The 2015 EU Survey on Industrial R&D Investment Trends

This tenth survey on industrial R&D investment trends is based on 162 responses of mainly large firms from a subsample of the 1000 EU-based companies in the 2014 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. These 162 companies are responsible for €60 billion R&D investment, constituting around 36% of the total R&D investment by the 1000 EU Scoreboard companies. The responding companies expect to increase their nominal R&D investment by 3.0 % per year during 2015–17. This is a third less than the expected increases of last year’s survey (4.2 %) and slightly higher than the results of the one the year before (2.6 %). The responding companies carry out one-fourth 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. Three out of four of the responding EU-based companies consider their home country among the three most attractive locations for R&D. Regarding non-EU countries, the United States, China and India are seen as the most attractive locations outside the home country.