European Parliament
Sebastian Valentin Bodu  (PPE ),
in writing.
(RO)
The European Union’s economic well-being relies on sustained creativity, cultural diversity and innovation as these are the driving forces in an evolving knowledge society.
This means that the protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) is beneficial to business, innovators, consumers and those involved in producing creative cultural works. To encourage greater cooperation between Member States on IPR protection, the Commission has created the European Observatory on Counterfeiting and Piracy. The Observatory and its growing number of activities and tasks must be embedded in an operational, cost-efficient institutional structure, which allows it to perform its tasks effectively and support the fight against IPR infringements. I also think that it would be beneficial to European citizens, business and public administration if the Observatory developed a publicly accessible online platform providing information and examples of best practice, free downloadable awareness-raising tools and capacity-building initiatives concerning the numerous legislative and non-legislative means of combating IPR infringements.

