Brussels, 30/11/2005 (Agence Europe) - The EU and the United States agreed on Wednesday to step up their regulatory cooperation and adopted a plan of action and a timetable for combating, together, the massive violations of intellectual property rights (IPR) on world markets. Meeting on 30 November in Brussels, on the occasion of the first EU/US ministerial meeting entirely devoted to economic affairs, Americans and Europeans also agreed to take concrete measures to promote innovation, trade, investment and the mutual opening of their capital markets, services and public procurement, in order to improve their cooperation on the fight against money laundering and the financing of terrorist groups and in order to promote energy efficiency on both sides of the Atlantic. The meeting was attended by US Trade Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, Commissioners Günter Verheugen (industrial policy) and Peter Mandelson (trade), the British and Austrian ministers for economy and trade, Alan Johnson and Martin Bartenstein, as well as the Finnish under-secretary of State for economic external relations, Pekka Lintu (Finland will be holding EU Council Presidency during the second half of 2006, after Austria).
“We are very pleased with the meeting which had significant results that we shall now implement with great determination”, Carlos Gutierez was pleased to tell the press. The cooperation agreement regarding intellectual property rights is “historic” and urgent, “as we cannot allow a global trading environment to take place whereby brands and patents and copyrights do not mean anything. This question is at the heart of our economy. 800,000 jobs at stake that are impacted by the violation of IPR”, Gutierrez said. Protection of IPR is now “at the centre of our radar screen”, Peter Mandelson said. “Creativity is the key to success for our industries” and it is only by protecting IPR and geographic names of origin that the EU and the United States will manage to keep their industries competitive, he stressed. The situation is alarming, Mr Mandelson went on to say, as the volume of world trade for counterfeit products has already reached that of the whole of EU/USA trade. Commissioner Günter Verheugen felt the ministerial meeting created a “new spirit” and, above all, showed the need for rapid and concrete action. “We have often issued statements saying it is time to do something but it is now delivering time”, to combat the massive violations of IPR that threaten our industries, Verheugen said. In Brussels on 30 November, it was agreed that, by 30 January 2006, a joint working group would be set up to develop a joint strategy for combating counterfeit goods (IPR Enforcement Cooperation Strategy) with focus on better cooperation between the American and European customs authorities in particular, and on border enforcement, as well as improved cooperation with third countries (technical assistance as well as measures to heighten awareness of the problem). The working group should also ensure better information exchange between Washington and Brussels, facilitate the joint analysis of the problem and help to coordinate measures already taken on both sides of the Atlantic. The EU/United States Summit of June 2006 is expected to adopt the joint strategy. The “rest of the world”, namely the EU and the United States, are moving towards “zero tolerance of theft of intellectual property”.
As far as regulatory cooperation between the EU and the United States is concerned, it was agreed that sector-specific dialogue will be organised in coming months in 15 specific areas (pharmaceutical goods, automobiles, IT and communication norms, food safety, etc.) in order to reduce regulatory obstacles to a maximum and thus facilitate transatlantic trade and investment. The new Regulatory Cooperation Forum in which senior officials from both sides will take part, will meet “early 2006” in Brussels for an exchange of “good regulatory practices”. Another meeting is foreseen in Washington in spring 2006 to speak of ”best cooperative practices”. Reports on progress made in this field will be submitted to each EU/US Summit.
When it comes to innovation, joint work programmes were adopted with a view to initiating cooperation in a long list of sectors: fundamental research, space, education and vocational training, the use of information technology and communication by all categories of citizens (e-Accessibility), the development of intelligent transport systems, cyber-security, etc.