§ Mr. BakerTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what is his policy in respect of the appeal by Italy and the Netherlands to the European Court of Justice against the EU Life Patents Directive. [74827]
§ Mr. Battle[holding answer 5 March 1999]It is primarily a matter for the Council and European Parliament (as the institutions who adopted the Directive) to lodge the defence against the Netherlands' application seeking to annul Directive 98/44/EC on the Legal Protection of Biotechnological Inventions. EU member states had the opportunity to intervene in this case. The Government have carefully considered the terms of the Dutch action before the European Court of Justice and a decision has been taken not to intervene. We do not wish to add anything to the Council's arguments already lodged before the Court in response to the Dutch action.