Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2005-07-05-Speech-2-021"
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"en.20050705.6.2-021"2
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"Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, while I am obliged to the rapporteur and the shadow rapporteurs, I particularly wish to put the spotlight on our own group’s shadow rapporteur, Mrs Kauppi, who has endeavoured in a quite splendid fashion to hammer out sensible compromises and reach a sound solution, thereby demonstrating expertise to an extraordinary degree. The work she has done on this leads me to hold her in the highest regard.
Let me once again spell out something that became apparent from the debate in the Committee on Legal Affairs: nobody, that is no political group, wants software patents, although I cannot exclude the possibility of private individuals doing so. That, in any case, is not what this directive is about; it was in fact intended to prevent the law developing in Europe in the way it has in the USA. That is its purpose, a purpose that the Common Position fulfils.
At the end of May, we received a position paper from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Munich and Upper Bavaria. Rather like the Irish situation that Mr Crowley described earlier, the greatest concentration of small and medium-sized software developers in Germany is to be found in this area around Munich. They organised a hearing, the result of which left no doubt about the fact that they believe that the Common Position – capable of improvement though it is, of course – meets the conditions laid down and resolves the problems.
In the Committee on Legal Affairs, we made a whole array of vital improvements to the Rocard report by way of 39 amendments, making some things clearer – such concepts as ‘interoperability’ and ‘technical definition’, for example – and creating options. What the Committee on Legal Affairs has produced, then, is a report characterised by moderation and making it possible to resolve any problems that still remain. Mr Rocard’s amendments, and those put forward by the other groups in this House go well beyond what is intended.
A few months ago, we sat down together here and renewed our commitment to the Lisbon Process, at the heart of which – among other things – is a knowledge-based society in Europe. Having no raw materials, we have to rely on our brains, our knowledge, and the skills of our people. If we were to allow a situation, brought about by excessive amendments, in which most of Europe’s high-technology could no longer be patented, we would be jeopardising the means for future generations in this continent to earn a living, and so this position is indefensible and the overwhelming majority of my group will not countenance it.
Let me touch on one other point, and a significant one, that being the issue of what people are calling motions to reject the Common Position. This is an option that our group will, this evening, have to consider, and two factors make it worth our while to do so. The first is that we gain nothing if, as a result of the Committee on Legal Affairs’ amendments, we have to endure a long conciliation procedure, only to see the directive lost at third reading by simple majority. Secondly, we do not want to end up with a directive that is so warped by Parliament’s amendments that it ends up being detrimental to the Lisbon process and to Europe itself. If that is what it is going to be like, then we would rather not have the directive at all. This issue, then, is one on which our group will be reaching a decision this evening."@en1
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