Hello and welcome everyone to this online conversation hosted by the European Centre for International Political Economy,

on the economic and broader societal value of intellectual property or IP for the European

Union and its member states.

My name is Jackie Davis and today I'm very pleased to welcome Jorgon Vorborn, a member

of the European Parliament and of its Committee on International Trade to this conversation.

It's great to have you with us, Joggin, thank you for joining

me. And in this conversation, we want to discuss the role of intellectual property in fostering

innovation and global competitiveness of European industry and, crucially, how to realize the full

benefits of intellectual property rights in EU free trade agreements, which was the subject

of a recent ESEP study that we've been discussing in these podcasts. And just to set the context for

our discussion and get a sense of really how important this issue is, how do you see the role

of IP in fostering innovation and the global competitiveness of European

industries? Well, first of all, Jackie, thank you very much for inviting me. I'm a loyal listener

to your podcast and I very much appreciate the possibility to participate in this important

discussions on intellectual property and free trade agreements. To answer your question, if we look at the

European economy in a global perspective, I would argue that we have had a growth crisis for

quite some time. Europe isn't going as fast as other parts of the world. And this will hurt jobs

and it will eventually hurt our prosperity. The voices for more

protectionism will have to be defeated because we benefit from open, rules-based international trade.

And if we allow protectionist ideas, the implications on future international competitiveness will be devastating for EU member

states to attract foreign investment and access modern technologies. In the spring of 2003,

next spring, Sweden will hold the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

...