It only took 37 years but the “Multi-speed” patent is good news for Europe

They’re still those who talk about a “multi-speed” Europe as something of the future. Well, first, as ever, multi-speed is an inappropriate expression – the point is that the end destination for different EU countries no longer is the same (i.e. the Eurozone and the UK). Secondly, different levels of participation are already a fact of life in the EU.

This week's decision by EU ministers to launch the EU’s unified patent court is a case in point. The Court is set up to police the EU’s new single patent system, which was agreed in 2011 under enhanced cooperation. Spain and Italy have already said they won’t take part (though curiously Italy signed this week's agreement, but says it will have none of the unitary patent system). In addition, Poland and Bulgaria didn’t sign the agreement, but remain open to joining later. The reasons for not signing vary, from principal language concerns (the working languages will be English, French and German only) to cost concerns. Incidentally, we note that the Polish government has been pretty critical of those who do not support ‘more Europe’, but in a short period of time, it has now ditched the single EU patent and vetoed the EU’s carbon roadmap.

In any case, this is flexible Europe in action.

Overall, the single patent will massively reduce cost. From 1 January 2014, inventors and SMEs will now only have to apply for and register the patent once, and gain protection in all member states. This will reduce the burden on entrepreneurs/innovators and slash the cost of patent enforcement. The establishment of this Court excludes the ECJ, which is a positive step, though there’s currently a pending court case brought by Spain and Italy who say the whole affair violates EU law.

As agreed by the European Council in June, the seat of the Court’s central division will be in Paris but two other thematic divisions will be created: one in London for chemicals and human necessities, the other in Munich for mechanical engineering.

It only took 37 years. But better late than never – and credit to EU ministers for making this happen, and the Commission for pushing it.

How realistic is Cameron's timetable for EU reform?

As Open Europe Director Mats Persson notes over on his Telegraph blog, in his speech today, Cameron has set himself a concrete timetable, despite the fact that timetables in Europe are notoriously difficult to control. A treaty change discussion could drag on for years. Here we look at how a few examples of how slowly or quickly it takes to reach a decision in Europe.

Basically, EU treaty changes or fundamental reform can take an enormous amount of time - or it can happen in months. It's all a matter of political expediency - and how bad Europe needs it / wants it. The single EU patent, for example, took 37 years to negotiate. Setting up a €440bn bailout fund took 12 hours (though it was followed by a year of bickering over what they actually had agreed).

So here are some examples. Those who say Cameron is stuffed, could point to:

Single EU patent – 37 years 
The Convention for the European Patent for the common market was signed at Luxembourg on December 15, 1975, by the 9 member states of the European Economic Community at that time. However the CPC never entered into force as it was not ratified by enough countries. It took until last December for a an agreement on the creation of a single patent system across 25 member states.

Fisheries reform – 21 years and counting 
In 1992, it was determined that there had been over-investment in vessels, overfishing and that numbers of fish landed were decreasing, and that reforms were needed to address these issues. Completing the reform of the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP) by the end of June 2013, in a single reading if possible, is the goal of the current Irish EU Presidency.

UK Rebate – 10 years 
In 1974/75 the Wilson Government sought to resolve the UK contribution question - which was the highest in net terms - during the “renegotiation” of the UK’s terms of accession which it had promised in its October 1974 election manifesto. The UK did achieve a new corrective mechanism but the revised formula (which placed more emphasis on national wealth when calculating our contribution) in practice produced no real benefit to Britain. In 1984, Margaret Thatcher secured the UK rebate in its current form.

European Constitution/Lisbon Treaty – 8 years 
The drafting for European Constitution was initiated by a declaration annexed to the Treaty of Nice in 2001, and the draft Constitution was signed on 29 October 2004 by representatives of the then 25 member states. Following the ‘no’ votes in the French and Dutch referendums, negotiations over the Lisbon Treaty began in 2007 and the new Treaty was ratified in 2009.

...but those who say that, given the enormous stakes, Cameron actually achieve something substantial, could point to:

Limited treaty change to establish new eurozone bailout fund – 5 months 
On October 29 2010, following pressure from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU prime ministers and presidents backed "a limited treaty change" to deliver tighter fiscal discipline and allow for the creation of a permanent bail-out fund for members of the eurozone. On March 25 2011, the European Council agreed to amend Article 136 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union with regard to a stability mechanism for Member States whose currency is the euro.

Setting up a new €440bn eurozone bailout fund - 12 hours
On May 9 2010, following 12 hours of talks in Brussels, EU financed ministers agreed to establish the EFSF, a temporary bailout fund composed of government-backed loan guarantees and bilateral loans worth up to €440bn provided by eurozone members.

In EU politics, when you hear someone giving you an easy answer, it's probably the wrong answer...

Credit where its due: EU Patent office is a good deal for British and EU businesses

The creation of an EU patent office, somewhat overshadowed by the latest twist on the eurozone crisis rollercoaster, was one positive piece of news to emerge from the recent EU summit. As we have noted previously, this is not before time.

It has taken ages to agree a patent and it has now finally passed through the European Parliament via the use of the novel ‘enhanced cooperation procedure’ in order to overcome the objections of Spain and Italy, who are upset that not all EU languages are to be used (something that would have lumped a higher cost on users).

If they manage to sort out the outstanding issues (which unfortunately is a big if) for the first time a British inventor will only need to register a patent once to protect their work throughout the EU. If done right this should reduce costs and increase protection for the UK’s important knowledge based scientific and creative industries. In other words, good news for UK business. But as well as being good for UK and EU business, this is also interesting as it breaks two EU taboos:

• Firstly it's another example of a 'two speed' EU, (with the UK in the fast lane) implicitly acknowledging once again that the one size fits all EU Commission dogma no longer work as overarching basis for European cooperation.
• Secondly, if David Cameron’s statement is correct, it will exclude the costly involvement of the European Court of Justice, something two UK Parliamentary reports here, and here concluded would increase cost and give jurisdiction to a court with no expertise. 

We have long been a critic of the way the ECJ works so an acceptance that it cannot be the final arbiter of everything is good news and sets an important principle. Unfortunately, this is not a done deal yet. Unsurprisingly, the ECJ has already ruled that it must have jurisdiction, in a move that reflects poorly on the Luxembourg court.

Still credit to David Cameron and other EU leaders for taking a positive step to boost innovation and business growth. Sometimes "more Europe" can help.