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Parliamentary question - E-003890/2017Parliamentary question
E-003890/2017

Patent for naturally-mutated malting barley

Question for written answer E-003890-17
to the Commission
Rule 130
Arne Gericke (ECR) , Ulrike Müller (ALDE)

The European Patent Office (EPO) has granted the Heineken and Carlsberg brewing companies three patents for the use of one of the essential ingredients in the production process — malting barley — and all products derived from it, even though the work of the EPO is underpinned by the European Patent Convention (EPC), which expressly forbids the granting of patents in respect of ‘plant or animal varieties or essentially biological processes for the production of plants or animals’.

1. Does the Commission agree with the criticism and disapproval of granting a patent for naturally-mutated malting barley by the EPO?

2. In the Commission’s view, what could be done to combat the EPO’s decision on malting barley and other patents on life?

3. What is the Commission currently doing to protect farmers and SMEs from patents on plants and animals granted to large companies?