However, citation and impact analyses, in most fields, analyses time and again point to the superiority of US research over Europe. Science is essentially an open system, there is no national science, nor is there European science, as much as there are no national multiplication tables. The sketch I have given must not be taken to imply that everything must be seen in competitive terms. This of course cannot be, certainly not for science. Science is essentially an open system, there is no national science, nor is there European science, as much as there are no national multiplication tables.
Science progresses through interaction and collaboration and competition on a world scale.
What is at stake is the ability to apply and use science and technology in new products and services and to use science for setting policies. The ability to absorb and use the results of research depends on one's ability to understand and correctly gauge possibilities and opportunities. These can only be seen by those who have been trained at the forefront of research. This is not only a question of money. What is at stake here is the issue of scale.