Statistics Explained

Archive:R & D budget statistics - transnationally coordinated research

Data from 2010, first experimental data collection.

Transnational cooperation in research is one of the core elements of the European research area (ERA). Public policies to promote such cooperation have become an important feature of the European landscape.

This article presents the experimental results of the first ever data collection in the European Union (EU) on ‘national public funding to transnationally coordinated research', defined as the total budget funded by the government (state, federal, provincial), as measured by GBAORD which is directed to the following three categories of research and development (R & D) performers and programmes:

  1. transnational public R & D performers located in Europe;
  2. Europe-wide transnational public R & D programmes;
  3. bilateral or multilateral public R & D programmes established between Member State governments (and with candidate countries and EFTA countries).
Figure 1: National public funding to transnationally coordinated research, by category, 2008 (as a % of total national GBAORD)

While the first category often involves cross-border flows of funds (the transnational R & D performer being located in one country is located abroad for all the other contributing countries), this is not the case for the second and third categories which, may or may not involve cross-border flows of funds. In most transnational R & D programmes, there is actually no cross-border flow of funds, each country funding its own participants.

Transnationally coordinated research is not meant to be limited to European coordination only. Non-European countries of course participate in research activities performed in transnational public R & D performers located in Europe. Multilateral public R & D programmes between European countries can (and often do) include non-European countries.

Main statistical findings

(from the first experimental data collection 2010)

Table 1: National public funding to transnationally coordinated research, 2007
Table 2: National public funding to transnationally coordinated research, 2008
  • On average, about 4.5 % of EU Member States’ R & D budget was directed to ‘transnationally coordinated research’ in 2008

In 2008, for the 18 countries providing this data except Belgium, the share of the total R & D budget (GBAORD) that was used to fund ‘transnationally coordinated research’ ranges from 1.03 % in Poland to 5.45 % in Germany (Table 2, Figure 1), with an EU aggregate of 4.49 % (based on the 15 Member States that provided all the data on this indicator). Belgium stands out as an exceptional case, with 12.13 % of its R & D budget directed to transnationally coordinated research in 2008.

  • The share of countries’ R & D budget directed to ‘transnationally coordinated research’ increased slightly in 2008 compared to 2007

The share of R & D budget directed to ‘transnationally coordinated research’ did not change much in most countries between 2007 and 2008, except in Cyprus (+56 %) and Poland (-32 %). At EU aggregate level (for the 15 Member States that provided all the data on this indicator) it increased by 5.2 %, from 4.27 % in 2007 to 4.49 %, in 2008. In nominal terms national public funding to transnationally coordinated research increased in all countries except Slovenia and Poland.

  • Framework Programma instruments for coordinating national R & D programmes and other Europe-wide R & D programmes are a major driving force for transnationally coordinated research activities

In almost all countries that provided the data, the largest share (more than two thirds) of the national contributions to ‘transnationally coordinated research’ goes to the category ‘Europe-wide transnational public R & D programmes’. Only in Hungary and Slovakia is the dominant category ‘transnational public R & D performers’ and in Portugal ‘bilateral or multilateral public R & D programmes’. In all countries except Portugal, less than 1 % of GBAORD is directed to ‘bilateral or multilateral public R & D programmes’.

Even if this first data collection underestimates the amount of national funding directed to the third category (bilateral and multilateral R & D programmes), these observations show the great importance of Europe-wide programmes in steering the coordination of R & D programmes in European countries. The use of Framework programme (FP) coordination instruments in particular (participation in ERA-NETs, European Technology Platforms, Joint Technology Initiatives) and coordination under the ESFRI Roadmap, are mentioned in all countries as major vehicles for implementing science & technology and research coordination (Monitoring progress towards the ERA, European Commission, ERAWATCH Network, 2009).

Data sources and availability

Data collection on ‘national public funding to transnationally coordinated research’ was conducted for the first time in 2010 by National Statistical Institutes under the guidance of Eurostat. As it is the first data collection of this kind, the figures have to be considered with the greatest caution and will be subject to revision in the coming years. 18 European countries provided all the data on this indicator, including 15 EU Member States.

The main source used by most of the countries for the compilation of these data is Government budget appropriations or outlays for research and development (GBAORD), in many cases supplemented with additional information from the national funding agencies/ministries. In some countries R & D budget text analysis is combined with data collected through R & D surveys.

GBAORD covers not only government-financed R & D performed in government establishments but also government-financed R & D in the other three national sectors (business enterprise, private non-profit, higher education) as well as abroad (including international organisations).

Transnational public R & D performers include:

Europe-wide transnational public R & D programmes include: EUREKA, COST, ESA, ERA-NETs, ERA-NET+, EFDA, EUROCORES, Article 185 initiatives (Europe-developing countries clinical trials platform, Eurostars and Ambient assisted living for the elderly), Joint technology initiatives (public funding part: ENIAC, ARTEMIS). National contributions to FP funding which come from the overall national contributions to the total EU budget are not included in the data provided in Tables 1 and 2.

Context

Transnationally coordinated public R & D activities are a key element of growing importance for the development of the European research area (ERA).

Over the past fifty years, Europe has been successful in establishing effective publicly-funded mechanisms for transnational cooperation in research. Various intergovernmental research organisations have been created, such as the European Organisation for Nuclear Research (CERN), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) and the European Space Agency (ESA). The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre has also emerged as an important R&D actor. In the 1970s and 1980s, inter-governmental schemes such as COST and EUREKA were launched and the EU Framework programme for research was initiated.

In the last few years new forms of transnational cooperation have started to emerge. Since 2005, the European Union has launched new instruments of coordination and collaboration known as ERA-NET and Article 169 initiatives. European countries will also be investing heavily in the ITER project, along with their international partners. In addition, European countries are now cooperating to fund and build the next wave of European (and international) research infrastructures, and 35 new pan-European infrastructures have already been identified by the intergovernmental body ESFRI.

In order to improve policy for the ERA, it is important to know what amount of public research effort in the ERA involves these (or other) forms of transnational cooperation, since the way R&D funding is allocated has important implications for the achievement of the ERA objectives. Aiming to respond to this need, in 2010 Eurostat carried out the first experimental data collection on ‘national public funding to transnationally coordinated research’.

Further Eurostat information

Database

The Eurostat database does not yet contain the data shown in this article.

Dedicated section

Other information

  • Decision 1608/2003 concerning the production and development of EU statistics on science and technology
  • Regulation 753/2004 implementing Decision 1608/2003/EC as regards statistics on science and technology

External links

See also

Notes

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