Europe.

Europe: In early December, the European Commission published its first EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard, which details R&D spending by the top 500 EU companies (EU 500) compared to the top 500 non-EU companies (non-EU 500). R&D expenditures by the EU 500 fell 2% in 2003 compared to 2002. During the same period, the non-EU 500's R&D investments rose 3.9%. Over the past four years, R&D investments by the EU 500 increased 1.2% per year on average, while non-EU 500's investments climbed 3.7%. The top 20 EU companies account for 55% of the EU 500's R&D spending. Companies headquartered in Germany, France and the UK account for 74% of EU 500 R&D spending.

Source: European Commission