Spass mit Microsoft: EU-Konsultation zur Zukunft des internen Marktes

Microsoft hat an einer Konsultation der EU-Kommission zum Thema „Future of the Internal Market, genauergenommen des Themas „Softwarepatente“ teilgenommen. Die Antwort ist lustig (PDF), wenn man den derzeitigen Anti-Kartellprozess der EU-Kommission in den richtigen Zusammenhang bringt:

4) Internal market policy fosters economic reforms to which citizens and businesses then have to adjust. Do you think sufficient account is taken of the costs of making these adjustments? Why (not)? Do you think flanking measures are needed to accompany market opening? If so, what kind?

We agree with the Commission’s assessment that a strong internal market has a crucial role to play in improving the competitiveness of the European economy. This is particularly true in the information-technology sector, which is among the most global of markets and the most rapidly changing sector of any region’s economy. The ability of Europe’s IT sector to compete world-wide is directly affected by the degree to which the sector is subject to inconsistent, inefficient, expensive and redundant regulation among EU Member States. The elimination of these types of regulatory barriers to the free movement of goods and services within the internal market should be among the Community’s highest priorities.

A strong political commitment to consistent, business-friendly regulation is needed both at the EU institutions and the Member States. The Community’s problem at this stage is not so much that its citizens take the internal market for granted, nor that the costs of new regulation are excessive or inadequately anticipated. The principal barrier is in moving forward on an EU-wide and international competitiveness agenda. One need only look at such recent examples as the exception-riddled Services Directive, national challenges to crossborder mergers, and the European Parliament consideration of the Computer-Implemented Inventions (CII) Directive, to see how a truly vibrant EU-wide business environment in many ways remains hostage to suspicion and resistance.

Anscheinend gibts da etwas Realitätsverschiebung…