Trade Secrets: protecting business and fundamental freedoms

"Today's vote sends a strong signal: the agreement reached in Trialogue on trade secrets is well balanced and represents a great step forward for European firms, while preserving the interests of workers, journalists and whistleblowers", declared Constance Le Grip MEP, Rapporteur, following the vote on trade secrets in the Legal Affairs Committee of the European Parliament.

"The guarantee of the freedom of the press and its essential investigative work, the protection of whistleblowers, the preservation of workers' mobility: following months of negotiation with the Council, I am happy to see that all the European Parliament's demands, and especially those of the EPP Group, have been included in the final agreement", she said.

"Through the European Union, we have achieved a decisive step towards improving the cohesion of the rules on the protection of trade secrets which are, today, particularly fragmented. Businesses have been asking for this agreement for a long time. This text, which must now be voted on in plenary, has been eagerly awaited by the business world. It will allow them, by recognising and protecting all the professional skills that constitute the intangible and technological heritage of our businesses, to preserve innovation, development and competitiveness", concluded Le Grip.