MEDEA+ : a stimulating programme for industrial European innovation

Although the European wish to make technological advances (which began in 1988 and became a reality in the form of successive launches of JESSI, MEDEA and MEDEA+) was successful, Europe today finds itself faced with particularly aggressive competition from Asia. Asia represents more than 35 % of the world market in semiconductors, and its growing market force can be seen in the marketing of its products which become the standards which are gradually being imposed elsewhere on the market. At the same time, the European Union is continuing to allocate forty-five billion Euros to agriculture compared with only three billion Euros for innovation. Furthermore, scientific careers are being abandoned in Europe, while China has provided more graduate research workers during the past few years, than Europe and the United States put together. In such a situation, can Europe still aspire to its original position of leader or is it definitely out of the race ?