Security and competitiveness are two of the main priorities of Denmark’s 6-month stint at the presidency of the Council of the European Union, July-December. Intellectual property is the secret sauce that can help ensure the EU delivers innovation on both. 

The Danish presidency framed its priorities in the context of “a new international order marked by uncertainty, global strategic and economic competition, and rising levels of conflict.” It said the European Union needs to defend both European interests and the international legal order. In foreign policy terms, that ambition translates into more specific goals for a “robust and resilient EU that takes greater responsibility for its own security.”  

IP Europe welcomes the Presidency’s objectives to “pursue actions that bolster the EU’s long-term competitiveness” by “strengthening Europe’s economic foundations” and “creating growth opportunities through research-based innovation” while strengthening Europe’s  digital infrastructure and telecommunications in light of competitiveness challenges. There is a growing consensus that EU businesses are saddled with too many administrative burdens.  

Critical telecommunications infrastructure

In the telecommunications space, the Danish Presidency will focus on “making critical telecom infrastructure more robust and resilient” while strengthening the union’s digital competitiveness and technological sovereignty” in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, and data in general.  

IP Europe supports the Danish presidency’s high-level focus on security and competitiveness, two areas which intertwine and need continuous focus. It is encouraging to see both Denmark and the European Commission focused on policies that can help make Europe more competitive. These include cutting excessive red tape and spurring investments in research and development. We also welcome the focus on critical infrastructure, which benefits from the involvement of trusted providers and international open standards (as opposed to closed or proprietary standards). 

Private investments are key

In their own milestone reports to the EU executive, former Italian Prime Ministers Enrico Letta and Mario Draghi have said the EU needs to defend incentives for private investment in R&D and the development of trusted international standards such as 5G and 6G. Such standards have both civilian and military applications. It is therefore all the more important that European innovators retain the capacity to contribute their technologies to these standards.  

IP Europe represents innovative European organisations that champion the value of patents and open standards in enabling innovation, growth, and economic and social progress. We encourage the Danish Presidency to remind people of the crucial role that patents play in providing incentives for the private sector to invest in innovation and the development of international open standards. These are, after all, two pillars upon which Europe’s security and competitiveness must stand.