Stajano, Attilio. Research, Quality, Competitiveness: European Union Technology Policy for the Information Society.

Murphy, Brian M.

Stajano, Attilio. Research, Quality, Competitiveness: European Union Technology Policy for the Information Society. New York: Springer, 2006. xxiv + 464 pages. Cloth, $129.00.

The European Union (EU) is much in the news today but, despite the publicity, it is not well understood by the American public. A major reason for this is that the EU is difficult to define in terms of a political entity. On the one hand, it is not a nation-state since it lacks sovereignty over a specific territory. On the other hand, it is more than a mere international organization--like the United Nations--because it possesses authoritative control over certain aspects of its member states, such as the currency for twelve of its twenty-five member nations. After trying to describe the EU to an audience, former European Commission President Jacques Delors reportedly gave up in frustration and called it a "UPO"--an "Unidentified Political Object." The EU is like no other entity that has ever existed and this situation makes it complicated to explain. Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright once jokingly said that the only people who really understand the EU are intellectuals and the French. This statement is facetious, but it captures the problem in seeking to comprehend the unique nature of the EU.

Whatever it is, there can be little doubt that the EU is a major actor in world affairs today, especially in economic matters. This book by Attilio Stajano addresses EU policies about research, innovation, and technology in relation to their impact on the economic performance of the twenty-five member states. As the author concedes, the EU has severe liabilities that have hindered movement toward a cohesive marketplace across Europe. It is encumbered by high labor costs, severe rigidities in employment rules, and complex market-access standards. These disadvantages are somewhat offset by a high level of productivity that continues to generate quality goods. The question, as posed by the author, is whether the EU can remain competitive in the face of these crosscutting pressures. The EU's capacity to improve its research, innovation, and technology policy should largely determine the answer.

In Part One of the book, Stajano provides a thumbnail overview of the EU, including its history and institutions, and an individual profile of each of the twenty-five member states. This background is designed to enable readers with only marginal knowledge of the EU to follow the discussion about the specifics of its research and technology policies. Part Two reviews the competitiveness of the EU in the world's market by considering its current position as well as the challenge imposed by emerging economies like China and India. A reputation for quality is sustaining the EU at the moment, according to the author, but this alone will not be sufficient in the future. He recommends that the EU diversify its manufacturing activities, increase investment in education, and shift toward technological development in high-priced segments of industry (p. 281). The author notes that the EU has already pledged to rectify many of these shortcomings in the Lisbon Agenda adopted in 2000. In this document, the EU set for itself the goal of becoming the world's most competitive economy by 2010 by making Internet access available to all citizens, promoting research and innovation at the EU level, and substantially deregulating the utility and transport sectors. Part Three concludes with an investigation of research and technology policy in the EU. The objectives, funding, and programs in this area are outlined and analyzed.

Clearly, the author has identified a topic that cuts to the heart of the EU's long-term viability. Unless better policy is established in research, innovation, and technology, the EU will languish behind the United States and will fall prey to the growing dynamism of China and India. Something must be done, and soon, to avert an even deeper looming catastrophe. As Stajano notes, the unemployment malaise that cripples many of the major countries on the continent will become even more severe as the demographic time bomb of an aging population explodes in the near future. The author provides compelling evidence that Europe is not so far away from resolving many of its nagging problems as might appear. He presents data documenting the economic competitiveness of certain EU member states, led by Finland and the Nordic countries, to support his case. Thus, European models for high performance in the new technological age are in place and Stajano draws upon these examples to portray the possibility of an optimistic turnaround for other countries on the continent to emulate.

Stajano is, of course, correct in his theoretical framework. The EU is acting as the engine of change by promoting the necessary corrective measures and it has achieved a modest amount of success in opening the European market to greater competition. The brake to technology and innovation policy, however, is being applied at the member-state level. Stajano's examination of the role of domestic politics in the context of Italy--a case study analyzed throughout the text--vividly demonstrates how the impetus to innovation breaks down in the face of public hostility. This same lesson should be extrapolated more uniformly throughout the text as a whole. Europeans have come to rely upon a generous welfare state and protective employment rules to withstand the harsh realities of a competitive global economy. The public does not want to diminish this safety net, and politicians are reluctant to propose doing so.

In 2005, just after the author completed writing the book, the European Commission blamed the member states for an inadequate implementation of the Lisbon Agenda, and the EU officially abandoned its goal of striving to become the most competitive economy by 2010. The problems the author identified in Italy, in other words, constituted a continental-wide phenomenon. Stajano only needs to emphasize that the crux of the problem in European research, innovation, and technology is the disconnect between the EU and its member states, and his text would be complete. Yet this flaw is a minor one in comparison to the exacting overall analysis.

Stajano's book contributes to a literature that is much more focused and lacks the breadth of what he has accomplished. Johan Lembke's Competition for Technological Leadership (2002) is excellent but almost entirely targets the telecommunication industry, while John Peterson and Margaret Sharp's Technology Policy in the European Union (1998) has a sufficient scope but without the market implications being fully explored. Stajano's book fits a niche that is accessible to a wider audience. His data sources are typically policy-based and derived from think tanks and journalistic publications, like The Economist and Financial Times. The writing style is scholarly without being technical. Readers should have little difficulty in following the arguments, even when laced in economics. For these reasons, Stajano has composed a book that will enlighten and bring into perspective what the EU is seeking to accomplish.

Brian M. Murphy, Ph.D.

Co-director--European Union Center of Georgia

University System of Georgia

Atlanta, Georgia