The National Research System and Scientific Policy of France in XXI century: key areas and development trends

Purpose: the article is aimed at studying the present state and current trends in R&D activities of France in the context of French state scientific policy. For that purpose the French scientific policy’s main areas and instruments were analyzed, the principle shifts were highlighted. The transformation of the French scientific policy was examined and assessed.

Methods: in the article there were used such methods as description, comparison, system principle, analytical approach and tabular method.

Results: by research findings the course of the French scientific policy’s transformation under the EU influence was stipulated. The crucial, to the author’s mind, areas of the French scientific policy were defined. Some current development trends of the French R&D activities’ were stipulated.

Conclusions and Relevance: it was proved that under the EU influence France is gradually shifting away from its traditional tough regulation of the national innovation system toward stimulating private innovations and developing R&D infrastructure. Among crucial areas and instruments of the French scientific policy there were: direct financing; providing tax reliefs; regionalization and clusterization; support of SMEs; development of universities’ research potential; stimulating cooperation between research institutions, just as between research institutions and industrial firms. Among crucial trends of change there were: R&D expenditures increase among universities and industrial companies, including fundamental research R&D; state research institutes’ R&D expenditures downfall in 2010 and their further stagnation; attempts to copy some US innovation development experience. It was shown that the reforms implemented, though get some increase of R&D activity of commercial firms, are not effective enough, according to some experts, because of bureaucratization and sometimes come down to creation of new bureaucratic institutions or their merging.

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