of strengthening the scientific and technological 

 basis of European industry; 



Wide variations still exist among EC member 

 countries with regard to total R&D investments, 

 quality and distribution of resources, shares of 

 public and private sector funding, and government 

 S&T policies; 



S&T resource levels, information flows and 

 professional mobility all remain below normative 

 patterns in the U.S., despite significant 

 improvements in all these areas in the last half 

 decade, indicating an S&T base not yet as strong, 

 deep or integrated as that of the U.S.; 



Basic research budgets in the major EC countries 

 are relatively stable or rising only slightly; any 

 significant increases in public funding appear 

 targeted to development of technology with 

 commercial potential. 



The U.S. remains (almost universally in the 

 perceptions of European researchers) a very 

 desirable location for study and research, and 

 European S&T administrators believe that U.S. 

 visits by European researchers will remain high in 

 number over the next decade; these administrators, 

 however, are moving quickly to establish programs 

 to make intra-European exchanges more attractive, 

 promising alternatives; 



The declining demographic pool of European 

 science and engineering students, combined with 



increasing competition for S&T personnel and 

 emphasis on intra-European mobility, could lead to 

 some decline in the numbers of students and 

 possibly of researchers visiting the U.S.; 



The major emphasis in international scientific 

 exchange for the larger countries of Europe still 

 rests on bilateral programs, and relations with the 

 U.S. continue to be a top priority. 



Continued EC stalemate over S&T funding levels 

 and Commission autonomy in R&D program 

 management could slow the integrative process, 

 making reliable scenarios for U.S.-EC relations 

 difficult to project. 



Although several principal S&T-performing 

 member states are ambivalent about U.S.-EC 

 relations in S&T, the integrative momentum favors 

 a growing and substantial international, as well as a 

 multilateral, role for the EC Commission. This 

 situation imparts a problem of timing, balance and 

 comprehensiveness in the development of an 

 official U.S. relationship with the EC. 



The rapidly growing EC focus on Eastern Europe 

 has resulted in substantial policy attention and 

 bureaucratic resources for external cooperation 

 being tumed to that region, creating opportunities 

 for joint U.S.-EC S&T cooperative assistance 

 projects. 



Background to the Report 



The NSB Committee on Europe in 1 992 has based its 

 work, and its findings, over the past year on extensive 

 investigation and analysis by its Executive Secretary and 

 staff of the NSF Division of International Programs. 

 Additional contributions have been made to the 

 Committee by invited experts recognized for their 

 familiarity with science and technology in the European 

 Community. The Committee effort has proceeded 

 concurrently with efforts by a subcommittee of the U.S. 

 Federal Coordination Council on Science, Engineering 

 and Technology (FCCSET), including representatives 

 from NSF, to develop a baseline of information and 

 recommendations for Federal responses to the evolving 

 S&T situation in Europe. The Committee appreciates 

 that the staff work done for it has also been made 



available to the interagency group, providing beneficial 

 cross-pollination for an understanding of the situation, 

 the issues it raises and the most appropriate U.S. 

 responses. 



The appended study, reflecting extensive interaction 

 between the Committee and its author, reviews in 

 greater detail the following areas of relevance for future 

 U.S.-EC relations in science and technology: 



• European Community-funded S&T programs, 

 policies, and capabilities 



• policies, programmatic emphases and capabilities 

 of key member states 



