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BusinessEurope Headlines No. 2022-20

Five biggest patent offices in the world and industry celebrate 10 years of cooperation

BusinessEurope and the European Patent Office (EPO) co-organised the 10th anniversary meeting to celebrate the cooperation between European, American, Japanese, Korean and Chinese Heads of Intellectual Property (IP5) Offices, accounting for 85% of patents filed worldwide, and their industry patent users' counterparts (BusinessEurope from the European side) on 8 June. The meeting was an opportunity to take stock of the many milestone successes over 10 years and to explore new projects and areas of cooperation for the future. Particular emphasis was given to the role of IP in meeting the UN sustainability development goals. Markus J. Beyrer, BusinessEurope Director General, emphasised the role of IP as an enabler of growth and innovation that bring benefits to societies at large. By strengthening the cooperation among IP5 offices and industry, we can take large steps for a more integrated an efficient patent system worldwide that will make companies more resilient, innovative, and help them better contribute to the many societal challenges we face (e.g. food shortages, energy transition, pandemics, etc). Watch (link) the 10th anniversary commemorative video where several members of BusinessEurope Patents Working Group, including its Chair Thierry Sueur, have offered their testimonials on IP5 cooperation.  

Contact: Oliveira Pedro

Video message: Priorities for the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference

The 12th WTO Ministerial Conference taking place next week will be a trial by fire. Watch Senior Advisers Sofia Bournou and Elena Suárez explain why, and talk about business expectations from the meeting. 

Exchange of views with incoming EU Czech Presidency on the European economy

The European economy, in common with other regions, is a facing a difficult period. We need to take special care to ensure new policies support competitiveness to help us through the challenging time ahead; this is not the time for businessas usual policy making. This was the key message of BusinessEurope’s Economic and Financial Affairs Committee when it met Jiří Palán, Financial Counsellor at the Permanent Representation of the Czech Republic to the EU during its meeting on 8 June. The group stressed in particular the importance of ensuring that key files likely to be taken forward by the Ecofin Council during the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, notably the implementation in the EU of both the OECD agreement on minimum taxation, and the final Basel III regulatory provisions for banks, do not put the EU at a competitive disadvantage in relation to other major regions.

Contact: Watson James

Key messages to the EU Competitiveness Council

Competitiveness Ministers gathered for their regular meeting of the EU Competitiveness Council in Luxembourg yesterday, on 9 June, to continue their exchanges on the implementation of the EU industrial strategy. The French EU Council Presidency suggested a policy debate on the strategic industrial eco-systems, which is a crucial topic for businesses operating in the EU Single Market. BusinessEurope took this opportunity to reiterate its key messages in this regard, focusing on the Single Market without barriers, stronger economic ties with key global trading partners, and better regulation principles when regulating economic activities. 

Contact: Martynas Barysas

Access to finance for SMEs key to face current challenges

BusinessEurope published a position paper this week on how to make public capital markets more attractive for EU companies and facilitate access to capital for SMEs. Access to finance, specifically long-term debt financing and equity investment is a pre-condition for companies to invest at an unprecedented level to meet current challenges such as energy prices, climate change mitigation, ageing population, economic and digital transitions. At present, the public listing process is cumbersome and costly for EU companies, especially SMEs, and this deters them from raising funds on capital markets. Moreover, this adds to costs linked to the growing number of non-financial disclosure requirements (e.g. taxonomy, Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, due diligence). The paper argues that there is a clear need to simplify rules to promote SMEs’ access to the market such as listing requirements, including post-listing. 

Contact: Daniele Olivieri

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Last updated: 10 June 2022