A paradigm shift in European R&D policy? The EU Budget Review and the economic crisis

This article analyzes the potential impacts of the current review of the EU budget on the Union's R&D policy. Within this process, the European Commission, with input especially from the member states, will consider as to how the EU's expenditures actually mirror the internal and external challenges of the Union. Against this background we argue that those challenges render policy change in the field of R&D policy quite likely. In order to assess the degree of potential policy change we conceptualize three scenarios that vary along the dimensions of institutional structures, processes and actor constellations. Copyright , Beech Tree Publishing.