Tangente: You are a highly accomplished mathematician who moved into politics. Do you think your scientific background can make a valuable contribution to drafting certain pieces of legislation?**
Cédric Villani: Today, many political issues call for rigorous scientific analysis. Whether in ecology, education, Europe's technological sovereignty or, of course, the strategy for tackling the Covid-19 pandemic, policymakers need insights from scientists. My ambition is to help provide them, but also to consider how best to structure the institutional relationship between these two spheres. This is one of the responsibilities of OPECST (the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices), which I chair. Science has featured in the assessment of the vaccination strategy, the research act, the animal-welfare act and the Citizens' Convention on Climate, as well as in many other recent political debates.
How do your fellow MPs see you? Do they think you can offer them insight into legislation based on statistics, for example?
When I arrived at the National Assembly in 2017, I was seen as something of a curiosity… Times have changed, and many colleagues—MPs and senators alike—now seem to regard my presence on the political scene as perfectly natural. I received strong support from the Senate when I ran for re-election as chair of OPECST, unaffiliated with any political party. In three years, I have taken part in parliamentary debate in all its forms: sometimes debating the effects of a particular piece of legislation like any other MP; sometimes presenting a report grounded in science or a sound knowledge of higher education and research; sometimes chairing and organizing debates; and sometimes rallying support for opinion pieces, petitions and statements.
Statistics… and much more! --------------------------------