18. Urges the Commission and the Member States, within their respective areas of competence and in
consultation with the European Parliament, to consider measures to reduce the stigma of bankruptcy,possiblyincluding a moratorium on debt recoverywhere the liquidator determines that no fraudulent or
illegal practices were involved and the business in question can continue trading; calls on the Commission
to facilitate the sharing of best practice in this area, with a view to the elaboration of a recommendation;
19. Urges the rapid adoption of the forthcoming Commission proposal for a Directive on the Commu-
nityPatent, and calls on the Commission to support the creation of an EU-wide online patents databaselinked to the proposed risk capital website, and to launch an information campaign to provide SMEs with
information about the importance of securing patent protection for their designs and how to obtain a
patent;
20. Asks the Commission and the Council to promote innovative software protection models such as
the General Public Licence in Europe in order to support the development of open source software and tofoster the provision of risk capital for entrepreneurs engaging in this field;
21. States its concern about recent developments in patenting which either hinder the free circulation
of scientific information (patenting of data bases, mathematical formulae, software codes etc.) or patentnatural resources such as genes and plants without anyinnovative character;
22. Calls on the Commission to develop risk capital initiatives in the accession countries;23. Calls on the Commission to bring forward bythe end of 2000 a follow-up Communication on the
Implementation of the Risk Capital Action Plan, setting out the benchmarks agreed with Member States toimplement the Action Plan and proposals to ensure an integrated, joined up approach to risk capital,
bringing together all Communityinstruments in a coherent manner; further calls on the Commission to
report back regularlyto the European Parliament and the Council on progress made in reaching thesebenchmarks and rationalising the EU framework for risk capital;
24. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and Commission.
10. Charter of fundamental rights
B5-0767/2000
European Parliament resolution on the European Union Charter of Fundamental Rights
The European Parliament,
Rdash having regard to its resolution of 16 March 2000 on the drafting of a European Union Charter of
Fundamental Rights(1),
A. whereas the Convention retains sole responsibilityfor drafting the Charter up until the moment when
it is proclaimed,
1. Proposes, in line with the position it expounded when the Convention began its work, that, at its
meeting in Biarritz, the European Council call on the Intergovernmental Conference to consider the text of
the Charter adopted bythe Convention and way s of incorporating it into the Treatywith a view to a
decision being taken at the European Council meeting in Nice;
2. Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the governments and parliaments of
the Member States, the Commission, the Convention and the other Communityinstitutions.
(1) ‘Texts Adopted’, Item 4.22.6.2001 EN C 178/65 Official Journal of the European Communities
Tuesday 3 October 2000