Europe Falling Behind in Science, Study Says

Under-investment by the private sector in research and development is holding Europe back from its goal of overtaking the United States and Japan in scientific innovation, according to a European Union study to be published today.

The European Commission’s first “innovation scoreboard” gives a snapshot of strengths and weaknesses in science and technology following the EU’s pledge last year to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based society by 2010.

High-tech-friendly Scandinavia, Britain and Ireland fared better than the rest of the European Union, and the Mediterranean area was struggling to keep up with the pace, according to a draft of the report obtained by Reuters.

“Rapid increases in business R&D; in Japan and the United States since 1994 have increased the gap with Europe,” the study said.

It showed the most significant U.S. lead over the EU was in business R&D; spending, which was 74% higher than the overall EU average.

The report found the 15-nation bloc surpassed both Japan and the United States in overall investment in information and communications technology.

Europe also outpaces the U.S. in public sector R&D; investment and in the proportion of science graduates, with more than 10% of all EU graduates having science degrees, compared with about 8% in the U.S.

But the Europeans still trail in private R&D; expenditure, high-tech patents and levels of postgraduate education.

Economists say difficulty in raising venture capital is one cause of the European private sector’s failure to invest more.