27-28 March Ecosoc

Date: 04/04/1996

THE Economic and Social Committee adopted, by a large majority, an opinion on checks on people crossing the EU's internal borders as well as the abolition of restrictions on movement and residence within the Union for member state nationals. The Committee supported a proposed directive which includes a demand that people crossing internal borders should still be in possession of a valid identity card or passport.

THE Committee voted by 84 votes to two (with two abstentions) to adopt an opinion on the Green Paper on the protection of patents in the EU. Members called for more detailed analysis of the protection systems complementary to the patents, particularly with regard to weaknesses in the EU patent system compared with those in the US or Japan. They also recommended the provision of a guarantee, when the system is harmonised, of laws, procedures and timetables for obtaining these complementary protection measures. These so-called 'utility models' would be eligible for guarantee if the patent filed was considered an 'absolute novelty' or an 'inventive step' and could be applied in the industrial field.

IN an unusually close vote, the Committee voted by 94 votes to 32 (with 21 abstentions) to adopt an opinion calling on the Commission to withdraw its proposal for a tax on carbon dioxide and energy emissions. The Committee declared itself against a harmonised CO2 energy tax, at least for the moment, arguing that member states which wanted to impose such a tax could do so. The Committee invited the Commission to come up with a recommendation establishing fiscal and financial measures, and encouraging firms to reduce their energy use. But it warned that in no case should the creation of a carbon energy tax in the EU be used as a pretext for increasing the overall tax burden on firms.