Recent macroeconomic literature emphasises the importance of expected future technology improvements (the so-called news shocks) for the macroeconomic dynamics. The impact of these shocks has rarely been investigated in the context of the European economies. The project aims at filling this gap by investigating the nature and impact of sectoral and aggregate news shocks in the knowledge economies of the EU. It will develop existing empirical methods for the measurement of news shocks further, implement the techniques for the measurement of the impact and diffusion of those on the European economies and build a theoretical framework that is capable of explaining the empirical findings. The research programme "Strengthening Efficiency and Competitiveness in the European Knowledge Economies (SEEK)" is funded by the State of Baden-Württemberg.