Raad Concurrentievermogen bespreekt het stroomlijnen van de interne markt (en)

Met dank overgenomen van Pools voorzitterschap Europese Unie 2e helft 2011 i, gepubliceerd op vrijdag 30 september 2011.

Unified Patent Litigation System and the free movement of goods and people were the main topics of discussion at a meeting of the EU’s Competitiveness Council i in Brussels on 29 September, 2011.

The participants hammered out a draft agreement on the introduction of a unified system for resolving patent disputes. The document contains legal provisions which would allow the issuing of patents valid in the whole of the EU and envisages a single system for patent litigation, declared the Polish Deputy Minister of Economy, Marcin Korolec.

The other participants also praised the draft and pledged to continue to work towards its implementation. - We all agreed that Poland would lead the campaign to get the draft ratified by all Member States. We expect that the Polish Presidency will have worked out a compromise by the end of the year, said Korolec.

During the meeting the European Commission presented a Green Paper on the recognition of professional qualifications entitled (Modernising the Professional Qualifications Directive). A full draft of the directive is to be ready by the end of the year. The Commission is proposing the introduction of a

European Professional’s Card as well as measures to improve access to information on the recognition of qualifications.

‘The lack of the free movement of qualified workers between Member States is the main obstacle preventing the completion of the single market’, Korolec argued. ‘A complete opening of borders would increase Europe's competitiveness in the global market and would allow a smoother exchange of know-how between developed and developing countries.’

The COMPET meeting, chaired by the Polish Presidency, marked the first substantial debate on goods standardisation reform. The participants all agreed that the system should be modernized to make it more flexible, allowing for better adaptation to market changes and easier market access.

The Competitiveness Council (COMPET) is one of the sectoral bodies of the European Council. It has three parts: Industry, the Internal Market, Research and Space. Research is chaired by the Minister of Science and Higher Education, while the Minister of Economy is responsible for the whole Council.