Stockholm, 10/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Swedish Presidency of the EU, over the next six months, intends to lead the Community works in the field of trade and the internal market by placing particular emphasis on the "future" sectors, such as electronic commerce, information industry, cutting edge technologies or financial services. "We must further concentrate on the industries of the future if we want to respect the undertakings made in Lisbon (during the European Council in March 2000) to make, over the next ten years, Europe the most dynamic and competitive economy in the world, asserted in Stockholm the Swedish Trade Minister, Leif Pagrotsky, before a group of European journalists. In the main industrial sectors of the new economy (biotechnology, information technologies, etc.), "it is often the lack of a single and harmonised system for European industrial patents that makes Europe suffer a delay compared to the United States" where there exists such a single system, valid and easily applicable to the whole of the United States, said Mr Pagrotsky. The EU is presently working for the establishment of a European patent system, "and I hope that the Swedish Presidency will be able to push forward the works during the first quarter of this year, so that the new system may still be approved under the Belgian Presidency during the second quarter of 2001", said the Minister. Mr Pagrotsky also underlined that the Swedish Presidency would try to better emphasis the interests of consumers in trade policy, and not only the interests of producers.
On the international trade level, one of the main priorities of the Swedish Presidency, will be to push forward the integration of Russia into the world economy, in particular into the World Trade Organisation (WTO). "Russia is very important for the Union; the future development in Russia will determine for a significant part the future of Europe as a whole", asserted Mr Pagrotsky. Under the Swedish Presidency, the EU will continue and intensify its efforts in order to prepare Russia for accession to the WTO, "as the entry of Russia into the WTO will form an irreversible step in favour of Russian integration into the world economy, and against the isolationism of this so important country", he said. A high-level conference will be, moreover, organised next march in Moscow, in view of helping the Russian authorities to prepare their countries for WTO accession.