WRITTEN QUESTION P-0111/03 by Arlene McCarthy (PSE) to the Commission. Benefits of intellectual property rights to the EU economy.
Date: 2003-01-21
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: competitiveness, copyright, economic analysis, intellectual property, patent, patent law, pharmaceutical industry, production technique

9.10.2003

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 242 E/97

Among other things, the guidelines adopted by the Commission for the programmes under the Structural
Funds and the Cohesion Fund for the period 2000-2006 encourage a balance between modes of transport.

The Commission attaches great importance to finding a solution for the transit of goods across the Alps, in
particular between France and Italy. It therefore remains very concerned by the consequences (cid:1) in terms
of safety, environment and quality of life of the local communities (cid:1) of the ever-growing recourse to road
transport in the Alps. In this context, the new Lyon-Turin transalpine rail link is extremely important in
order to cope with the increase in congestion in this area. This position has been repeated on numerous
occasions by the Commission before Parliament and to the authorities of the two countries concerned by
the project. In addition, the inevitable enlargement of the EU towards the East now puts the Lyon-Turin
route in a pivotal position to meet the growing need for mobility of goods and persons between the EU’s
western regions and the countries of the Danube and the Balkans, across the dynamic regions of the north
of Italy. This link is at present the only major East-West rail project giving priority to freight that is at an
advanced planning stage. To this end, EUR 100 million has already been earmarked for the carrying-out
out of studies on the Montmélian-Bussoleno section in the framework of the Indicative Multiannual
Programme (IMP) under the budget for the trans-European transport network. In order to contribute more
effectively to the programme of studies in progress, it has been decided to increase the financial support
for 2002 significantly by earmarking for that year appropriations initially intended for a longer period.
So far, the Community support has always been topped up by co-financing (cid:1) 50/50 (cid:1) by the two States
in question.

On 13 February 2002, the French National Assembly adopted on first reading a proposal for a law
authorising the approval of the Agreement of 29 January 2001 between the French and the Italian
Governments on the completion of the Lyon-Turin line by 2015. The Italian Parliament did likewise on
18 September 2002.

Mention should be made, by way of information, of the conclusions of a study conducted by Lyon Turin
ferroviaire (LTF), Réseau ferré de France (RFF) and Reta Ferroviaria Italiana (RFI), forecasting the saturation
of the France-Italy rail route within fifteen years and a considerable increase in pressure on roads on all the
French crossings, if the Lyon-Turin project is not completed, unlike the situation in Switzerland where rail
projects will make it possible to control road traffic flows within thirty years.

(2003/C 242 E/097)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-0111/03

by Arlene McCarthy (PSE) to the Commission

(21 January 2003)

Subject: Benefits of intellectual property rights to the EU economy

To what extent does the EU economy benefit from intellectual property rights in the field of copyrights,
patents and designs? Can the Commission quantify benefits to the EU economy?

Answer given by Mr Bolkestein on behalf of the Commission

(11 February 2003)

Intellectual and industrial property rights (IPRs) are part of the infrastructure of modern society. Like laws
designed to protect other forms of property, such as personal or immovable property, IPRs are closely
bound up with every area of economic and cultural activity, and so it is not easy to quantify the overall
benefits they provide. However, they have very great value through providing protection and encour-
agement for the investment made by enterprises and individuals in creative and innovative activity, as well
as in activities aimed at the building up of goodwill and reputation. It is beyond question that large
sections of the economy of the Union are dependent for their competitive advantage upon the various
types of IPR available to protect against unfair exploitation of their investments by imitators and copiers.
Of particular note are the fields of pharmaceuticals and other high-tech inventions, entertainment,
software, publishing and luxury goods.

C 242 E/98

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

9.10.2003

An indication of the value placed on patents by their owners has been estimated using an economic model
in a study carried out for the Danish Ministry of Trade and Industry (1), in which it was concluded that the
average value of a patent in Denmark is approximately EUR 20 000. While caution must be exercised in
extrapolating this figure to Europe as a whole, it does suggest that the total value of all patents currently in
force in Europe could run into the hundreds of billions of Euros.

The above analysis takes no account of the benefit that society at large derives from having access to new
technologies, but one clear example of this can be found in the pharmaceutical industry, which is known
to be particularly dependent upon patents because of the very high costs associated with research and
investment in the development of new
development relative to the costs of production. In this case,
medicines, which was estimated by the industry to amount to EUR 18,8 billion in Europe in 2001, would
be seriously affected, if not halted altogether, in the absence of the patent system.

In the field of copyright, the Commission is awaiting the results of a study that it has commissioned ‘The
economic importance of copyright’ which should be completed by October 2003. Previous estimates of
the production of the main copyright industry e.g. publishing, records, films and software) range from
3-5 % of the Community’s Gross Domestic Product. However such estimates are often based on total
production of particular industries, without further analysis. This study should present an economic
analysis of all the ‘core’ copyright industries (literature and the press, music, theatre, film and video,
photography, visual arts, radio and television, software and databases, architecture, advertising and
industrial design) and ‘copyright-dependent’
industries (manufacture and distribution of electronics,
computers, music instruments, photographic and cinematographic equipment, networks, intermediaries).
This analysis will be based on the Gross Value Added per country and the share of employment in each
sector and revenues generated. It should also include an analysis of the contribution made by the legal
protection given to copyright and related rights. The Commission will make the study available upon its
completion.

(1) Mette Gørtz & Merete Konnerup ‘Welfare Effects of a Patent

Insurance (cid:1) Microeconomic Evaluation and

Macroeconomic Consequences’ (June 2001).

(2003/C 242 E/098)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0116/03

by Salvador Garriga Polledo (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(28 January 2003)

Subject: Need to gain public confidence in the safety of nuclear power stations

The nuclear power industry, along with the aviation sector, is the most closely regulated and safest of all
industries. However, no other industrial activity gives rise to so many reservations nor to such demand for
guarantees of safety.

The future of the nuclear industry will depend, to a large extent, on the way it is perceived by the general
public. Political leaders must therefore act to ensure that the public respects and has confidence in the
nuclear industry. Hence the importance of conveying to the man in the street that nuclear power is a
necessity and that it can quite feasibly be used alongside other forms of energy.

What steps has the Commission taken to provide EU citizens with information, by way of open and
objective information campaigns, as regards the safety of nuclear power and the fact that it is essential if
Community industry is not to be weakened?

Answer given by Ms de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(26 February 2003)

The Commission launched a major debate on the future of the European Union’s energy supply with the
adoption on 29 November 2000 of the Green Paper Towards a European strategy for the security of
energy supply (1),
it
considers the contribution of nuclear energy as well as that of all other energy sources. The final report on
the Green Paper, presenting the conclusions of the debate, was adopted by the Commission on 26 June
2002 (2).

in which, stressing that the Union must take better charge of its energy destiny,