This thesis applies the neo-functionalist theory of integration to a study of the European technology policy, taking the BRITE-EURAM programme as a case study. A three- level mode of analysis is used to examine actor behaviour: actors at the micro-level, national technology systems, and the European-level institutions. The study makes a comparative analysis of participation by two of the European member states, the United Kingdom and Spain, to examine the community building processes that operated in each. The national institutional system in which economic actors operate influences their behaviour, and the analysis of the European technology collaboration identified the political changes that took place within the context of particular national institutional systems. One variable that is key to the process of integration is the technological capability of the national system. At the supranational level, the ideology and ideas underpinning technology policy created a market-based community, excluding other interests. The effect is to compromise any attempt to upgrade the common interest through directing technology policy towards economic and social cohesion.