Mon. Sep 16th, 2024

Main results: Competitiveness Council (Internal market and industry), 25 September 2023

Sep 25, 2023 , , , , , , , ,

Brussels, 25 September 2023

Review of the EU legislation on design protection

Ministers adopted general approaches on the Commission’s package to update the European design protection legislation: one on the directive on the legal protection of designs and one on the regulation on Union designs. These legislative texts aim to modernise the 20-year-old European rules on designs and adapt them so that they are fit for the digital and 3D printing world (i.e. making it faster, safer and more affordable to register and protect designs in the single market).

Good design protection is essential for the competitiveness of our industry. The new rules will help boost the creativity of our designers and our companies in a faster and more reliable way, adapted to the challenges of the digital age, fighting against counterfeits.

Héctor Gómez Hernández, Spanish acting Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism

The Council’s general approaches support the general objectives of the revision of the legislation, but also introduce a number of improvements to make it easier to protect designs (i.e. by keeping the design registration date and representation, even if some documents are missing). They also give member states the possibility of providing for administrative procedures of appeal in the event that design rights are declared invalid. They ensure that national registration fees are cheaper than Europe-wide ones and allow the cumulation of design and copyright rights. The Council’s positions also keep the ‘repair clause’, which harmonises the design protection for component spare parts used to repair complex products (e.g. car body parts).

Euro7

The Council also adopted its position (‘general approach’) on the Euro 7 regulation, which lays down rules on the type-approval of motor vehicles and engines, but also of systems, components and separate technical units, with respect to their emissions and battery durability. The new regulation covers, in a single legal act, the emissions limits for cars, vans, buses and trucks.

Europe is known across the globe for producing low-emission and top-quality cars. We want to continue pursuing the goal of improving air quality. Our position is to continue the path of leading the mobility of the future and adopting realistic emissions levels for the vehicles of the next decade while helping our industry make the definitive leap towards clean cars in 2035. The Spanish presidency has been sensitive to the different demands and requests of the member states and we believe that, with this proposal, we achieved broad support, a balance in the investment costs of the manufacturing brands and we improve the environmental benefits derived from the regulation.

Héctor Gómez Hernández, Spanish acting Minister for Industry, Trade and Tourism

Ministers struck an appropriate balance between stringent requirements for vehicle emissions and additional investments in the industry, at a moment when European car manufacturers are moving towards the production of zero-emissions cars.

The general approach keeps the existing emissions limits and test conditions for light-duty vehicles, but for heavy-duty vehicles, the emissions limits are reduced and the test conditions slightly adjusted. Euro 7 also contains a special provision on urban buses to ensure coherence with the newly proposed 2030 zero-CO2 emissions target for these vehicles.

Long-term competitiveness and productivity – Competitiveness checks in legislative proposals

Ministers held a political debate on the role of competitiveness checks in the formulation of legislative proposals. The discussion was based on a note from the Spanish presidency setting out the general context and asking the delegations to give their thoughts on four questions:

  1. Which elements should be indispensable in competitiveness checks?
  2. What could be done to ensure the implementation of such checks?
  3. Should competitiveness checks apply only to legislative proposals or also to strategies and action plans?
  4. How can the Competitiveness Council contribute to the assessment of the competitiveness of the Commission’s legislative proposals?

Today’s discussion was a follow-up to previous debates focusing on long-term competitiveness and on the future role of the of the single market that were held during the European Councils of March and June 2023, and in the May COMPET Council. In particular, the 23 March European Council called for work on a growth-enhancing regulatory framework to be advanced, by reducing the administrative burden and carrying out competitiveness checks for new legislative proposals.

Ministers referred to the Commission’s communications on the single market at 30 and the long-term competitiveness of the EU, which were presented in March, and to the SME relief package that was adopted by the Commission 10 days ago.

Just before the political debate, ministers had lunch with Enrico Letta, President of the Jacques Delors Institute and former Prime Minister of Italy, who is currently preparing an independent report on the future of the single market at the request of the European Council. Mr Letta informed ministers about the progress on this document, which will be presented to EU leaders at the European Council of March 2024.

Any other business
Report from the Ibero-American Forum of Governmental Consumer Protection Agencies

The presidency informed ministers on the outcome of the Ibero-American Forum of Governmental Consumer Protection Agencies (FIAGC), which took place in Madrid on 13-14 September 2023.

Directive on empowering consumers for the green transition

The presidency informed ministers on the provisional agreement reached on the directive on empowering consumers for the green transition after the trilogue that took place in the European Parliament on 19 September. The proposal agreed last Wednesday aims to fight against unfair commercial practices (e.g. greenwashing) that prevent consumers from choosing greener or more circular products and services.

EU pharmaceutical legislation from an industrial and competitiveness perspective

The Austrian and German delegations gave a presentation on the EU’s pharmaceutical legislation from an industrial and competitiveness perspective.

Source – EU Council

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