Integration modes in EU research: Centrifugality versus coordination of national research policies

In the past decade, EU research policy has become more central to the EU's political ambitions and its instruments are expanding in scale and scope. Recently there has been mounting apprehension over the EU's R&D efforts, such as the Framework Programmes, and their adequacies in meeting European and global ‘grand challenges’. How European-level and national research efforts interact is a key condition for enhancing Europe's research competitiveness and responsiveness. This paper presents data from Norway indicating that the R&D institutions adapt to European-level priorities directly, whereas the national authorities have a limited impact on the country's European research portfolio. It points to a need for thorough analysis of national path-dependencies, and how the nation states organise and coordinate their participation in European programmes, specifically for facing present and future ‘grand challenges’.