| Summary/Abstract |
ARTICLE 4 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) vests the EU with "competence to carry out activities ... in the areas of research, technological development and space ... in particular to define and implement programmes" but adds that "the exercise of that competence shall not result in Member States being prevented from exercising theirs." In other words, member countries are free to legislate on the creation, commercialization, and application of technologies, while the mission of the EU as an organization is to provide general legal support for their technological development. EU institutions form the European Research Area (ERA), a system for the free circulation of researchers, scientific knowledge, and technology, and provide companies, research centers, and universities with facilities for being competitive players on the world market.
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