The EC is issuing a consultation document as a basis for starting a formal dialogue with vested interests, hoping to stir momentum for action. Hearings are expected in June. From that document -

The idea behind the patent system is that it should be used by businesses and research organisations to support innovation, growth and quality of life for the benefit of all in society. Essentially the temporary rights conferred by a patent allow a company a breathing-space in the market to recoup investment in the research and development which led to the patented invention.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Charlie McCreevy said in a statement, "Good intellectual property rules are essential: by stimulating innovation and leading to the successful development of new products, they help to generate growth and jobs."

The centerpiece of EC efforts - creating a pan-European patent - has been stalled for years because member states cannot agree on the acceptable languages. English, the universal business language of Europe, is not good enough for the namesake country of French fries, which in this country since the Iraq war have been euphemistically referred to as "Freedom fries" by a clique of greasy-fried-potato-eating war-mongering hotheads quaintly known as Republicans.

The EC would also like a single patent court, something Japan has adopted, but has never even been on the radar screen in the U.S., in spite of widespread recognition that, domestically, litigation costs are astronomical, and venue shopping rampant in a bid to better the odds in the roll of the dice facing a non-specialized court system for a very specialized area of law.

Last year's European patent harmonization initiative, the second such stab at this, before the European Parliament failed.