Press release
January 20, 2026
THE FRENCH RESEARCH BUDGET: THE FRENCH ACADEMY OF MEDICINE CALLS FOR BUDGETARY SINCERITY, THE NEED FOR A BUDGETARY FRAMEWORK FOR RESEARCH, AND THE NEED TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN OPERATIONAL RESOURCES AND PENSION COSTS
Following the article published in Les Échos1 on January 2026 by Arnold Migus, a member of the French Academy of Medicine, the Academy warns that the real resources devoted to science and medical innovation are being asphyxiated by the weight of demographic debt.
The French Academy of Medicine points out that France’s excellence in healthcare and its health sovereignty are based on biomedical research with concrete resources for action. However, an analysis of the figures reveals that the research budget is currently distorted by out-of-control accounting mechanisms inherited from the past :
– A captive budget: Nearly 16% of the State’s Research & Development credits are currently absorbed by the ‘balance contribution’ to the Pensions CAS (special purpose accounts). This amount does not fund research, but rather the demographic deficit in civil service pensions.
– A real downgrading: once this charge is subtracted, operational investment represents only 0.59% of GDP (Gros domestic product), falling even further away from the 1% target set by the French Research Programming Act (LPR), and relegating France to beyond 16th place in Europe.
The Academy welcomes the commitment of the Minister for Action and Public Accounts to clarify operational allocations.
The French Academy of Medicine supports the commitment of the Minister for Action and Public Accounts to reorganize the ‘budgetary plumbing’ in order to make a clear distinction between normal employer contributions and balancing subsidies to the pension scheme.
This structural reform is an essential step towards enabling a sincere assessment of the resources that are essential for biomedical research. It is the only way to ensure that the budgetary trajectories announced result in an effective increase in the capacity of research teams.
The French Academy of Medicine considers that this accounting clarification is a prerequisite for a coherent and sustainable policy of scientific and medical sovereignty.
——————————————————————————————
1 Le budget de la recherche est otage de la dette démographique, Arnold Migus : https://www.lesechos.fr/idees-debats/cercle/le-budget-de-la-recherche-francaise-est-otage-de-la-dette-demographique-2209069
Bull Acad Natl Med 2025;209:pp-pp. [En ligne] Disponible sur : URL
