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

• Author: Murphy, Brian M.
• Position: Book review

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...