The European Union has a direct interest in ensuring that the intellectual property laws of countries bordering the EU are to international standard, and that they are enforced in those countries. This helps to contain counterfeiting and piracy within the EU.
This interest finds expression in various bilateral agreements between the EU and its neighbours. For example, there are currently ten Partnership and Cooperation Agreements with countries of Eastern Europe, the Southern Caucuses and Central Asia. These include undertakings on the part of the third countries to approximate their intellectual property laws to the standard of the EU acquis within a defined time frame.
The EU provides support for this purpose through various funding programmes. They fund both long and short term projects designed to assist in legal approximation and in devising strategy for enforcement.
Participating in these projects is hugely rewarding from a professional perspective. They provide privileged access to high-level officials in government departments, the judiciary and stakeholders in the IP regime. The challenge is to quickly assess the third country legislation and enforcement framework and, through an intensive round of meetings, begin to understand the changes that are needed. Potential solutions are tested in a further round of consultations and the project culminates in various outputs which often include a conference and/or a publication as well as a report.
Linda Scales has participated in missions to Lithuania, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Moldova.
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