An analysis of the development of R&D expenditure at regional level in the light of the 3% target

In its communication "Towards a European Research Area" (cf. Commission of the European Communities 2000b), the European Commission presents the vision of a pan-European research zone in which research activities are concentrated and funding is allocated irrespective of national borders according to the needs of the knowledge- based economy, economic growth and employment. This "European Research Area" (ERA) is a central element of the Lisbon Strategy for growth and competitiveness agreed upon by the European Council on 23-24 March in 2000 in Lisbon. To increase productivity and to respond to the challenges of globalisation and the knowledge-based society (cf. Commission of the European Communities 2000b: 4/5), the Heads of State define as a strategic goal for the EU in the following decade "to become the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world capable of sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion." (European Parliament 2000: 2). The strategy to achieve this objective is directed towards, first, the knowledge-based economy and society through information society and R&D policies, competitiveness and innovation, and a complete internal market, second, the European social model, and third, the support of a favourable economic development through macroeconomic policies (cf. European Parliament 2000: 2). The ERA goals were endorsed by the Heads of State, thereby establishing the ERA concept as a constitutive component of European research policy.