Internal market ministers reached provi-sional agreement on a draft EU law on copyright in the digital age last week…

Date: 05/10/00

...but failed to make headway on a planned Union-wide patent system. There are now hopes that the EU could formally adopt the copyright directive before the end of this year. But disagreements over the proposed patent law have raised doubts as to whether Union leaders' pledge to create a European patent by the end of 2001 can still be respected.