[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-85069-en":3,"doc-seo-85069-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":83},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},85069,1099514067438,"River Wang","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/100002539ee87300030?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1780474512215547542",8,"Research & Report","A 'normal' research trap limits scientific breakthroughs and disruptive innovation in the European Union","Europe’s prolonged slow growth is linked to a shortage of disruptive innovation, described as a “middle-technology trap.” While the EU often proposes more investment and deeper member-state integration, the study argues these are insufficient without improving breakthrough research efficiency. Breakthrough discoveries require both scale and efficiency; the EU research system is smaller than China’s and less efficient than the United States, yielding too few breakthroughs for high-technology competitiveness. Persistent EU underperformance lacks meaningful reforms.","A 'normal' research trap limits scientific breakthroughs and disruptive  \ninnovation in the European Union  \nAlonso Rodríguez-Navarro  \nDepartamento de Biotecnología-Biología Vegetal, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Avenida Puerta de Hierro 2, 28040, Madrid, Spain  \nE-mail address: alonso.[rodriguez@upm.es](rodriguez@upm.es) ORCID 0000-0003-0462-223X  \nAbstract  \nEurope is experiencing prolonged slow growth, resulting in part from a shortage of disruptive innovations that has locked its industry into a \"middle-technology trap.\" Although greater investment and deeper integration among EU member states are widely proposed as solutions, this study argues that these measures alone will be insufficient if breakthrough research is not improved. In research systems, breakthrough discoveries depend on both size and efficiency. The EU research system is constrained by a dual problem: it is substantially smaller than China's and significantly less efficient than that of the United States. As a result, it generates too few breakthrough discoveries to sustain competitiveness in high-technology sectors. Compared with the United Kingdom, the persistent underperformance of the EU's largest research systems—Germany, France, Italy, and Spain—has long been evident, yet meaningful reforms have not been implemented. Meanwhile, China's capacity for breakthrough research continues to expand rapidly. Despite sustained academic criticism, the European Commission has largely based its research policy on overly optimistic assessments of research performance that satisfy policymakers and researchers but fail to address structural weaknesses. Achieving a more balanced global technological landscape and strengthening Europe's competitiveness will require not only greater integration among member states but also a substantial improvement in research efficiency. Without such gains, the EU is unlikely to attract the private investment needed for high-technology industries, while additional public spending risks diverting resources from other sectors without addressing the underlying causes of Europe's innovation deficit.  \nKey words: bibliometrics, scientometrics, research evaluation, breakthrough research  \n1. Introduction  \nDisruptive innovations, which stem from breakthrough research, drive technological change and economic development (Feder, 2018) . Breakthrough research accounts for only an insignificant proportion of all research output, the vast majority of which constitutes ‘normal’research (Kuhn, 1970) . This small proportion can be assessed through citation analysis, but if certain methodological rules are overlooked, the resulting assessments can be misleading. This is the case for Japan, a country with numerous Nobel Prize winners that nevertheless appears in most international research rankings as a scientifically developing country (Pendlebury, 2020) . Such misleading assessments of research (Rodríguez-Navarro, 2025c; Rodríguez-Navarro & Brito, 2024a) can lead to misguided research policies and, consequently, hinder disruptive innovation.  \n1.1. Research and innovation in the EU  \nThe innovation deficit of the EU in advanced technologies has long been recognized, and it is widely acknowledged that this deficit constrains the EU economy. In 1995, the European Commission (EC) stated that \"over the last fifteen years its technological and commercial performance in high-technology sectors such as electronics and information technologies has deteriorated\" (European-Commission, 1995, p. 14) . In 2018, it further acknowledged that\"Disruptive and breakthrough innovations are still too rare in Europe\" (European Commission, 2018, p. 11). This concern about high-technology sectors has persisted ever since. In 2024, Fuest et al. (Fuest et al., 2024) described the EU as being caught in a \"middletechnology trap.\" Also in 2024, an extensive report by the former President of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, reached a similar conclusion: \"EU compani","cbCaitVAXUVyTVTw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitVAXUVyTVTw","pdf",1166388,2,1,34,"English","en",105,"# Introduction\n## Research and innovation in the EU","[{\"question\":\"What limitation does the document identify in the EU’s current research policy approach?\",\"answer\":\"It argues the European Commission has largely relied on overly optimistic research performance assessments that satisfy stakeholders but overlook structural weaknesses, limiting reform and efficiency gains.\"}]",1784200803,86,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":78,"head_meta":80,"extra_data":82,"updated_unix":28},"a-normal-research-trap-limits-scientific-breakthroughs-and-disruptive-innovation-in-the-european-union","",{"@graph":36,"@context":77},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-normal-research-trap-limits-scientific-breakthroughs-and-disruptive-innovation-in-the-european-union/85069/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-23","2026-07-16",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What limitation does the document identify in the EU’s current research policy approach?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"It argues the European Commission has largely relied on overly optimistic research performance assessments that satisfy stakeholders but overlook structural weaknesses, limiting reform and efficiency gains.","Answer","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":79,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":81,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":84},[85,89,93,97,102,107,112,115,120,123,127],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":86,"show_sort_weight":87,"slug":88},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":90,"show_sort_weight":91,"slug":92},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":98,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":99,"show_sort_weight":100,"slug":101},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":103,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":104,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":106},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":108,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":109,"show_sort_weight":110,"slug":111},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":124,"slug":126},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":128,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":130},19,"General","general"]