29. Considers that the Galileo project should be developed taking into account the need to protect and
safeguard the environment, so as to protect the lives of citizens and natural resources, and ensure earlydetection and even prevention of natural or man-made disasters;
30. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the parliaments of
the Member States and the ESA.
11. Innovation in a knowledge-driven economy
A5-0234/2001
European Parliament resolution on the communication from the Commission to the Council and
the European Parliament on Innovation in a knowledge-driven economy (COM(2000)567 9dash
C5-0740/2000 9dash 2000/2336(COS))
The European Parliament,
7dash having regard to the Commission communication (COM(2000)567 7dash C5-0740/2000),7dash having regard to the motion for a resolution by Salvador Garriga Polledo on joint ventures between
the European Union and private enterprise (B5-0024/2001),
7dash having regard to its resolution of 6 June 1996 on the Green paper on innovation (COM(1995)688 7dash
C4-0609/1995)(
1),
7dash having regard to its resolution of 17 September 1997 on the Commission communication on the
‘First Action Plan for Innovation in Europe 7dash Innovation for growth and employment’(COM(1996)589 7dash C4-0624/1996)(
2),
7dash having regard to Decision No 182/1999/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of
22 December 1998 concerning the Fifth Framework Programme of the European Community forresearch, technological development and demonstration activities (1998-2002)(
3),
7dash having regard to its opinion of 15 December 1998 on the proposal for a Council decision adopting a
specific programme for research, technological development and demonstration on ‘Promotion ofinnovation and encouragement of participation of SMEs’ (1998-2002) (COM(1998)305 7dash C4-0438/1998 7dash 1998/0182(CNS))(
4),
7dash having regard to its resolution of 16 March 2000 on eEurope 7dash An information society for all: a
Commission Initiative for the Special European Council of Lisbon, 23/24 March 2000(COM(1999)687 7dash C5-0063/2000 7dash 2000/2034(COS))(
5),
7dash having regard to the conclusions of the Lisbon European Council meeting of 23/24 March 2000,7dash having regard to the conclusions of the Feira European Council meeting of 19/20 June 2000,
7dash having regard to its position of 26 October 2000 on the proposal for a Council decision on a multi-
annual programme for enterprise and entrepreneurship (2001-2005) (COM(2000)256 7dash C5-0274/2000 7dash 2000/0107(CNS))(
6),
(1) OJ C 181, 24.6.1996, p. 35.
(2) OJ C 304, 6.10.1997, p. 80.
(3) OJ L 26, 1.2.1999, p. 1.
(4) OJ C 98, 9.4.1999, p. 105.
(5) OJ C 377, 29.12.2000, p. 380.
(6) OJ C 197, 12.7.2001, p. 413.C87E/144 EN 11.4.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 3 October 2001
7dash having regard to its resolutions of 18 May 2000 on the communication from the Commission to the
Council, the European Parliament, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of theRegions ‘Towards a European Research Area’ (COM(2000)6 7dash C5-0115/2000 7dash 2000/2075(COS))(
1),
and of 15 February 2001 on the Commission communication to the Council, the European Parlia-ment, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions 7dash Making a reality ofthe European Research Area: Guidelines for EU research activities (2002-2006) (COM(2000)612 7dashC5-0738/2000 7dash 2000/2334(COS))(
2),
7dash having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,7dash having regard to the report of the Committee on Industry, External Trade, Research and Energy and
the opinion of the Committee on Culture, Youth, Education, the Media and Sport (A5-0234/2001),
A. whereas innovation is a key field in order to reach the strategic goal defined by the Lisbon Summit to
make Europe ‘the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world’;
B. whereas the European Charter for Small Enterprises adopted at the Feira Summit on 20 June 2000
meets the needs of small businesses particularly in relation to innovation and the knowledge-driveneconomy;
C. whereas there is a close link between the promotion of innovation and progress in research;
D. whereas a global innovation policy has to take into account different aspects, such as legislative and
administrative simplification, access to financing, education of students and training of workers, coop-eration amongst enterprises and the integration of research into the enterprise structure;
E. whereas differences exist amongst the various Member States and the various regions of the EU in the
field of innovation promotion and results;
F. Whereas the USA and Japan are ahead of the EU in the promotion and development of innovation;G. Whereas a global approach to innovation has to take into consideration society as a whole, involving
the fields of education, research and enterprise, and has to improve integration amongst these threeareas;
H. whereas all businesses, whatever their size and sector of activity, must be able to join the knowledge-
driven society and to access innovation and research;
I. whereas it is necessary to launch a programme to define the guidelines and implement the measures
necessary to promote innovation in Europe;
1. Welcomes the Commission communication on Innovation in a knowledge-driven economy;
2. Supports the Commission initiatives in the field of research linked with the innovation issue, such as
the European Research Area and the proposal for a Sixth Framework programme for Research and Tech-nological Development, and calls on the Commission and the Council to take this resolution into consider-ation when defining innovation actions to be included within this programme;
3. Stresses that these initiatives represent a very important step toward an ‘innovation offensive’ at the
European level and that they should all aim to eliminate the weakness of EU enterprises in the field ofinnovation and to make them more competitive;
(1) OJ C 59, 23.2.2001, p. 250.
