First gaps
have started to show in Maire Geoghegan-Quinn’s plans for her term at
the European Commission’s research directorate general. Ireland’s Commission candidate, who is being
questioned by the industry, research and energy committee on her suitability
for the job, had little to say on the issues surrounding intellectual property in Europe.
When asked
about how she would ensure that IP rights and processes in Europe
will be improved, Geoghegan-Quinn remained vague. Members of the European
Parliament asked her about common IP problems: patenting in Europe takes too
long for industry to be interested, costs of patenting are up to 20 times
higher than in the United States,
and negotiations on creating a common patent for Europe
and a European Patenting Court
are in deadlock.
Geoghegan-Quinn
said again and again that Europe needed to
take the “final step” in the process, commenting that “I will ensure that what
needs to be done is done”. However, when questioned further on her plans she
repeated these phrases without going into further details or even
mentioning the Community Patent. Question and commenting time in the debate,
which will result in a recommendation to the Parliament based on Geoghegan-Quinn’s
performance, is restricted, therefore the debate was not deepened. But it was
obvious that some MEPs were not satisfied with Geoghegan-Quinn’s response.
On the
upside, a proposal by the candidate to head a future group of Innovation
Commissioners, was welcomed by the committee. Geoghegan-Quinn said she would
drive forward regular meetings between all commissioners involved with
innovation, including commissioners for energy, industry, competitiveness,
climate change and communication technologies. She made clear that, if
confirmed, she would increase the visibility of innovation in the research
directorate general, which will be called DG Research and Innovation in the incoming Commission.
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