Difference between revisions of "Decrease in competitiveness of EU"
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<h2>Description</h2> | <h2>Description</h2> | ||
Europe lags substantially behind in terms of innovation compared to the rest of the world. R&D spending in Europe is below 2%, compared to 2.6% in the US and 3.4% in Japan. Europe 2020 strategy aims at smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.The EU currently has a target of investing 3% of GDP in R&D. The target has succeeded in focusing attention on the need for both the public and private sectors to invest in R&D but it focuses on input rather than impact.<br> | Europe lags substantially behind in terms of innovation when compared to the rest of the world. R&D spending in Europe is below 2%, compared to 2.6% in the US and 3.4% in Japan. We will get the same picture if we look at the World Competitiveness Index. For 2008, only one European country made to the top 10 performers compared to 8 US states. According to the same source, the index associated with per capita expenditure in R&D performed by governments is 4 times lower in Europe compared to the USA. | ||
Acknowledging that, Europe officials have been increasingly worried regarding the future of innovation in Europe. 2020 strategy aims at smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The EU currently has a target of investing 3% of GDP in R&D. The target has succeeded in focusing attention on the need for both the public and private sectors to invest in R&D but it focuses on input rather than impact.<br> | |||
<h2>Enablers </h2> | |||
-Low levels of private investment <br> | |||
-Quality of private investment <br> | |||
< | According to the EU 2020 strategy Europe needs to focus on the impact and composition of research spending and to improve the conditions for private sector R&D in the EU. The fact that the EU has a small share of high-tech firms explains half of the gap with the US. <br> | ||
-Digital society <br> | |||
of this comes from European firms. Europe is also poorly competing on sectors like high-speed internet, affecting in that way its ability to innovate. Other areas where comparison with other regions also raises concerns are the online dissemination of knowledge and on-line distribution of goods and services. <br> | |||
-Education, training and lifelong learning<br> | |||
Statistics for Europe are rather worrying. According to the European Commission, 25% of all pupils have poor reading competences while one in seven young people leave education and training too early. Also, around 50% reach medium qualifications level but this often fails to match labour market needs. Less than 30% of the population aged 25-34 has a university degree while in USA the percentage comes up to 40% and over 50% in Japan. <br> | |||
-Increased competition coming from the developing world <br> | |||
<h2>Inhibitors </h2> | <h2>Inhibitors </h2> | ||
-Europe's leading position in sectors like aerospace, shipbuilding, financial services, luxury goods and fashion. In these industries Europe is one of the most competitive players globally. <br> | |||
-Integration <br> | |||
Even within Europe there are big differences among the various countries in terms of innovation and competitiveness. However, due to the increasing integration in the EU space, countries are bound to converge in terms of innovativeness. <br> | |||
<h2>Paradigm</h2> | |||
European officials are increasingly concerned about the current situation. For the next years increasing EUs competitiveness will be one of their challenges to address. It is likely that officials will try to foster innovation through amending the educational system. | |||
<h2>Web Resources</h2> | <h2>Web Resources</h2> | ||
http://ec.europa.eu/eu2020/pdf/COMPLET%20EN%20BARROSO%20%20%20007%20-%20Europe%202020%20-%20EN%20version.pdf | http://ec.europa.eu/eu2020/pdf/COMPLET%20EN%20BARROSO%20%20%20007%20-%20Europe%202020%20-%20EN%20version.pdf <br> | ||
http://www.cforic.org/pages/wkci2008.php <br> | |||