Uncertainties in EU state aid rules and a lack of flexibility make it harder for universities to work with companies
Photo credits: Redd Francisco / Unsplash
Universities are calling for EU state aid rules to be clarified and for exemptions to be introduced to make it simpler for them to collaborate with industry.
The state aid rules were introduced to prevent EU governments from distorting competition by offering unfair subsidies to national companies. But the blanket application of these constraints across all sectors “is really detracting from our ability to move as quickly as the Americans and the Chinese in terms of bringing new innovations to the market,” said Ronan Cunningham, director of DCU Invent, the technology transfer office (TTO) at Dublin City University.
One of the key challenges comes when a university wants to enable a new spin-out or an established company to commercialise its research. For the transfer of intellectual property (IP) rights not to be considered state aid, the spin-out or the company must pay the market price.
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