Antitrust: private individuals discriminated against in research

The Government is discriminating against private individuals in terms of research. This is supported by the Antitrust, which in its latest weekly bulletin speaks of a "distortion of competition in the annual allocation of funding" for projects "of national interest".
The provision in question is contained in the Prin 2009 tender, started on 19 March 2010 by decree of the Ministry of Education. According to the Competition and Market Authority, the law reserves "universities and public research bodies" the possibility of "participating in selections for the assignment of funding". In doing so, it discriminates "in an unjustified way against private entities". The Antitrust then points out that "the principle of neutrality between public and private companies is enshrined in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union", which does not allow "the introduction of competitive advantages in favor of subjects under public control".
The Authority therefore requests that "the 2007 Finance Law be amended in the part in which it excludes private research institutions from Prin funding". The difference in treatment "is not justified by the pursuit of general interests of industrial policy, or of any other kind". (cm)