  An integrated European Research Area (ERA) is a critical component for a more
competitive and open European R&D system. However, the impact of EU-specific
integration policies aimed at overcoming innovation barriers associated with
national borders is not well understood. Here we analyze 2.4 x 10^6 patent
applications filed with the European Patent Office (EPO) over the 25-year
period 1986-2010 along with a sample of 2.6 x 10^5 records from the ISI Web of
Science to quantitatively measure the role of borders in international R&D
collaboration and mobility. From these data we construct five different
networks for each year analyzed: (i) the patent co-inventor network, (ii) the
publication co-author network, (iii) the co-applicant patent network, (iv) the
patent citation network, and (v) the patent mobility network. We use methods
from network science and econometrics to perform a comparative analysis across
time and between EU and non-EU countries to determine the "treatment effect"
resulting from EU integration policies. Using non-EU countries as a control
set, we provide quantitative evidence that, despite decades of efforts to build
a European Research Area, there has been little integration above global trends
in patenting and publication. This analysis provides concrete evidence that
Europe remains a collection of national innovation systems.
