Red dragon
By 2010 China will be spending the same amount of GDP on research as the EU.
A recent publication by the European Commission - "Key figures for science, technology and innovation" - warns against the slump in R&D investment and innovation in EU member states. Europe is not only far from reaching the Lisbon strategy objectives of developing a knowledge-based economy and boosting R&D spending from 1.9 to three percent, but in only five years the EU and China will be spending the same amount of GDP on research.
Europe devotes a decreasing share of its wealth to R&D, and while in China investments grew by 10 percent between 1997 and 2002, the figure hasn't moved for the EU. According to the report, one of the reasons for this has been a slow-down in business funding of R&D, as in 2002 it grew at a slower rate than GDP.
European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik said: "We must heed this wake-up call. This trend still can and must be reversed."
If it is, then it's not likely to be driven by Poland's spending, as the country devotes a mere 0.56 percent of GDP to R&D. Among the EU member states, only Cyprus and Latvia are doing worse.
A recent publication by the European Commission - "Key figures for science, technology and innovation" - warns against the slump in R&D investment and innovation in EU member states. Europe is not only far from reaching the Lisbon strategy objectives of developing a knowledge-based economy and boosting R&D spending from 1.9 to three percent, but in only five years the EU and China will be spending the same amount of GDP on research.
Europe devotes a decreasing share of its wealth to R&D, and while in China investments grew by 10 percent between 1997 and 2002, the figure hasn't moved for the EU. According to the report, one of the reasons for this has been a slow-down in business funding of R&D, as in 2002 it grew at a slower rate than GDP.
European Commissioner for Science and Research Janez Potocnik said: "We must heed this wake-up call. This trend still can and must be reversed."
If it is, then it's not likely to be driven by Poland's spending, as the country devotes a mere 0.56 percent of GDP to R&D. Among the EU member states, only Cyprus and Latvia are doing worse.
