Brussels is committing itself to boost investment in research by building on the strengths of the single market. This month, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn launched the "Innovation Union" flagship initiative for the Europe 2020 strategy, an initiative built together with Vice-President for Industry and Entrepreneurship of the European Commission Antonio Tajani.

Among its critical priorities, Innovation Union aims at creating a European Research Area (ERA) framework without obstacles to the cross border flow of people, ideas and funding as well as easing the access to finance, particularly for innovative start-ups and SMEs, by simplifying the funding procedures and encouraging private investments.

While business circles broadly advocate the need for a single innovation market, there are still several steps to pass until an agreement on the Community patent is reached. Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn has thus made it a key priority to hasten the pace towards reaching agreement and is also supporting the idea of a European market for patents and licensing, following good practices in France and Denmark.