WRITTEN QUESTION E-2907/03 by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Expenditure on and structural indicators for research and innovation in the EU and Greece.
Date: 2003-10-01
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU programme, EU research policy, EU statistics, Greece, innovation, private investment, research and development, research expenditure (EU)

C 78 E/186

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

27.3.2004

(2004/C 78 E/0192)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2887/03

by Bill Miller (PSE) to the Commission

(29 September 2003)

Subject: Animal by-products

How many incinerators are there in Europe burning animal by-products and in which countries are they?

Answer given by Mrs Wallström on behalf of the Commission

(16 October 2003)

The Commission does not have the information requested. However, according to the draft report on Best
Available Techniques for waste incineration (1), about 421 installations are in operation in the Member
States, and about 106 installations in the Candidate Countries. These installations burn mainly municipal
waste, non-hazardous and hazardous industrial waste, sewage sludge and clinical waste. Among these
waste types could also be fractions of animal by-products.

(1) http://eippcb.jrc.es/pages/Factivities.htm.

(2004/C 78 E/0193)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2907/03

by Antonios Trakatellis (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(1 October 2003)

Subject: Expenditure on and structural indicators for research and innovation in the EU and Greece

One of the objectives set out in the conclusions to the European Council meeting in Barcelona in March
2002 was that overall spending on R & D and innovation in the Union should be increased with the aim of
approaching 3 % of GDP by 2010. It was made clear that two-thirds of this new investment should come
from the private sector (1). At the present time, the average level of investment in research in the EU totals
1,9 % of GDP and to reach the 3 % target requires an annual increase of 8 %. Given that the gap between
the Union and its more serious competitors is constantly widening, the Union should concentrate all its
efforts on R & D and innovation, with particular emphasis on frontier technologies, to achieve the target of
3 % of GDP by 2010.

1. What is the level of investment in research as a whole in the Union and separately for each Member
State and what is the percentage increase or decrease in that figure for each Member State separately
according to the latest available data?

2. What research funding is invested in Greece, broken down by source separately for the private
sector, national public participation and Community initiatives and programmes in the field of research,
and what measures will the Commission take to deliver statistics on a regular basis and within specified
deadlines in accordance with Decision 1608/2003/EC (2)?

On how many, and which, of each of the 16 structural

indicators under the Lisbon Strategy
3.
(e.g. percentage of GDP by source of funds spent on R & D, patents, etc.) relating to Innovation and
Research (II) is Greece behind or ahead of the Community average?

4.
Is there a need to revise the Commission’s approach to the ‘open coordinating method’, which is not
binding on the Member States and ineffective but was adopted by the European Council to achieve the
target of 3 % of GDP by 2010, and what measures will the Commission take to encourage links between
research and new business opportunities?

(1) http://europa.eu.int/comm/barcelona_council/index_en.html.
(2) OJ L 230, 16.9.2003, p. 1.

27.3.2004

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Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/187

Answer given by Mr Busquin on behalf of the Commission

(14 November 2003)

1.
The figures available concerning investment in research and development (R & D) relate to 2000 or
2001 in all the Member States, with the exception of Greece, where the latest statistics date from 1999.
A table will be forwarded directly to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat. While
investment was increasing everywhere, the rates of growth differed, ranging from more than 7 % in
Belgium, Denmark and Ireland to less than 1 % in Germany. The data already available for 2002 show that
investment is decreasing in France, Portugal and the United Kingdom. A table (2) will be forwarded directly
to the Honourable Member and to Parliament’s secretariat.

The breakdown by funding sources for R & D differs in Greece,

2.
in both nature and structure,
compared with the rest of the Community. Funding by the private sector is twice as low while that from
non-national sources is four times as high, notably from the contribution made by the Community
Research Framework Programme. A table (3) will be forwarded directly to the Honourable Member and to
Parliament’s Secretariat.

Indicators for following progress in achieving the 3 % target defined in the Commission’s action plan
‘Investing in research’ can all be calculated from the scientific and technological (S & T) data which Eurostat
collects from the Member States, using procedures which are being reviewed in implementation of
Decision No 1608/2003/EC (1).

Greece is lagging significantly behind for nine of the 16 structural

indicators for research and
3.
innovation and is doing as well as, or better than, the European average for four of the indicators, while
information is unavailable for three others. A table (4) will be forwarded directly to the Honourable
Member and to Parliament’s Secretariat.

The Commission’s action plan ‘Investing in research’ proposes a coherent series of measures to
4.
increase private sector investment in R & D. Measures for which the Member States are competent (more
than half of the total) will be implemented through the open coordination method as defined by the
European Council. For the Commission, this means setting up an appropriate framework to facilitate
mutual learning between Member States and, where applicable, their developing together new measures on
the following six themes: ‘human resources’; ‘the public research base and its links to industry’; ‘small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and research’; ‘fiscal measures to promote research’; ‘intellectual property
rights and research’ and ‘public funding for research and the policy mix’. Progress will be monitored
annually.

The ‘Action Plan for Innovation’ which the Commission is planning to launch in the first half of 2004 will
help,
in addition, to strengthen innovation in companies by adopting a broader and more business-
oriented outlook which will place greater emphasis on the non-technological, organisational and marketing
aspects of innovation.

(1) Decision No 1608/2003/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 22 July 2003 concerning the

production and development of Community statistics on science and technology.

(2004/C 78 E/0194)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-2909/03

by Olivier Dupuis (NI) to the Commission

(29 September 2003)

Subject: Future status of Tibet

In a recent interview published in Le Figaro, the Dalai Lama stated that he ‘hope[d] that there would be
others [other contacts with the Chinese] and that they would lead to serious discussions’. He believes that
‘at present there is basically nothing new. Since the 1980s we have been demanding self-determination and
‘Tibetan youth
no longer independence. The Chinese know that perfectly well.’ The Dalai Lama added:
organisations clearly want independence. They do not agree with me. But there is no conflict between us
on that account. To be honest, if my approach were to fail, these young people would have a perfect right
to take up the torch and demand independence. One must be patient. It is barely a year since contacts
with China were resumed. But, if in two or three years’ time they have not borne any fruit, it will be
difficult for me to explain to young people why the “middle way” in the right one.’