Financial aspects of research and development policy in the European Union

In the article the author has attempted to realise the following goals:

1) identifying and critical assessment of the share of expenditure on research and development (R&D) in the gross domestic product (GDP) borne by business entities concentrated in four sectors (enterprises, government, higher education and private non-profit institutions) and jointly in all sectors. This meter is treated as an indirect measure of the level of managerial activity in shaping the research and development policy,

2) checking the thesis that R&D expenditure are changeable and differ in the particular Member States and does not give a clear positive picture of the systematic and dynamic growth of research and development activity in these countries.

The article was developed using the following research methods: critical-cognitive analysis of the literature; statistical and comparative analysis of the “Eurostat” empirical material; the projection.

The statistical and comparative analysis of the secondary empirical material “Eurostat” illustrating the share of expenditure on research and development in the gross domestic product was used to check the thesis. The results of the analysis confirm the rightness of the research thesis.