Peter Hefele is Policy Director at WMCES. Shreekant Gupta was Visiting Fellow at WMCES and is a former Fulbright Fellow at MIT. 

Once a global leader in science and technology, Europe never fully recovered from the 1930s exodus of its intellectual elite. The rise of the United States as an intellectual superpower was shaped by its ability to welcome thousands of brilliant minds, many from Europe.

But with recent shifts in US immigration policy and its “America First” agenda, this legacy is under threat. Is the US now repeating past mistakes – undermining the very foundation of its economic and intellectual leadership? And as the US loses its appeal, can Europe seize this moment to attract global talent? 

Despite years of debate within the EU about attracting talent, progress has been limited. Bureaucracy, inconsistent visa procedures, a lack of harmonisation, and language obstacles have diminished its attractiveness. The real bottleneck for competitiveness in the EU is not only funding but creating an environment that makes Europe thedestination for talented, aspiring minds from Asia, Africa, and Latin America.