Science, technology and innovation are often considered as important drivers for economic development and growth.
EU Policy History
2000 − The European Council launched the
'Lisbon Strategy', aimed at transforming the EU by 2010 into 'the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world, capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion'.
2002 − In Barcelona, a further aim was added, namely to spend by 2010 at least 3 % of GDP on research, of which two thirds should be financed by the business sector.
2005 − The Lisbon Strategy was re-launched with the initiative
'Working together for growth and jobs'.
2006 − At a Council meeting in Brussels, it was recognised that Europe should invest more in knowledge and growth.
2006-07 − At the Spring European Councils, one of the four priority areas agreed upon by the Member States was more investment in knowledge and innovation.
2007 − The European Commission launched the Green Paper
'The European Research Area: New Perspectives', a 'broad institutional and public debate on what should be done to create a unified and attractive European Research Area'.
The following graph is an example of statistics on this theme.
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (GERD)
Percentage of GDP
Click to enlarge
