By Martin Banks - 17th February 2011
It's time we took action
Malcolm Harbour
MEPs meeting in Strasbourg have adopted proposals for a common European patent.
After 30 years of discussion, parliament endorsed a plan that will allow 25 out of the 27 EU countries to go ahead with a single patent under a so-called 'enhanced cooperation' procedure.
So far, 11 countries have signed up to the plan but others are expected to sign up in due course.
One of the main areas of contention has been translation of the patent into various community languages once filed.
However, the deal agreed will see a patent translated into either English, French or German - thus keeping the costs below that of filing a patent in every EU member state at great cost, particularly to small businesses.
Two countries - Spain and Italy - still have objections and will not sign up to the proposal.
Currently, it is estimated that the cost of registering a patent covering only half of the EU is still ten times more expensive than registering a patent in the USA.
UK Tory deputy Sajjad Karim welcomed the vote, saying, "For years, a European-wide patent seemed to be one of these great ideas that would never get off the ground but thankfully today there has been a significant breakthrough.
"Businesses large and small will be able to protect their innovations across much of Europe, thus encouraging an EU of innovators and entrepreneurs that we need.
"As the emerging economies are literally breathing down Europe's neck, it is essential that the right operational circumstances are created to keep our world leading innovation ahead. The new patents regime will be a big part of what is needed by our entrepreneurs."
His Tory colleague Malcolm Harbour, chairman of the parliament's internal market committee, gave his strong backing to the European patent, saying,"For far too long EU inventors and innovative companies have faced a significant competitive disadvantage compared to their global rivals.
“As China is now a major patenting power, it's time we took action. A single EU patent will provide the quality of protection that inventors need to exploit their work across the European Union at a far lower cost than the current fragmented regime."
"I hope that Spain and Italy will soften their opposition to this proposal so that all EU countries can eventually be involved."
Meanwhile, Greek ECR deputy Marina Yannakoudakis said the falsification of medicines - a serious and growing problem across the EU - should be minimised after the plenary approved an EU directive.
Figures from the WHO show that 10 percent of the drugs on our markets are counterfeit, which can lead to major failure of treatment or even death, and cost the pharmaceutical and medical industry millions of euros every year.
The directive aims to introduce new safety features on prescription medicines which allow each medicinal product to be verified and the packaging will enable users to know if the product has been tampered with.
All manufacturers and distributors in the supply chain will be required to hold specific authorisations, and a logo will be introduced for websites that sell medicinal products legally, so that consumers have added certainty when buying from suppliers across the single market.
The falsification directive is the final piece in a package of pharmaceutical legislation aimed at bringing the sector up to date with modern advancements and to facilitate a single market in pharmaceutical products.
Yannakoudakis said, "People who falsify medicines are causing people serious illness and occasionally even death. They need to be tackled just as strongly as people who promote narcotics, in my view.
"Fake medicines are becoming big business in the EU and we need action to curtail this activity. The pharmaceuticals industry is international in nature so we need action across the EU's single market to provide the most protection possible, and to reassure patients that their medicines are safe.
"This directive will also ensure that ingredients or drugs entering the EU from outside are subject to good manufacturing practices, so that there is no way around the tight procedures that we have put in place.
"People taking medicines are vulnerable enough as it is, without realising that the drugs they depend on are placebos that are making some criminal a quick buck."
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