(2) ‘Texts Adopted’, Item 12.11.4.2002 EN C87E/145 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 3 October 2001
4. Recalls the need to support the promotion of innovation in Europe, as already recognised by the
Lisbon and Nice Summits, and to achieve a European approach to a knowledge-driven society and econ-omy in order to take up the challenge of future developments of the EU; considers that, despite theprogress achieved, there is still a lack of innovation in Europe at the present time, five years after theadoption of the Green Paper on innovation;
5. Calls on the Commission to implement the European Charter for Small Enterprises with particular
reference to innovation and access to the knowledge-driven society;
6. Welcomes the Commission’s global approach to innovation policy in Europe, and stresses the need
for financial support, and for modernisation and improvement of structures;
7. Calls for European and national actions to promote the benchmarking of performances and best
practices;
8. Calls for European, national and regional initiatives to eliminate the weakness in the diffusion and
promotion of innovation in Europe in comparison with the USA and Japan;
9. Recalls the importance of an infrastructure, an educational system and training that accommodate
both male and female aptitudes and encourage both sexes to join the research sector with a view to
promoting innovation;
10. Stresses that education and training are significant instruments of research, mainly at the university
level, and that a synergy between businesses and universities should be encouraged so that enterprises canbenefit from research;
11. Calls for both women and men, adults and young people, to be encouraged and enabled to study
with a view ultimately to creating innovation; calls also for greater recognition of work experience in theeducational system, which will mean tailoring educational systems to the aptitudes of the different sexes;
12. Calls for innovation-oriented entrepreneurship to be promoted amongst young people in the edu-
cational world and for the creation of stronger involvement of students in the enterprise sector and there-fore asks the Member States to create the conditions for their educational systems to introduce ‘juniorenterprises’ of a business undertaking type, to be carried out in schools; considers that the developmentof human capital is an important factor in innovation and that the teaching of the sciences can play a
crucial role in this respect both in primary and secondary education, in combination with e-learning;
13. Calls for actions by the Member States and the Commission with a view to promoting the mobility
of teachers, professors and researchers toward the enterprises sector to set up favourable conditions todiscourage a strong migration of researchers to other countries such as the USA;
14. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to support enterprises in promoting continuous
training and to foresee training allowances with this aim;
15. Asks the Commission to encourage access to innovation and research in a knowledge-driven econ-
omy for all enterprises, including craft businesses, whatever their size and sector of activity, as highlightedin its position of 26 October 2000;
16. Asks the Commission to conceive and implement a strategic programme for the European Union in
the field of innovation in the context of the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and TechnologicalDevelopment;
17. Calls on the Member States and the Commission to take steps to improve the protection of intel-
lectual property, and to make progress in implementing European patent law and laws on trademarks andutility models;
18. Stresses that this future programme should promote the first phases of innovative enterprises,
encouraging their access to seed capital and to venture capital and promote the development of Europeanrisk capital; considers that specific encouragement measures should be foreseen in favour of young peoplewho would like to start a business or to take on existing businesses;C87E/146 EN 11.4.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 3 October 2001
19. Calls for this programme to encourage the mobilisation of private financing devoted to innovation
and research and to promote respect for the independence of the results and of the institution that pro-duces them;
20. Calls for better coordination of national and EU instruments in favour of innovative enterprises and
for the decentralisation of EU support to SMEs in the field of innovation;
21. Stresses the need for administrative simplification to make it easier for SMEs to create innovative
products and adopt innovating production methods;
22. Reiterates the need for global coherent cooperation amongst society, taking into account the need
for training to promote entrepreneurship, the identification of new qualifications and capacities in trainingsystems, the development of information instruments and services for a better social integration;
23. Calls for a network aiming to integrate the fields of research, technology and innovation;
24. Stresses the importance of innovation for the development of the new economy and the transition
from the knowledge-driven economy to the knowledge-driven society in the context of modernising theEuropean social and cultural model;
25. Considers that young people in general, whether in or outside the education system, should be not
