Belgian presidency fails again to get patent agreement

“Things are very clear now. There will never be unanimity on an EU patent.” This was the stark conclusion last night from Vincent Van Quickenborne, Belgium’s Minister for Enterprise after a specially-convened meeting of ministers failed to agree to the latest proposals put forward by the Belgian EU presidency.

The European Internal Market Commissioner Michel Barnier echoed these words saying, “A compromise at 27 [member states] seems impossible to reach. We must all acknowledge this.”

After a long, hard session of negotiations the presidency put out a statement yesterday evening (10 November) saying, “We have come a long way since these negotiations began [...] We have left no stones unturned. However, in spite of the progress made, we have fallen short of unanimity by a small margin.”

Most delegations have shown greater flexibility than ever before on the sensitive issue of translation arrangements, and 26 of the 27 member states were in “a negotiation modus”, Van Quickenborne, who was chairing the discussions, said. However, “One delegation didn’t have the mandate and didn’t really want to negotiate,” he said at a press conference at the end of the extraordinary Competitiveness Council meeting.

Discussions have intensified in recent weeks and the Belgian presidency has sought to reach compromises to address the concerns of Spain, Italy and Poland in particular. The latest amendments on the negotiating table included: translating patents granted in English into one other EU official language, for information purposes only; including a provision on the compensation of costs for additional translations in the text of the regulation; in the case of a legal dispute, alleged infringers may be considered to have acted in good faith if a translation is not yet available in their own language; and the current proposal not being considered as a precedent for other EU language issues.

At the start of the debate Van Quickenborne said it was “crunch time” and urged member states to have the political will to move forward and reach a consensus. After the meeting had ended without reaching that longed-for consensus, the Belgian minister said, “Things are very clear now. There will never be unanimity on an EU patent.”

Barnier said in a statement, “The absence of a European patent hinders our competitiveness, hinders European innovation, research and development. In the midst of the economic crisis, it is not the right signal.”

Calling last night’s failure to reach an agreement a “tremendous missed opportunity for innovation in Europe,” Van Quickenborne went on to say that momentum had nonetheless been created and building blocks put in place. The presidency will now reflect on “the most appropriate steps” to build on that momentum.

The so-called enhanced cooperation system could be a future option up for discussion. Enhanced cooperation allows nine or more countries to move forward on an important measure that is blocked by a small minority of member states. Other EU countries maintain the right to join when they want.