Brussels, 19/03/2014 (Agence Europe) - The current European Parliament will not debate the draft European rules on business secrecy. The legal affairs committee (JURI) made this decision on Wednesday 19 March in view of the lack of time available.
Marielle Gallo (EPP, France), who had been appointed rapporteur on the question, expressed a keen interest in the subject. She had also been quite ready to produce a working document on the question in response to the Commission proposal. Nonetheless, she indicated that she was sure that she would not be elected after the European elections and therefore suggested that any superfluous work in this connection should be avoided. She did, however, emphasise that several factors ought to be clarified by the next JURI committee, such as the definition of “business secrecy” and protecting confidentiality during legal investigation. The recommendation was approved by the other members of the committee and the chair, Evelyn Regner (S&D, Austria), therefore agreed to this approach and declared that, with the end of the mandate approaching, what could be carried out would perhaps not be decisive with regard to what the next committee would do. On Tuesday, the internal market committee at the EP also said that it would not be a good idea to open the dossier at the present time. (MD)