The analysis of university-industry cooperation (UIC) rarely considers the geographic implications of its promotion. We hypothesise that UIC may lead to a cumulative advantage of already good performers. The 6th EU R&D Framework Programme is a useful source to verify this hypothesis because of its a priori neutrality regarding UIC. Using original data on the funding allotted per participant, we build national indicators of the value of FP6-sponsored UIC across the EU27. The results confirm that richer countries involved in UIC get more funds than poorer countries. We discuss the role of policy in light of the apparent entry barriers in UIC.