UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

European Union
Figure 9.8: Uptake of STI activities by new EU member states, 2004–2013
98.5
98.0
97.5
97.0
96.5
96.0
95.5
95.0
94.5
Share in EU28 R&D spending (%)
4.0
3.5
3.0
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
EU15
(lef t axis)
Bulgaria,
Croatia
& Romania
(right axis)
10 new
member
states
(right axis)
2.20
2.10
2.00
1.90
1.80
1.70
1.60
1.50
1.40
1.30
1.20
R&D intensity as a share of GDP (%)
1.40
1.30
1.20
1.10
1.00
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
92.5
92.0
91.5
91.0
90.5
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
10.0
8.0
6.0
4.0
2.0
Note:
Shares for
the EU25 for
2004–2006
do not take
into account
the R&D
spending by
Bulgaria,
Croatia and
Romania.
1,200
1,000
800
600
400
200
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
800
700
600
500
400
300
200
100
90.0
Share in EU28 scientific publications (%)
0.0
0
Scientific publications per million inhabitants
0
Source: for top two graphs: Eurostat, January 2015; for bottom two graphs: computed by Science–Metrix using Thomson Reuters’ Web of Science
and Chinese participants will be expected to secure funding
themselves for their joint project proposals. The initial work
programme (2014–2015) under Horizon 2020 will most likely
focus on food, agriculture and biotechnology; water; energy;
ICTs; nanotechnology; space; and polar research. 17 China’s
co-operation with the Euratom Work Programme on topics
related to fusion and fission is also expected to continue.
Initially framed within the Cotonou Agreement (2000) covering
sub-Saharan, Caribbean and Pacific countries but excluding
South Africa, the EU’s co-operation with Africa is increasingly
being organized in partnership with Africa’s own frameworks
for co-operation, in particular the African Union, as well as
within the Joint Africa–EU Strategy adopted by African and
European Heads of State at the Lisbon Summit in 2007. 18
The ERAfrica initiative (2010–2014) funded by the Seventh
Framework Programme has enabled European and African
countries to launch joint calls for proposals in three thematic
fields: Renewable Energy; Interfacing Challenges; and New
Ideas; this has resulted in 17 collaborative research projects
being backed by € 8.3 million. Meanwhile, the Network for
the Coordination and Advancement of sub-Saharan Africa–EU
Science and Technology Cooperation Plus (CAAST-Net Plus,
2013–2016) focuses on food security, climate change and
17. See: https://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/horizon-2020-whats-it-china
18. http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/index.cfm?lg=en&pg=africa#policydialogue
health, with the participation of 26 research organizations
across both continents. 19
South Africa is the only African country to participate in
the EU’s Erawatch programme. One out of four of South
Africa’s almost 1 000 applications to the Seventh Framework
Programme for research project funding was successful,
representing a total of more than € 735 million, according to
the 2012 Erawatch report on South Africa.
African countries are expected to participate in Horizon
2020 through similar arrangements to those for the Seventh
Framework Programme. By mid-2015, institutions from
16 African countries had reportedly obtained € 5 million from
Horizon 2020 in the form of 37 individual grants, the majority
of which are related to climate change and health research.
However, African involvement in Horizon 2020 so far is below
expectations (and lower than for the Seventh Framework
Programme); according to the EU, this primarily reflects
the need to set up national contact points in more African
countries and to increase their capacity through supportive
EU projects. 20 Between 2008 and 2014, several EU countries
figured among the closest collaborators of African scientists
(see Figures 18.6, 19.8 and 20.6).
19. http://www.caast-net-plus.org
20. See Ralphs, G. (2015) African participation drops in Horizon 2020. Research, 18
May: www.researchresearch.com
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