France’s ministry of science and higher education is the only ministry, along with the justice ministry, to be spared from deep cuts in the country’s deficit-reducing budget for 2011 announced by the government this week. Valérie Pécresse, the minister for research and higher education, yesterday outlined the details of her ministry’s budget line, claiming it will get an overall €4.7 billion increase on last year’s. But the opposition Socialist Party and scientists trade unions claim that the ministry is using creative accounting to artificially inflate the figures — the Socialists described the budget as an “communication exercise."

When it comes to comparing the ministry’ and critics’ interpretations of the figures, the clarity is much like that of estimates of crowd size at rallies, ‘300,000 according to the police, 2 million according to the organizers.’ Assessing the veracity of the French research budget has never been an easy task, not least because it includes a mix of what are known as ‘crédits de paiement’, which are guaranteed cash, and ‘autorisations d’engagements’, programme authorizations, which are promises of cash. This year’s presentation of the budget breakdown is particularly impenetrable, being almost incomprehensible in parts.

The €4.7 billion sum includes €3.5 billion unblocked from the €35bn economic stimulus package agreed last year – see “French research wins huge cash boost”. But much of this is in the form of endowments to universities, who can only benefit from the interest on these, or in funds used to constitute a treasury, most of which will not be spent immediately. Critics argue that the inclusion of the total sums in the annual budget figures for next year is misleading and inflates the figures. Plans to refurbish campuses will get an extra €508 million, a figure that the scientist trade union SNCS argues is also inflated as it includes €182 million of loans that must be repaid.

According to the ministry, research cash will go up €468 million, or 1.9% — barely above inflation at 1.4% — to reach €25.2 billion (including a €145 million jump in tax credits for industry). The scientist trade union SNCS argues, however, that core research funding will in reality be below inflation, or indeed fall in some areas. Although full-time staff numbers will stay flat, research will be spared the rule applied to other civil servants of the non-replacement of one out of two staff retiring.

The research agencies generally do poorly in the budget with the CNRS up just +0.8%, and several agencies being cut, including IFREMER, the marine research agency, whose budget falls by 0.5%. Inserm, the biomedical agency is one of the few to come out well, with a 4.3% rise. This low funding of the agencies is in line with the government’s aim to shift from rolling funding by the research agencies and shifting power to the universities, and the National Research Agency created in 2007 to award grants on a project basis.