EU science boss quits in ‘frustration’

The head of the European Union’s top science organisation has resigned in frustration at the height of the Covid-19 crisis.

Mauro Ferrari resigned yesterday as president of the European Research Council, a position he held only since 1 January.

Prof Ferrari’s departure, announced via email, took immediate effect, a spokesman for the EU’S executive commission said.

“The commission regrets the resignation of Professor Ferrari at this early stage in his mandate (...) and at these times of unprecedented crisis in which the role of EU research is key,” European Commission spokesman Johannes Bahrke said.

The news was first announced by the Financial Times, based on a statement released to the newspaper by Prof Ferrari, who said he had “been extremely disappointed by the European response” to the pandemic.

He complained about running into institutional and political obstacles as he sought to swiftly set up a scientific programme to combat the virus.

“I have seen enough of both the governance of science, and the political operations at the European Union,” he wrote. “I have lost faith in the system itself.”

Prof Ferrari’s resignation came in the wake of a 27 March vote in which “the other 19 active members of the scientific council requested the resignation of the president,” the European Commission’s Mr Bahrke said.

The council’s vicepresident will assume the president’s duties on an interim basis until the EU’S chooses Ferrari’s successor, Mr Bahrke said.

The European Commission on Wednesday defended its record in combating the crisis and said 18 research and development projects had already been picked at short notice to fight the coronavirus crisis.