The European Union has made progress in establishing a “ more integrated, efficient and attractive” European Research Area (ERA), but further efforts are needed to exploit its full potential, the European Commission said in a communication published on Tuesday 22 October, which assesses the progress made since the strategy for establishing the ERA was unveiled in September 2020 (see EUROPE 12571/9).
Despite efforts to prioritise the research effort and align available resources, “we are still far” from achieving the objective of investing 3% of the EU’s GDP in research and innovation, noted the European Commissioner for Research, Iliana Ivanova, stressing the importance of “attracting more private investment”.
According to the Commission, the level of investment will amount to 2.3% of GDP in the EU in 2022, compared with 5.2% of GDP for South Korea, 3.6% for the United States and 2.6% for China.
At Member State level, the level of investment varies between 3.47 and 0.46% of national GDP, with only five EU countries reaching the 3% threshold. The main reasons for this gap are the low level of private investment in R&D in Europe and insufficient specialisation in advanced technology sectors (the ‘European medium-technology trap’).
In addition to the investment gap, the Commission identifies a number of obstacles to the establishment of a genuine ERA, including insufficient coordination of R&I policies in the participating countries, persistent fragmentation of regulations and administrative burden. All these factors are hampering competitiveness in Europe, the EU institution points out.
But the picture is not entirely bleak. In terms of bringing research results to market, the creation of the European Innovation Council (EIC) has “really changed the game”, according to Ms Ivanova, with each euro invested by this instrument attracting €4 from private investors. But the EU needs more investment capital to enable European innovations to scale up. The launch of a dedicated investor network should contribute to this (see EUROPE 13508/27).
With regard to the attractiveness of the research profession, the Commission believes that “significant” progress has been made in improving the working conditions of researchers (see EUROPE 13310/10) and their mobility through the Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions. But improvements are needed to address national disparities in career development.
See the Commission communication: https://aeur.eu/f/dzi (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)