The Straight Road Toward European Strategic Autonomy

Openness and international collaboration are fundamental to excellence in research and innovation. At the same, international cooperation exposes research and innovation to serious security risks in a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape. It is therefore important that international research and innovation take place in a responsible way that is both open and secure, and with full respect of academic freedom. Since 2011, France has had a legislative framework to strengthen the protection of the scientific and technical potential of the Nation. This framework was updated in 2024, simultaneously with the adoption of the European Council recommendation on strengthening research security. After the summary presentation of the national legislative framework, the proposed paper aims to develop a critical analysis of its implementation in conjunction with the European framework. It proposes a reflection to support the change of professional culture to articulate openness of research and security of research to support the objective of European industrial autonomy.