José Luis Bonet, chairman of the Leading Brands of Spain Forum, defended in the Leading Brands of the EU Meeting, held on 22nd April under the framework of the Spanish Presidency, the creation of a strategic alliance among the leading European brands, a kind of Leading Brands of Europe Forum.  Bonet explained that "Spanish brands share common interests and problems with other European brands, mainly problems regarding competition with brands from other countries such as America and Japan, and, recently, from emerging countries as well. They also share concerns regarding the commercial barriers, industrial property infringements or a lack of harmonisation in the internal market.

Given these common challenges, the union of forces between European brands should be considered a strategic project that would undoubtedly benefit all European brands, and in particular Spanish brands with the ability to draw on the image and historical setting of leading European brands in third markets”. Therefore, Bonet noted the importance of the creation of this Forum, "an institution that would defend the interests of these brands on a European and international level, and boost the image of prestige, innovation and quality of European goods and services on a global scale”.

Diego López Garrido, Secretary of State of the European Union, emphasised Spain's long-established commitment to brands and to defending industrial property, and called attention to the approval of an agreement against piracy and counterfeiting during the Spanish Presidency. He also pointed out that the Spanish Presidency has catalysed headway in the overall system of European trade mark protection in the next European Council, to be held in May. López Garrido emphasised the fundamental role of brands as strategic assets in the competitiveness of European countries. The Leading Brands of the European Union Meeting was attended by representatives of prestigious European brands such as Ikea, LVMH, Philips, SAP, Ericsson, Zara and Telefónica, as well as Wubbo de Boer, chairman of the OAMI. At this event, José Luis Nueno, a lecturer at IESE, presented a report on "The competitiveness of European brands: agenda for the future ', which examines the role of leading European brands on the competitiveness and the countries, the image Made in the EU and its influence on European goods and services, the main challenges these brands face ..., as well as the leading brands and strategic sectors of the future. The study diagnoses the state of the Europe Brand. The main conclusions are that European brands are growing more than those of America and Japan, and have a better diversified sectoral distribution; they have presence in the consumption, luxury, industry, technology, services, retail and media sectors. On the other hand, they have managed to export their brands beyond their local markets and have excellent positions in many strategic sectors.  In addition to this, they lead in terms of reputation, and the trust of consumers around the world.

Regarding the challenges of European brands, the study diagnosed the following:
• The emergence of new economic powers with hundreds of millions of consumers around the world in developing countries, attended on a local or regional basis
• New media technology that companies use to build brands, which can also be areas of conflict
• The virulence and prolongation of the effects of the recession on leading brands
• Leading brands that continue to develop at the expense of their followers
• The possibility that emerging brands expand outside industrialised markets This can trap many resources from their home markets that dominate and then attack nearby markets with their local brand, which, although the price has no bearing on the international market, can be used as an argument
• Prosperous companies in emerging economies purchase large global brands and complicate the national brand effect and the "made in” stamp
• The lack of presence in the sectors of the future
• The distributor brands, vertical and digital

The study concludes with a series of recommendations to promote the competitiveness of the brands:
1. Brand Protection
2. Geographic protection of “made in” stamps and protection from the increasingly complex supply chains
3. Industrial property protection
4. Protection from the competition
5. Individual and sector incentives
6. Education on sustainability
7. Security, quality standards and guidelines
8. Horizontal and vertical policies