BioWorld International Correspondent

BRUSSELS, Belgium - On Nov. 5, the heads of state of the 25 member countries of the European Union committed themselves to making progress with the stalled strategy to boost the competitiveness of European industry - particularly in high-technology sectors such as biotechnology.

On the table for their summit meeting here was a report from former Dutch Prime Minister Wim Kok that warned that the so-called Lisbon strategy was failing, and that Europe risked falling further behind its international competitors without increased European research spending and coordination.

EU leaders demanded that the European Commission should deliver new proposals by January to re-animate the Lisbon strategy. One of the outstanding items called for by smaller biotechnology firms is a final agreement on the fast-track EU patent system, which is still held up because several EU member states refuse to accept that patent applications can be filed in English only.

The decision brought to an end weeks of EU inactivity caused by deadlock over internal management questions.

The Brussels summit also took a decisive step toward resolving the delays in appointing a new European Commission - one of the principal reasons for the recent hiatus in EU business. It gave its backing to modifications in the 25-member commission team, to accommodate objections raised by the European Parliament over some of the initial nominees. Responsibilities for biotechnology in the new lineup are not changed: Günther Verheugen, of Germany, remains the commissioner-designate for industry (including pharmaceuticals); Markos Kyprianou, of Cyprus, for health; Mariann Fischer Boel, of Denmark, for agriculture; and Janez Potocnik, of Slovenia, for research and development.

The new team likely will be formally approved by the Parliament in mid-November; until then, the Prodi Commission, which should have stepped down at the end of October, will continue in post in a caretaker capacity.

With the slowdown in EU business few decisions have been made in the biotechnology field. The only formal decision has been the authorization of Monsanto Co.'s genetically modified NK603 maize for both food and feed, which will make EU marketing possible for the maize and for starch, oil, maize gluten feed and maize meal derived from it. And as an eloquent symbol of the EU's regulatory paralysis, the authorization decision was made not by EU ministers, who were unable to agree, but by the caretaker commission. Outgoing Health Commissioner David Byrne claimed the authorization showed that the new system for the authorization and labeling of GMOs now was working in practice.