Geiger, Christophe --- "Introduction" [2013] ELECD 199; in Geiger, Christophe (ed), "Constructing European Intellectual Property" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2013) xx

Book Title: Constructing European Intellectual Property

Editor(s): Geiger, Christophe

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781781001639

Section Title: Introduction

Author(s): Geiger, Christophe

Number of pages: 4

Abstract/Description:

Europe today stands at a crossroads. In fact, the European model based on a high level of social protection and a welfare state is currently under pressure. Shaken by the economic crisis and already seriously in debt, the European states, devoid of natural resources, have no option for recovery other than by making full use of their trumps. In order to do this, they can, in particular, rely on the existence of relatively high-performing educational systems that allow the emergence of new ideas, sources of economic development. With labour being considerably cheaper elsewhere, the Old World is faced with a relatively simple equation: ‘innovate or disappear’, and has thus no choice but to rely on its brain power.