Scientists in France have expressed relief that the far-right Rassemblement National (RN) party was defeated in yesterday's general election. However, the absence of a clear winner represents uncertainty for scientists, and many do not believe the new administration will make a positive contribution to research and higher education.

The RN was tipped to win a majority after winning the first round of voting on June 30, and scientists feared it could mean cuts to research budgets, curbs on immigration and the introduction of broad climate skepticism into the French National Assembly. But the party surprisingly came third in the runoff voting yesterday, behind the left-wing Nouveau Parti Populaire (NPF) and the Center Ensemble - an alliance that included President Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance Party. Neither leading group won an absolute majority and they must now negotiate to form a government.

“We have avoided a catastrophe,” says immunologist and President of the French Academy of Sciences Alain Fischer. “It can now be hoped that international scientists will continue to work in France.” But it's unclear whether the result is truly a victory for researchers, he adds. "We don't know who will govern, but I don't expect any major policy changes for us. Science and education have been absent from the European and French parliamentary campaigns, and budget constraints mean research will not be a priority."

Fears of the extreme right

Last month, Macron called for a bitter defeat at the European Union parliamentary elections a new election for the National Assembly. Scientists have been vocal about the potential impact of a far-right victory. An opinion article in the newspaperLe Monde, signed by Nobel Prize winners and hundreds of other scientists, warned of restrictions on visas for researchers and students and threats to academic freedom, among other things.

“The RN has long posed a threat to our sector,” says the outgoing research minister Sylvie Retailleau. “You just have to look at what happened to higher education and research after the victory of the far right in Hungary and Poland.” The universities of Hungary are in recent years less and less autonomous become.

An RN victory would have posed “a threat to international cooperation and funding, including control of foundations,” adds Retailleau. "Isolation is not an option. We cannot function without the free exchange of researchers, students and ideas."

The RN's program called for a rapid, short-term increase in public spending that would "limit research and other investments. Humanities and social sciences, climate research and the transition to renewable energy would suffer the most. Several RN politicians are openly climate skeptical," says Retailleau.

Cautiously optimistic

The result of yesterday's election alleviates some of these fears. “The research ministry will probably continue to exist, whereas it would almost certainly have disappeared if the RN had won the election,” said Patrick Lemaire, the president of an alliance of French learned societies and 12 associations.

Lemaire believes that science will be better off under new leadership than it was under the Renaissance Party. With the NPF as the largest parliamentary group, the new government could focus more on environmental and energy transitions and better support research and higher education than its predecessor, he adds. Lemaire also hopes that scientific knowledge will be used to shape public policies.

Other researchers are less optimistic. Boris Grak, general secretary of the French National Union of Scientific Researchers (SNCS-FSU), had feared a much worse election forecast, but still does not have high expectations for French science in the coming years. “Twenty years ago, all major industrialized countries understood the need to invest in research,” he says. "Germany, the US, China, Japan and Korea have all increased their spending, but France has not. The effects began to be felt here 10 years ago, and unless radical action is taken, the number of publications, researchers and doctoral students in France will continue to decline."

“The new government, without a clear majority, will have other short-term priorities.”