The maritime industries community comprises of all the actors in the maritime world: shipping, ports, shipyards, marine equipment, offshore oil and gas, ship repair, scrapping, fishing, logistics services, freight handling, aquaculture, boatbuilding, research, classification, dredging, engineering, consulting, tourism, submarine, telecom, civil engineering, environment, security, safety renewable energies, and surveillance.
These maritime stakeholders are engaged in the constant development of new solutions to enhance the efficiency, safety and sustainability of maritime activities. They support the EU’s policy objectives in the field of transport, environment and economic competitiveness. Bearing this in mind it is generally regarded that the generation, the development and the protection of European knowledge is a key factor for the EU to keep a leading role in the global market.
Investments in research, development and innovation are a key factor for the achievement of safer, cleaner and more efficient maritime activities.
Only through these investments can the European maritime sector meet the challenges that it is facing in the contemporary era: handling increased sea traffic; becoming increasingly energy efficient; limiting emissions; preserving the integrity of the marine environment; maintaining the safety of humans involved in the operation of ships and shipping infrastructures; and reducing external costs society has to meet in connection with transport.
Against this background, the maritime community strongly believes that it is a shared task of the industry and of the EU to encourage, support and protect the development of new technologies, particularly ensuring that piracy and counterfeiting do not undermine European investments for a knowledge economy. The maritime community and EMEC in particular, welcome and support all initiatives, whether public or private, aiming at:
- Defining new policy instruments to stimulate and facilitate investments aimed at generating European knowledge in the maritime field;
- Raising awareness on the importance of protecting of European Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) in the global market through the development of industry best practices;
- Strengthening the protection of IPRs within and outside the EU borders trough prevention of counterfeiting and enactment and enforcement of anti piracy law;
- Ensuring that recognition and protection of IPRs finds an adequate and solid legal base in an ever increasing number of third countries, particularly those where the EU industry.
EMEC, through its working group for the protection of intellectual property rights calls for the maritime community partners; legislative and admin istrative authorities; civil society; and the media to enhance their cooperation with a view to achieving the goals outlined above.
It is time to join forces to protect
the European Sea of Knowledge
An initiative of
EMEC - European Marine Equipment Council
159, Rue Belliard
B-1040 Brussels
www.emec.eu