Les Trajectoires de L'Innovation Technologique Et La Construction Europeenne / Trends in Technological Innovation and the European Construction

Le processus d'integration europeenne a ete interconnecte avec science et technologie seulement apparemment au cours de la derniere decennie. Au contraire, des les annees 1950 les Etats membres de la CEE et ses potentiels candidats ont ete engages dans differents projets et tentatives de cooperation dans les secteurs de la science et la technologie. Les gouvernements nationaux non seulement choisirent la voie intergouvernementale, mais ils essayerent de profiter du cadre communautaire.

Ces tentatives ont produit d'autres projets debattus au niveau de la CEE sur la standardisation de l'automobile ou sur l'energie nucleaire et les solutions a crise petroliere, la cooperation europeenne a ete experimentee avec succes dans d'autres secteurs mais non seulement dans le berceau communautaire, tels que l'aeronautique ou les reseaux electriques.

Ces experiences et debats sur la construction europeenne techno-scientifique ont ete confrontes a la competition transatlantique, et meme a celle intra-europeenne. En tous cas, comme les plus recents developpements semblent prouver, l'Union europeenne est destinee a jouer un role d'innovateur technologique. Grace a une approche historique transnationale et interdisciplinaire, serions-nous capables de suggerer quel role, et selon quelles trajectoires ?

Ostensibly the European integration process has been interconnected with science and technology only in the last decade. On the other hand, since the 1950s EEC member states and would-be members have been engaged in several projects and attempts to cooperate in science and technology. National governments not only chose the intergovernmental way, but also they tried to take advantage of the communitarian framework.

These attempts produced some successes inside the EEC including the European Commission's framework programme. Appart from some projects discussed at EEC level on automobile standardisation, nuclear energy and supplies during oil crisis, European cooperation in aircraft or electric power was successfully experimented but outside the communitarian networks.

These experiences and debates on a European techno-scientific construction encountered competition from across the Atlantic as well as within Europe. As the most recent developments seem to prove, the European Union has to play a role of technological innovator. Thanks to a transnational and interdisciplinary historical approach, are we able to suggest which role, and by which trends?