Debate on the Protection of trade secrets against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure, during the EP plenary session (11-14 April 2016) in Strasbourg.&nbsp;Vote on the report by Constance LE GRIP (EPP, FR) and extracts from the debate (recorded 13/04) and statements by Constance LE GRIP (EPP, FR), Rapporteur, Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, Mich&egrave;le RIVASI (Greens/EFA, FR) and Lara COMI (EPP, IT)

Protection of trade secrets against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure: extracts from the vote on the report by Constance LE GRIP (EPP, FR) and extracts from the debate (recorded 13/04)

SOUNDBITE (French), Constance LE GRIP (EPP, FR), Rapporteur, Fighting against economic and industrial espionage and the looting suffered by our European business, protect our innovation and research, defend our European competitiveness&hellip; those are the main objectives of this Directive.

SOUNDBITE (French), Constance LE GRIP (EPP, FR), Rapporteur, Strengthening fundamental freedoms, strengthen the protection, of course, with regards to freedom of expression and freedom of information which must be provided to both journalists, especially investigative reporters, and whistleblowers, whose activities should be free to practice and in consciousness.

SOUNDBITE (French), Constance LE GRIP (EPP, FR), Rapporteur, It is now a balanced text, which protects not only what is essential for our companies, their professional expertise, their intangible heritage so valuable for economic development, but also the fundamental freedoms and the exercise of journalism and whistleblowers activities.

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, This directive is not about promoting secrecy in business, it is about trust. Thousands of EU companies, most of them SMEs, are innovating out there, sharing confidential information. The new EU rules will contribute to building such trust, as they will ensure that the risk of sharing information diminishes. This directive is also about the fairer and deeper single market, one of the priorities of this Commission.

SOUNDBITE (English), Johannes HAHN, Member of the EC in charge of European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, A fairer single market means saying &lsquo;no&rsquo; to hacking, cheating and economic espionage as business practices. This directive is not only about protecting businesses holding trade secrets; it is also about placing limits on the protection of trade secrets, avoiding abuse and ensuring full respect for disclosing obligations established by transparency rules. It is not here to protect potential illegal behaviour of companies. On the contrary, it serves to safeguard fundamental rights and freedoms and the legitimate interest of citizens, consumers, employees, honest competitors, journalists and public administrations.

SOUNDBITE (French), Mich&#232;le RIVASI (Greens/EFA, FR), ITRE EP Committee, Whenever a scandal broke, that the public was informed and that the legislature has taken the necessary measures in response, it was thanks to the courage of a few whistleblowers. Today, this text puts into question the ability of these extraordinary people to reveal information they were supposed to shut up.

SOUNDBITE (Italian), Lara COMI, IMCO EP Committee, This directive has a very clear and definite purpose, to protect small and medium-sized enterprises, to protect innovators, the producer that has had the genius of founding something new. I think this is the time to move from words to deeds, because we fill our mouths saying we help small businesses, fine, but when they have the added value that the big corporations do not have, we must be able to protect them thanks to the trade secret.

EP Vice-President Ms GUILLAUME, opens the vote on the report by Constance LE GRIP (EPP, FR), cutaway on Rapporteur

Final vote result:  503 votes in favour, 131 against and 18 abstentions

Dato for begivenhed	14.4.2016
Reference:	I119245V
Copyright:	© European Union
copyrightYear:	2016

Protection of trade secrets against their unlawful acquisition, use and disclosure: extracts from the vote on the report by Constance LE GRIP (EPP, FR) and extracts from the debate (recorded 13/04)

Description

Detaljer

Tags