EPO President meets key EU partners in Brussels

EPO and EISMEA delegation

EPO President António Campinos (middle left) with European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection Michael McGrath (middle right)

From 23 to 25 March, EPO President António Campinos visited Brussels to strengthen co-operation with key European partners. The mission provided an opportunity to exchange views with stakeholders about ongoing collaboration, discuss future priorities and share the latest insights from the EPO Technology Dashboard 2025, which shows innovation hotspots and Europe’s global position. The role of patent intelligence in supporting innovation policy was also a central theme of a high‑level Euronews panel attended by the President.

Europe in the global innovation race: sharing insights from the EPO Technology Dashboard

The EPO and Euronews co‑organised the event “From research to global impact: How Europe can win the competitiveness race”, bringing together policymakers, innovators and industry leaders to explore data‑driven insights. The event opened with a video message from Enrico Letta, President of the Jacques Delors Institute and author of a major report on modernising the European single market by strengthening Europe’s technological infrastructure. His remarks offered a forward‑looking reflection on Europe’s competitiveness, scale and capacity to act. President Campinos then joined a panel with distinguished speakers, including Michiel Scheffer, President of the Board of the European Innovation Council, Elvira Fortunato, finalist of the European Inventor Award and former Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology and Higher Education and Emmanuelle Ghislain, CEO of Pulse Foundation. Addressing the panel, President Campinos underscored how robust patent intelligence can help translate Europe’s scientific strengths into global market success. This message was reinforced by key trends and figures from the Technology Dashboard 2025, presented by Gilles Requena, EPO Chief Patent Research and Policy Officer.

EPO and EISMEA: deepening co-operation for startups and SMEs

During the mission, President Campinos met with Momchil Sabev, the newly appointed Director of the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). They reviewed the well‑established collaboration launched in 2022, through which EPO examiner expertise helps the European Innovation Council identify promising start‑ups and breakthrough innovations with strong commercialisation potential. The partnership also aims to expand IP education and training through targeted awareness initiatives, especially for start‑ups and SMEs. President Campinos and Director Sabev discussed the joint Annual Work Plan for 2026, which will further strengthen co-operation. The plan outlines measures to enhance strategic intelligence, including the mapping of emerging technologies. This area is central to EISMEA’s and the EPO’s efforts to support public institutions, investors and small entities aiming to scale up internationally.

Exchanging on opportunities to reduce administrative hurdles for small entities

Further, President Campinos met with Michael McGrath, European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection. The meeting highlighted the milestone of the European Patent Organisation (EPOrg) becoming the first international organisation to receive an EU adequacy decision for its high standard of personal‑data protection, which was announced in July 2025. This recognition of EPOrg’s robust and modern data‑protection framework represents a significant step towards safe and seamless data flows between public and private entities in the EU, removing administrative hurdles and accelerating co-operation and digital interactions. In the same spirit, the delegations exchanged views on how the EPO could support the development of a legal framework for innovative companies to benefit from a single, harmonised set of EU-wide rules, known as the 28th regime (EU-Inc). First proposed by Enrico Letta in his report, this framework will make it easier and more cost‑effective for startups and SMEs to grow and operate across the 27 EU Member States.