WRITTEN QUESTION E-1408/02 by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council. Rules on the use of languages in connection with the Community patent.
Date: 2002-05-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: European language, European patent, drafting of EU law, interinstitutional relations (EU), linguistic discrimination, use of languages

12.12.2002

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 309 E/119

(2002/C 309 E/140)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1408/02

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(22 May 2002)

Subject: Rules on the use of languages in connection with the Community patent

On 10 April 2002, the European Parliament squandered its last opportunity to advise the Council to alter
the rules on the use of languages in connection with the Community patent to include all official
languages of the EU.

In a letter to the Flanders-Netherlands Cultural Treaty Commission, Louis Michel, the Belgian Federal
Minister for Foreign Affairs, has written: ‘I fully appreciate the importance which the [Flanders-Netherlands
Cultural Treaty] Commission attaches to the use of Dutch on a footing of equality with other languages at
the Patent Office’. At the same time, he said that ‘as soon as the (Spanish) Presidency-in-Office of the
Council makes specific proposals on the subject, my staff will convene a special coordination meeting so
that Belgium’s position on the matter can be formulated, and the concerns expressed in Flanders will
certainly be taken into account in doing so’.

1.
Does the Council consider the present proposal concerning the use of languages in connection with
the Community patent to be in accordance with the principle of non-discrimination among Community
languages? If so, how does it justify the exclusion of Dutch, Greek, Finnish, Portuguese, Swedish and
Danish? If not, what will the Council do to prevent discrimination against six official languages of the
Community?

2. Will the Council also ensure that such discrimination is avoided in future, even if it appears to secure
ample democratic support in the European Parliament and other EU institutions thanks to cunning
selection of the languages affected?

3.

Has the Spanish Presidency-in-Office made any specific proposals on the subject yet?

Reply

(3 October 2002)

The Council has been informed of the amendments to the proposal for a Council Regulation on the
1.
Community patent, including the rules on the use of languages, tabled by the European Parliament on
10 April 2002; it has not yet examined those amendments in detail.

2. With regard to the principle of non-discrimination, the Council recalls what was stated by the
Barcelona European Council:
‘The Community Patent must be an efficient and flexible instrument
obtainable by businesses at an affordable cost, while complying with the principles of legal certainty and
non-discrimination between Member States and ensuring a high level of quality.’ The Council will bear
those directives in mind when examining the Community patent system, including its language aspects.

3.
At its meeting on 21 May 2002, the Council examined a draft common political approach submitted
by the Presidency regarding the main principles and features of the Community patent, including language
aspects. It agreed to regard that common political approach as the basis for further work. The Council will
review the balance of the resulting overall package to ensure that a final and global agreement will meet
the criteria laid down by the European Council, reflecting the needs of business.

(2002/C 309 E/141)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1409/02

by Bart Staes (Verts/ALE) to the Council

(22 May 2002)

Subject: Violation of humanitarian principles in Chechnya

In answer to Question H-0060/02 (1), the Council stated that it would be discussing Chechnya with the
Russian authorities on 28 May 2002.