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Overcoming innovation gaps in the EU-13 Member States

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How the science system works
19 April 2018
R&D
The European Union is working on realising room for research and innovation, to ensure that researchers can work anywhere in the EU and stimulating international collaboration.

Since 2004 the EU has gained 13 new members: Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. It appears that these EU-13 do not participate in European research and innovation programs as often as expected. This negatively impacts their innovation potential, and that of the EU as a whole.

The European Parliament wanted to know why participation of new member states falls behind and what can be done about this. At its request, a consortium of the Rathenau Instituut and European counterparts did research on this topic. The complete report ‘Overcoming innovation gaps in the EUR-13 Member States’ is now available.

Innovation gaps

The study shows differences among the EU-13. Some countries, like Slovenia and Estonia, participate well in European programmes. However, approximately half of the countries – including Romania and Bulgaria – fall behind. The Czech Republic and Hungary take the middle position.

What can be done?  

This study offers several perspectives for policymakers on how to

  • Strengthen EU facilities and programmes focusing on integration of the EU13 in a European research and innovation space.
  • Realize strong research and innovation centres that can stimulate participation in EU programs.

Download the report Overcoming innovation gaps in the EU-13 Member States, or read more on the website of STOA, Science and Technology Options Assessment of the European Parliament.