MEPs to support enhanced co-operation on EU patent

Vote will be a step towards allowing a majority of member states to use EU patent.

MEPs are scheduled to vote next week on plans for the creation of an EU patent, despite the failure of member states to conclude a unanimous agreement.

The vote on 27 January will be a further step towards allowing a majority of member states to press ahead with such a patent, leaving out Spain and Italy, which object to the current proposal.

Language dispute

Member states failed in November to conclude a unanimous agreement on creating an EU-wide patent, because Spain and Italy would not agree to the patent having to be filed in English, French or German.

In the absence of unanimity, other member states have filed a request to the European Commission to use enhanced co-operation, a procedure that allows member states to get round the unanimity requirement. The procedure has been initiated only once before, to set common procedures for divorce applications. But enhanced co-operation still requires the consent of the European Parliament.

Members of the Parliament’s legal affairs committee will begin to debate the proposal for a unitary patent today (20 January).

Klaus-Heiner Lehne, a German centre-right MEP, who is drafting the Parliament’s response, is recommending that the Parliament agree to the request.

Acknowledging that unanimous agreement was not possible, the Commission on 14 December formally approved a request by 12 member states to use enhanced co-operation.