Europe needs talented individuals - researchers and innovators - to drive competitiveness and growth. They, as all EU citizens, must be able to live and work where they feel most at home, without facing insecure employment or other obstacles. Moreover, Europe should be a welcoming destination for top scientists from outside the EU. A new EUR 500 million package for 2025-2027 has been put forward to make Europe a magnet for researchers and support the best and the brightest minds from Europe and around the world. The session will discuss the latest updates on the #ChooseEurope initiative, how to retain talent in the EU and the crucial role of regions in this endeavor.
- Local and regional | Research and Innovation | Territorial
- Code: 14WS252155
- Square Brussels, 314-316
Speakers
Moderator
Practical information
- When
-
Tue 14/10/2025, 14:00 - 15:00 CET
- Where
- Square Brussels, 314-316
- Type of partnership
- Partnership
- Format
- Workshop
- Theme
-
The Right to Stay: unlocking the potential of every territory
- Language
- English
Partners
European Commission - DG RTD
European Committee of the Regions - SEDEC Commission
Reporting
Session summary
The panel discussion titled "Choosing Europe: Addressing brain drain of scientific minds in Europe & attracting talents from overseas" focused on strategies to retain EU researchers and attract global scientific talent.
Magda De Carli (DG R&I) presented updates of the #ChooseEurope initiative, emphasizing secure employment, improved working conditions for researchers, and regional collaboration to combat brain drain. She also informed about the EU's EUR 500 million (2025–2027) financial backing of this initiative to strengthen Europe’s appeal as a research hub and support scientists.
Emil Boc (Cluj-Napoca Mayor and member of the Committee of the Regions) shared local efforts to retain and attract scientific talent. The city Cluj-Napoca is a university town and attracts many students every year. The city has been recognised by different awards over the years such as the European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) Finalist (2020) – for Cluj’s collaborative innovation model, “The Cluj Way, European Youth Capital (2015) and it has been active in promoting green growth leading Cluj-Napoca to receive the EU city mission label and therefore aiming to become climate-neutral by 2030.
Gabriele Marzano (policy expert from Emilia-Romagna region) highlighted regional best practices in addressing brain drain. The region Emilia-Romagna has a strong regional innovation ecosystem and has been the first in Italy to adopt to adopt a regional law aimed at attracting and retaining highly specialised talent in 2023. The regional Law 2/2023 on “Talents Attraction, permanence and valorisation of talents in Emilia-Romagna” is designed to attract, retain, and valorize highly specialized talents within the region.
The session, moderated by Eva-Maria Szavuj (DG RTD), underscored the critical role of coordinated EU, regional, and local actions in fostering a competitive, inclusive research ecosystem. Indeed, Europe’s competitiveness, growth, and ability to address global challenges depend on our capacity to attract, retain, and support the innovators and researchers who drive progress.
The crucial role of local and regional authorities was highlighted as the first entry point for third country nationals or Europeans coming back to Europe. This is why local and regional authorities are an important player as they can contribute to create the right environment to welcome or keep the very needed talent in our regions and cities.
Some key messages from the session included:
- Ensuring soft landing of researchers and their families in EU regions by foreseeing support packages including housing possibilities, schooling is key.
- Renumerations differences can be compensated by transparency on career progression, good recognition of competence and mobility opportunities.
- Local authorities need to collaborate with the whole ecosystem starting with universities and enterprises and put in place a regional vision followed by a strategy and an operational plan.
