EP votes to create a common patent system within the EU - though not for all Member States. If its reforms stay on track, Croatia could join the EU in 2013.

The News: European patent - Croatia's membership talks

The Parliament says yes  to a common European patent.

But as all 27 Member States  cannot agree on it,

Croatia is on its way  to joining the EU.

It could become the 28th Member State  by 2013 or 2014.

You need to apply here for a patent  before someone else cashes in.

But under the current system you’ll  have to fork out €10,000 for translation,

meaning only the wealthy  can afford to protect their inventions.

We need to create more inventions  and exploit them more.

It is absolutely indispensable  that we have a competitive patent system.

'Enhanced cooperation' allows a group  of EU countries to move ahead with laws.

In this case 12 countries  want an EU patent

translated into French,  English and German only.

Normally a fan of the opt-out, the UK  is in favour, to the displeasure of some.

If the Conservative party had ever thought  to patent lies, deceit and hypocrisy

they would have made  a fortune in royalties.

But other languages feel  left out of the deal.

Spanish is spoken by 850 million people.

Of the three languages proposed  for the patent system,

only one is comparable in importance  with Spanish. What criteria are used?

Spain and Italy don’t agree with it  because they say,

especially Spain is saying  that Spanish is a world language,

more important than French or German.  But this is not the point.

It’s not about Latin America.  It’s about an EU patent.

Though the EP  voted for the trilingual deal,

a landmark decision is expected  from the ECJ in March

that might force a re-think  of the trilingual EU patent.

Croatia’s Prime Minister arrives  at the EP to brief political groups

before a crucial vote  on her country’s EU accession.

Most think negotiations  can be completed soon,

making membership possible  in 2013 or 2014.

Croatia’s neighbours are enthusiastic.

As a Slovenian I wish Croatia will become  an EU member as soon as possible.

It’s premature to talk about dates,  it depends on Croatia.

It still has six chapters to close,  among them a few very difficult ones.

Problems remain  over competition policy –

shipyard workers fear  privatisation will cost them their jobs.

an ex-PM awaits extradition from Austria  and that may be just the tip of the iceberg.

If you go for the top, then  you’re fighting it down to the roots.

Sometimes when you’re only  working on the roots you miss the top.

But in this case they’ve shown  that no-one is going free!

Despite judicial reform,  court proceedings can still take years

and there are claims of unequal treatment  of war crimes allegations.

Some in Croatia remain sceptical but the  government is sure enthusiasm will grow.

after a really comprehensive  reform process,

joining the EU is really achieving  one of the key foreign policy objectives

but also one of our  key development objectives.

Negotiations should be finished in time for  an agreement at the June EU Summit –

one day before the 20th anniversary  of Croatian independence.

That’s the amount on which eurozone  finance ministers agreed on Monday.

by doubling by 2013 the lending capacity  of the future Stability Mechanism

which should replace  the current support fund

created in a hurry in 2010  when the Greek crisis was in full swing.

No to child pornography on the Internet.

On Monday MEPs  on the Civil Liberties Committee

proposed the removal of all child porn  from web pages in every EU country.

If it's impossible, especially when  it comes to sites outside Europe,

Member States could be authorised  to block access to these sites.

The EP adopted on Tuesday  new obligations for companies:

compensation and assistance  in case of accidents or cancellations

and assistance to persons  with reduced mobility.

The rights will apply to journeys  of 250 kilometres or more.