European Parliament resolution on European contract law
Date: 2006-09-07
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Community acquis, approximation of laws, civil law, consumer protection, contract

14.12.2006

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 305 E/247

Thursday 7 September 2006

H. whereas this trafficking in fake medicines is also a consequence of the lack of political awareness and
commitment, weak regulatory systems, inadequate enforcement capacity and, especially in developing
countries, the lack of public access to genuine medicines supervised by the public authorities,

I.

regretting that the European Union became involved only at a late stage in the international fight
against counterfeiting, when more open borders and new technologies (Internet) were likely to exacer-
bate the problem of piracy,

Considers that the European Union should equip itself as a matter of urgency with the means to

1.
combat effectively illicit practices in the area of piracy and the counterfeiting of medicines;

Calls on the Commission to go beyond its communication ‘Strategy to enforce intellectual property
2.
rights in third countries’; in particular, urges the European Union to take adequate measures to combat the
scourge of counterfeiting of medicines in its territory;

Calls on the European Union to take steps to strengthen the regulatory and quality-control capacity for
3.
medicinal products and medical equipment put on the market in countries with inadequate resources and to
improve access to affordable medicines;

4.
Urges the European Union to play a key role in promoting an international convention to create a
specific criminal offence of counterfeiting or the receiving and distribution of counterfeit medicines in the
legislation of every country;

Calls for greater cooperation at both national and international level between the various authorities

5.
involved in anti-counterfeiting measures;

6.
Emphasises the importance of preventive measures in action programmes, more specifically, the estab-
lishment of structures, cooperation, awareness campaigns, preferably carried out by the public authorities,
and finally the political will to carry through such measures successfully;

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council, the Commission, the governments of

7.
the Member States, the UN Secretary-General and the Secretary-General of the WHO.

P6_TA(2006)0352

European contract law

European Parliament resolution on European contract law

The European Parliament,

— having regard to its resolution of 23 March 2006 on European contract law and the revision of the

acquis: the way forward (1),

— having regard to its resolution of 26 May 1989 on action to bring into line the private law of the
Member States (2), 6 May 1994 on the harmonisation of certain sectors of the private law of the Mem-
ber States (3), 15 November 2001 on the approximation of the civil and commercial law of the Member
states (4) and 2 September 2003 on the Communication from the Commission to the European Parlia-
ment and the Council — A more coherent European contract law — An action plan (5),

(1) Texts Adopted, P6_TA(2006)0109.
(2) OJ C 158, 26.6.1989, p. 400.
(3) OJ C 205, 25.7.1994, p. 518.
(4) OJ C 140 E, 13.6.2002, p. 538.
(5) OJ C 76 E, 25.3.2004, p. 95.

C 305 E/248

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

14.12.2006

Thursday 7 September 2006

— having regard to the Commission's First Annual Progress Report of 23 September 2005 on European
contract law and the acquis review (COM(2005)0456 final), in which the Commission states that the
review of the consumer acquis will in turn feed into the development of the broader Common Frame
of Reference (CFR),

— having regard to the Communication of 11 October 2004 from the Commission to the European
Parliament and the Council on European contract law and the revision of the acquis: the way forward
(COM(2004)0651), in which the Commission states that it ‘will use the CFR as a toolbox, where appro-
priate, when presenting proposals to improve the quality and coherence of the existing acquis and
future legal instruments in the area of contract law’,

— having regard to Rule 108(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

A. whereas its resolution of 23 March 2006 pointed out that it is not clear what the European contract
law initiative will lead to in terms of practical outcomes or on what legal basis any binding instrument
will be adopted,

B. whereas its resolution of 23 March 2006 required, among other information, a statement by the Com-
mission on the way in which it proposes to take account of the results of the CFR-net workshops and
the research groups in its subsequent work,

Reiterates its conviction that a uniform internal market cannot be fully functional without further

1.
steps towards the harmonisation of civil law;

Recalls that the initiative on European contract law is the most important initiative under way in the

2.
field of civil law;

Strongly supports an approach for a wider CFR on general contract law issues going beyond the

3.
consumer protection field;

4.
Underlines that, besides the work on revision of the consumer acquis, the work on a wider CFR
should go on; calls on the Commission to proceed, in parallel with the work on revision of the consumer
acquis, with the project for a wider CFR;

Underlines that — even though the final purpose and legal form of the CFR is not yet clear — the
5.
work on the project should be done well, taking into account the fact that the final long-term outcome
could be a binding instrument; all the various possible options for the purpose and legal form of a future
instrument should be kept open;

Calls on the Commission to take into account the long-term perspective of a CFR when presenting

6.
new legislative proposals;

7.

Calls on the Commission continuously to involve Parliament in the work on the CFR;

8.

Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Council and the Commission.