Single Market and Relevant Policies

Research - Innovation - Copyright

Research - Innovation

The European Research Area (ERA) was launched with the European Commission's Communication “Towards a European Research Area”, which was subsequently endorsed by the EU at the March 2000 Lisbon European Council. ERA is a unified research area open to the world based on the Internal Market. The contribution of research to innovation and growth is precisely the aim of the 2010 Innovation Union flagship initiative launched as part of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The Union aims to ensure Europe's competitiveness in the global economic environment. This is an investment for the future that puts research and innovation at the heart of EU policy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth for Europe in the 21st century.

Under the new Multi-Annual Financial Framework for 2014-2020, the Program «Horizon 2020» is the main financial instrument implementing the Innovation Union flagship initiative, with nearly 80 billion euro of funding available over 7 years and is expected to boost economic growth and job creation in the areas of scientific research and technological development (for information on financing opportunities, http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/horizon2020/en). The European Commission has recently adopted the new European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity aimed at promoting the responsible conduct of research to help improve its quality and reliability. The E.U. is currently examining participation in the Partnership for Research and Innovation in the Mediterranean Area (PRIMA).

Furthermore the E.U. supports the innovative actions of European cities through the Award for the European Capital of Innovation "icapital" (for applications, http://ec.europa.eu/research/prizes/icapital/index.cfm)

Copyright (Intellectual, Industrial)

The protection of intellectual and industrial property is important for promoting innovation and creativity, developing employment, and improving competitiveness. The European Commission works to harmonize laws relating to industrial property rights in EU countries, to avoid barriers to trade and to create efficient EU-wide systems for the protection of such rights. It fights against piracy and counterfeiting and aims to improve access and use of intellectual property rights in the internal market.

Under the EU’s flagship initiative “ Innovation Union”, the Commission undertakes to create an innovation-friendly environment. Within this framework, it adopted a comprehensive IPR strategy in 2011, to ensure that the Single Market for intellectual property functions smoothly. The EU also prepares modern copyright rules to counter the challenges of the digital age. The European Commission has presented legislative proposals to ensure safe and seamless access of consumers and creators to the digital world. The E.U. has also adopted a legislative framework for the creation of a unitary patent and an international agreement on the creation of the Unified Patent Court. The unitary patent is expected to ensure uniform protection of an invention in the 26 EU member countries involved including Greece (for information, https://ec.europa.eu/growth/industry/intellectual-property/patents/unitary-patent_el). Brexit is expected to perplex the establishment of the Unified Patent Court, since the UK is one of three E.U. countries (France and Germany are the other two) which must ratify the Agreement to come into force, while it has undertaken to set up a part (drugs, chemicals, metallurgy) of the central Court.