EU R&D survey : the 2014 EU survey on R&D investment business trends

This report presents the findings of the ninth survey on trends in industrial R&D investment. It analyses the 186 responses of mainly large firms from a subsample of 1000 EU-based companies in the 2013 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. These 186 companies are responsible for R&D investment worth almost €60 billion, constituting around 36% of the total R&D investment by the 1000 EU Scoreboard companies. The main conclusion is that the responding companies expect R&D investment to increase by on average 4.2 % per year during 2014-16. This is about 50 % higher than the increase anticipated in the previous survey (2.6 %) and mainly reflects the shift in expectations in the automobiles and parts sector, which returns to the level of previous years (4.6 %) after last year's reported stagnation (-0.4 %). The responding companies carry out one fifth of their R&D outside the EU. The responding companies' expectations for R&D investment for the next three years show the ongoing participation of European companies in the global economy. While maintaining the focus of their R&D investment in the EU, they reap opportunities for growth in emerging economies. Two out of three of the responding EU-based companies consider their home country the most attractive location for R&D. The United States, Germany, China and India are the most attractive locations mentioned outside the home country.