EU science chief quits over ‘disappointing European response to Covid-19’

The President of the European Research Council (ERC), Mauro Ferrari, unexpectedly resigned after his proposal to set up a large-scale scientific programme to fight the new coronavirus (Covid-19) was rejected by the European Union.

“I have been extremely disappointed by the European response to Covid-19,” Ferrari said in a statement to the Financial Times, pointing to the complete absence of coordination of health care policies, and the recurrent opposition to cohesive financial support initiatives, among others.

“I am afraid that I have seen enough of both the governance of science, and the political operations at the European Union,” he said, adding that he had “lost faith in the system itself.”

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