Since the beginning of the 21st century, Europe has been plagued by a decline in competitiveness. In 2010, in the newly-promulgated "European 2020 Strategy", the European Union explicitly proposed that the ratio of R & D and innovation to GDP would average 3% per year. Under the impact of the debt crisis, countries are busy tightening their finances, and innovation has been ignored. According to the latest statistics from the European Union, in 2011, the EU s R & D expenditure accounted for only 2.03% of GDP. Of the 27 member states, only Denmark and Malta have achieved their goals. In the next few years, due to restrictions on public debt and fiscal compacts, fiscal policies in EU countries will remain tight overall, and limited funds can be used to stimulate research and development, which means that it is difficult to innovate. The improvement has fundamentally determined that Europe's economic growth will lack an engine. According to this text, what is the root cause of the declining competitiveness in Europe? ['Debt crisis hits European manufacturing.', 'Limited investment in R & D.', 'Fiscal austerity leads to insufficient innovation.', 'Economic growth cannot drive higher product quality.']