Greens welcome EU climb-down on software patents
22 September 2004
NEWS RELEASEEU Trade Ministers have dropped a controversial bill which would haveallowed software to be patented from a Competitiveness Council agendatomorrow.
MEPs welcomed the decision, which they say represents a last-minute 'stay ofexecution' for the IT industry.
London Euro-MP Jean Lambert, whose constituency boasts one of the largestnumbers of small IT businesses in the EU, said the Competitiveness Council'sdecision to re-open the debate on software patenting was excellent news forthe IT sector, small businesses - and the democratic accountability of theEU.
She said: "The ministers' decision to pass the directive back to memberstates for further debate is a victory both for small business and theParliament."
The climb-down came in the face of a surge of public pressure against theproposals, with small businesses and programmers warning software patentscould push them out of business.
Mrs Lambert, a member of the European Parliament's Employment and SocialAffairs Committee, said: "Public pressure has prevailed - at least in theshort term - and it is crucial that opponents of software patenting maintainthe pressure.
"Officially, the Council has experienced translation difficulties with thenew official languages of the EU. In reality this file is returning to theCommittee of member states' permanent EU representatives to allow technicaldiscussions between experts to continue."
"I am pleased that the Parliament's position, which wanted to limit patentsto technical inventions, is now also defended by the Council. Its previousso-called 'compromise' proposal made a mockery of the Parliament's positionand opened the door to software patents - and consequently, to the controlof the EU's economy by a small number of multinationals."
