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Boosting research investment by 2010 to match the expenditure of global competitors is a top priority for the European Commission. The latest step toward the goal came April 30 with the adoption of the Commission document "Investing in research: an action plan for Europe." If European Union (EU) member states follow its precepts, Europe's research investment level will be hoisted from its current average of 1.94% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 3%, bringing it closer to the national levels of the United States and Japan. "This is Europe's chance to boost its competitive potential and ensure sustained improvements in peoples' quality of life," said Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin. One key measure in the plan is establishment of "European Technology Platforms." These will be groups of experts and stakeholders in key areas of technology, including genomics, nanotechnology, information technology, and transport. These are intended to develop and promote the policies needed to increase research investment.The plan also includes many detailed proposals to strengthen links between industry and public research, and redirect public spending towards research. Two thirds of the increased investment is supposed to be financed by the private sector. The Commission's role is largely one of guidance and advice. The most crucial action must come from individual member states. In that context, the Commission welcomes measures from the UK government to boost private investments in research and development (R&D). In his April budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown announced plans to increase the scope of the UK R&D tax credit system, which encourages research investment by providing companies with tax relief. Brown said that it was a priority of the UK government to raise R&D investment toward the US level. "We hope that such measures will be taken up across Europe as an example of best practice, " said a spokesperson for the Commission.In another development, the French government has backtracked on plans to cut the budget of national research and technology associations. On April 9, Claudie Haigneré, French minister for Research and New Technologies, announced that most of the budgetary restrictions that had been proposed in mid-March would not be imposed. Also, freezing of financial provisions for authorized research programs will be completely lifted. The net effect, nevertheless, may still be a cut in the French budget, albeit a smaller cut than seemed likely in early spring. The Commission has repeatedly warned of the slow progress that threatens its 3% target, and many experts doubt it can ever be achieved. "I don't think the 3% target is a realistic objective," Bruno van Pottelsberghe from the Solvay Business School at Brussels University told The Scientist. Van Pottelsberghe is a member of an independent expert group advising the Commission on R&D investment. He added, "There is a strong risk of R&D investment by European companies actually falling within Europe, while increasing in the US and South-East Asia."Ken Guy, of the consultancy firm Wise Guys Ltd, chair of the expert group, gave The Scientist his own cautious opinion. "It's certainly an ambitious target, which won't be realized unless both public and private sectors alter course," he said. "The public sector has to take almost unprecedented steps to ensure that Europe becomes a far more attractive place in which to conduct R&D."One threat to the plan to boost research investment is the accession of 10 new countries to the EU next year. These have significantly lower research spending than the current EU average, but the effect of their arrival will not be as great as might be feared. The addition of the 10 new member states will decrease the average EU R&D expenditure to 1.87% of GDP, a small impact due to the relatively low GDP of future member states.A promising indicator is that R&D expenditures in five future member states (Czech Republic, Estonia, Lithuania, Hungary, and Cyprus) have recently been growing at a higher rate than the current EU average. Nevertheless, the enlargement of the EU will inevitably push its R&D investment level in the opposite direction from the 3% target.Discussion of EU-wide targets should not distract from the considerable variation that exists even among the existing member states. The 1.94% of GDP for the EU as a whole is calculated from national values that range from 0.67% (Greece) to 3.78% (Sweden). The EU remains a collection of very different member states; however, much of the Commission may wish it to be regarded as a unified entity.

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European Commission publishes Action Plan for EU research investment.

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