21 Feb Europe remains a global leader in innovation, ability to commercialise lagging
In 14 February 2024, the European Commission published its 2024 Annual Single Market and Competitiveness Report. The report, following established KPIs that define competitiveness based on nine distinct drivers, aims to give a comprehensive overview of both positive and negative trends within the Single Market. As part of the report, the Commission also produced a staff working document on the key findings from the European Monitor of Industrial Ecosystems. Part of this document characterised the position of EU industries in the global technology race and how the EU has fared against its global competitors, in particular the US and China.
The first element covered concerns innovation capacity within the EU regarding green and digital technologies. Though the absolute number of transnational patents filed in the EU has remained stable in comparison to the US, China’s rise in the last few decades has decreased the relative share of EU patents held. The EU’s world share of transnational patents filed has decreased from around 32% in 2010 to 23% in 2020. Similarly, on green transition-related global patent applications, the EU still holds leadership, although there also its share has decreased from 30% in 2010 to 24% in 2020. There are sectoral differences regarding the patents filed by the geopolitical powers, with the EU dominating the patent environment in wind power, having an approximate world share of 62% of patents in that area. Additionally, it is tied with China in solar power, with both having approximately 27% shares of patents, whereas the US is ahead concerning energy-saving technologies, having a global share of 41,3%.