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EU NEARS US AND JAPAN IN PROMOTING INNOVATION

The European Union is catching up with the US and Japan in promoting innovation but there is still a long way to go, according to a report published today by the European Commission.

The EU has seen bigger improvements than the US in the past year or two in five out of eight indicators. These include home internet access, the registration of patents in the US and per capita information technology spending.

In comparison with Japan, there are gains in seven key indicators, including corporate spending on research and development (r&d).

But the US still leads the EU in eight out of 10 indicators and Japan is ahead in seven out of 10. The scorecard has been prepared as part of the initiative to promote European competitiveness launched at the Lisbon summit.

The authors say “the overall positive trend results suggest that the EU may be catching up with its main competitors”. But they warn that weaknesses diagnosed last year persist, including big gaps between the EU and US in patenting innovations and business r&d spending.

However, a study of individual states shows the small northern European economies of Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden are among the world leaders in innovation. Among bigger EU economies, the UK is top. These leading countries are ahead of both the US and Japan in seven of 10 indicators.

The Mediterranean states, previously laggard in innovation, are closing the gap on northern Europe, with business and public r&d spending growing faster than the EU average.

THE FINANCIAL TIMES, Dec. 11, 2002