Brussels, 19/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - The key figures for 2005 on science, technology and innovation have shown worrying trends in investment in research, development and innovation in Europe. The rate of growth in the intensity of R&D (R&D expenditure as a percentage of GDP) has been falling off since 2000 and is currently close to zero. Europe is failing to meet the objectives it set itself to bring R&D expenditure from 1.9% to 3% by 2010, said Commissioner Janez Potocnik, presenting these figures to the press on Tuesday. "We must take this as a warning. If the current trends continue, Europe will miss out on the opportunity to become one of the most advanced knowledge-based economies of the world", he added.
Key figures for 2005 show that the intensity of R&D in the EU is close to stagnation. Growth in investments in R&D, expressed as a percentage of GDP, has slowed down since 2000 and only increased by 0.2% between 2002 and 2003. Europe spends much less of its wealth on research and development than do the United States and Japan (1.93% of GDP in the EU compared to 2.59% in the United States and 3.15% in Japan). The intensity of R&D is lower in China (1.31% of GDP in 2003), but it increased by around 10% a year between 1997 and 2002. If these trends continue in the EU and China, the latter will be spending the same proportion of its GDP on research as the EU, or around 2.2% annually, by 2010.
This situation can, in part, be attributed to a slowdown in the funding of R&D by companies. In 2002, the funding of research by companies increased at a slower rate than GDP, but this slowdown was compensated for by a slightly higher increase in the participation of the public sector and by increasing the number of R&D activities financed by foreign sources. In 2002, business footed the bill for 55.6% of internal R&D expenditure in the European Union, compared to 63.1% in the United States and 73.9% in Japan, and this proportion is decreasing. Unless this trend is reversed, not only will the European Union fail in its global objective of two thirds of research and development funded by the private sector in 2010, but the situation will have deteriorated further. The most troubling conclusion to be drawn from these key figures is that Europe is becoming less attractive to research activities. Between 1997 and 2002, R&D expenditure on the part of EU-owned businesses in the United States increased much more rapidly than those of American businesses in the European Union (54% versus 38%). The net imbalance in favour of the United States increased five-fold between 1997 and 2002: it rose from around 300 million EUR in 1997 to nearly 2 billion EUR in 2002. Furthermore, the investments of the United States increased much more quickly in regions outside the EU: 25% a year in China compared to just 8% a year in the European Union.
The president of UNICE, the organisation representing European employers, explained the lack of investment in research on the part of the private sector by the low levels of European growth and a lack of confidence in the dynamism of the European economy. Ernest-Antoine Seillière stressed the need to adopt measures to promote investment in research in Europe. He also pleaded in favour of collaborative research tools for industrial application, as provided for by the draft seventh framework programme of research. The president of UNICE underlined his support for joint technological initiatives and technological platforms.
The document can be consulted in full at the following address: http://www.cordis.lu/indicators/