Investment in research and development (R&D) in Europe is stagnating, according to reports from the European Commission.

The two reports, 2008 Innovation Scoreboard and 2008 Science, Technology and Competitiveness, reveal that Europe's research intensity — the percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) spent on R&D — languished at about 1.8% of GDP between 2000 and 2006. This leaves the European Union unlikely to reach the target of 3% by 2010 set by European heads of state at a summit in Barcelona in 2002.

The reports single out poor R&D investment by business as a key problem, especially in France, Italy, the United Kingdom and Germany, which together account for 69% of the European Union's R&D spend.

Over the same period, R&D intensity rose from 3.04% to 3.39% in Japan and from 0.90% to 1.42% in China; it fell from 2.74% to 2.61% in the United States.