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FP6
– A programme for achieving global competitiveness or balancing
disparities in member states’ R & D expenditures?
Dr.
Vladimir Albrecht,
Technology Centre Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic,
Prag
Abstract:
With
the end of FP6 drawing near, international discussion on its course so far has
often followed a predictable pattern: the new member states are unambiguous in
making clear that it has been less advantageous for them than they expected.
During similar discussions at the end of FP5, the European Commission specially
called on teams from the then-candidate states to join ongoing projects in order
to mitigate their unmet expectations of their higher involvement into this
challenging programme. It is likely that at the end of FP6, the EC will send out
similar calls for candidate states (Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey), although it is
almost certain that there will be no such calls for any of the member states (thus
not even the new ones). In discussions, the European Commission emphasises that
the aim of FP6 is not to ensure easier access to European research and
development funds for any one state but rather that, by setting the bar so high,
it helps the EU increase its competitiveness in the global information society.
In
this communication we would like to point out that
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the
participation of the national teams in the FP’s projects should be
evaluated according to several criteria, out of which the most frequently
used measure, i.e. participant’s success rate, has very small predicative
value, thus some “more convincing indicators will be proposed”,
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the
total sum contracted by any EU member state via participation of its
respective teams in the FP6 projects is determined with a surpring
accuracy by its overall investments in its own R&D system and the
respective formula will be demonstrated,
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the
indicator relating the total sum contracted by national teams to national
investments to R&D systems (i.e. “contracted national total in FP6/
GERD” , Gross expenditure for R&D) cleraly indicate that the FP6
funds are more easily available for the member states with lower R&D
intensity (i.e. GERD/GDP) than for the states with higher R&D
intensity.
Figure
1. Total sum (€) per researcher that have been contracted in FP6 so far.
Data for Malta are not available.
Figure
4. Funds contracted during FP6 related to Gross Expenditure for R&D
spending (i.e., the ratio of contracted contribution to GERD) for the EU-25
states.
The
statistical analysis will be performed using the database of FP6 projects that
the EC distributed to the national representatives in the SP1 programme
committee.
Aanlysis
of FP5 projects leads to very similar patterns, which indicates that use of EU
R&D funds has some constant features, thus achieving the FP7 ambitious goals
will require really big effort.
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