The changes that have taken place in the global economy in recent years have testified to a transformation of an industrial economy into a knowledge-based economy, using technological and innovative potential. This transformation has highlighted the competitive advantages of countries and regions specializing in the production of high-tech products. Innovativeness is considered to be one of the most important factors determining the rate and quality of economic growth. Consequently, highly developed countries are conducting research to seek new sources of innovativeness and methods for creating innovative potential. The key determinants of the innovativeness of an economy are expenditure on research and development and the results of R&D efforts embodied in the form of innovations. The article aims to check a theory by Norwegian economist Jan Fagerberg that the technological potential of an economy, expressed as a relation of R&D expenditure to GDP or as a number of patents per capita, determines positively the rate of GDP growth. In the article, the authors analyze the influence of R&D expenditure on GDP per capita in EU countries in 1999-2008. Panel model estimation methods are used in the research. The results of the analysis show that R&D expenditure determines GDP per capita in the studied countries, the authors conclude.