Text tabled : A6-0018/2009

  Marian Zlotea (PPE-DE), in writing. – (RO) First of all, I would like to congratulate Mr Harbour for the report he has compiled, for the way in which it reflects the work of the Committee on Internal Market and Consumer Protection (IMCO). Adopting this own-initiative report compiled by Mr Harbour will help boost innovation in research and development within the European Union. We must capitalise on the benefit which we will gain from a pre-commercial procurement policy. Public procurement is an area which offers the prospect of huge opportunities for SMEs, with pre-commercial procurement being easier to access than large-scale procurement contracts.

We need to follow the example of the US and focus more on procuring research and development services. We must define a beneficial pre-commercial policy instrument in order to boost the EU’s innovative base. At the moment, companies which have developed a product or service for a public body are not able to reuse their findings for other potential customers, which comes on top of the financial barriers to procuring rival solutions. Pre-commercial procurement allows cost-effective development of innovative solutions.