Dutch Parliament asks government why it is not following up on its promises

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New Parliamentary questions for Brinkhorst

Dutch MP's Van Dam and Gerkens have asked another bunch of questions to the Dutch minister responsible for the software patents directive, Brinkhorst. They are unhappy with the way the minister is avoiding proper execution of the motion adopted by the Dutch Parliament. An English translation of the questions can be found below.

Questions asked :

Questions asked by the members of the Parliament

2030420290 Questions by members Van Dam (!PvdA) and Gerkens (SP) to the Minister and the Secretary of State on Economic Affairs about software patents.

(Sent: August 30th 2004)

1. Do you remember your answers to the questions of Gerkens on August 2nd 2004?

2. Do you remember the motion Van Dam in which the Government is asked to act as of now from the point of view as formulated by the Parliament, namely that the current proposition of the Council will no longer be supported, and do you remember your promise to carry out this motion?

3. Do you remember the debate of July the 1st 2004 and especially the last question of MP Gerkens and your answer to that?

4. Do you also share the opinion that the answer to the question of MP Gerkens does not agree with your promise to inform the other member states as quickly as possible about the change in the Dutch position by means of a "note"? Do you also think that "as soon as possible" is not the same as "at the time of the formal approval of the text of the common position of the Council"? If not, why not?

5. Can the formal approval of the vote take place under another Minister? If yes, how do you make sure that the correct point of view is presented by the concerned Minister? If not, why not?

6. Do you remember your promise to inform the other member states that "The Netherlands still has concerns about, amongst others, the clarity of the limits of the directive proposal" and that this goes further than informing the other member states about the point of view of the Parliament? If not, why not?

7. Are you prepared to carry out your promises and inform the other member states as soon as possible that The Netherlands no longer supports the current Directive Proposal? If not, why not?