BOOSTER SHOT.

The article informs that Europe is getting serious about aeronautics-related research and development spending in a bid to close the gap with its global economic rivals. The latest move is an aggressive R&D proposal put forward by the European Commission (EC). The new EC plan, unveiled on April 7, proposes to double European Union spending on R&D to 67.8 billion euros, with aerospace slated to be a major recipient. As part of the proposal, Brussels, Belgium, would implement institutional changes to foster expanded research activity among its members, which on aggregate spend less than 2% of their gross domestic product on future technologies, against 2.6% in the U.S. and 3.1% in Japan.