Marcin Libicki, on behalf of the UEN Group. – (PL) Madam President, the subject of today’s debate is liberalisation of the market in spare parts. This would involve authorising producers, other than motor vehicle manufacturers, to manufacture these parts. The report by Mr Lehne is certainly a step in the right direction. I should like to express support for the report’s conclusions, both on my own behalf and on behalf of the Union for Europe of the Nations Group.

As a supporter of a liberal economy, I realise, as I am sure we all do, that there are two essential prerequisites to a sound and effective liberal economy. These are, on the one hand, the freedom to produce and sell a range of products and, on the other, protection of the original producer’s intellectual property, which is equivalent to protecting his or her copyright.

The point is that complete economic freedom will not be effective if we fail to respect the property of the person who had the original idea. Essentially, that person has a moral right to the product he or she devised and owned first. On the other hand, there can be no economic freedom either if copyright results in monopoly of the market and restricts economic freedom.

I am convinced that in this sector, namely the spare parts sector, the situation to date in countries where the original producer’s copyright restrictions applied was de facto economic restriction. Product prices were higher and the intellectual property owner, namely the motor manufacturer, exercised a monopoly. If we wish to achieve a balance between free market legislation on the one hand, and the right to intellectual property on the other, we must nonetheless curtail intellectual property rights to a certain extent.

I believe this report is a step in that direction. I therefore support it and congratulate its author, Mr Lehne. In so doing I am basing myself on economic liberalism, which is the system generating the most efficient, effective and best quality production, provided certain guidelines are observed.