Sweden and Finland are the EU's most innovative nations according to the 2004 European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS).
The poll, which was established by the European Commission as part of the Lisbon Strategy to compare the innovation performance of the EU Member States, saw northern nations lead the way over their southern neighbours with Estonia topping the poll of the new Member States.
This was in comparison to the other end of the scale where several countries were labeled as "average or poor performers" on the overall scoreboard, such as Italy, Greece and Portugal.
The most innovative sector in the EU is found to be electrical and optical equipment, while textiles and textile products bring up the rear.
This is the fourth edition of the EIS, which also contains information on Bulgaria, Romania, Turkey, Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the US and Japan. The scoreboard is drawn up using 20 indicators, measuring human resources, the creation of new knowledge, the transmission and application of knowledge, and innovation finance. A composite indicator provides an overview of national performances.
This year's EIS indicates that the gap between the EU and the US and Japan remains constant. The gap between the EU and the US can largely be explained by three indicators, according to the EIS: patents; percentage of the working population with tertiary education; and research expenditure.
While Sweden and Finland maintain their leadership positions, they have lost momentum somewhat. Germany and Denmark are performing well above the EU average, with Denmark in particular moving ahead quickly.
Other leading countries, such as the Netherlands, Ireland and France, are slowing down, while most of the new EU Member States are catching up, although from relatively low levels.
The EIS working paper will be used to identify the main innovation policy changes that need to be made in order to reach the Lisbon targets.
By: N. Peter Kramer
