[Ecommerce] EU R&D :2006 – Aho Group Report "Creating an Innovative Europe

[Michelle Childs]

A High level expert group has submitted a report on increasing R&D to the
EU Commission. Its worth looking at as it contains data on the 'innovation
gap'. It also focused on a number of key sectors including pharma and
digital content and made recommendations on changes to IP laws and regs.

Copy of report:
http://europa.eu.int/invest-in-research/pdf/060119Aho%20report%20final.pdf


Points on  IP,Pharma and digital content.

One of its conclusions was that
'The reason business is failing to invest enough in R&D and innovation in
Europe is the lack of an innovation-friendly market in which to launch new
products and services.

To create such a market they recommend actions on:

harmonised regulation
ambitious use of standards
driving demand through public procurement
a competitive intellectual property rights regime
fostering a culture which celebrates innovation. '

As far as I can work out  in relation to IP this means:
(Page 12) Finalise the Community Patent system and the draft European
Patent Litigation Agreement
Review the problems with standards and patents
Faciliate the transfer of knowledge and IP from public funded insitutions
to industry.

In addition in relation to Pharma ( Page 14)Speed up the creation of a
single market for pharmacuticals and 'simplify legislation and regulation'
including speeding up national safety and pricing reviews.

For Digital Content: ( Page 16) Calls for review of territorial aspects of
copyright system and appropriate frameworks for the efficent licensing of
copyright content across national borders.

Official Background and short summary

At the Hampton Court Summit on 27 October 2005, Heads of State and
Government decided to give higher priority to the key issues on which
Europe needs to act to address the challenges of globalisation. First
among these issues were research and innovation.

The Commission thus asked a small group of four high-level experts,
chaired by former Prime Minister of Finland Esko Aho, to assess the
situation and make proposals to boost Europe’s research and innovation
performance.

The group issued its report on 20 January 2006.

It urges Europe’s leaders to take radical action on research and
innovation "before it is too late" and calls for a Pact for Research and
Innovation to be signed by political, business and social leaders to show
their commitment to creating an Innovative Europe.

The experts state that current trends are unsustainable in the face of
global competition. Therefore a new vision is needed to address a series
of productivity and social challenges faced by Europe.

The group argues that there is a large gap between the political rhetoric
about the knowledge society and the reality of budgetary and other
priorities.

They propose a 4-pronged strategy focusing on the creation of innovation
friendly markets, on strengthening R&D resources, on increasing structural
mobility as well as fostering a culture which celebrates innovation.


Michelle


--
Michelle Childs -Head of European Affairs
Consumer Project on Technology in London
24, Highbury Crescent, London, N5 1RX,UK.
Tel:+44(0)207 226 6663 ex 252.
Mob:+44(0)790 386 4642. Fax: +44(0)207 354 0607
http://www.cptech.org

Consumer Project on Technology in Washington, DC
1621 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, DC 20009 USA .Tel.:
+1.202.332.2670,Fax: +1.202.332.2673

Consumer Project on Technology in Geneva
1 Route des  Morillons, CP 2100, 1211 Geneva 2, Switzerland
Tel: +41 22 791 6727