European Research Area - within reach? Linked to the ERA [European Research Area] inititiave is the goal, agreed by EU leaders in Barcelona in 2002, of spending at least 3% of GDP on R&D by 2010, two-thirds of this coming from the private sector. This objective was agreed because of the proven positive relationship between R&D spending and competitivenss and because the of the EU trailing the United States in both areas.
However, Eurostat figures show that the EU-25 average gross domestic expenditure on R&D as a percentage of GDP has stagnated for a decade now, as only a minor increase of 0.3% can be observed (1.82% in 1995, 1.85% in 2005). Only Sweden and Finland are above the Barcelona target, with 3.86% and 3.48% respectively.
In volumes, some €200 billion was spent on R&D in the EU-25 in 2005. Germany (by far the biggest spender), France and the UK together count for around two-thirds of this amount - some €55bn, €35bn and €30bn respectively. [...]
The latest statistics (February 2007) on EU R&D spending show that, at the current rate, the Barcelona 3% objective will be achieved somewhere around 2050. The European average stays, for 2005, at 1.85% of GDP compared to the US 2.7% and Japanese 3.2%.
