R&D investments in Europe were less affected by the crisis than in the US but EU firms are lagging behind their rivals in key sectors for innovation, the European Commission warned on Tuesday (26 October).
The crisis saw the profits of top EU companies fall by 21% last year, according to the Commission's R&D scoreboard, published on Tuesday.
But despite this, the amount European firms invested in R&D only fell by 2.6%, significantly less than the 5.1% drop of US companies, the Commission said.
Meanwhile, the worldwide reduction was just 1.9%, largely thanks to growth in the Asian 'tiger' economies.
To read the full, original article click on this link: R&D chief sounds innovation emergency bell | EurActiv
