EC Trade Marks Office: Location (Hansard, 17 December 1992)

§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry (Baroness Denton of Wakefield)
My Lords, the location of the office to administer the Community trade mark regulation will he decided by a future European Council together with the locations of a number of other Community bodies. The Government's bid for London as the site of the Community trade marks office remains on the table.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, in thanking my noble friend for that reply, will she confirm that the Community has not been very generous to this country in the location of its various establishments and that the case for the organisation mentioned in this Question is therefore particularly strong?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, my noble friend draws attention to the fact that we have only one small Community institution, which is the Joint European Torus. I must pay tribute to other Community states for the help we received from them which led to our success in obtaining the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development although it is not a Community institution.

§ Lord Ironside
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that one of the qualifications for having an institution like the JET project at Culham was a European school there? Can she say whether there will be a requirement for having a European school in London if the trade mark organisation is sited here? Would that be one of the qualifications?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, as I said in reply to my noble friend Lord Boyd-Carpenter, that is a matter for the Council of Ministers. I am sure that it will bear my noble friend's comments in mind.

§ Lord Dormand of Easington
My Lords, would not one advantage of location here be the provision of new jobs? Is that not of particular importance in view of the unemployment figures issued today? Is the Minister aware that they show another substantial increase in the number of people without a job? As we start a four-week recess today, will the Minister take 644 the opportunity I am giving her to tell us what new policies the Government intend to follow in order to reduce the appalling number of unemployed in this country?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, even on the last day the noble Lord, Lord Dormand, makes assumptions in stretching the Question. I cannot go anywhere near answering them.

§ Baroness Gardner of Parkes
My Lords, we all value the British hallmarking system, which is one of the finest of trade marks. Can my noble friend assure us that the Government are still pressing for the retention of that system?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, again I fear that that question does not directly relate to the Question before me. I assure my noble friend Lady Gardner that I am in consultation on that matter. I am very supportive of the standard which we have in this country.

§ Lord Strabolgi
My Lords, can the Minister say why this headquarters has to be in London? Could it not be located in the north—in Edinburgh or Glasgow —as government recognition at last of the importance of our manufacturing industry?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, the site proposed was originally suggested in 1987. I believe that the property market has moved somewhat since then. The discussion would be open. First, we have to try to persuade the Community to locate the office in the United Kingdom.

§ Baroness Hooper
My Lords, does my noble friend agree that it is perhaps a little premature to be asking for the location of the European Community trade mark office in this country if we have not even complied with the relevant European Community directive?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, I am delighted to tell my noble friend that of the four countries on the short list none has complied with the directive.

§ Lord Taylor of Gryfe
My Lords, while the Government are to be congratulated on getting the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development located in London, can the Minister bring us up to date on the proposed location of the central bank of the European Community? It is now said that it is going to be located in Bonn. Can she confirm that or otherwise?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, the noble Lord draws attention to one of the other organisations which is part of the package one hopes will be decided upon at the next summit meeting.

§ Lord Peston
My Lords, we seem to be covering almost every European institution on this Question. On unemployment, I am sure that the noble Baroness will agree that if the trade mark organisation were to be located here it would provide some employment at least for lawyers, which would be very dear to the hearts of your Lordships. The question of the noble 645 Baroness, Lady Hooper, seems central. Is not the position even worse than that she described? It is not merely that we have not introduced the legislation corresponding to the European requirement on trade marks. Am I not right in saying that we have not yet even ratified the Madrid Protocol? What is the position with respect to the Madrid Protocol? Leaving the matter on the table is not the important thing. Does the noble Baroness agree with the view of almost all of the professionals in this area that the Government are doing nothing at all?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, perhaps I may say first that the professionalism of the people working in the trade mark sector is such that we believe that wherever the office is located they will attract American and Japanese business. That reflects the high standard of our industry. In respect of the other points which the noble Lord raised, I have nothing to add to my previous answer.

§ Lord Harmar-Nicholls
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the premature signing of the Maastricht Treaty may be too high a price to pay merely to have those headquarters in London?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, my noble friend mindreads rather better than I could.

Lord Bruce of Donington
My Lords, will the Minister clarify a technical point? In her Answer she said that this was a matter that would lie upon the table. However, may I ask her on which table it will lie: the table of the Council of Ministers, which has powers under the treaty, or the table of the European Council, of which her right honourable friend the Prime Minister still has the presidency and, I presume, has some influence on these matters prior to 31st December?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, I am pleased to clarify for the noble Lord, Lord Bruce of Donington, that this matter of the package of offices is a decision that will be taken by the heads of government at a summit. Perhaps I may assure the noble Lord that my right honourable friend the Prime Minister, as always, looks after the interests of the United Kingdom.

§ Lord Boyd-Carpenter
My Lords, is my noble friend aware that the suggestion of the noble Lord, Lord Peston, that the trade mark organisation would give employment only to lawyers is quite unfounded? The trade mark organisation is of the greatest commercial importance and the location of its headquarters here would support London as the commercial centre of the Community.

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, my noble friend Lord Boyd-Carpenter is absolutely right to draw attention to the high professionalism throughout this area, not just in the legal sector.

§ Lord Swinfen
My Lords, following my noble friend's answer to the question of my noble friend Lady Hooper, can she tell the House whether any countries have complied with the directive?

§ Baroness Denton of Wakefield
My Lords, yes. Two countries have implemented it—Denmark and France.