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Monday, February 28, 2005

Mr. Charlie McCreevy won't Restart the CII Patentability Directive.

According to various reports (

here and

here), EU Commissioner

Mr. Charlie McCreevy has refused to comply with

the request of the European Parliament to re-start the legislative process concerning the EU Draft Directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions. Meanwhile, FFII e.V. is fostering speculations about Mr. McCreevy's motivations:

" [...]The reported reason was that if they do restart, they must produce a new text on which several other DG's, such as Information Society and Competition, must agree as well. These other DG's would reportedly never support an extreme text such as the one currently on the table in the Council, or even the original Commission proposal from 2002. They would insist on a more balanced approach, which is apparently not desired by DG MARKT. [...]"

Furthermore, they say

"[...] In the mean time, highly placed government sources have also confirmed the directive will once more appear as an A-item on 7 March, this time on the agenda of the responsible Competition Council formation. [...]"

Let's wait and see...

[UPDATE_0] 2005-03-01 21:00 There is an

Official Letter written by Mr. Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, sent to Mr. Borrell Fontelles, President of the European Parliament, confirming that the EU Commission expects a second reading to be held on the basis of the political agreement as reached in May 2004 by the EU Council. See also

another report on Heise's Newsticker.

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