direct response to actions by the Trump administration, which in preceding months had frozen grant funding, pulled the United States from global scientific organizations, and begun firing federal research staff. "Scientists need stability, long-term funding, and — most importantly — the freedom to follow evidence, not politics. Europe offers all of this," said European Commission spokesperson Maciej Berestecki.

A Sleeping Beauty Awakens

The US retreat represents a pivotal moment for European science. "The reality is that we are like a Sleeping Beauty and maybe it's time to wake up," said Anna Rubartelli, a cell biologist at San Martino Hospital's scientific institute in Genoa, Italy. However, Helga Nowotny, a social scientist in Zurich and former president of the European Research Council (ERC), cautioned that Europe's efforts have so far been "more psychological than a visible positive upswing."

On several key metrics, Europe already stands shoulder to shoulder with the United States and China. Europe, comprising 42 countries excluding Russia and Belarus, produces more research articles annually than the United States, though both are outdone by China. European scientists hold a larger share of research papers published in the Nature Index than their US counterparts, though a smaller share than researchers in China. Papers by EU researchers garner more citations on average than those by China-based authors, but fewer than those by US scientists, according to a report by publisher and analytics firm Elsevier.

Horizon Europe's Historic Expansion

The European Commission has proposed raising Horizon Europe funding to €175 billion for the 2028–2034 cycle, representing a nearly 50% increase when accounting for inflation. The European Parliament and an expert group led by Manuel Heitor, Portugal's former science minister, are pushing for at least €200 billion. However, the European Council opened negotiations proposing €168 billion, a 4% cut from the commission's figure.

Horizon Europe is also expanding its global reach dramatically. New Zealand joined as an associate member in 2023, followed by Canada in 2024, South Korea and Japan in 2025, and Australia this year. India has begun talks about association. The combined GDP of countries outside the EU that have joined or shown interest now exceeds that of the 27 member states, according to Andrea Renda, director of research at the Centre for European Policy Studies. "There's half of the world that is associating itself to Horizon Europe," Renda said. "The window of opportunity is now."

The Innovation Paradox

Despite its research prowess, Europe struggles to translate academic excellence into economic growth. Industry performs around 77% of all R&D in both China and the United States, but contributes just 66% in the EU. Only 3.6% of papers with EU authors are cited in patents, compared with 5.8% in China and 5.0% in the United States. Venture-capital spending on science and technology is falling in the EU.

In a high-profile 2024 report on European competitiveness, Mario Draghi, an economist and former prime minister of Italy, noted the absence of a European technology giant comparable to Apple or Google. "Europe must profoundly refocus its collective efforts on closing the innovation gap with the US and China," he wrote.

Only two European firms — German car maker Volkswagen (搜索)搜索该公司 and Swiss pharmaceutical company Roche查看公司主页 — rank among the top ten global companies for R&D investment. The European Commission has identified a cultural fear of failure and fragmented regulatory frameworks across member states as key barriers to innovation.

Choose Europe and Talent Attraction

Under the Choose Europe initiative, the ERC will issue 30 "super-grants" annually, each lasting up to seven years — longer than the ERC's other grants and matching the longest grants offered by the US National Institutes of Health. These are designed to entice world-class scientists to relocate to Europe. Individual European countries have launched approximately 100 complementary schemes.

The EU has also been strengthening research links with Africa, committing nearly €1.8 billion through Horizon Europe's Africa Initiative by 2027, alongside €150 billion for green and digital transitions through the Global Gateway Africa–Europe Investment Package.

A Coalition of Middle Powers

Europe's distinctly global research outlook is reflected in its collaboration patterns. EU scientists enter more international collaborations as a percentage of total output than researchers in China or the United States. Nearly 45% of China's internationally collaborative scholarly output involved US researchers in 2015, but that fell to 24% in 2025 — close to China's collaboration rate with Europe. The EU rivaling the United States as a collaborative partner with China was "unimaginable in 2000," said Paola Barr, a networks analyst at Elsevier.

As political intervention continues to affect US science, European leaders are emphasizing the region's openness, diversity, and data-sharing principles. The expansion of Horizon Europe represents what Renda describes as an opportunity to build a coalition of like-minded "middle powers" that could provide a counterweight to the United States and China in global research.