Brussels – Nicola Zingaretti, head of the Italian delegation to the S&D Group in the European Parliament, and Camilla Laureti, S&D MEP on the Committee on Agriculture and the Democratic Party’s agriculture spokesperson, have tabled a question to the European Commission regarding the recent appointments of the twelve scientific directors of the CREA centres, Italy’s leading public agricultural research body.
The initiative echoes the concerns raised by seventeen of Italy’s most authoritative scientists—including Nobel laureate Giorgio Parisi, life senator Elena Cattaneo, and numerous leading national experts in agricultural genetics and plant biology—who, in an open letter, have highlighted a lack of consistency between the candidates selected and the research areas of the centres they are to head. According to the signatories, the case of the Centre for Genomics and Bioinformatics—a crucial facility for plant breeding and biotechnology—is emblematic, as a candidate whose profile is far removed from the centre’s mission has reportedly been nominated to head it. The scientists point out that CREA’s own statutes require directors to have “a high scientific profile in the subjects covered by the Centre’s activities.”
According to the delegation, “the matter has a clear European dimension” in that “CREA receives substantial EU funding under Horizon Europe and is a holder of the HR Excellence in Research Award.” It has therefore made a commitment to the Commission to apply the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for Recruitment.
“Public research is not a fiefdom to be carved up,” stated Nicola Zingaretti. “When the competence of those leading the agricultural sector’s flagship research body is called into question, Italy’s credibility in Europe is at stake. Merit cannot be invoked at conferences only to be betrayed in decision-making. Those who receive European funds must comply with the standards demanded by the EU: openness, transparency, and competence. We will take this matter to the European institutions, because defending public science means defending the country’s future,” he added.
According to Laureti, “the quality of research, the foundation of innovation, is a cornerstone of the competitiveness of our agri-food system, not least in tackling the major challenge of sustainability.” And, “precisely for this reason, it is essential that public research bodies are guided solely by criteria of merit, competence, and transparency, all the more so when they manage EU funds,” he continued. “The freedom and autonomy of scientific research,” he concluded, “are assets to be defended in the interests of citizens and the country’s development. This is why we say no to the politics of patronage and to any political interference that undermines technical and scientific expertise,” he emphasised.
In their parliamentary question, the two MEPs ask the Commission “whether selection procedures that result in profiles unrelated to the centre’s area of expertise are compatible with the OTM-R principles; whether it intends to take this matter into account in the forthcoming external evaluation of CREA as part of the HRS4R strategy, while urging the organisation to address the issue in its action plan; and whether it will ensure that the scientific governance of centres involved in Horizon Europe projects guarantees adequate standards for the use of EU funds.”
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