Source: EURLEX
Language: en
Format: md

[**Avis juridique important**](../../../editorial/legal_notice.htm)

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# 91997E2468

**WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2468/97 by Cristiana MUSCARDINI to the Commission. Legal protection of designs and models** 
  
*Official Journal C 102 , 03/04/1998 P. 0043*

  

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2468/97 by Cristiana Muscardini (NI) to the Commission (16 July 1997)

Subject: Legal protection of designs and models

In adopting the Medina report on the relevant directive the European Parliament cleverly mediated between the interests of the original manufacturers and those of third parties manufacturing non-original parts by proposing that the latter should pay fair and reasonable remuneration for the use of the original designs (Article 14).

The Council deleted Article 14 in its common position. Does the Commission not consider that his decision:

1. perpetuates protectionist policies which cancel out the benefits resulting from the existence of alternative markets?

2. upsets the rules of the internal market by creating 15 different closed and protected national markets, thereby playing into the hands of vehicle manufacturers who would have spare parts manufactured for them very cheaply in developing countries and then resell them at extremely high prices because they have a monopoly?

3. penalizes consumers, who would have to pay higher prices for spare parts and hence for repairs, which would result in higher insurance premiums?

4. will, for the above reasons, result in the closure of countless small firms which manufacture spare parts?

Answer given by Mr Monti on behalf of the Commission (18 September 1997)

The Commission would refer the Honourable Member to its answers to Written Questions E-891/97 by Mr Marset Campos ((OJ C 373, 9.12.1997, p. 35. )) and E-1455/97 by Mr Stenmarck ((OJ C 45, 10.2.1998, p. 36. )), in which it pointed out that the proposal for a Council and Parliament Directive on the legal protection of designs ((COM(96) 66. )) should strike the right balance between a high degree of protection for industrial and commercial property rights and adherence to the principle of fair competition in the internal market. This position, which is in line with Commission policy on employment, SMEs and consumer protection, was given practical expression in Article 14 ('repair clause'), which the Council decided to exclude from its common position.

Consequently, the Commission can share some of the concerns expressed by the Honourable Member, particularly as regards the prospects for the spare parts market if a repair clause relating to the visible components of complex products does not appear in the final text of the Directive. This could upset the balance sought between the interests of car manufacturers, on the one hand, and spare-parts manufacturers, insurers and consumers, on the other.

The Commission would, however, like to see progress being achieved in this area as a whole, given the importance of the proposal for European industry and the European economy in general. It is, therefore, anxious that, following the second reading in Parliament, a compromise solution should be found which would rule out the possibility of the adoption of a much more prejudicial course of action, namely the abandonment or shelving of the entire proposal.

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