The involvement of the Latin American countries in the European R&D cooperation programmes.

Abstract

Taking the processing and the improvement of data collected from the services of the European Commission as a starting point, the article analyses the involvement of the Latin American countries in the European Union research programmes. First, the paper outlines the general features of the EU actions implemented in S&T collaboration with third countries (mainly with "developing countries"), as well as the general level of participation of the Latin American teams in the European programmes. Then, the article introduces a series of elements that help to define and assess the exact amplitude of such participation.
Throughout the 90's, the European R&D programmes mobilised about 20 Latin American countries, thus generating more than 1,500 "collaboration links" between different laboratories of diverse institutional and geographic origins. Such a complex system poses a key problem concerning the evaluation of the effects and of the real impacts of this initiatives. To conclude, the article stresses that, beyond the production of appropriate indicators, more in-depth studies are needed to improve the understanding and the correct interpretation of the trends observed.