R&D expenditure significantly lower in candidate countries than in EU
Expenditure on research and development (R&D) tends to be lower in the candidate countries than in the EU, both in absolute and relative terms, confirms a report published by Eurostat on 20 November 2000. The report outlines the R&D situation in 11 countries as well as the Russian Federation in 1998. With the exception of Slovenia and the Czech Republic, R&D expenditure in 1998 represented less than 1 per cent of GDP in the candidate countries, when the average was little less than 2 per cent in the EU. This figure was however still well below the 2.5 per cent allocated in the US, and the 3 per cent allocated in Japan. In 1998, the Czech Republic and Poland headed the list of R&D investors, allocating 630 million euro and 1022 million euro respectively. Levels of R&D expenditure in other candidate countries ranged from 19 million euro in Cyprus to 285 million euro in Hungary. The proportion of R&D expenditure in relation to GDP, the comparative contribution of the business enterprise sector and of the government sector in the total R&D expenditure and the evolution and structure of the personnel are successively presented in the report. Measuring R&D expenditure in relation to GDP provides a clearer picture of the intensity of R&D at national level. Using this criteria, Slovenia is this time shown to be leading the way, assigning 1.42 per cent of GDP to R&D. The Czech Republic is next, spending 1.27 per cent of GDP on R&D. Interestingly, R&D spending in the top three candidate countries was higher that those of Greece (0.51 per cent) and Portugal (0.63). Private sector spending varied considerable between countries, from 2 per cent in Lithuania to 77 per cent in Romania, compared with the EU average of 64 per cent. The public sector's role in R&D financing was noticeably high in Bulgaria (76 per cent) and Cyprus (61 per cent), whereas academic institutions were the most important sources of finance in the Baltic countries Estonia (56 per cent) and Latvia (47 per cent). The evolution of R&D spending between 1994 and 1998 shows a contrasting picture among the countries studied. Only three countries reported an upward trend in spending, with the Czech Republic once again having the most impressive statistic: an increase of 21.2 per cent, followed by Poland and Hungary. This figure is markedly higher than the EU's figure of a 3.7 per cent increase. All other countries experienced a downward trend in R&D spending, ranging from a slight decrease in the Slovak Republic (-0.7 per cent) to a strong drop in the Russian Federation (-22.7%) and in Bulgaria (-31.8%).