Competitiveness Council (Hansard, 24 March 2003)

§ Miss Melanie Johnson

My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry represented the UK at the Competitiveness Council 3 March 2003.

Ministers at the Council reached an agreement on the Community Patent. The agreement combines new proposals on jurisdiction and distribution of patent fees with text agreed under the Spanish Presidency on languages and the role of patent offices.

The main elements of the agreement include a unitary jurisdiction enforced by a single panel of the Court of First Instance, in Luxembourg, and a transitional period for enforcement of the patent by national courts to end by 2010 at the latest. On languages member states agreed that the regime for the Community patent should involve translations of the claims part of the patent 26W document into all Community languages. They also agreed that the larger part of fee income should be redistributed according to measures of patent activity.

The Presidency invited comments on the Report of the Competitiveness Council's input to the Spring European Council. Among other things, the report stresses the need for increased co-ordination between member states to create the European Research Area (ERA), a true internal market for science and knowledge, through the open method of co-ordination. This should firstly be applied to a number of research-related areas, such as the objective of raising European research spending to 3 per cent. of EU average gross domestic product (GDP), up from the current 1.9 per cent.

The report highlighted the Competitiveness Council role as the 'guardian of competitiveness', ensuring that the effects of all measures taken on the competitiveness of European industry and services are fully taken into account in policy making. Impact assessment was the key to achieving the right balance between the three pillars of sustainable development: economic, social and environmental. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry said that the new Council formation was still building competence and credibility; there was scope for a more ambitious input next year, which should be based on an integrated framework prepared by the High Level Group for Competitiveness and Growth. In particular, this should develop the Council's horizontal role in assessing the work of other Councils for its effects on competitiveness.

There was a public debate on entrepreneurship that allowed member states to emphasise SMEs' crucial role in job creation, growth and innovation in Europe, and the need to better integrate the different policies enhancing entrepreneurship. Several member states, including the UK, mentioned the need to organise information campaigns to improve the image of entrepreneurship, to cut red tape, to improve the access to financing and to public procurement, and to cooperate actively at the regional and local level. The Council adopted conclusions on "The Promotion of Entrepreneurship and Small Firms".

The Commission presented its initiative to simplify the Community's legal acquis. Work will be divided into two stages, the first involving consolidation and codification of legal texts thereby reducing the sheer number of pages of EU law. The second stage begin to reduce legal obligations on economic operators.

Commissioner Busquin presented the Green Paper on European Space Policy. The paper forms the basis of a consultation, to be held from 22 January to 30 May 2003. The Presidency announced that an in-depth discussion on European Space Policy would take place at the next meeting of the Competitiveness Council on 12–13 May 2003.

A progress report by the Commission summarised the state of play of negotiations on the ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) nuclear fusion energy research project. A full progress report will be presented at the Competitiveness Council on 12–13 May.

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The Spanish and French delegations underlined the importance of the ITER project. They both confirmed their application to host the ITER facility. A consensus on a draft international agreement to fulfil the ITER, including the site and the cost-sharing scheme between partners, is envisaged for the end of 2003.

The Commission outlined a timetable for their work on the proposed Chemicals Directive. The main elements of this were: an orientation debate to be held in the college before Easter and a five-week internet consultation with business and stakeholders and formal proposals adopted before the summer break. The Commission fully recognised the need to get the right balance between the protection of the environment, jobs and innovation.

The Council reviewed progress on the Directive on takeover bids, presented by the Commission on 2 October 2002. This was followed by an exchange of views. The UK said the Presidency text was a good step towards reaching the necessary level playing field. Commissioner Bolkestein said the Commission would welcome any agreement that goes further than their proposal to achieve a level playing field, provided that it is acceptable both to the Council and to the Parliament.

The Commission introduced its recently adopted proposal for a directive harmonising rules on the enforcement of intellectual property rights, aimed to combat large scale counterfeiting and actions with significant effects on right holders.

Under other business Germany tabled a short paper on implementation of EU directives into national law. Germany suggested that the Commission should consider making a legal assessment as to whether national authorities have correctly implemented EU law when it receives notification of this implementation. The Commission argued that they already do this, when they collate information for the biannual Single Market Scoreboard. They were though willing to engage in further dialogue with Germany to improve systems.

The Portuguese delegation presented to the Council the third "EUREKA meets Asia" event, to be held in Macao in May. The event aims to strengthen the relationship between European and Asian, and particularly Chinese, businesses.