Disparities, Gaps and Evolution Trends of Innovation, as a Vector of Economic Development, in the Countries of the European Union

Innovation has been a subject of interest at the level of the European Union ever since its formation as the European Community, being regarded as the main factor of progress facilitating the transition to a knowledge-based economy. In many studies, the R&D sector has been identified as a vector of economic development, as it can provide technological innovation streams to help deliver products with high added value. In this context, for evaluating the performance of each member state, but also of the Union as a whole, at the European Commission level has been developed a progress assessment tool in the innovation area (European Innovation Scoreboard – EIS), which publishes a composite indicator of the innovative performance of EU Member States (Summary Innovation Index - SII), as well as a comparative analysis of the progress of their research and innovation systems. The 2018 edition of this innovation assessment tool in the European Union (analyzing the 2010-2017 period), based on 27 indicators grouped into 10 main categories, highlights the existence of major disparities and gaps between member countries, these being divided into 4 categories: Innovation Leaders; Strong Innovators; Moderate Innovators and Modest Innovators. To highlight these gaps in the paper we will use indicators of descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation), but also the Herfindahl - Hirschman and Gini - Struck concentration / diversification coefficients. The analysis reflects an upward trend for the innovation index while preserving significant gaps between Innovation Leaders in Northern and Western Europe and Moderate and Modest Innovators, mainly located in Central and Eastern Europe.