The New EU Directive Concerning the Legal Protection of Databases

On September 14, 1995, the Commission accepted the Common Position and transmitted its opinion to the European Parliament. The European Parliament dealt with the Common Position in a second reading which began on September 21, 1995. On December 14, 1995, it adopted a decision approving the Common Position subject to eight minor drafting changes. The Commission’s opinion on the European Parliament’s amendments and a Commission proposal which had been amended accordingly was presented on January 10, 1996, pursuant to Article 189A(2) of the EC Treaty. This led to an adoption of the Directive by the Council on February 26, 1996 (the “Directive”), falling short of unanimity by only one abstention. After the signing of the text of the Directive by both the Presidents of the Council of Ministers and of the European Parliament, the Directive was finally enacted on March 11, 1996. This paper discusses the core problems of the database issue which arose during thirty months of involvement in the legislative process and presents an outline of the compromise solutions agreed upon by the EU’s legislature.