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Despite an increasing policy interest in biotechnology in Europe, there is a lack of internationally comparable data on national performance in biotechnology. This paper presents a performance analysis of 14 Member States using science technology and economic indicators. A strong relationship between scientific and commercial performance was found. Four performance clusters were identified: the best-performing countries Denmark, Sweden and Finland; the second-best performers The Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Germany; cluster three with Austria, France and Ireland, performing below the European median performance value, and the Mediterranean countries Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece performing weakly as measured by all indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectations that biotechnology will become a major contributor to economic growth and impact on quality of life explain its high priority on the political agenda of EU Member States. Theoretical advances in understanding innovation processes and instruments for innovation policy have created an increasing demand for empirical tools to develop policy from a systems perspective. This paper aims to provide policy-makers with tools to assist in biotechnology policy-making. Key aspects considered are: the systemic nature of the innovation process in biotechnology; the different policy areas involved in its promotion; and the time lag between policy action and potential policy outcomes. The benchmarking approach combines quantitative and qualitative indicators in order to assess policy activity in relevant policy areas and the achievement of policy goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]