only the recipients of, but also the vehicles for, innovation; considers that we should therefore providethem with the necessary tools for developing new and innovative ideas so that they can shape their experi-ence without preconceptions in original and novel ways;
26. Considers that if secondary and higher education are to meet the above needs, it is essential to
modernise schools, universities and vocational training centres, and to link up research institutes, univer-sities and academic libraries via the Internet;
27. Considers that work undertaken in universities in other countries and as a member of research
teams should be recognised as beneficial for the purposes of research work and that research entails acapacity to innovate; considers therefore that measures should be taken to encourage exchanges ofresearchers and scholars who are developing new projects, and the inclusion in research teams of trainedpersons of other nationalities;
28. Stresses the need to consolidate the link between the public at large and the use and application of
innovation with a view to finding balanced solutions which are of use to the general public in order tostrengthen economic and democratic stability in European societies; considers that those societies exhibitpronounced tendencies which are conducive to wide disparities in terms of access to and use of newtechnologies and innovations 7dash high rates of technological illiteracy, multiculturalism, rising numbers ofelderly people, deprived social groups; stresses that the goal should be for each and every citizen to becapable of living and working in the information society, able to use even the most advanced innovations;
29. Considers that the existing problems should be resolved and that the introduction of a Community
patent should be stepped up; stresses, at the same time, the importance of respecting and protectingintellectual property;
30. Considers that, in assessing curricula vitae and in the criteria for career advancement, account
should be taken of mobility with recognition of the merits of those who have acquired training andexperience abroad, as well as knowledge of languages;
31. Proposes that the Member States’ and the EU’s actions should include measures to encourage inno-
vation at all levels of education;11.4.2002 EN C87E/147 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 3 October 2001
32. Proposes that indicators for e-learning and the relationship between education and innovation
should be added to the list of innovation indicators;
33. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission and to the govern-
ments and parliaments of the Member States.
12. Exhaustion of trade mark rights
A5-0311/2001
European Parliament resolution on the Commission staff working paper on the problem of the
exhaustion of trade mark rights (SEC(1999)2033 9dash C5-0354/2000 9dash 2000/2187(COS))
The European Parliament,
7dash having regard to the Commission staff working paper (SEC(1999)2033 7dash C5-0354/2000),7dash having regard to Council Directive 89/104/EEC of 21 December 1988 to approximate the laws of the
Member States relating to trade marks(
1) and Council Regulation (EC) No 40/94 of 20 December
1993on the Community trade mark(2), and in particular Articles7 and 13thereof(3),
7dash having regard to the opinion of the Economic and Social Committee of 24 January 2001 on the
‘Exhaustion of registered trademark rights’(4),
7dash having regard to the Commission’s decision of 24 May 2000 not to submit any proposals to alter the
current system of Community-wide exhaustion,
7dash having regard to Rule 47(1) of its Rules of Procedure,7dash having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs and the Internal Market (A5-0311/
2001),
A. whereas the principle of national exhaustion originally applied in several Member States of the Euro-
pean Community,
B. whereas in 1974 the European Court of Justice in respect of these countries extended national exhaus-
tion to Community-wide exhaustion, giving the following reasons: ‘In fact, if a trade mark ownercould prevent the import of protected products marketed by him or with his consent in anotherMember State, he would be able to partition off national markets and thereby restrict trade betweenMember States, in a situation where no such restriction was necessary to guarantee the essence of the
exclusive right flowing from the trade mark’(
5),
C. whereas the transition from national to Community-wide exhaustion led to greater competition,D. whereas in several Member States the principle of international exhaustion applied before Directive
89/104/EEC came into force,
(1) OJ L 40, 11.2.1989, p. 1, last amended by Council Decision 92/10/EEC of 19 December 1991, OJ L 6, 11.1.1992,
p. 35.
(2) OJ L 11, 14.1.1994, p. 1, last amended by Council Regulation (EC) No 3288/94 of 22 December 1994, OJ L 349,
31.12.1994, p. 83.
(3) Exhaustion of the rights conferred by a Community trade mark: 1. A Community trade mark shall not entitle the
proprietor to prohibit its use in relation to goods which have been put on the market in the Community under that
trade mark by the proprietor or with his consent; 2. Paragraph1 shall not apply where there exist legitimate reasonsfor the proprietor to oppose further commercialisation of the goods, especially where the condition of the goods ischanged or impaired after they have been put on the market.
(
4) OJ C 123, 25.4.2001, p. 28.
(5) Paragraph11 of the Judgment of 31 October 1974 in Case 16/74, Centrafarm v. Winthrop [1974] ECR 1183.C87E/148 EN 11.4.2002 Official Journal of the European Communities
Wednesday 3 October 2001