Source: European Parliament
Question for written answer E-002432/2025
to the Commission
Rule 144
Catherine Griset (PfE), Aleksandar Nikolic (PfE), Valérie Deloge (PfE), Mathilde Androuët (PfE), Gilles Pennelle (PfE), Pascale Piera (PfE), Jean-Paul Garraud (PfE)
The Commission now imposes criteria related to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in its calls for research projects, which are opportunities to access EU funding that often exceeds that allocated by national budgets.
According to several researchers, in particular Pierre Vermeren and Xavier-Laurent Salvador, such criteria steer research towards taking an ideological approach, at the expense of both academic freedom and the disciplinary rigour we should be able to expect from our universities. When research funding is weighted in such a way, it sometimes ends up – under the guise of intersectionality – financing political Islam.
- 1.Does the Commission recognise that such criteria may limit the scientific neutrality of the projects funded?
- 2.What safeguards does it have to prevent EU funding from being used to promote predetermined and exclusive political and ideological opinions?
- 3.Does it intend to prevent organisations that promote, or collaborate with networks linked to, political Islam from accessing funding?
Submitted: 17.6.2025