Legal affairs committee puts Council out of its misery:
Parliament calls
for new start on software patents
The European Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee decided
this evening by an overwhelming majority to call for a new start to negotiations on the controversial software
patents directive. Such a surprisingly decisive vote could not have been expected even a week ago.
The decision was taken after a discussion with Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy and a heated
debate over the future of the directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. Since this
directive no longer had the support of a clear majority in Council and with the last Council meetings ending in
dead-lock, MEPs took the situation into their own hands and demanded – in line with rules of procedure – a
restart of negotiations on the entire directive.
Monica Frassoni,
Co-President of the Green/EFA Group said after the vote:
“This decision provides the only reasonable
way out of the present deadlock and will put the Council out of its misery. Commissioner McCreevy was incredibly
vague in his statements during the hearing, despite being asked repeatedly by MEPs what the Commission's
intentions were. In the debate, broad agreement prevailed over the fact that the current proposal on the
Council's table was counter-productive and far from a good basis for a decision. It became clear to everybody
that a way out was needed.”
Eva Lichtenberger, Austrian Member of the Legal
Affairs Committee, said:
"The Legal Affairs Committee's initiative is a good beginning, but does not
yet offer a happy ending to the software patents story. Today's courageous decision introduces the possibility
of a better solution. I am very happy that we now have an opportunity to prevent software patenting and to
obtain a better directive that will benefit the whole of the industry. We may now be able to stop market giants
– aided by an American-style patenting law – from forcing innovators and SMEs out of the market.”