Row as EU science chief quits over virus response

A blistering row erupted Wednesday after the head of the EU's top science funding agency resigned and attacked the bloc's handling of the coronavirus crisis.

Mauro Ferrari quit as president of the European Research Council (ERC) after just three months, telling the Financial Times he was "extremely disappointed" by the EU's response to the pandemic, which has hit Italy and Spain particularly hard.

The ERC hit back with a lengthy statement accusing Ferrari of being "economical with the truth" and lambasting him for not showing proper commitment to the job.

The row is the latest example of in-house bickering to mar EU efforts to manage a coordinated Europe-wide response to the crisis, which has killed thousands and crippled the continent's economy.

In a statement to the Financial Times, Ferrari said he had joined the ERC as a "fervent supporter" of the EU, but his battles with its bureaucratic approach to coronavirus had changed his mind.

He complained that the strategy he had proposed to fight the virus had been unanimously rejected by the ERC's scientific council because it went against the agency's usual way of working.

In response, the scientific council said its 19 members had already voted to demand that Ferrari quit nearly two weeks ago in a unanimous vote of no confidence.

They accused him of approaching the European Commission, the EU's powerful executive, with ideas behind their back, and of failing even to grasp the purpose of the organisation he led.

"Since his appointment, Professor Ferrari displayed a lack of engagement with the ERC, failing to participate in many important meetings, spending extensive time in the USA," the statement said.