On 28 November 2013, the European Commission released a "Proposal for a Directive on the protection of undisclosed know-how and business information (trade secrets) against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure". The proposal was adopted following a study by the European Commission. The results of this study showed that the protection of trade secrets is highly fragmented across the EU Member States (in terms of scope of protection and available remedies), whereas effective protection is needed in order to preserve and further stimulate R&D activity in the EU.