After a dedicated debate during the May plenary session (see EUROPE 12722/8), the European Parliament will adopt, on Wednesday 9 June, a resolution on the controversial issue of intellectual property rights (IPR) for vaccines and therapeutic treatments for Covid-19.
On Friday 4 June, the European Commission called for the use of flexibilities in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), including the granting of compulsory licences by a Member State to allow the production of vaccines and treatments without having to negotiate with the rights holder (see EUROPE 12734/1).
The draft resolutions tabled by the main political groups in the European Parliament suggest that a compromise over the issue of compulsory licences could be easier to reach. On the other hand, they reflect the left/right political divide on patenting within the Chamber.
On the Right, a blanket lifting of Covid-19 vaccine patents has been rejected. The EPP group have emphasised that patents will allow companies to be remunerated for taking risks and will guarantee legal certainty for the use of an innovation’s subject matter. In their opinion, this intellectual protection, which forms the basis of voluntary licensing and technology transfer agreements, is more of a enabler of, rather than a barrier to, the availability of vaccines.
The centre-right Renew Europe group believes that lifting these patents would not, in the short term, strengthen global production capacity for vaccines and treatments. It does, however, support the step taken by the EU at the WTO to use “existing TRIPS agreement flexibilities, such as compulsory licensing”.
Agreeing with the EPP, the sovereignist group ECR has expressed scepticism about lifting patents, which are a “key incentive for innovation”. They agreed with the Commission that “in times of a pandemic, it is perfectly legitimate to use compulsory licensing” under the TRIPS Agreement.
On the Left, these measures are considered to be too timid. Noting that the pandemic must be defeated at all costs, the S&D group has called for a “temporary” lifting of patents on Covid-19 vaccines and related health technologies. In particular, it argued that “TRIPS rules significantly limit the products that can be produced under compulsory licences”. It also called for the harmonisation of compulsory licensing agreements in the EU.
The Greens/EFA and The Left groups are in favour of this approach. Environmentalists in the European Parliament note the Indian and South African proposal to lift patents on vaccines, which is supported by literature proving that “the existing WTO-TRIPS flexibilities, which are based on procedurally complex, country-by-country, product-by-product and prior negotiations with patent holders, (are) not fit for purpose for tackling previous global health emergencies and are not up to the challenge of the current one”. In addition, compulsory licences do not cover all IPR, including data protection and trade secrets, they added.
For The Left, blocking the lifting of patents is “a serious obstacle to defeating the pandemic, while inequality in accessing vaccines will only prolong the health crisis”. Nevertheless, implementing such a measure would rapidly increase production, especially in developing countries. The far-left group also believes that lifting patents and using TRIPS flexibilities would be “complementary”.
See the groups’ draft resolutions: https://bit.ly/34WhHs8 (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)