BRUSSELS. Innovation and competitiveness, watchwords in an increasingly competitive world and in a European Union determined to transform the economic-productive model with clean-tech blows. In this race, Italy doesn’t seem to be left behind, but when it comes to research and development, it struggles to keep up with Germany and France. In 2022, the Italian government has decided to invest 12.6 billion euros in this key sector to strengthen and relaunch the country system. This is about a billion more than in 2021, but which does not serve to bridge the gap with the main economies of the eurozone. Berlin has invested just over 43 billion euros in 2022, almost four times Italy’s, while Paris has allocated around 18 billion euros. Not only. The effort made in the boot is equal to that made by the Netherlands (+1 billion between 2021 and 2022).
Reading the Eurostat data, the situation does not seem so negative, at least if one considers the overall volume of expenditure. But if instead we consider the index of euros invested per inhabitant in research and development, Italy slips into tenth position, crushed by the countries of northern Europe (in order: Luxembourg, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Austria , Sweden, Belgium) and France. It is true that in Italy it has gone from 197 to 214 euros per person for expenses in research and development useful for innovative-competitive purposes, but the EU average is 262 euros, the Dutch “cheque” (440) and German ( 517 euros) is more than double the Italian one and the Luxembourg one (661 euros) three times as much and even more. It is good for Italy that France has kept its expenditure policy for the sector almost unchanged (17.9 billion in total, 263 euros per person) otherwise it would suffer from an even wider gap with its neighbors across the Alps.
In the EU desperately seeking a new competitiveness on a global scale, however, there is one aspect on which the European statistical institute chooses not to insist. The growth in absolute terms per euro per person allocated to research and development is underlined, but nothing is said about a general decline in commitments in terms of GDP. Between 2021 and 2022, the spending indicator linked to the wealth of countries shows a “minus sign” everywhere. At the EU level, overall government spending recorded -0.03% (from 0.77% to 0.74%), and here Italy bucked the trend: +0.01%, better than Germany (-0 .01%), France (-0.03%), Luxembourg (-0.04%), Denmark and Belgium (-0.09% in both countries).
In the end, if Italy doesn’t excel, Europe doesn’t shine, at least this is the impression one gets from only partially positive data. Statistics on government budgetary allocations to research and development in the European Union provide insight into government priorities, reminds Eurostat. Net of green and digital transitions, there are doubts about the desire and ability, especially economic-financial, to help innovation.